Titanium alloy having enhanced notch toughness and method of producing same

A method for processing a titanium alloy billet to enhance notch toughness of the alloy, comprising:

• heating the billet to a temperature near or above a beta transus temperature of the alloy for a period of time sufficient to produce a substantially single-phase beta microstructure;
• cooling the billet at a rate in excess of air cooling from the first temperature to about room temperature;
• isothermally forging the cooled billet at a temperature about 300° C. below the beta transus temperature and at a total strain of at least about 0.5;
• and
• aging the isothermally forged billet at a temperature of about 25° C. to 75° C. below the beta transus temperature for about 30-60 minutes.

A method of making a titanium alloy preform, comprising:

• providing a billet of the titanium alloy, the billet having a defined thickness;
• solution treating the billet in the beta phase region to cause transformation of the alloy to a substantially single-phase beta microstructure;
• quenching the solution-treated billet to about room temperature to induce a transformation of the single-phase beta microstructure to a predominately martensitic microstructure;
• forging the quenched billet at a generally constant temperature of about 675° C.-725° C. and at a strain rate of not greater than about 0.10 in/in/second until the thickness of the billet is reduced by about 50-80 percent;
• and
• aging the forged billet at a temperature of about 925° C. to about 975° C. for about 30-60 minutes.