The diffuse ring texture effectively solves the anisotropy of mechanical properties of pure titanium sheet

Commercial pure titanium sheets often exhibit significant mechanical anisotropy caused by the strong texture developed during rolling, which limits their application in complex deformation components. In this work, a novel processing route combining multi-step bidirectional rolling with secondary annealing (A2-MSBR) was developed to tailor texture and achieve nearly isotropic mechanical properties. The results show that, unlike the conventional A1-UDR route that produces a typical TD-split texture with marked directional dependence in strength and ductility, the A2-MSBR process generates a homogeneous diffuse ring texture dominated by the {10-13} fiber component and exhibiting the lowest texture intensity (6.06). This texture is associated with a spatially uniform distribution of multi-oriented grains and highly consistent Schmid factor distributions for prismatic and pyramidal slip systems along the RD, 45°, and TD directions, thereby promoting cooperative slip activation during tensile deformation. As a result, the processed sheets exhibit nearly isotropic mechanical behavior, with the differences in yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation among the three directions reduced to ≤5.8MPa, ≤3.2MPa, and ≤1.0%, respectively. In addition, the diffuse ring texture remains stable during annealing at 550-800°C and for holding times up to 6h, retaining its characteristic morphology and low intensity. These findings demonstrate that the A2-MSBR route provides an effective texture-engineering strategy for suppressing anisotropy in pure titanium sheets and offers useful guidance for achieving isotropic properties in HCP metals.