Enhancing elongation and trading off strength versus ductility of commercially pure titanium sheets using cyclic bending under tension and annealing

•Over 3-times improved elongation of cp-Ti sheets is achieved by cyclic-bending-under-tension relative to simple tension.•Tradeoffs in strength and ductility of cp-Ti can be optimized using cyclic-bending-under-tension and annealing.•Strength increases owing to stored dislocations since insignificant twinning and grain refinement were observed.•Measurements of the grain structure and texture evolution reveal slip dominated deformation in the material.•Directional hardening and underlying microstructural changes during cyclic-bending-under-tension can reduce anisotropy.