Cyclic deformation behavior and fatigue lives of ultrafine-grained Ti-6AL-4V ELI alloy for medical use

It was shown that introducing an ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructure in pure metals as well as some alloys leads to strongly enhanced fatigue properties. The cyclic deformation behavior of UFG Ti-6Al-4V ELI (extra low interstitials) alloy is studied by both strain and stress controlled fatigue tests using plastic strain amplitudes between 3 × 10^?4 and 5 × 10^?3 and stress amplitudes ranging from 550 to 670 MPa. The UFG microstructures were obtained by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) with different number of passes followed by a subsequent thermomechanical treatment (TMT). When compared to the conventional grain (CG) size counterpart, the UFG alloy exhibited a pronounced enhancement in the fatigue life in the S–N (Wöhler) diagram. It was also shown that additional UFG processing prior to TMT did not result in any further improvement of the fatigue resistance. Furthermore, microstructural investigations revealed a high cyclic stability of the UFG microstructure.     

Research on fatigue behavior of welded joint spraying fused by low transformation temperature alloy powder

Modification of spraying fused (MSF) of plasma arc as heat source was used to improve the fatigue performance of welded joint, which both fundamentally reduced stress concentration at weld toe and achieved metallurgical bond between spraying fused coating and welding. The low transformation temperature alloy powder was applied to the method of MSF. After spraying fusion, especially spraying fused joint by low transformation temperature alloy powder, the distribution of residual stress is more difficult to be obtained. Finite element (FE) simulation as an important tool was used to determine the stress field and temperature field of spraying fused joint. Simulated results show that as-welded joint and welded joint spraying fused by conventional nickel base alloy powder (Conventional-joint) present tensile stress. The stress of welded joint spraying fused by low transformation temperature alloy powder (LTT-joint) is compressive stress. Fatigue test results indicated that under the condition of 2 × 10⁶ cycles, the fatigue strength of as-welded joint is 135 MPa, while that of Conventional-joint and LTT-joint is 218 MPa and 235 MPa, respectively. The fatigue strength of Conventional-joint increases by 61.48%, and fatigue strength of LTT-joint increases by 74.07%.     

Nanostructured severe plastic deformation processed titanium for orthodontic mini-implants

Titanium mini-implants have been successfully used as anchorage devices in Orthodontics. Commercially pure titanium (cpTi) was recently replaced by Ti-6Al-4 V alloy as the mini-implant material base due to the higher strength properties of the alloy. However, the lower corrosion resistance and the lower biocompatibility have been lowering the success rate of Ti-6Al-4 V mini-implants. Nanostructured titanium (nTi) is commercially pure titanium that was nanostructured by a specific technique of severe plastic deformation. It is bioinert, does not contain potentially toxic or allergic additives, and has higher specific strength properties than any other titanium applied in medical implants. The higher strength properties associated to the higher biocompatibility make nTi potentially useful for orthodontic mini-implant applications, theoretically overcoming cpTi and Ti-6Al-4 V mini-implants. The purposes of the this work were to process nTi, to mechanically compare cpTi, Ti-6Al-4 V, and nTi mini-implants by torque test, and to evaluate both the surface morphology and the fracture surface characteristics of them by SEM. Torque test results showed significant increase in the maximum torque resistance of nTi mini-implants when compared to cpTi mini-implants, and no statistical difference between Ti-6Al-4 V and nTi mini-implants. SEM analysis demonstrated smooth surface morphology and transgranular fracture aspect for nTi mini-implants. Since nanostructured titanium mini-implants have mechanical properties comparable to titanium alloy mini-implants, and biocompatibility comparable to commercially pure titanium mini-implants, it is suggestive that nanostructured titanium can replace Ti-6Al-4 V alloy as the material base for mini-implants.     

Gigacycle fatigue initiation mechanism in Armco iron

Microstructure irreversibility plays a major role in the gigacycle fatigue crack initiation. Surface Persistent Slip Bands (PSB) formation on Copper and its alloy was well studied by Mughrabi et al. as typical fatigue crack nucleation in the very high cycle fatigue regime. In the present paper, Armco iron sheet specimens (1 mm thickness) were tested under ultrasonic frequency fatigue loading in tension–compression (R = −1). The test on the thin sheets has required a new design of specimen and new attachment of specimen. After gigacycle fatigue testing, the surface appearance was observed by optical and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Below about 88 MPa stress, there is no PSBs even after fatigue cycle up to 5 × 10⁹. With a sufficient stress (above 88 MPa), PSBs in the ferrite grain was observed by optic microscope after 10⁸ cycles loading. Investigation with the SEM shows that the PSB can appear in the body-centered cubic crystal in the gigacycle fatigue regime. Because of the grain boundary, however, the local PSB did not continually progress to the grain beside even after 10⁹ cycles when the stress remained at the low level.     

Fatigue behavior and failure mechanism of basalt FRP composites under long-term cyclic loads

This paper studies the fatigue behavior of basalt fiber reinforced epoxy polymer (BFRP) composites and reveals the degradation mechanism of BFRP under different stress levels of cyclic loadings. The BFRP composites were tested under tension–tension fatigue load with different stress levels by an advanced fatigue loading equipment combined with in-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The specimens were under long-term cyclic loads up to 1 × 10⁷ cycles. The stiffness degradation, S–N curves and the residual strength of run-out specimens were recorded during the test. The fatigue strength was predicted with the testing results using reliability methods. Meanwhile, the damage propagation and fracture surface of all specimens were observed and tracked during fatigue loading by an in-situ SEM, based on which damage mechanism under different stress levels was studied. The results show the prediction of fatigue strength by fitting S–N data up to 2 × 10⁶ cycles is lower than that of the data by 1 × 10⁷ cycles. It reveals the fatigue strength perdition is highly associated with the long-term run-out cycles and traditional two million run-out cycles cannot accurately predict fatigue behavior. The SEM images reveal that under high level of stress, the critical fiber breaking failure is the dominant damage, while the matrix cracking and interfacial debonding are main damage patterns at the low and middle fatigue stress level for BFRP. Based on the above fatigue behavior and damage pattern, a three stage fracture mechanism model under fatigue loading is developed.     

Fatigue behavior and plane-strain fracture toughness of sand-cast Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.5Zr magnesium alloy

In this study, the tensile properties, high cycle fatigue behavior and plane-strain fracture toughness of the sand-cast Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.5Zr magnesium alloy were investigated, comparison to that of sand-cast plus T6 heat treated magnesium alloy which named after sand-cast-T6. The results showed that the tensile properties of the sand-cast alloy are greatly improved after T6 heat treatment, and the fatigue strength (at 10⁷ cycles) of the sand-cast Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.5Zr magnesium alloy increases from 95 to 120 MPa after T6 heat treatment, i.e. the improvement of 26% in fatigue strength has been achieved. The plane-strain fracture toughnesses K_IC of the sand-cast and sand-cast-T6 alloys are about 12.1 and 16.3 MPa m^1/2, respectively. In addition, crack initiation, crack propagation and fracture behavior of the studied alloys after tensile test, high cycle fatigue test and plane-strain fracture toughness test were also investigated systematically.     

Effect of strain amplitude on the low-cycle fatigue behavior of a new Fe–15Mn–10Cr–8Ni–4Si seismic damping alloy

The low-cycle fatigue (LCF) properties and post-fatigue microstructure of a Fe–15Mn–10Cr–8Ni–4Si austenitic alloy were investigated under an axial strain control mode with total strain amplitudes, Δε_t/2, ranging from 2.5 × 10⁻³ to 2 × 10⁻². The fatigue resistance of the alloy was described by Coffin–Manson’s and Basquin’s relationships, and the corresponding fatigue parameters were evaluated. In addition, the Masing behavior, which is associated with a constant deformation mode during fatigue, was revealed at the examined strain amplitudes. Microstructural observations of the fatigue fractured samples showed that the strain induced ε-martensitic transformation accompanied by a planar slip of the Shockley partial dislocations in the austenite is the main deformation mode controlling the fatigue behavior of the studied alloy at Δε_t/2 < 2 × 10⁻². However, at Δε_t/2 = 2 × 10⁻², the formation of a cell structure was found in the austenite in addition to ε-martensitic transformation. The LCF resistance of the alloy was compared with conventional Cr–Ni austenitic stainless steels, ferrous base TRIP and TWIP steels and low yield point damping steels. It was found that at the studied strain amplitudes the alloy possessed a higher LCF resistance compared to conventional Fe-base alloys and steels. Remarkably, the fatigue ductility coefficient, ε_f′, of the studied alloy is 1.3–6 times higher than that of the stainless steels because of a cyclic deformation-induced ε-martensitic transformation. The results showed that the ε-martensitic transformation that occurred in the studied alloy during LCF is the main reason for the improved LCF resistance.     

Development of high Zr-containing Ti-based alloys with low Young's modulus for use in removable implants

This research focuses on the development of new titanium (Ti) alloys with a low Young's modulus for use in removable implants. In this study, Ti-30Zr alloy was selected as the base alloy, and the effect of Mo addition on the microstructures, Young's moduli, and tensile properties of Ti-30Zr-(0–8 wt.% Mo) alloys was investigated in this study to assess the mechanical compatibility of these alloys for biomedical applications. Further, the cytocompatibility of a part of the designed alloys was examined. The experimental results indicate that both the microstructures and the mechanical properties of the designed alloys are strongly affected by the Mo contents. The Ti-30Zr-(6, 7 wt.%) Mo alloys, located near the boundary of (β + ω)/β with a metastable structure, show a good combination of a low Young's modulus, high tensile strength, fairly large elongation. In addition, Ti–30Zr–7Mo alloy is highly cytocompatible.     

Joining of C/C composite to TC4 using SiC particle-reinforced brazing alloy

Silicon carbide particles were used as reinforcement in the Ag-26.7Cu-4.6Ti (wt.%) brazing alloy for joining C/C composite to TC4 (Ti-6Al-4V, wt.%). The mechanical properties of the brazed joints were measured by shear strength testing. The effects of the volume percentage of SiC particles on the microstructures of the brazed joints were investigated. It is shown that the maximum shear strength of the joints is 29 MPa using 15 vol.% SiC in the brazing alloy which is greater than that with Ag-26.7Cu-4.6Ti brazing alloy alone (22 MPa). Ti is reacted with SiC particles, forming Ti–Si–C compound in the particle-reinforced brazing alloy. Due to this, more SiC particles in the brazing alloy, the thickness of TiC/TiCu reaction layer near C/C composite decreases. Moreover, SiC particles added to the brazing alloy can reduce the CTE of the brazing alloy which results in lower residual stress in the C/C composite-to-metal joint. Both of the above reasons lead to the increasing of the shear strength of the brazed joints. But excessive SiC particles added to the brazing alloy lead to pores which results in poor strength of the brazed joint.     

A comparison of maximum likelihood models for fatigue strength characterization in materials exhibiting a fatigue limit

In this study, various probabilistic models were considered to support fatigue strength design guidance in the ultra high-cycle regime (beyond 10⁸ cycles), with particular application to Ti-6Al-4V, a titanium alloy common to aerospace applications. The random fatigue limit model of Pascual and Meeker and two proposed simplified models (bilinear and hyperbolic) used maximum likelihood estimation techniques to fit probabilistic stress-life curves to experimental data. The bilinear and hyperbolic models provided a good fit to large-sample experimental data for dual-phase Ti-6Al-4V and were then applied to a small-sample data set for a beta annealed variant of this alloy, providing an initial probabilistic estimate of beta annealed Ti-6Al-4V fatigue strength in the gigacycle regime. The bilinear and hyperbolic models are recommended for use in estimating probabilistic fatigue strength parameters in support of very high-cycle design criteria for metals with clearly defined fatigue limits and fairly constant scatter in fatigue strength.     

Fatigue fracture of friction-stir processed Al–Al3Ti–MgO hybrid nanocomposites

This paper presents experimental results on the fatigue properties of Al-matrix nanocomposites prepared by the friction stir processing (FSP) technique. An Al–Mg alloy (AA5052) with different amounts (∼2 and 3.5 vol%) of pre-placed TiO₂ nanoparticles were FSPed up to 6 passes to attain homogenous dispersion of nano-metric inclusions. Microstructural studies by electron microscopic and electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) techniques showed that nano-metric Al₃Ti (50 nm), TiO₂ (30 nm), and MgO (50 nm) particles were distributed throughout a fine-grained Al matrix (<2 μm). Consequently, a significant improvement in the tensile strength and hardness was attained. Uniaxial stress-controlled tension–tension fatigue testing (R = 0.1) were utilized to evaluate the fatigue behavior of the prepared nanocomposites. The results were compared with the un-processed (annealed) and FSPed alloy without pre-placing TiO₂ particles. It was found that FSP of the aluminum alloy increased the fatigue strength (at 10⁷ cycles) for about 28% and 32% compared with the annealed specimen when the concentration of the reinforcing particles was 2 and 3.5 vol%, respectively. Fractographic analysis determined a ductile fracture behavior with deep-equiaxed dimples for the annealed and FSPed alloy. The facture surface of the nanocomposites revealed a combined ductile–brittle fracture mode with finer dimples. The mechanism of the fatigue fracture and the role of nano-metric inclusions were elaborated.     

Evaluation of structural safety of a tilting bolster

This study has performed the experimental study to assess the structural safety of a bolster frame that is applied to the bogie system of Korean tilting train. In order to achieve this goal, firstly, loading conditions imposed on the bolster frame were investigated. Based on the international standard and dynamic analysis, the loading conditions were derived. In this study, the dynamic load cases that consider the carbody tilting effect were established. The structural safety of the bolster frame was evaluated by static test under these static loads and the fatigue strength was assessed using Goodman diagram. From the assessment, the bolster frame has satisfied the structural safety. In addition, fatigue test was carried out up to 10 × 10⁶ cycles under tilting load condition established in this study. The inspection of fatigue crack using NDT method was conducted at 6 × 10⁶ and 10 × 10⁶ cycle.     

Effect of combined plasma-carburizing and deep-rolling on notch fatigue property of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

This paper discusses the effects of a combination of plasma-carburizing and deep-rolling on notch fatigue properties of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Circumferentially V-notched cylindrical Ti-6Al-4V alloy specimens were plasma-carburized at a relatively low temperature for the improvement of wear resistance, and then, deep-rolled at the notch root for inducing compressive residual stress. Scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, laser scanning microscopy, surface roughness tester, and micro-hardness tester were used to characterize the modified surface layer at the notch root. Axial loading fatigue tests (R = 0.1) were performed using a servo-hydraulic testing machine in a laboratory atmosphere at an ambient temperature. The notch fatigue life of the specimen was reduced by plasma-carburizing due to the brittleness caused by the higher hardness in addition to the disappearance of compressive residual stress on the notched surface, but remarkably improved by the subsequent deep-rolling. The surface layer containing the compressive residual stress and the work hardening induced by deep-rolling effectively prevented and delayed the fatigue crack initiation and propagation of deep-rolled carburized specimen.     

Ti-6Al-3Nb-2Zr-1Mo合金室温压缩蠕变行为及位错类型研究

研究Ti-6Al-3Nb-2Zr-1Mo合金在不同外加应力下的室温压缩蠕变行为,拟合了蠕变曲线,计算出蠕变发生第二阶段的临界值,并对不同应力水平压缩后的合金显微组织进行TEM观察,研究其位错滑移类型.结果表明:室温条件下,Ti-6Al-3Nb-2Zr-1Mo合金压缩蠕变-时间曲线符合时间强化指数模型,该合金发生蠕变第二...     

Structure and mechanical properties of the annealed TZAV-30 alloy

The Ti–30Zr–5Al–3V (wt.%, TZAV-30) alloy having good mechanical properties is a potential structural material to apply in the aerospace industry. The microstructure and mechanical properties of ZTAV-30 alloy underwent various annealing heat treatments were investigated. The specimens annealed from 500 to 800 °C are composed of α and β two phases. No compound is detected in specimens annealed in that temperature range. The microstructure of annealed specimens is characterized as a typical basketweave microstructure. Three microstructural parameters, thickness of plate α phase, relative fraction of β phase and aspect ratio of α grains, were measured in those annealed specimens. As the alloy annealed in the range from 500 to 800 °C, the average thickness of plate α grains increases with the increasing annealing temperature from 500 to 700 °C but decreases while annealed at 800 °C. The fraction of retained β phase increases with annealing temperature. And the aspect ratio of plate α grains decreases firstly but increases while the annealing temperature is higher than 700 °C. As the variation of those three microstructural parameters, the strength of examined alloy varies from 1269 to 1355 MPa for tensile strength and from 1101 to 1190 MPa for yield strength, inversely, the elongation changes in the range from 12.7% to 8.4%. The strengthening and toughening mechanism of the TZAV-30 alloy with basketweave microstructure is also discussed in this paper.     

Heat treatment effect on thermo-mechanical fatigue and low cycle fatigue behaviors of A356.0 aluminum alloy

In the present paper, the heat treatment effect on A356.0, a cast aluminum alloy which has been widely used in diesel engine cylinder heads, is investigated under out-of-phase thermo-mechanical fatigue and low cycle fatigue (at different temperatures) loadings. A typical heat treatment is applied to the material including 8 h solution at 535 °C, water quench and 3 h ageing at 180 °C. The experimental fatigue results show that the heat treatment process has considerable influence on mechanical and low cycle fatigue behaviors, especially at room temperature, but its effect on thermo-mechanical fatigue lifetime is not significant. The improvement in the strength can be explained by the dislocation theory. Under thermo-mechanical fatigue loadings, the difference between the fatigue lifetime of A356.0 alloy and A356.0-T6 alloy decreases when the temperature range increases. In this condition, plastic strain increases severely during the fatigue cycles in A356.0-T6 alloy due to over-ageing phenomenon and therefore, the amount of cyclic softening in heat treated alloy is more.     

Surface treatment of new type aluminum lithium alloy and fatigue crack behaviors of this alloy plate bonded with Ti–6Al–4V alloy strap

Samples consisting of new aluminum lithium alloy (Al–Li alloy) plate developed by the Aluminum Company of America and Ti–6Al–4V alloy (Ti alloy) plate were investigated. Plate of 400 mm × 140 mm × 2 mm with single edge notch was anodized in phosphoric solution and Ti alloy plate of 200 mm × 20 (40) mm × 2 mm was anodized in alkali solution. Patterns of two alloys were studied at original/anodized condition. And then, aluminum alloy and Ti alloy plates were assembled into a sample with FM 94 film adhesive. Fatigue crack behaviors of the sample were investigated under condition of nominal stress σ = 36 MPa and 54 MPa, stress ratio of 0.1. Testing results show that anodization treatment modifies alloys surface topography. Ti alloy bonding to Al–Li alloy plate effectively retards crack growth than that of Al–Li alloy plate. Fatigue life of sample bonded with Ti alloy strap improves about 62.5% than that of non-strap plate.     

Structure and properties of ductile CuAlMn shape memory alloy synthesized by mechanical alloying and powder metallurgy

A ductile Cu–Al–Mn–Ti–B shape memory alloy with high fatigue strength has been prepared via mechanical alloying and powder metallurgy. With increasing milling time, the size of the crystallite grains decreases. Cu diffraction pattern appeared only after milling at a speed of 300 rpm for 25 h. The single phase CuAlMnTiB solid solution powder after 35 h milling was hot-pressed and extruded to form the final alloy. The quenched alloy had a single β phase at room temperature and its yield strength, maximum strength and strain were measured to be 390 MPa, 1015 MPa and 14.4%, respectively. The aged alloy showed a martensite structure at room temperature and had a shape memory recovery of 92% after 120 cycles.     

Effect of stitch density on fatigue characteristics and damage mechanisms of stitched carbon/epoxy composites

The effect of stitch density (SD) on fatigue life, stiffness degradation and fatigue damage mechanisms in carbon/epoxy (T800SC/XNRH6813) stitched using Vectran thread is presented in this paper. Moderately stitched composite (SD = 0.028/mm²; ‘stitched 6 × 6’) and densely stitched composite (SD = 0.111/mm²; ‘stitched 3 × 3’) are tested and compared with composite without stitch thread (SD = 0.0; ‘unstitched’). The experiments show that the fatigue life of stitched 3 × 3 is moderately better than that of unstitched and stitched 6 × 6. Stitched 3 × 3 pattern is also able to postpone the stiffness degradation onset. The improvement of fatigue properties and postponement of stiffness degradation onset in stitched 3 × 3 is primarily due to an effective impediment of edge-delamination. Quantification of damage at various cycles and stress levels shows that stitch density primarily affects the growth rate of delamination.     

Effects of microstructural heterogeneity on very high cycle fatigue properties of 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy friction stir butt welds

In this study, the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) properties of 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy and its friction stir welding (FSW) butt welds have been investigated. The results show that the failure of FSW joints still occurs at 7.0 × 10⁸ cycles. The fatigue properties of the FSW joints are superior to those of the base material, especially in the super long life regime. Most fatigue cracks initiate at the thermo-mechanically affected zone and heat affected zone on the advancing side of the FSW joints, and the susceptibility of these zones to fatigue is attributed to the metallurgical heterogeneity.