High-cycle fatigue of Ti–6Al–4V

The definition of the critical levels of microstructural damage that can lead to the propagation of fatigue cracks under high-cycle fatigue loading conditions is a major concern with respect to the structural integrity of turbine-engine components in military aircraft. The extremely high cyclic frequencies characteristic of in-flight loading spectra, coupled with the presence of small cracks resulting from fretting or foreign object damage (FOD), necessitate that a defect-tolerant design approach be based on a crack-propagation threshold. The present study is focused on characterizing such near-threshold fatigue-crack propagation behaviour in a Ti–6Al–4V blade alloy (with ~60% primary α in a matrix of lamellar α + β), at high frequencies (20–1500  Hz) and load ratios (0.1–0.95) in both ambient temperature air and vacuum environments. Results indicate that 'worst-case' thresholds, measured on large cracks, may be used as a practical lower bound to describe the onset of naturally initiated small-crack growth and the initiation and early growth of small cracks emanating from sites of simulated FOD.     

Effects of shot-peening intensity on fretting fatigue crack-initiation behaviour of Ti–6Al–4V

The effects of shot‐peening intensity on fretting fatigue crack‐initiation behaviour of titanium alloy, Ti–6Al–4V, were investigated. Three intensities, 4A, 7A and 10A with 100% surface coverage, were employed. The contact geometry involved a cylinder‐on‐flat configuration. Residual stress and improvement in fretting fatigue life were directly related to shot‐peening intensity. The magnitude of compensatory tensile stress and its location away from the contact surface increased with increasing intensity. The relaxation of residual stress occurred during fretting fatigue which increased with increasing the number of cycles. An analysis using a critical plane‐based fatigue crack‐initiation model showed that stress relaxation during the fretting fatigue affects life and location of crack initiation. Greater relaxation of the residual stress caused greater reduction of fatigue life and shifted the location of crack initiation from inside towards the contact surface. Modified shear stress range (MSSR) parameter was able to predict fretting fatigue crack‐initiation location, which agreed with the experimental counterparts. Also, the computed parameter showed an appropriate trend with the experimental observations of the measured fretting fatigue life based on the shot‐peening intensity.     

Effects of CTE-induced residual stresses around hard alpha particles on fatigue crack growth in Ti–6Al–4V

The presence of hard alpha (HA) anomalies in titanium alloys represents a significant potential degradation to gas turbine component performance. Although HA defects in titanium alloys are rare, when they are present, they can crack and ultimately result in failure. In static fracture and fatigue test specimens, embedded HA defects had significantly higher fracture strengths than anticipated. The objective of this work was to determine if residual stresses caused by thermal expansion mismatch during material fabrication were the cause of the observed behaviour. The residual stress fields in and around surface and embedded HA particles in Ti–6Al–4V (Ti–6–4) were determined using an elasticity solution and measured coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) data. The calculated stress distributions serve as the foundation for comparisons of the local stress and the fracture strength, the stress intensity factor K and the crack growth threshold ΔK_th, with the experimentally determined fatigue lives. The analytical results indicated that CTE‐induced residual stress around HA particles can contribute to the fatigue strength of Ti–6–4 by delaying microcracking of HA anomalies and reducing the driving force (effective ΔK) of the fatigue crack. Based on the analysis results, the differences between the surface and subsurface results as well as the difference between predicted and measured fatigue lives could be largely attributed to the residual stress effects caused by the mismatch of the particle and matrix properties.     

Low‐cycle fatigue/high‐cycle fatigue interactions in notched Ti‐6Al‐4V*

Combined low‐cycle fatigue/high‐cycle fatigue (LCF/HCF) loadings were investigated for smooth and circumferentially V‐notched cylindrical Ti–6Al–4V fatigue specimens. Smooth specimens were first cycled under LCF loading conditions for a fraction of the previously established fatigue life. The HCF 10⁷ cycle fatigue limit stress after LCF cycling was established using a step loading technique. Specimens with two notch sizes, both having elastic stress concentration factors of K_t = 2.7, were cycled under LCF loading conditions at a nominal stress ratio of R = 0.1. The subsequent 10⁶ cycle HCF fatigue limit stress at both R = 0.1 and 0.8 was determined. The combined loading LCF/HCF fatigue limit stresses for all specimens were compared to the baseline HCF fatigue limit stresses. After LCF cycling and prior to HCF cycling, the notched specimens were heat tinted, and final fracture surfaces examined for cracks formed during the initial LCF loading. Fatigue test results indicate that the LCF loading, applied for 75% of total LCF life for the smooth specimens and 25% for the notched specimens, resulted in only small reductions in the subsequent HCF fatigue limit stress. Under certain loading conditions, plasticity‐induced stress redistribution at the notch root during LCF cycling appears responsible for an observed increase in HCF fatigue limit stress, in terms of net section stress.     

Fatigue crack propagation in Ti–6Al–4V subjected to high strain amplitudes

Fatigue crack propagation in circular Ti–6Al–4V specimens subjected to high strain amplitudes has been investigated. Crack closure was measured with an electrical potential‐drop technique. Closure was shown not to depend on strain ratio but to be a function of the applied strain range. At higher strain ranges, the crack was found to be closed for a smaller part of the load cycle than at lower strain ranges due to blunting of the crack tip. Furthermore, the use of a strain‐intensity approach to predict crack‐propagation rate was investigated, and it was found that for the upper parts of the da/dN curves the effective strain intensity yields good predictions. Also, the effective stress‐intensity factor was found to collapse the da/dN curves for different load ratios.     

The growth of cracks in Ti–6Al–4V plate under combined high and low cycle fatigue

The fatigue crack growth rates in cross-rolled Ti–6Al–4V plate subjected to combined major and minor stress cycles have been measured at room temperature. The concept of crack closure was used to model the data for a test sequence using 1000 minor cycles per major cycle, and the model validated by either the accurate or safe prediction of the crack growth rates for a second series of tests involving 10,000 minor cycles per major cycle. Fatigue threshold values for the minor cycles derived from the growth rate data for combined major and minor cycle loadings were lower than those determined by the conventional load shedding method. In comparison with the behaviour of Ti–6Al–4V disc material which had been forged, the cross-rolled plate material exhibited: first, a clearly defined bilinear growth rate curve under a separate major cycle loading; second, similar or lower derived threshold values with separate minor cycle loadings; and third, reduced crack propagation lives for loadings combining major and minor cycles.     

Fretting fatigue crack initiation mechanism in Ti–6Al–4V

Fretting fatigue crack initiation in titanium alloy, Ti?6Al?4V, was investigated experimentally and analytically by using finite element analysis (FEA). Various types of fretting pads were used in order to determine the effects of contact geometries. Crack initiation location and crack angle orientation along the contact surface were determined by using microscopy. Finite element analysis was used in order to obtain stress state for the experimental conditions used during fretting fatigue tests. These were then used in order to investigate several critical plane based multiaxial fatigue parameters. These parameters were evaluated based on their ability to predict crack initiation location, crack orientation angle along the contact surface and the number of cycles to fretting fatigue crack initiation independent of geometry of fretting pad. These predictions were compared with their experimental counterparts in order to characterize the role of normal and shear stresses on fretting fatigue crack initiation. From these comparisons, fretting fatigue crack initiation mechanism in the tested titanium alloy appears to be governed by shear stress on the critical plane. However, normal stress on the critical plane also seems to play a role in fretting fatigue life. At present, the individual contributions/importance of shear and normal stresses in the crack initiation appears to be unclear; however, it is clear that any critical plane describing fretting fatigue crack initiation behaviour independent of geometry needs to include components of both shear and normal stresses.     

High-cycle fatigue properties in Ti–5% Al–2.5% Sn ELI alloy with large grain size at cryogenic temperatures

High‐cycle fatigue properties were investigated for Ti–5% Al–2.5% Sn ELI alloy with a mean α grain size of 80 μm, which had been used for liquid hydrogen turbo‐pumps of Japanese‐built launch vehicles. At cryogenic temperatures, the fatigue strength in high‐cycle region did not increase in proportion to increments of the ultimate tensile strength and the fatigue strengths at around 10⁶ cycles were about 300 MPa independent of test temperatures. Fatigue cracks initiated in the specimen interior independent of the test temperatures of 4 K, 77 K and 293 K. At 4 K and 77 K, several crystallographic facet‐like structures were formed at crack initiation sites. On the other hand, there were no facet‐like structures that could be clearly identified at the crack initiation sites at 293 K. Low fatigue strengths in longer‐life region at cryogenic temperatures could be attributable to the formation of large sub‐surface crack initiation sites, where large facet‐like structure are formed.     

Effect of various surface conditions on fretting fatigue behavior of Ti–6Al–4V

An experimental investigation was conducted to explore the fretting fatigue behavior of Ti–6Al–4V specimens in contact with varying pad surface conditions. Four conditions were selected: bare Ti–6Al–4V with a highly polished finish, bare Ti–6Al–4V that was low-stress ground and polished to RMS #8 (designated as ‘as-received’), bare Ti–6Al–4V that was grit blasted to RMS #64 (designated as ‘roughened’) and stress relieved, and Cu–Ni plasma spray coated Ti–6Al–4V. Behavior against the Cu–Ni coated and as-received pads were characterized through determination of a fretting fatigue limit stress for a 10⁷ cycle fatigue life. In addition, the behavior against all four-pad conditions was evaluated with S-N fatigue testing, and the integrity of the Cu–Ni coating over repeated testing was assessed and compared with behavior of specimens tested against the as-received and roughened pads. The coefficient of friction, μ, was evaluated to help identify possible crack nucleation mechanisms and the contact pad surfaces were characterized through hardness and surface profile measurements.

An increase in fretting fatigue strength of 20–25% was observed for specimens tested against Cu–Ni coated pads as compared to those tested against as-received pads. The experimental results from the S-N tests indicate that surface roughness of the coated pad was primarily responsible for the increased fretting fatigue capability. Another factor was determined to be the coefficient of friction, μ, which was identified as ˜0.3 for the Cu–Ni coated pad against an as-received specimen and ˜0.7 for the bare as-received Ti–6Al–4V. Specimens tested against the polished Ti–6Al–4V pads also performed better than the specimens tested against as-received pads. Fretting wear was minimal for all cases, and the Cu–Ni coating remained intact throughout repeated tests. The rougher surfaces got smoother during cycling, while the smoother surfaces got rougher.     

Towards Prediction of Failure in Ti‐6AI‐4V Aerospace Materials by Surface Observations

Abstract: This paper deals with the development of a methodology for the prediction of material failure in metallic aerospace alloys by evaluating changes in surface characteristics directly prior to unstable fatigue crack propagation. The study is based on in situ nondestructive characterisation of the depression zone ahead of the crack tip of fatigue‐pre‐cracked titanium alloy specimens subjected to static loading. A relationship between the surface characteristics of the deformation zone ahead of the crack and the stress intensity factor of the material was obtained. This relationship was common to a variety of microstructural conditions such as mill‐annealed and β‐annealed microstructures. Based on the analysis, prediction of the impending fracture in cracked samples of the material was enabled. The outcome of this study can be used for optimising the service life of structural components.     

Cryogenic turning of the Ti–6Al–4V alloy with modified cutting tool inserts

Productivity in the machining of titanium alloys is adversely affected by rapid tool wear as a consequence of high cutting zone temperature. Conventional cutting fluids are ineffective in controlling the cutting temperature in the cutting zone. In this research work, an attempt has been made to investigate the effect of liquid nitrogen when it is applied to the rake surface, and the main and auxiliary flank surfaces through holes made in the cutting tool insert during the turning of the Ti–6Al–4V alloy. The cryogenic results of the cutting temperature, cutting forces, surface roughness and tool wear of the modified cutting tool insert have been compared with those of wet machining. It has been observed that in the cryogenic cooling method, the cutting temperature was reduced by 61–66% and the surface roughness was reduced to a maximum of 36% over wet machining. The cutting force was decreased by 35–42% and the flank wear was reduced by 27–39% in cryogenic cooling over that of wet machining. Cryogenic cooling enabled a substantial reduction in the geometry of tool wear through the control of the tool wear mechanisms. The application of liquid nitrogen to the heat generation zones through holes made in the cutting tool insert was considered to be more effective over conventional machining.     

Fretting fatigue behaviour of shot-peened Ti-6Al-4V at room and elevated temperatures

Fretting fatigue behaviour of shot‐peened titanium alloy, Ti‐6Al‐4V was investigated at room and elevated temperatures. Constant amplitude fretting fatigue tests were conducted over a wide range of maximum stresses, σ_max= 333 to 666 MPa with a stress ratio of R= 0.1 . Two infrared heaters, placed at the front and back of specimen, were used to heat and maintain temperature of the gage section of specimen at 260 °C. Residual stress measurements by X‐ray diffraction method before and after fretting test showed that residual compressive stress was relaxed during fretting fatigue. Elevated temperature induced more residual stress relaxation, which, in turn, decreased fretting fatigue life significantly at 260 °C. Finite element analysis (FEA) showed that the longitudinal tensile stress, σ_xx varied with the depth inside the specimen from contact surface during fretting fatigue and the largest σ_xx could exist away from the contact surface in a certain situation. A critical plane based fatigue crack initiation model, modified shear stress range parameter (MSSR), was computed from FEA results to characterize fretting fatigue crack initiation behaviour. It showed that stress relaxation during test affected fretting fatigue life and location of crack initiation significantly. MSSR parameter also predicted crack initiation location, which matched with experimental observations and the number of cycles for crack initiation, which showed the appropriate trend with the experimental observations at both temperatures.     

Residual stress effects on fatigue crack growth in a Ti‐6Al‐4V friction stir weld

Recent studies have illustrated a predominant role of the residual stress on the fatigue crack growth in friction stir welded joints. In this study, the role of the residual stress on the propagation of fatigue cracks orthogonal to the weld direction in a friction stir welded Ti‐6Al‐4V joint was investigated. A numerical prediction of the fatigue crack growth rate in the presence of the residual stresses was carried out using AFGROW software; reasonable correspondence between the predictions and the experimental results were observed when the effects of residual stress were included in the simulation.     

Effect of 0.5 wt.% hydrogen addition on microstructural evolution of Ti–6Al–4V alloy in the friction stir welding and post-weld dehydrogenation process

The α + β titanium alloy, Ti–6Al–4V, was thermohydrogen processed with 0.5 wt.% hydrogen and friction stir welded using a W–Re pin tool. Defect-free joints were obtained with proper parameters. Hydrogen was removed from the joint through a post-weld dehydrogenation process. The microstructures of the as-welded and dehydrogenated joints were examined. The effect of 0.5 wt.% hydrogen addition on microstructural evolution of Ti–6Al–4V alloy in the friction stir welding and post-weld dehydrogenation process was revealed.     

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.     

Ti-6Al-4V钛合金的疲劳裂纹扩展规律

针对熔模铸造Ti-6Al-4V钛合金的等幅疲劳裂纹扩展速率和疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值进行了研究。结果表明：该钛合金CT试样的疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值高于CCT试样的疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值,同一类试样的疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值随着应力比的增加呈下降趋势;疲劳裂纹扩展速率随着平均应力的增加以及应力水平的增加而增大;根据疲劳裂纹扩展试验数据拟合了Ti-6Al-4V钛合金Paris方程和Walker方程中的相关材料参数,以为材料的使用寿命评估及损伤容限设计提供参考。     

Fatigue crack initiation in Ti–5Al–4Sn–2Zr–1Mo–0.7Nd–0.25Si high temperature titanium alloy

Ti–5Al–4Sn–2Zr–1Mo–0.7Nd–0.25Si alloy is a new high temperature titanium alloy for aeroengine use. In this paper, the fatigue crack initiation in this alloy was investigated. At applied maximum nominal stresses less than 500 MPa, most cracks initiate in the matrix away from the Nd-rich particles. Initiation of these cracks is related to the cracking of equiaxed α phase on the prior β grain boundaries. At high applied stresses, almost half of the cracks initiate in the matrix away form the Nd-rich particles and the other half initiate near Nd-rich particles. The probability that an Nd-rich particle initiates a fatigue crack decreases very rapidly as the particle size falls below 12 μm.     

The fretting fatigue limit based on local stress at the contact edge

It is well known that fretting fatigue is affected by various factors such as contact pressure, relative slip, contact length, specimen size, loading type and so on. In this study, the reason why these factors affect fretting fatigue was investigated on the basis of the stress distribution near the contact edge. The local stress distribution near the contact edge was experimentally measured using a small multi-element stress concentration gauge. It was shown that the magnitude of the stress concentration at the contact edge varied significantly depending on these factors. It was found that the S – N curve was expressed uniquely on the basis of the local stress amplitude at the contact edge