Effect of dissimilar mating materials and contact force on fretting fatigue behavior of Ti–6Al–4V

Fretting fatigue behavior of a titanium alloy, Ti–6Al–4V, in contact with two pad materials having quite differing values of hardness and elastic modulus (aluminum alloy 2024 and Inconel 718) using “cylinder-on-flat” configuration was investigated at different applied stress levels and contact forces. Applied contact forces for both pad materials were selected to provide two Hertzian peak pressures of 292 and 441 MPa. Finite element analyses of all tests were also conducted which showed that an increase in contact force resulted in a smaller relative slip amplitude and a larger width of stick zone. These two factors, along with the lower coefficient of friction during fretting, resulted in less fretting damage on the contact surface of specimen subjected to higher contact force relative to that at lower contact force regardless of the hardness difference of mating materials. Also, an increase in hardness resulted in greater fretting damage on the contact surface of specimens only at higher contact force. Further, the fretting fatigue life decreased with an increase of applied contact force at higher applied effective stress, while it increased at lower applied effective stress with both pad materials. These observations suggest that there is complex interaction among hardness difference between mating surfaces, relative slip amplitude, and stress state in the contact region during fretting fatigue of dissimilar materials.     

Effect of shot peening on the fretting wear of Ti–6Al–4V

In this paper, we report on the fretting wear behaviour of polished and shot peened Ti–6Al–4V specimens. For fretting experiments, due to micro-displacements at the interface between two contacting surfaces, two types of damage can be observed: crack initiation and debris formation. Shot peening, which is already well known for improving fatigue resistance of titanium alloys, is shown to have a beneficial effect on the crack initiation and propagation under fretting wear loading, as cracks observed on specimens after cylinder-on-flat fretting tests are shorter in shot peened specimens than in polished ones. It is also demonstrated that shot peening decreases the friction coefficient only at the beginning of the test, as long as the asperities induced by shot peening are not worn-off. The effects of displacement amplitude, normal force and test duration on the wear volume have been investigated: in all cases, shot peening has no significant impact on the wear process. The same amount of debris are formed and ejected for both polished and shot peened specimens. Moreover, it is found that, for both types of specimens, the linear relation, developed for steels and hard coatings, between wear volume and cumulated dissipated energy is not valid in the present case as different wear volumes are measured for the same cumulated dissipated energy, depending on the experimental conditions (normal force, displacement amplitude). Using the test duration as the variable parameter, energy wear coefficients are calculated for different experimental conditions.     

Progression of fretting fatigue damage in Ti–6Al–4V

An investigation was conducted to explore the nature of fretting fatigue damage in the stages prior to crack formation. In the unique experimental apparatus employed in this study, where total slip never occurs, several locations on each test specimen exist where cracks can develop due to local contact conditions. Under the test conditions used, not all of the sites had cracks upon test completion. This study evaluated the condition of non-cracked sites on several fretted specimens in an effort to identify differences between these and sites where small cracks were observed.A single test condition of 620 MPa average applied static clamping stress and 250 MPa applied axial fatigue stress for R=0.5 was selected, which corresponds to a fretting fatigue life of 10⁷ cycles based on prior work. For specimens tested to 10⁶ cycles, or 10% of life, several destructive and non-destructive characterization methods were chosen: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), residual stress measurement and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Each site at which crack nucleation could be expected was inspected in the SEM and was then characterized using surface X-ray diffraction to quantify the residual stresses field near that location. Then TEM foils were cut from one area on a specimen with tiny cracks and dislocation densities were observed. A novel technique was used which permitted TEM samples to be obtained from regions in close proximity on the original specimen.Comparisons were made between as-received (AR) and stress-relief annealed (SRA) specimens, on which the stress-relief was applied prior to fretting fatigue testing. SEM inspection was useful for qualitative analysis of wear debris and identification of cracks as small as 20 μm, but was unable to provide quantitative data on the level of fretting fatigue damage beyond crack size. Although differences were noted in the residual stresses for the SRA versus the AR specimens, no residual stress peaks were noted in the edge of contact regions where cracks would eventually develop. TEM observations in the vicinity of the crack nucleation region showed that the dislocation structure decayed rapidly into the specimen thickness. The cause of the dislocations was attributed to plastic deformation caused by the clamping stresses.     

Characterization of fretting fatigue crack initiation processes in CR Ti–6Al–4V

A study was conducted to quantify fretting fatigue damage and to evaluate the residual fatigue strength of specimens subjected to a range of fretting fatigue test conditions. Flat Ti–6Al–4V specimens were tested against flat Ti–6Al–4V fretting pads with blending radii at the edges of contact. Fretting fatigue damage for two combinations of static average clamping stress and applied axial stress was investigated for two percentages of total life. Accumulated damage was characterized using full field surface roughness evaluation and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of fretting fatigue on uniaxial fatigue strength was quantified by interrupting fretting fatigue tests, and conducting uniaxial residual fatigue strength tests at R=0.5 at 300 Hz. Results from the residual fatigue strength tests were correlated with characterization results.While surface roughness measurements, evaluated in terms of asperity height and asperity spacing, reflected changes in the specimen surfaces as a result of fretting fatigue cycling, those changes did not correspond to decreases in residual fatigue strength. Neither means of evaluating surface roughness was able to identify cracks observed during SEM characterization. Residual fatigue strength decreased only in the presence of fretting fatigue cracks with surface lengths of 150 μm or greater, regardless of contact condition or number of applied fretting fatigue cycles. No cracks were observed on specimens tested at the lower stress condition. Threshold stress intensity factors were calculated for cracks identified during SEM characterization. The resulting values were consistent with the threshold identified for naturally initiated cracks that were stress relieved to remove load history effects.     

Characterization of fretting wear behavior of Cu–Al coating on Ti–6Al–4V substrate

Fretting wear and fretting fatigue are two commonly observed material damages when two contacting bodies with a clamping load are under the oscillatory motion. In this study, fretting wear damage of Cu–Al coating on titanium alloy, Ti–6Al–4V substrate was investigated using the dissipated energy approach. Fretting tests were conducted with either no fatigue load or the maximum fatigue load of 300 MPa and stress ratio of 0.1 on the substrate (specimen). In order to investigate the effect of contact load and contact size, different pad sizes and contact loads were used in the tests. Accumulated dissipated energy versus wear volume data showed a linear relationship regardless of fatigue loading condition on specimen with the smaller pad size. However, two separate linear relationships were observed based on the fatigue loading condition with the larger pad size, such that a relatively more dissipated energy was required for a certain amount of wear with fatigue load on the specimen. The linear relationship between the accumulated dissipated energy and wear volume for both pad sizes extended from partial to gross slip regimes and was not affected by the applied contact load. Further, fretting tests with and without fatigue load resulted in different shapes of fretting loops when the larger pad size was used.     

Behavior of alloy Ti–6Al–4V under pre-fretting and subsequent fatigue conditions

The mechanical behavior and microstructural changes in Ti–6Al–4V were determined in fretting tests, followed by axial fatigue tests. Prior to fatigue testing, specimens were subjected to fretting conditions over a range of contact stresses and fretting displacements. Fretting frequency was 100 Hz. High cycle fatigue (HCF) tests were run at 1000 Hz. The fretting test involved a flat-on-flat, bare Ti–6Al–4V/bare Ti–6Al–4V fretting system. The fretting process typically generated very shallow surface cracks at the ends of the wear scar. Subsequently, these shallow cracks were observed to propagate in axial fatigue tests, reducing the fatigue life significantly. Evidence of frictional heating during fretting was observed in the formation of scale-like oxide in the wear scar. Formation of oxides appeared to increase with increasing contact stress. Increased oxygen content was detected in the near surface regions of specimens. Large near surface deformation was typically observed within the wear scar. The contact geometry and slight tilting of the stationary fretting pad influenced the character of the fretting scar and the fretting-induced cracking. Fracture surfaces exhibited featureless, battered surfaces at the crack origins followed by (a) cleavage-type crack propagation, (b) formation of fatigue striations, and (c) final ductile tearing.     

Fretting fatigue behaviour of Ti–6Al–4V alloy under plane bending stress and contact stress

Fretting fatigue tests for Ti–6Al–4 V alloy were conducted by use of the plate fatigue specimen with bolt-tightened shoe on both sides of the plate. It was clarified that the repeated bending stress at the contact area where fretting fatigue failure starts linearly decreased as stress over the contact area increased. Fretting fatigue crack starts from the pit where stress concentrate. The pit initiates when fretting debris were removed from the surface striation formed due to the contact slip movement. The fretting fatigue crack initiation mode was transgranular, while the fretting fatigue crack propagation mode was striation.     

Wear behavior of low-cost, lightweight TiC/Ti–6Al–4V composite under fretting: Effectiveness of solid-film lubricant counterparts

The wear behavior of low-cost, lightweight 10 wt% titanium carbide (TiC)-particulate-reinforced Ti–6Al–4V matrix composite (TiC/Ti–6Al–4V) was examined under fretting at 296, 423, and 523 K in air. Bare 10 wt% TiC/Ti–6Al–4V hemispherical pins were used in contact with dispersed multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), magnetron-sputtered diamond-like carbon/chromium (DLC/Cr), magnetron-sputtered graphite-like carbon/chromium (GLC/Cr), and magnetron-sputtered molybdenum disulfide/titanium (MoS₂/Ti) deposited on Ti–6Al–4V, Ti–48Al–2Cr–2Nb, and nickel-based superalloy 718. When TiC/Ti–6Al–4V was brought into contact with bare Ti–6Al–4V, bare Ti–48Al–2Cr–2Nb, and bare nickel-based superalloy 718, strong adhesion, severe galling, and severe wear occurred. However, when TiC/Ti–6Al–4V was brought into contact with MWNT, DLC/Cr, GLC/Cr, and MoS₂/Ti coatings, no galling occurred in the contact, and relatively minor wear was observed regardless of the coating. All the MWNT, DLC/Cr, GLC/Cr, and MoS₂/Ti coatings on Ti–6Al–4V were effective from 296 to 523 K, but the effectiveness of the MWNT, DLC/Cr, GLC/Cr, and MoS₂/Ti coatings decreased as temperature increased.     

Modification of fretting fatigue behavior of AL7075-T6 alloy by the application of titanium coating using IBED technique and shot peening

In this work, improvement in fretting fatigue life of AL7075-T6 has been investigated by titanium surface coating using ion-beam-enhanced deposition (IBED) technique and shot peening. From the experiments, the following conclusions were derived: (i) Shot peening increased the fretting fatigue life up to 350%. (ii) Titanium coating increased the fatigue life up to 100% with respect to virgin specimens for low working stresses, while it reduced the fatigue life at higher working stresses significantly. (iii) Titanium coating+shot peening increased the fatigue life up to 130% with respect to the virgin specimens for low working stresses, while it reduced the fatigue life at higher working stresses significantly. The highest and the lowest increase in coefficient of friction are obtained for virgin and shot-peened+titanium-coated specimens, respectively. IBED surface-modification technique is not successful in reducing fretting fatigue, except at low stresses.     

Microstructure sensitivity of fretting fatigue based on computational crystal plasticity

Three-dimensional finite element simulations are conducted to study the effects of microstructure on the fretting fatigue behavior of duplex Ti-6Al-4V. These fretting simulations involve a rigid cylindrical indenter pressed on the half space of Ti-6Al-4V with different realizations of microstructure. The deformation behaviors of the primary α and α/β lamellar phases at room temperature are described by three-dimensional crystal plasticity constitutive relations. Microstructure attributes considered in this sensitivity study include crystallographic texture, grain size, and grain size distribution. Voronoi tessellation is used to construct the three-dimensional finite element models with various grain size distributions. The plastic strain behaviors and the distribution of the average maximum plastic shear strain among grains are analyzed and contrasted. The relative susceptibility for crack formation, including effects of various microstructure features, is determined using the Fatemi-Socie parameter. The results suggest that both average grain size and especially crystallographic texture have more influence on the plastic deformation and fretting fatigue behavior than grain size distribution for the fretting condition considered.     

The effect of variable amplitude loading on stress distribution within a cylindrical contact subjected to fretting fatigue

A finite element model of a cylindrical Hertzian contact on a test sample subjected to alternating shear loading has been developed. The model has been used to investigate shear stress distributions at the contact during variable amplitude fretting fatigue for a load configuration in which the sample cyclic stress is applied in phase with shear force on the cylindrical contact. It has been found that during constant amplitude cyclic loading, shear stress distributions and positions of the stick-slip boundary at load maxima and minima remain fixed. Application of overloads changes the stress distribution and the position of the stick-slip boundary attained by loading of subsequent cycles. The largest cycle maximum stress determines the position of the stick-slip boundary adopted by subsequent smaller amplitude cycles. In general variable amplitude fretting fatigue the position of the stick-slip boundary will be changing with each load cycle. Hence fatigue initiation processes will occur at locations dispersed over an extended region over the contact. The implications of this behaviour for models for fretting fatigue life calculation are explored.     

Effect of surface treatments on fretting fatigue damage of biomedical titanium alloys

Fretting fatigue is an adhesive wear damage caused by tangential micromotion under normal force at contact areas. It is observed along the contact points of hip implants and bone plates. Surface-modified biomedical titanium alloys offer better resistance against fretting damage. PVD TiN coatings and plasma nitriding have proved effective in minimizing friction and delaying the failure of materials. In the present study, attempt has been made to explain the fretting fatigue failure mechanism sequence of PVD TiN-coated and plasma-nitrided Ti–6Al–4V and Ti–6Al–4V couple through friction measurement and microscopic examination.     

A study on hot extrusion of Ti–6Al–4V using simulations and experiments

Hot extrusion of Ti–6Al–4V alloy has been studied using finite element simulation and the results are compared with those obtained experimentally. First, the constitutive behavior of the material and friction at the extrusion temperatures are established based on the results obtained through cylindrical and ring compression tests, respectively. While the flow stress below β transus temperature is expressed as a strain-dependent function, it is taken as strain-independent one at higher temperatures. The distribution of strain, temperature and effective stress has been simulated under different design and processing conditions. Simulation results show that heat generation due to deformation is significant (as much as 160°C) in the hot extrusion of Ti alloys, and it mainly occurs at the beginning of the extrusion process. This leads to reduction in flow stress which, in turn, leads to enlarged deformation zone. A fair agreement has been found between the experimental results and those obtained through simulations.     

Mixed high low fretting fatigue of Ti6Al4V: Tests and modelling

In this paper fretting fatigue tests under a combined HCF/LCF loading regime are reported. This loading cycle is representative of operating conditions at the interface of the dovetail fixing between fan and blade in an aeroengine, although a classical geometry was considered, viz. the contact of cylinders against a ground flat tensile specimen. Both, specimen and pads were made of fan blade and disc alloy Ti6Al4V. The main objective of these experiments was to investigate the influence of such complex contact loads on the fretting damage and most importantly on fretting fatigue. A methodology to estimate total life is proposed and assessed against the experimental data. The results show that the main effect on fretting fatigue life is associated with the level of tangential force and that the predictive method was able to capture the effect of the experimental parameters on life, together with the influence of the residual stress field due to shot peening.     

Coatings on Ti6Al4V as palliatives for fretting fatigue in cryogenic environment

Fretting, also known as small oscillatory sliding motion, can lead to catastrophic failure in industrial applications. To reduce the damage caused by fretting increasing use has been made of surfaces treatments. These treatments result in multilayer solids (coating, diffusion layer…). The understandings of fretting fatigue have enabled us to evaluate the fretting resistance of homogeneous and coated materials. The experimental part is associated to a numerical one to obtain cracking threshold of the coated materials to obtain lifetime evaluation. This present study seeks to compare the behaviour of bare substrate and coated substrate submitted to fretting and evaluates the improvement of the fretting fatigue strength.     

TC4钛合金微动疲劳特性的研究

这里研究了TC4钛合金在空气中于室温下的微动疲劳特性，采用宏观力学试验与微观结构分析相结合的方法，探讨了TC4钛合金的微动疲劳破坏的机理。     

Life estimation of Ti-6Al-4V specimens subjected to fretting fatigue and effect of surface treatments

Suitability of different multi-axial parameters in predicting fretting fatigue life of Ti-6Al-4V specimens has been investigated. Ameliorating effect of surface treatments on fretting fatigue has been studied. In simple uni-axial/multi-axial fatigue tests, nucleation as well as propagation of cracks occur under the influence of identical stresses. Hence nucleation accounts for most of the total life. Fretting fatigue crack nucleation occurs due to very large contact stresses, effect of which is felt only close to the surface (due to steep gradients). Propagation mostly occurs due to lower stresses in the bulk of the material (negligible influence of contact tractions) and forms a significant portion of total life. Total life has to be taken as sum of initiation life calculated from different multi-axial fatigue parameters and propagation life from conventional fracture mechanics approach. Steep stress gradients necessitate the adoption of a statistics based approach to predict the crack initiation life, based on an assumed distribution of flaws. The quality of comparison between predicted and experimentally observed failure lives provides confidence in the notion that conventional fatigue life prediction tools can be used to assess fretting fatigue failure. Effect of surface treatments like shot-peening with or without additional surface coatings on total life of the specimen and on friction coefficient has been studied.     

Influence of intergranular metallic nanoparticles on the fretting wear mechanisms of Fe–Cr–Al2O3 nanocomposites rubbing on Ti–6Al–4V

This paper presents a study concerning the influence of the amount of metallic nanoparticles on the wear behaviour of Fe_0.5–Cr_0.5–alumina nanocomposites rubbing on Ti–6Al–4V in fretting. Due to the elaboration process (metal–oxide nanopowder prepared by selective reduction in hydrogen of oxide solid solution and densified by spark plasma sintering), these materials generally own two sorts of nanoparticles: the intragranulars (size: ) located within the alumina grains and the intergranulars (size: ) located at the grain boundaries. This paper focuses on the role of each sort of nanoparticles with respect to the wear of the nanocomposite. Results show that the presence of intergranular nanoparticles is crucial for improving the wear resistance of nanocomposites whereas the intragranulars rather improve the mechanical properties of matrix grains. The lowest wear rate of the nanocomposite is obtained when the amount of intergranulars is about 3.5 wt%. Finally, the fretting wear mechanism of nanocomposites and the mechanism enabling to prevent it by using nanoparticles are both identified and discussed.     

Quantitative analysis of fretting fatigue degradation in 7075-T6 aluminum alloy

Fretting fatigue failures are commonly observed in the aviation industry. The objective of this study was to understand the fretting fatigue mechanism by characterization of fretting fatigue degradation to gain insight into the process of crack formation from pits in 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. This paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of fretting fatigue degradation in terms of pit depths and dominant crack formation. For 60 percent of the specimens, the dominant crack nucleated from a pit other than the maximum-depth pit observed on the fracture surface.     

Investigation of fatigue crack initiation facets in Ti‐6Al‐4V using focused ion beam milling and electron backscatter diffraction

In the very high cycle fatigue regime, internal crack initiation can occur in Ti‐6Al‐4V because of the formation of facets, which are α grains that have fractured in a transcrystalline and planar manner. Because this crack initiation phase occupies most of the fatigue life, it is essential to understand which mechanisms lead to facet formation. Fatigue tests have been performed on drawn and heat‐treated Ti‐6Al‐4V wires, and the facets at internal crack initiation sites have been analysed in detail in terms of their appearance, their spatial orientation and their crystallographic orientation. The facets were not smooth, but showed surface markings at the nanoscale. In nearly all cases, these markings followed a linear pattern. One anomalous facet, in a sample with the largest grain size, contained a fan‐shaped pattern. The facets were at relatively steep angles, mostly between 50° and 70°. Cross‐sections of the fracture surfaces have been made by focused ion beam milling and were used to measure the crystallographic orientation of facets by electron backscatter diffraction. Most facet planes coincided with a prismatic lattice plane, and the linear markings were parallel to the prismatic slip direction, which is a strong indication that prismatic slip and slip band formation led to crack initiation. However, the anomalous facet had a near‐basal orientation, which points to a possible cleavage mechanism. The cross‐sections also exposed secondary cracks, which had formed on prismatic lattice planes, and in some cases early stage facet formation and short crack growth phenomena. The latter observations show that facets can extend through more than one grain, and that there is crack coalescence between facets. The fact that drawn wires have a specific crystallographic texture has led to a different facet formation behaviour compared to what has been suggested in the literature.