Fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth rate properties in wire + arc additive manufactured Ti‐6Al‐4V

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the fracture and fatigue crack growth properties of Ti‐6Al‐4V produced by the Wire + Arc Additive Manufacture (WAAM®) process. First, fracture toughness was measured for two different orientations with respect to the build direction; the effect of wire oxygen content and build strategy were also evaluated in the light of microstructure examination. Second, fatigue crack growth rates were measured for fully additive manufactured samples, as well as for samples containing an interface between WAAM® and wrought materials. The latter category covers five different scenarios of crack location and orientation with respect to the interface. Fatigue crack growth rates are compared with that of the wrought or WAAM® alone conditions. Crack growth trajectory of these tests is discussed in relation to the microstructure characteristics.     

Fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth in Ti‐6Al‐4V friction stir welds

Friction stir welding of titanium holds the promise for producing joints with microstructures and mechanical properties that are more comparable to wrought material than traditional fusion welding processes. Extensive data exist on the microstructure and static mechanical properties of titanium friction stir welds, but very little are available on the durability (fatigue) and even less on the damage tolerance (fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth). This paper presents the results of an investigation into the damage tolerance of friction stir welds made in 6 mm thick Ti‐6Al‐4V after a post‐weld heat treatment. It was found that the apparent fracture toughness was lower than the wrought base material, 7–25% depending on the crack orientation relative to the weld, but the crack growth performance (ΔK vs. da/dN) of the weld in the absence of weld‐induced residual stresses was identical to the base material.     

Prediction of short fatigue crack growth of Ti‐6Al‐4V

It is observed that the short fatigue cracks grow faster than long fatigue cracks at the same nominal driving force and even grow at stress intensity factor range below the threshold value for long cracks in titanium alloy materials. The anomalous behaviours of short cracks have a great influence on the accurate fatigue life prediction of submersible pressure hulls. Based on the unified fatigue life prediction method developed in the authors' group, a modified model for short crack propagation is proposed in this paper. The elastic–plastic behaviour of short cracks in the vicinity of crack tips is considered in the modified model. The model shows that the rate of crack propagation for very short cracks is determined by the range of cyclic stress rather than the range of the stress intensity factor controlling the long crack propagation and the threshold stress intensity factor range of short fatigue cracks is a function of crack length. The proposed model is used to calculate short crack propagation rate of different titanium alloys. The short crack propagation rates of Ti‐6Al‐4V and its corresponding fatigue lives are predicted under different stress ratios and different stress levels. The model is validated by comparing model prediction results with the experimental data.     

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.     

Local strain accumulation in fatigue crack propagation process of Ti‐6Al‐4V alloy

Fatigue crack growth behaviours of the titanium alloy Ti‐6Al‐4V, with two different microstructures, at different maximum stresses were identified by digital image correlation technique. Full‐field strains were monitored around fatigue cracks after consecutive cycles in fatigue crack growth experiments. Results indicated that the Ti‐6Al‐4V alloy with a bi‐modal microstructure had a better fatigue resistance than that with a primary‐α microstructure. Typical behaviours of small cracks and the evolution of multi‐scale fatigue cracks were clarified. The strain accumulations around the micro‐notch and fatigue crack increased with increasing number of load cycles. On the basis of von Mises strain mapping, it was found that crack growth rate could be characterized by crack‐tip plastic zone size.     

Initiation and growth behaviour of small internal fatigue cracks in Ti‐6Al‐4V via synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography

Small internal fatigue cracks initiated in Ti‐6Al‐4V in the very high cycle regime were detected by synchrotron radiation microcomputed tomography (SR‐μCT) at SPring‐8 in Japan. The initiation and growth behaviours of the cracks were nondestructively observed, and the da/dN‐ΔK relationship was measured and compared with that obtained in a high vacuum environment. SR‐μCT revealed that more than 20 cracks were initiated in one specimen. The crack initiation life varied widely from 20% to 70% of the average fatigue life and had little influence on the growth behaviour that followed. The initiation site size of each internal crack detected in one specimen was comparable with the size of the fracture origins obtained in ordinary fatigue tests. These results suggest that the surrounding microstructures around the initiation site are likely a dominant factor on the internal fracture rather than the potential initiation site itself. The internal crack growth rates were lower than 10^?10 m/cycle, and extremely slow rates ranging from 10^?13 to 10^?11 m/cycle were measured in a lower ΔK regime below 5 MPa√m. The internal crack growth rate closely matched that of surface cracks in a high vacuum, and the reason for the very long life of internal fatigue fractures was believed to result from the vacuum‐like environment inside the internal cracks.     

Comparative study of fatigue and fracture in friction stir and electron beam welds of 24 mm thick titanium alloy Ti‐6Al‐4 V

In this study, friction stir welding of Ti‐6Al‐4 V was demonstrated in 24 mm thickness material. The microstructure and mechanical properties, fatigue, fracture toughness and crack growth of these thick section friction stir welds were evaluated and compared with electron beam welds produced in the same thickness material. It was found that the friction stir welds possessed a relatively coarse lamellar alpha transformed beta microstructure because of slow cooling from above the transus temperature of the material. The electron beam welds had a fine acicular alpha structure as a result of rapid solidification. The friction stir welds possessed better ductility, fatigue life, fracture toughness and crack growth resistance than the base meal or electron beam welds. Thus, even though friction stir welding is a relatively new process, the performance benefits it offers for the fabrication of heavy gage primary structure make it a more attractive option than the more well‐established electron beam welding method.     

On the fatigue crack growth behaviour of selective laser melting fabricated Inconel 625: Effects of build orientation and stress ratio

The building of Inconel 625 material was carried out using the selective laser melting method, and its fatigue crack growth property at ambient temperature was experimentally investigated. Compact‐tension specimens with different building orientations were utilized to determine the stress intensity factor threshold and fatigue crack growth rate curves at different stress ratios (R). The results indicated that the fatigue crack growth properties in the near threshold stress intensity factor and Paris regions were greatly affected by the loading factor, as well as the orientation of the alloy. The mechanism of fatigue crack growth at different stages was observed and discussed using scanning electron microscopy. Finally, based on the framework of the linear elastic fracture, a new and applicable effective driving force factor range was introduced to replace the traditional stress intensity factor range (ΔK) with good accuracy for all of the fatigue crack growth test data, considering both the stress ratio and orientation.     

Fretting fatigue crack analysis in Ti–6Al–4V

A study was conducted to verify the efficacy of a fracture mechanics methodology to model the crack growth behavior of fretting fatigue-nucleated cracks obtained under test conditions similar to those found in turbine engine blade attachments. Experiments were performed to produce cracked samples, and fretting fatigue crack propagation lives were calculated for each sample. Cracks were generated at 10⁶ cycles (10%-of-life) under applied stress conditions previously identified as the fretting fatigue limit conditions for a 10⁷ cycle fatigue life. Resulting cracks, ranging in size from 30 to 1200 μm, were identified and measured using scanning electron microscopy. Uniaxial fatigue limit stresses were determined experimentally for the fretting fatigue-cracked samples, using a step loading technique, for R=0.5 at 300 Hz. Fracture surfaces were inspected to characterize the fretting fatigue crack front indicated by heat tinting. The shape and size of the crack front were then used in calculating ΔKth values for each crack. The resulting uniaxial fatigue limit and ΔKth values compared favorably with the baseline fatigue strength (660 MPa) for this material and the ΔKth value (2.9 MPa√m) for naturally initiated cracks tested at R=0.5 on a Kitagawa diagram.Crack propagation lives were calculated using stress results of FEM analysis of the contact conditions and a weight function method for determination of ΔK. Resulting lives were compared with the nine million-cycle propagation life that would have been expected in the experiments, if the contact conditions had not been removed. Scatter in the experimental results for fatigue limit stresses and fatigue lives had to be considered as part of an explanation why the fatigue life calculations were unable to match the experiments that were modeled. Analytical life prediction results for the case where propagation life is observed to be very short experimentally were most accurate when using a coefficient of friction, μ=1.0, rather than for the calculations using μ=0.3     

Probabilistic modeling of fatigue crack growth in Ti–6Al–4V

This paper proposes an approximate approach to efficient estimation of some variabilities caused by the material microstructural inhomogeneities. The approach is based on the results of a combined experimental and analytical study of the probabilistic nature of fatigue crack growth in Ti–6Al–4V. A simplified experimental fracture mechanics framework is presented for the determination of statistical fatigue crack growth parameters from two fatigue tests. The experimental studies suggest that the variabilities in long fatigue crack growth rate data and the Paris coefficient are well described by the log-normal distributions. The variabilities in the Paris exponent are also shown to be well characterized by a normal distribution. The measured statistical distributions are incorporated into a probabilistic fracture mechanics framework for the estimation of material reliability. The implications of the results are discussed for the probabilistic analysis of fatigue crack growth.     

Influence of processing parameters of selective laser melting on high‐cycle and very‐high‐cycle fatigue behaviour of Ti‐6Al‐4V

Orthogonal experiment design together with the analysis of variance was used to examine the processing parameters (laser power, scan speed, layer thickness and hatch spacing) of selective laser melting (SLM) for superior properties of SLM parts, in which nine groups of specimens of Ti‐6Al‐4V were fabricated. The results clarify that the influence sequence of individual parameter on the porosity is laser power > hatch spacing > layer thickness > scan speed. Ultrasonic fatigue tests (20 kHz) were conducted for the SLMed specimens in high‐cycle fatigue (HCF) and very‐high‐cycle fatigue (VHCF) regimes. The S‐N data show that the fatigue strength is greatly affected by the porosity: the group with the smallest porosity percentage having the highest fatigue strength in HCF and VHCF regimes. Then, the tests on the validation group were performed to verify the optimal combination of SLM processing parameters. Moreover, the observations by scanning electron microscopy revealed that fatigue cracks initiate at lack‐of‐fusion defects in the cases of surface and internal crack initiation.     

Effect of post-weld heat treatment on fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth behaviour of electron beam welds of a titanium (α+β) alloy

The effects of a post-weld heat treatment on the fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth behaviour of electron beam welds of an α + β titanium alloy, Ti–6.5Al–1.9Zr–0.25Si have been studied. Welds in the stress-relieved condition exhibited poor fracture toughness due to poor energy absorbing capacity of the thin α and α' phases. Post-weld heat treatment which resulted in the decomposition of α' to α + β and the coarsening of intragranular and intergranular α resulted in improved toughness. This improvement in the toughness is related to improved ductility leading to crack blunting, crack path deviation at the thick intragranular and intergranular α phase. Fatigue crack growth resistance of welds was superior to the base metal in the α + β heat-treated condition. The superior crack growth resistance of the welds is due to the acicular α microstructure which results in a tortuous crack path and possible crack closure arising from crack path tortuosity.     

Effects of Shot‐Peening on Fretting Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior in Ti‐6Al‐4V

Abstract: The effects of shot‐peening on fretting fatigue crack growth behaviour in titanium alloy, Ti‐6A1‐4V were investigated. Three shot‐peening intensities: 4A, 7A and 10A were considered. The analysis involved the fracture mechanics and finite element sub‐modelling technique to estimate crack propagation lives. These computations were supplemented with the experimentally measured total fretting fatigue lives of laboratory specimens to assess the crack initiation lives. Shot‐peening has significant effect on the initiation/propagation phases of fretting fatigue cracks; however this effect depends upon the shot‐peening intensity. The ratio of crack initiation and total life increased while the ratio of the crack propagation and total life decreased with an increase of shot‐peening intensity. Effects of residual compressive stress from shot‐peening on the crack growth behaviour were also investigated. The fretting fatigue crack propagation component of the total life with relaxation increased in comparison to its counterpart without relaxation in each shot‐peened intensity case while the initiation component decreased. Improvement in the fretting fatigue life from the shot‐peening and also with an increase in the shot‐peening intensity appears to be not always due to increase in the crack initiation resistance from shot‐peened induced residual compressive stress.     

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.     

Fracture toughness and growth of short and long fatigue cracks in ductile cast iron EN‐GJS‐400‐18‐LT

Heavy components of ductile cast iron frequently exhibit metallurgical defects that behave like cracks under cyclic loading. Thus, in order to decide whether a given defect is permissible, it is important to establish the fatigue crack growth properties of the material. In this paper, results from a comprehensive study of ductile cast iron EN‐GJS‐400‐18‐LT have been reported. Growth rates of fatigue cracks ranging from a few tenths of a millimetre (‘short’ cracks) to several millimetres (‘long’ cracks) have been measured for load ratios R=?1, R= 0 and R= 0.5 using a highly sensitive potential‐drop technique. Short cracks were observed to grow faster than long cracks. The threshold stress intensity range, ΔK_th, as a function of the load ratio was fitted to a simple crack closure model. Fatigue crack growth data were compared with data from other laboratories. Single plain fatigue tests at R=?1 and R= 0 were also carried out. Fracture toughness was measured at temperatures ranging from ?40 °C to room temperature.     

The effect of laser energy input on the microstructure,physical and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloys by selective laser melting

Selective laser melting is an advanced manufacturing process which can control the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of as-manufactured products via various processing parameters. In this study, the porosity/relative density, surface quality, microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated on the selective laser melted Ti-6Al-4V alloy specimens fabricated with a wide range of laser energy inputs. It was found that the microstructure of selected laser melted Ti-6Al-4V alloys is typical of acicular martensites α′. Quantitative analysis reveals that the relative density, martensitic lath size and microhardness increase with the laser energy input. The surface quality is also substantially affected by the energy input.     

Effects of stress ratio and temperature on fatigue crack growth in a Ti–6Al–4V alloy

Fatigue thresholds and fatigue crack growth (FCG) rates in corner notched specimens of a forged Ti–6Al–4V aero-engine disk material were investigated at room temperature and 350 °C. The threshold stress intensity range, ΔK_th, was determined by a method involving a step change in stress ratio (the ‘jump in’ method). It was found that for three high stress ratios (R=0.7–0.9), where crack closure effects are widely accepted to be negligible, there were similar ΔK_th values at room temperature and 350 °C under the same R. For a given temperature, ΔK_th was observed to decrease from 3.1 to 2.1 MPam with R increasing from 0.7 to 0.9. The fatigue crack growth rate was influenced by increasing temperature. For high stress ratios, FCG rate at 350 °C was higher than that at room temperature under the same ΔK. For a low stress ratio (R=0.01), higher temperature led to higher FCG rates in the near-threshold regime, but showed almost no effect at higher ΔK. The influence of stress ratio and temperature on threshold and FCG rates was analysed in terms of a K_max effect and the implication of this effect, or related mechanisms, are discussed. In light of this, an equation incorporating the effects of the K_max and fatigue threshold, is proposed to describe FCG rates in the near-threshold and Paris regimes for both temperatures. The predictions compare favourably with experimental data.     

Fatigue behaviour of additive manufactured materials: An overview of some recent experimental studies on Ti‐6Al‐4V considering various processing and loading direction effects

Although additive manufacturing (AM) has gained significant attention due to the advantages it offers and is currently a focus of much research, design of critical load carrying components utilizing such processes is still at its infancy. This is due to the fact that most of the load carrying components made by AM processes are subjected to cyclic loads, and fatigue behaviour of AM metals is far less understood as compared with those made by conventional methods, such as wrought and cast metals. To better understand the fatigue behaviour of AM metals, a wide range of issues that affect the behaviour in a synergistic manner must be considered. These include the effects of defects, residual stresses, surface finish, geometry and size, layer orientation, and heat treatment. Additionally, due to the multiaxial nature of the loading and/or complex geometries typically manufactured by AM processes, the stress state is often multiaxial including both normal and shear stresses. In this paper, the aforementioned effects influencing the fatigue resistance of AM parts, including torsion and multiaxial fatigue behaviour, are briefly discussed using some recently generated experimental data on Ti‐6Al‐4V by the authors.     

Effect of corrosive medium on fatigue crack growth behaviour and fracture in high martensite dual phase steel

Fatigue crack growth (FCG) behaviour in both near-threshold and higher stress intensity range (ΔK) in intercritically annealed dual-phase (DP) steel containing martensite between 32% and 76% in ferrite has been studied in 3·5% NaCl solution. It is shown that the amount of martensite content in dual phase steel has a significant effect on threshold (ΔK _th) values and FCG rates. Higher content of martensite in ferrite leads to higher threshold values and lower FCG rates. Further, ΔK _th is much higher in 3·5% NaCl solution as compared to that in laboratory air. Fractography studies reveal that in the near-threshold region, fracture surfaces are characterized mainly by intergranular cracking in corrosive (3·5% NaCl solution) environment. Higher threshold values in 3·5% NaCl solution is attributed to the higher crack closure induced by rougher fracture surface and by the strong wedge effects of corrosion products.     

Long fatigue crack growth in Inconel 718 produced by selective laser melting

Growth of long fatigue cracks is investigated in Inconel 718 superalloy produced by selective laser melting (SLM). The fatigue crack growth curve and the threshold value of the stress intensity factor are experimentally determined on compact-tension specimens fabricated using a RENISHAW A250 system and the recommended processing parameters.The crack propagation curve and the crack propagation threshold of this SLM material are compared with literature data describing the behavior of conventionally manufactured Inconel 718. The fatigue crack growth is discussed in terms of the specific microstructure and residual stresses produced by selective laser melting.