The Effect of Defect Characteristics on Prediction of Fatigue Life of TC4 Titanium Alloy Welded Joints

Abstract

The size and depth of defects significantly affect fatigue performance; the main purpose of this article is to clarify the effect of stress correction factors caused by defects on the fatigue life of α + β Type titanium alloy welded joints. In order to investigate the fatigue characteristics of α + β Type titanium alloy welded joints, axial constant amplitude loading fatigue tests were performed with a stress ratio of −1. The test results show that the fatigue life continues to increase as the stress amplitude decreases, and the failure modes can be classified into two types: interior failure and surface failure. A fatigue parameter (λ) determined by both defect depth and size was proposed which allowed for a good generalization of the data point distribution in short and long-life regions. The stress correction factor (W) related to the S–N characteristics was constructed by combining the λ and average defect size, and it effectively improved the dispersion of the test data. Continuing, the fatigue life prediction model was established under the condition that the defect type and size can be estimated or detected on the basis of the dislocation energy method. The results indicated that the evaluated values of the new life model associated with W are in good agreement with the test results.

Crystal plasticity modeling fatigue behavior in bimodal Ti–6Al–4V: Effects of microdefect and lamellar orientation

“…[1][2][3][4] As one of the most common failures in engineering practice, fatigue is prone to occur under cyclic mechanical loading. It has been revealed that fatigue behavior of metal alloys is closely related to factors such as microstructural features, 5,6 and microdefects, 7,8 besides the macroscopic mechanical loading condition and environmental effects. Microstructures have a significant effect on the fatigue behavior of alloy materials, appreciably resulting in the dispersed fatigue life of crack initiation.…”

Prediction of Fatigue Crack Growth in Vacuum-Brazed Titanium Alloy

“…Regarding the fatigue behaviors of Ti-6Al-4V joints, Balasubramanian et al [5] investigated the fatigue crack growth behavior of Ti-6Al-4V after GTAW, EBW, and LBW welding. Guo et al [6] studied TC4 using TIG welding and examined the impact of defect characteristics on fatigue life prediction. Liu et al [7] explored the crack closure characteristics of a novel titanium alloy.…”