Unveiling the Residual Stresses, Local Micromechanical Properties and Crystallographic Texture in a Ti-6Al-4V Weld Joint

Abstract

In this work, the micromechanical properties, crystallographic texture, welding residual stresses and their evolution after plastic strain were investigated in a Ti-6Al-4 V alloy tungsten inert gas weld joint. It was found that the welding process affected the Young modulus and microhardness values in both α and β phases in the different regions of the weld joint. The highest microhardness and Young modulus values of α phase were recorded in the heat-affected zone, whereas the highest values of these characteristics for the β phase were found in the fusion zone (FZ). The change in the micromechanical properties was accompanied by a change in the crystallographic texture components of the dominant α phase from (0001) < 10-10 > and (11-20) < 10-10 > components in the base material to (10-10) < 11-20 > and (11-20) < 3-302 > components in the FZ. The introduction of tensile testing resulted in a continuous stress relaxation and improved the weld joint performances.