Research Progress of Titanium Alloys and Their Diffusion Bonding Fatigue Characteristics
LI Xifeng, LI Tianle, AN Dayong, WU Huiping, CHEN Jieshi, CHEN Jun()
Institute of Forming Technology & Equipment, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
Cite this article:
LI Xifeng, LI Tianle, AN Dayong, WU Huiping, CHEN Jieshi, CHEN Jun. Research Progress of Titanium Alloys and Their Diffusion Bonding Fatigue Characteristics. Acta Metall Sin, 2022, 58(4): 473-485.
This paper concentrates on the research progress of titanium alloys and their diffusion bonding fatigue characteristics, and summarizes the laws of fatigue crack initiation and growth of titanium alloys with/without welding. The chemical composition, classification, and common welding method of titanium alloys are stated, with emphasis on the features and advantages of diffusion bonding. The phenomena of slip band formation and dislocation movement under cyclic loading are described, and the mechanism of fatigue crack initiation is clarified. The selection of microstructures is a common method to optimize mechanical properties of titanium alloys. Previous studies suggested that the laminated structure is an important mode to realize the low fatigue crack growth rate of titanium alloys. Improper parameters of the welding process can cause joint defects, and further heat treatment can reduce joint defects while improving the fatigue life and strength. Finally, the multilayer and heterogeneous laminates of titanium alloys produced by diffusion bonding are briefly described to realize the possibility of high damage tolerance.
Fig.1 A increase in consumption of titanium in commercial aircraft over time (Bubble size represents the passenger capacity of the aircraft)[5]
Titanium alloy type
Domestic
Similar foreign brand
Nominal chemical composition
Heat treatment
Tensile
brand
(mass fraction / %)
strength
MPa
α type
TA1
USA, Ti-40
Ti
Annealing
300
Near α type
TA18
USA, Ti-3-2.5
Ti-3Al-2.5V
Annealing
620
TA15
RUS, BT20
Ti-6.5Al-2Zr-1Mo-1Al
Annealing
930
α + β type
TC4
USA, Ti-6-4 / RUS, BT6
Ti-6Al-4V
Annealing
895
TC18
RUS, BT22
Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-1Cr-1Fe
Double annealing
1080
TC11
RUS, BT9
Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si
Annealing
1030
TC21
USA, Ti-6-22-22s
Ti-6Al-2Sn-2Zr-3Mo-1Cr-2Nb-xSi
Double annealing
1100
Near β type
TB6
USA, Ti-1023
Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al
Solution and aging
1105
Metastable β type
TB5
USA, Ti-15-3
Ti-15V-3Cr-3Sn-3Al
Solution and aging
1080
TB8
USA, β21S
Ti-15Mo-3Al-2.7Nb-0.2Si
Solution and aging
1250
Table 1 Brands and nominal chemical compositions of common titanium alloys[10,11]
Fig.2 Schematic of titanium alloy types with Mo equivalent (Tβ —critical temperature of completely α phase to β phase transformation; Ms and Mf—martensite transformation start and finish temperatures, respectively; C1—the highest Mo equivalent concentration of alloying element for complete martensitic transformation, C2—the lowest Mo equivalent concentration of alloying element without martensitic transformation)
Fig.3 Schematic of development trend of titanium alloys for aircraft structure in China
Fig.4 Joint microstructures and element distributions by SEM and EDS as well as shear strength of hydrogenated Ti2AlNb/TC4 alloys by diffusion bonding[24] (a) overall joint microstructure (b) corresponding element distribution across the interface (Inset shows the local joint microstructure. I, III—β phase layers; II—α phase layer; IV—α + β phase layer; V—B2 + O phase layer) (c) fracture morphologies of hydrogenated sample (cleavage rupture marked by black rectangle) (d) variation of joint shear strength with diffusion zone width (microstructural observations of unhydrogenated sample in the inset)
Fig.5 Schematics of the relation of the internal structure of a ladder-like structure of a PSBs and resulting surface relief (cv—vacancy concentration, b —Burgers vector, PSB—persistent slip band, PSM—persistent slip marking)[36] (a) point defect production in PSB and their migration to the matrix (b) resulting surface profile consisting of central extrusion and two parallel intrusions
Fig.6 Fatigue crack growth rate (da / dN) as a function of ΔK (a—fatigue crack length, N—number of load cycle, ΔK—stress intensity factor range, ΔKth—fatigue crack growth threshold, Kmax—maximum of stress intensity factor range, KC—fracture toughness, m—material constant)
Fig.7 Observation of fatigue crack growth process of additively manufactured TC4 titanium alloy based on in situ scanning electron microscope (CTOD—crack tip opening displacement)[54] (a) 11410 cyc (b) 12139 cyc (c) 17551 cyc (d) 19806 cyc (e) 20852 cyc (f) 21561 cyc
Fig.8 Fatigue fracture morphologies and crack growth of TC4 titanium alloy laminate by diffusion bonding (a) fractography of the laminates with unbonded zones (x—width direction, y—thickness direction; A—the direction along x-axis, B—along -x-axis, C—along y-axis; a1—distance of the outmost point on the left crack front from y-axis, a2—distance of the outmost point on the right crack front from y-axis)[61] (b) variation of fatigue crack growth rate with crack length and corresponding fractography (ar—half-crack length)[61] (c) fatigue crack growth process of laminated structure with unbonded zones based on the extended finite element method (Red regions represent initial crack)[62]
Fig.9 Microstructures of diffusion bonded interface between heterogeneous titanium alloy and titanium-based alloy (a) TA15/Ti2AlNb[72] (b) TC4/TB8
Fig.10 Fracture characteristics of dissimilar laminate of TC4/TA15 alloys by diffusion bonding (FCG—fatigue crack growth; red and green arrows present the distance between fatigue crack and central defect in the TC4 and TA15 layers, respectively; schematic illustration of fatigue crack in the white dotted square)[73]
Fig.11 Laminated structure samples by diffusion bonding (a) three layers of Ti2AlNb / one layer of TC4 / three layers of Ti2AlNb hollow structure with thin walls and narrow ribs (b) 42 layers of diaphragm[77]
Fig.12 Relationship between fatigue cycle and applied stress amplitude
Fig.13 Joints and fatigue properties of Ti550/TC4 alloys by diffusion bonding[83] (a) cylindrical geometry of low cycle fatigue (LCF) specimens (unit: mm) (b) microstructure of Ti550/TC4 (Ti6/4) titanium alloys (c) LCF S-N curves of Ti550/TC4 specimens compared with the S-N curves of traditional TC4 (solid line) and Ti550 (dotted line) alloys (Nf—number cycle to failure, ST—solution treatment, NFD—non-fusion defect)
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