Microstructure and low cycle fatigue of a Ti2AlNb-based lightweight alloy

Ti2AlNb-based intermetallic compounds are considered as a new category of promising lightweight aerospace materials due to their balanced mechanical properties.The aim of this study was to evaluate monotonic and cyclic deformation behavior of an as-cast Ti-22A1-20Nb-2V-1Mo-0.25Si(at.%)intermetallic compound in relation to its microstructure.The alloy containing an abundant fine lamellar O-Ti2AlNb phase exhibited a good combination of strength and plasticity,and superb fatigue resistance in comparison with other intermetallic compounds.Cyclic stabilization largely remained except slight cyclic hardening occurring at higher strain amplitudes.While fatigue life could be described using the common Coffin-Mason-Basquin equation,it could be better predicted via a weighted energy-based approach.Fatigue crack growth was characterized mainly by crystallographic cracking,along with fatigue striationlike features being unique to appear in the intermetallics.The results obtained in this study lay the foundation for the safe and durable applications of Ti2AlNb-based lightweight intermetallic compounds.

Multiple α sub-variants and anisotropic mechanical properties of an additively-manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Additive manu facturing(AM)is a promising material processing method which gains significant momentum in the aerospace and biomedical industries.However,the anisotropy in the mechanical properties of additively-manufactured materials is still poorly understood.This study was aimed at elucidating crystallographic feature-anisotropy-mechanical property relationship for a Ti-6Al-4V alloy manufactured via selective electron beam melting(SEBM).Abundantαlamellae with six variants were present inside the columnar prior-βgrains with a<100>fiber texture duringβ→αphase transformation.The sixαvariants followed the Burgers orientation relationship of{110}_(β)//{0001}_(α)and<1-11>_(β)//<11-20>_(α).Multiple sub-variants in eachαvariant were observed for the first time.The anisotropy in the mechanical properties was mainly related to the relative amount of sixαvariants.While the horizontally-oriented samples had a lower yield strength,they exhibited a higher ductility and longer fatigue life than the vertically-oriented samples.Cyclic softening occurred at higher strain amplitudes,and cyclic stabilization sustained at lower strain amplitudes.Fatigue crack mainly initiated from the specimen surface at lower strain amplitudes,while multiple crack initiation tended to occur at higher strain amplitudes.Crack propagation was characterized by fatigue striations along with some secondary cracks.