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Dwell time low cycle fatigue (DLCF), low cycle fatigue (LCF), and creep tests were performed at ambient temperature on Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.1Si (Ti-6242Si). Test specimens were solution annealed at various temperatures below the beta transus to control the volume fraction of primary alpha. The influence of the changes in primary alpha phase on low cycle dwell time fatigue life were determined and compared to the conventional low cycle fatigue properties of the alloy. A dwell period significantly decreased the number of cycles to failure, but by a decreasing factor with decreasing stress. The increased primary alpha phase present associated with lower solution anneal temperatures significantly increased susceptibility to low cycle dwell time fatigue. It is believed that dwell fatigue sensitivity may be associated with cyclic, ambient temperature, time-dependent plasticity (creep). / Graduation date: 1999

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The high temperature fatigue crack growth behaviour of the newly developed, metastable titanium-based alloy, TIMETAL 21S, was investigated in an inert and an oxidizing environment. The investigation adopted a two pronged approached, namely, to initially establish the pure microstructural behaviour under oxidizing and inert environments at various elevated temperatures, and consequently, to establish the environmental effects on the fatigue crack growth behaviour in the various environments at high temperature. The effect of the oxidizing environment on the metastable alloy and on the mechanical and chemical events occurring at the fatigue crack were studied by using optical and scanning electron microscopy, including ED X analysis, x-ray diffraction, and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) . For the microstructural investigation, the TIMETAL 21S samples were exposed for 5 hours to a pure argon and argon + 20% O2 environment at 300°C to 750°C in increments of 50°C. The results showed that in the oxidizing environment a more homogeneous nucleation of the alpha phase had occurred at higher temperatures and that the oxide Ti02, in addition to the alpha case, had predominantly formed on the exposed surfaces. AES analysis showed that dissolution of the oxygen into the alloy occurred even at low temperatures. An LEFM approach was used to investigate fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) of C(T) specimens at 375°C, 450°C, 550°C and 620°C in the argon and argon + 20% oxygen environment. The crack growth rates were monitored using load-line compliance and the beachmarking method - a method by which beach marks were impressed on the fracture surface to track the progressing crack. The results showed that the crack growth rates were lower in the oxidizing environment and was influenced by a synergistic effect of the temperature, stress intensity at the crack tip and the environment. In addition to the phenomena of crack tip shielding (a process whereby the effective crack tip driving force experienced at the crack tip was locally reduced), other mechanisms such as slip character modification and secondary cracking ahead of the crack tip, leading to crack tip blunting and branching, had to be incorporated to fully explain the crack growth behaviour. The tests conducted in the inert environment effectively excluded the effect of oxygen on the crack growth behaviour and substantiated that various mechanisms ultimately determined the FCGR in TIMETAL 21S at elevated temperatures. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

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This dissertation involves the experimental investigation of commercially pure titanium (CP Ti) which was subjected to laser forming and mechanical forming processes. Commercially pure titanium grade 2 was formed to a radius of curvature of approximately 120 mm using three forming procedures, i.e. i) laser forming; ii) mechanical forming (stretched forming) and iii) a combined forming process (laser-mechanical forming). Fatigue testing revealed, for all the forming processes, that samples produced by laser forming performed the best at high load settings. However, mechanically formed specimens performed the best at low load settings, whereas the laser-mechanical process resulted in midway performance between laser and mechanical processing. Considering microstructure vs fatigue; impact vs fatigue; and residual stress vs fatigue; at high load settings it is evident that the microstructure is the dominant contributor to crack initiation and growth. Crack morphology of fatigue samples revealed that secondary cracks (parallel to main crack front) followed the grain boundaries of the Widmanstätten microstructure, whereas irregular secondary cracks grew parallel and through the twinning planes and along the grain boundaries of the equiaxed microstructure. Laser forming resulted in microstructural changes from equiaxed grains to a Widmanstätten structure due to fast cooling rates. Excessive twinning is developed within the equiaxed microstructure after the mechanical forming procedure. This is due to cold working / strain hardening. The combined process shows a combination of equiaxed grains and Widmanstätten microstructure. Residual stress relieved for all forming processes revealed an increase in the magnitude of the residual stress compared to the parent plate and that the maximum values were obtained at the inner radius of curvature (i.e. 118.4 mm). Laser forming revealed the highest values in residual stress whereas the other two processes i.e. mechanical and laser-mechanical forming exhibited an increase midway between the parent plate and laser forming. The second most influential factor with regards to fatigue was the magnitude of the residual stress, especially at medium to low load settings. When considering theoretical models to predict fatigue life it was found that the Goodman model showed the closest relation to the actual fatigue data when considering the entire theoretical curve. Vickers microhardness profiling was applied to the thickness of the samples for the parent plate and all forming processes. No significant hardening occurred due to the forming processes and differences in hardness were considered negligible. Charpy impact testing revealed that the laser formed specimens exhibited the most brittle behaviour when compared to the parent plate results. Mechanical formed specimens showed a slight increase in brittleness compared to parent plate whereas the combined process yielded results midway between the laser and mechanically formed specimens. Mathematical equations are formulated and presented for predicting the fatigue life of CP Ti grade 2 for the parent plate and the three forming processes. This study proved that the laser forming process can be successfully used as a production stage in the forming of CP Ti grade 2.