Forecast of the fatigue crack initiation site of commercially pure Titanium miniature specimens with local surface topography data

Abstract

Surfaces of technical components rarely appear in perfectly smooth condition. During fatigue loading, stress concentrations at surface asperities cause localized plastic deformation that can lead to crack initiation. Therefore, we have established a computer-aided method based on material ratio curves to investigate the possibility to predict the crack initiation site in fatigue tests by using detailed information on the local surface topography. The present study shows the results of investigations on the mutual influence of the average grain size and the surface condition on the fatigue behavior of commercially pure Titanium (cp-Ti) miniature specimens. Three cp-Ti states were investigated: two types of coarse-grained cp-Ti Grade 2 with 35 µm and with 100 µm average grain size and one ultrafine-grained cp-Ti Grade 4 state with less than 2.5 µm average grain size. Confocal microscopy provided the surface topography data of all specimens and data post-processing was applied to the topography in order to locate critical areas where crack initiation may preferentially occur. These areas were compared with the actual crack initiation areas in fatigue test. Finally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the fracture surfaces were studied to analyze fatigue crack initiation site and crack path of the three microstructural states.