Multiaxial fatigue strength under non-proportional loading of additively manufactured notched components of Ti-6Al-4V

Abstract

In this study fatigue tests have been conducted on additively manufactured notched specimens made of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V under uniaxial loading and multiaxial non-proportional loading. Laser powder bed fusion technique has been employed to fabricate cylindrical specimens which have been successively machined to obtain a circumferential notch. Four varieties of specimens were fabricated depending on the build orientation and the application of a post-fabrication stress-relief heat treatment. The influence of layer orientation and heat treatment on the material microstructure has been analyzed. Strain controlled tests were performed with both proportional loading represented by a push-pull strain path and non-proportional loading represented by a circle strain path. The number of cycles to failure under both proportional and non-proportional loadings seemed not depending on layer orientation and heat-treatment. The cyclic plastic behavior of the material has been verified through the observation of the softening and hardening curves. The surface of the crack has been finally analyzed to verify the crack initiation position which has been detected on voids or defects located in the vicinity of the notch tip.