Notch Corrosion Fatigue Behavior of Ti-6Al-4V

The aim of this paper is to map the corrosion fatigue characteristics of Ti-6Al-4V alloy through the evaluation of the corrosion fatigue initiation and failure mechanisms. The study included the effect of the stress concentration factor at very high K_t values and the role of different inert or corrosive environments. This alloy is widely used in naval-structures and aero-engine communities and the outcomes of the work will have direct relevance to industrial service operations. Axial fatigue tests (R = 0.1; 2 × 10⁵ cycles; f = 10 Hz) were carried out on smooth and high notched (K_tmax = 18.65) flat specimens in laboratory air, paraffin oil, laboratory air + beeswax coating, recirculated 3.5% NaCl solution. The step loading procedure was used to perform the fatigue tests and the surface replica method and crack propagation gages were used to check crack nucleation and propagation until failure. Log-Log plots of σ_maxvs.K_t showed a bilinear behavior and enabled the demonstration of the presence of a threshold stress intensity factor (K_t = 8-9), after which the environment has no effect on the fatigue damage for all the tested environments.