Surface residual stresses, surface topography and the fatigue behavior of Ti-6AI-4V

Abstract

Fatigue tests have been conducted on Ti-6Al-4V from 293 to 589 K to determine the influence of surface residual stresses and surface topography on low and high cycle fatigue properties. Four types of machined surfaces as well as shot peened surfaces were included in the investigation. It was found that surface residual stresses play a key role in controlling the development of microcracks and, therefore, overall fatigue lives at both room and elevated temperature. X-ray measurement of the stability of surface residual stresses under thermal activation and/or cyclic loading demonstrated that, for the conditions studied, cyclic loading was primarily responsible for residual stress decay. In addition, the magnitude of the decay was dependent on the relationship between the sign of the residual stress and the sign of the imposed mean strain. Finally, it was demonstrated that the sharpness of machining grooves is more important than their depth in controlling fatigue resistance.