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The effect of thickness on fracture characteristics of TC4 titanium alloy sheets

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Abstract

Single-edge crack tensile tests of TC4 titanium alloys with different plate thicknesses were conducted, and digital image correlation technique was used to obtain crack tip opening displacement (δ5) and crack mouth opening displacement (V). The influence of thickness on the fracture characteristics of the TC4 titanium alloy sheets is studied from four aspects: overall deformation, fracture morphology, crack initiation and propagation behavior. Results show that TC4 titanium alloy sheets exhibit ductile–brittle transition (DBT) in the thickness range of 0.6–1.8 mm. The load–displacement curves and the characteristics of fracture surface can only be used to qualitatively judge the toughness and brittleness of materials. Cracking parameters and plastic zone sizes fluctuate within the thickness of 1.5–1.8 mm. The plastic zone considering thickness constraint (rp/B) can be used to characterize the ductileness and brittleness of TC4 titanium alloy sheets under different thicknesses. The rp/B for 1.5–1.8 mm thick sheets is in the lower plateau of the DBT. The rp/B for 0.6 mm thick sheets is in the upper plateau of the DBT, and that for 0.8–1.2 mm thick sheets is in the transition zone. During the unstable crack propagation, the crack propagates in a self-similar way, and the gradient of the V–δ5 curves can characterize the ability of resistance to crack propagation.

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Abbreviations

SEM:

Scanning electron microscope

CP-Ti:

Commercially pure titanium

DBT:

Ductile–brittle transition

DIC:

Digital image correlation

ASTM:

American Society for Testing and Materials

GB/T:

National recommended standards of the People’s Republic of China

\({\sigma}_{\text{ys}}\) :

Yield strength

\({\sigma}_{\text{b}}\) :

Ultimate strength

E :

Elasticity modulus

W:

Plate width

B :

Plate thickness

\({\text{a}}_{0}\) :

Initial crack length

V :

Crack mouth opening displacement

δ :

Crack tip opening displacement

δ 5 :

Crack tip opening displacement obtained by the experiment

\({\delta}_{\text{I}}\) :

Crack tip opening displacement given by Irwin

\({\delta}_{\text{D}}\) :

Crack tip opening displacement given by Dugdale

P :

Load

P i :

Crack initiation load

P max :

The maximum load

R :

The load normalized by plate thickness

K c :

Plane stress fracture toughness

\({\text{K}}_{\text{I}}\) :

Stress intensity factor of type I crack

\({\text{f}} ( {\text{g}} )\) :

Geometry factor

\({\sigma}\) :

Far-field stress

∆a :

Mean crack extension

\(\Delta {\text{a}}_{\text{s}}\) :

Crack extension on the surface

\(\Delta {\text{a}}_{\text{c}}\) :

Crack extension at the crack tip

\(\Delta {\text{a}}_{\text{max}}\) :

Crack extension at the maximum load

r p :

Plastic zone

r p/B :

Plastic zone normalized by plate thickness

CTOA:

Crack tip opening angle

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the funding of experimental materials of AVIC Manufacturing Technology Institute. For confidential reasons, it is not convenient to disclose the funding project and funding number.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Yue Wang, He Ma & Yanhua Zhang

  2. AVIC Manufacturing Technology Institute, Beijing, 100024, China

    Haitao Zhao

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  1. Yue Wang
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Correspondence to Yanhua Zhang.

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Wang, Y., Zhao, H., Ma, H. et al. The effect of thickness on fracture characteristics of TC4 titanium alloy sheets. Archiv.Civ.Mech.Eng 22, 151 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43452-022-00473-x

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