Crack-closure and crack-growth measurements in surface-flawed titanium alloy Ti6Al-4V

Abstract

The crack-closure and crack-growth characteristics of the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V were determined experimentally on surface-flawed plate specimens. Under cyclic loading from zero to tension, cracks deeper than 1 mm opened at approximately 50 percent of the maximum load. Cracks shallower than 1 mm opened at higher loads. The correlation between crack-growth rate and the total stress-intensity range showed a lower threshold behavior. This behavior was attributed to the high crack-opening loads at short cracks because the lower threshold was much less evident in correlations between the crack-growth rates and the effective stress-intensity range.