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Friction stir processing (FSP) was used to modify the coarse fully lamellar microstructure on the surface of investment-cast and hot isostatically pressed (HIP) Ti-6Al-4V plate. The a colony and platelet structure in the base material (BM) was refined such that the effective slip length was reduced from the a colony size of the BM, several hundred microns, to that of fine equiaxed primary a grains that are on the order of 1 lm. This change in the microstructure resulting from FSP is expected to increase fatigue crack initiation resistance making it beneficial for titanium components for aerospace applications. The as-cast coarse lamellar microstructure has superior fatigue crack growth resistance compared to other microstructures that can be obtained by thermomechanical processing. Thus, it is likely that an increase in fatigue life is obtainable by FSP. Given the growing interest in friction stir welding (FSW) and FSP of titanium alloys, we believe some consistent microstructural descriptors will help avoid confusion. Accordingly, we propose terminology to standardize the descriptions of the microstructures created during FSP and FSW of titanium alloys. We also describe the microstructure changes that occur in the stir zone (SZ), transition zone (TZ), and heat-affected zone (HAZ) during FSP of Ti-6Al-4V.

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Investment-cast titanium components are becoming increasingly common in the aerospace industry due to the ability to produce large, complex, one-piece components that were previously fabricated by mechanically fastening multiple pieces together. The fabricated components are labor-intensive and the fastener holes are stress concentrators and prime sites for fatigue crack initiation. The castings are typically hot-isostatically-pressed (HIP) to close internal porosity, but have a coarse, fully lamellar structure that has low resistance to fatigue crack initiation. The as-cast + HIP material exhibited 1-to 1.5-mm prior b grains containing a fully lamellar a + b microstructure consistent with slow cooling from above the b transus. Friction stir processing (FSP) was used to locally modify the microstructure on the surface of an investment-cast Ti-6Al-4V plate. Friction stir processing converted the as-cast microstructure to fine (1-to 2-lm) equiaxed a grains. Using micropillars created with a dual-beam focused ion beam device, it was found that the fine-grained equiaxed structure has about a 12 pct higher compressive yield stress. In wrought products, higher strength conditions are more resistant to fatigue crack initiation, while the coarse lamellar microstructure in the base material has better fatigue crack growth resistance. In combination, these two microstructures can increase the fatigue life of titanium alloy castings by increasing the number of cycles prior to crack initiation while retaining the same low-crack growth rates of the colony microstructure in the remainder of the component. In the current study, high-cycle fatigue testing of investment-cast Ti-6Al-4V was performed on fourpoint bend specimens. Early results show that FSP can increase fatigue strength dramatically.

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