The use of joints fabricated from dissimilar titanium alloys allows the design of structures with local properties tailored to different service requirements. To develop welded structures for aerospace applications, particularly under critical loading, an understanding of the fatigue behavior is crucial, but remains limited, especially for solid-state technologies such as linear friction welding (LFW). This paper presents the fatigue behavior of dissimilar titanium alloys, Ti–6Al–4V (Ti64) and Ti–6Al–2Sn–4Zr–2Mo–0.1Si (Ti6242), joined by LFW with the aim of characterizing the stress versus number of cycles to failure (S-N) curves in both the low- and high-cycle fatigue regimes. Prior to fatigue testing, metallurgical characterization of the dissimilar alloy welds indicated softening in the heat-affected zone due to the retention of metastable β, and the typical practice of stress relief annealing (SRA) for alleviating the residual stresses was effective also in transforming the metastable β to equilibrated levels of α + β phases and recovering the hardness. Thus, the dissimilar alloy joints were fatigue-tested in the SRA (750 °C for 2 h) condition and their low- and high-cycle fatigue behaviors were compared to those of the Ti64 and Ti6242 base metals (BMs). The low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of the dissimilar Ti6242–Ti64 linear friction welds was characterized by relatively high maximum stress values (~ 900 to 1100 MPa) and, in the high-cycle fatigue (HCF) regime, the fatigue limit of 450 MPa at 10⁷ cycles was just slightly higher than that of the Ti6242 BM (434 MPa) and the Ti64 BM (445 MPa). Fatigue failure of the dissimilar titanium alloy welds in the low-cycle and high-cycle regimes occurred, respectively, on the Ti64 and Ti6242 sides, roughly 3 ± 1 mm away from the weld center, and the transitioning was reasoned based on the microstructural characteristics of the BMs.

This paper presents the microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of linear friction-welded (LFWed) Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.1Si (Ti-6242) in as-welded (AWed) and stress relief-annealed (SRAed) conditions. The weld center (WC) of the AWed Ti-6242 consisted of recrystallized prior-β grains with α’ martensite that were tempered during SRA at 800 °C for 2 h and transformed into an acicular α + β microstructure. The peak hardness values, obtained in the AWed joints at the WC, sharply decreased through the thermomechanically affected zones (TMAZs) to the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the Ti-6242 parent metal (PM). The SRA lowered the peak hardness values at the WC slightly and fully recovered the observed softening in the HAZ. The tensile mechanical properties of the welds in the AWed and SRAed conditions surpassed the minimum requirements in the AMS specifications for the Ti-6242 alloy. Fatigue tests, performed on the SRAed welds, indicated a fatigue limit of 468 MPa at 10⁷ cycles, just slightly higher than that of the Ti-6242 PM (434 MPa). During tensile and fatigue testing, the welds failed in the PM region, which confirms the high mechanical integrity of the joints. Both the tensile and fatigue fracture surfaces exhibited characteristic features of ductile Ti-6242 PM.

In this research, the microstructures and mechanical properties of similar and dissimilar autogenous joints of 3 mm thick commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) and Ti-6Al-4V welded by ytterbium fiber laser (Yb:YAG) were investigated. Two sets of laser power and welding speed were selected in such a way that the heat input remained constant. Microstructural characterization of the joints was investigated by an optical microscope, and mechanical properties were determined by hardness and tensile tests. The only defects found were porosity and underfill, and no signs of lack of penetration and solidification cracks were observed in any of the joints. Microstructural evaluation of the fusion zone (FZ) showed that in similar Ti-6Al-4V joint, a supersaturated nonequilibrium α′ martensite was formed due to rapid cooling associated with laser welding. In similar CP-Ti, coarse equiaxed grains were observed in the FZ. Unlike the similar joints, a clear interface was observed between the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and the FZ in both the CP-Ti and Ti-6Al-4V sides in dissimilar joints. Among all the joints with different weld parameters, similar Ti-6Al-4V showed the highest strength and the lowest ductility. In similar CP-Ti and dissimilar joints, fractures took place in the CP-Ti base metal, but all the Ti-6Al-4V similar joints failed in the FZ. Significant changes in the strength and hardness with varying laser power and welding speed implied that the mechanical properties of the weld fusion zones were not entirely governed by the heat input but were also affected by individual welding parameters.

This study utilized the high-pressure pulsed waterjet process and paired it with the plasma transferred wire arc technology to develop a novel technique to remanufacture damaged engine cylinder bores. The objective of this research was to eliminate the need for expensive bond-coats such as Ni-Al by optimizing the surface roughness profile of the substrate to provide acceptable mechanical bonding between the coating and the substrate. In this study, a high chrome stainless steel wire (Metcoloy #2) was plasma spray coated on a wide range of pulsed waterjet roughened surface profiles generated on grey cast iron and cast aluminum A380 alloy, the two most common engine materials. The pulsed waterjet greatly increased the adhesion strength between the substrates and the Metcoloy #2 coating. The increase in adhesion strength is a result of the formation of favorable mechanical anchoring points. Optimal pulsed waterjet parameters were determined to avoid the production of a copious roughness profile which resulted in a coating that mirrored the roughened surface profile. Additionally, if the roughness profile produced by the pulsed waterjet was insignificant the coating was removed in its entirety during detachment-based failure.