Fatigue crack propagation properties of Ti–6Al–4V in vacuum environments

To determine the effects of vacuum environment on fatigue crack propagations in a Ti–6Al–4V alloy, K-decreasing tests were conducted in air and vacuum. The fatigue crack propagation rate became slower and threshold stress intensity factor range became larger with decreasing vacuum pressure. The tendency cannot be fully explained by the crack closure. Based on fracture surface observations, granular region of a few micrometer size asperities was observed on the fracture surface only in high vacuum and ultra high vacuum. The high vacuum environment is one of the necessary conditions for the formation of the granular region, and the fraction of surface coverage of adsorbed gas on fracture surfaces relates to the phenomenon. The formation of the granular region represents the difference of the crack propagation mechanism between vacuum and air environments. A new mechanism for the formation of the granular region was proposed, and that is one of the phenomena which can explain the reduction of crack propagation rate in vacuum.