Titanium alloy

Two thick section (>10mm) Ti-6Al-4V plates to produce a T-joint as a near net shape technique. After the joint was welded using SS-FSW, specimens were extracted and assessed for tensile strength of the base and the leg plates. Both tests failed in the parent material outside the weld nugget, with ultimate tensile strengths of over 960MPa. The photo shows the specimens from left to right: 1) Welded, 2) Machined to shape, 3) Tensile failure location on the base plate and 4) Tensile failure location on the leg plate. This technique saves material and reduces machining times. It is estimated that the material saving could be more than 90%, while reducing traditional machining eliminates more than two-thirds of the production costs for some components.