Correlation of metal injection moulded Ti6Al4V yield strength with resonance frequency (PCRT)measurements

The non-destructive Process Compensated Resonance Testing (PCRT) methodology has been used to inspect Ti6Al4V (Ti-64) specimens fabricated by metal injection moulding (MIM). The purpose of this study has been to determine whether PCRT can be used as a non-destructive testing method to evaluate the performance of MIM samples and to use the resonant data to test whether PCRT can be closely correlated to the yield strength, which is represented in this study by the offset 0.2% proof stress. In order to do this, resonant frequencies and correlations between the results of the PCRT method and the destructive mechanical test were studied to evaluate performance of the samples. A good performance of the PCRT system was achieved and the results were used to predict the 0.2% proof stress of MIM Ti-64 samples. Correlation analysis results showed that the total variation in 0.2% proof stress that can be attributed to resonant frequencies was above 95% for MIM tensile specimens.