Identification of damage mechanism and validation of a fracture model based on mesoscale approach in spalling of titanium alloy

The subject of this paper is identification of the physical mechanisms of spalling at low impact velocities for Ti–6Al–4V alloy and determination of the macroscopic stress of spalling via meso-macro approach. Spalling is a specific mode of fracture which depends on the loading history. The aspects of the initial microstructure and its evolution during plastic deformation are very important. In order to identify the spalling physical mechanisms in titanium alloy, numerous pictures by the optical microscopy of the spall surfaces created by plate impact technique have been taken. The scenario of failure observed is in complete agreement with known physical micro-mechanisms: namely nucleation, propagation and coalescence by adiabatic shearing of micro-voids. The most interesting point in spall fracture of Ti–6Al–4V alloy is the nucleation of micro-voids. A significant amount of small micro-voids in the region of the expected spall plane has been observed. It appears that microstructural effects are important due to dual α–β phase microstructure, called Widmanstätten structure. The orientation of microstructure has a direct influence on nucleation mechanism by means of distribution of nucleation sites and decohesion between the softer particles (α-phase lamellae) and the harder lattice (β-phase). According to these observations, a fracture model has been developed. This model is based on the numerous post-mortem microscopic observations of spall specimens. The goal is to determine the macroscopic stress of spalling in function of loading time and damage level via a meso-macro approach.