Corrosion fatigue performance of TC4 plates with holes in aviation kerosene

In this paper, a series of tests have been conducted to investigate the corrosion fatigue performance of TC4 titanium alloy plates with holes in aviation kerosene. For comparison, fatigue tests were also conducted in air. The fracture surfaces of all specimens were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to disclose the mechanism of fatigue failure. The results reveal that the crack initiation life of a plate with hole in kerosene is about 76%-91% of its total fatigue life. The total fatigue life and the crack initiation life of plates with holes are decreased by kerosene. The dispersibility of measured fatigue life data of plates with holes in kerosene is higher than that in air. And due to fatigue crack closure, corrosive crack propagation life of plates with holes in kerosene is longer than that in air.