Discrete dislocation and crystal plasticity analyses of load shedding in polycrystalline titanium alloys

The focus of this paper is the mechanistic basis of the load shedding phenomenon that occurs under the dwell fatigue loading scenario. A systematic study was carried out using a discrete dislocation plasticity (DDP) model to investigate the effect of crystallographic orientations, localised dislocation behaviour and grain combinations on the phenomenon. Rate sensitivity in the model arises from a thermal activation process at low strain rates, which is accounted for by associating a stress- and temperature-dependent release time with obstacles; the activation energy was determined by calibrating an equivalent crystal plasticity model to experimental data. First, the application of Stroh's dislocation pile-up model of crack nucleation to facet fracture was quantitatively assessed using the DDP model. Then a polycrystalline model with grains generated using a controlled Poisson Voronoi tessellation was used to investigate the soft-hard-soft rogue grain combination commonly associated with load shedding. Dislocation density and peak stress at the soft/hard grain boundary increased significantly during the stress dwell period, effects that were enhanced by dislocations escaping from pile-ups at obstacles. The residual stress after dwell fatigue loading was also found to be much higher compared to standard fatigue loading. Taylor (uniform strain) and Sachs (uniform stress) type assumptions in a soft-hard grain combination have been assessed with a simple bicrystal DDP model. Basal slip nucleation in the hard grain was found to be initiated by high stresses generated by strong pile ups in the soft grain, and both basal and pyramidal slip nucleation was observed in the hard grain when the grain boundary orientation aligned with that of an active slip system in the soft grain. The findings of this study give new insight into the mechanisms of load shedding and faceting associated with cold dwell fatigue in Ti alloys used in aircraft engines.