Comparing the fatigue performance of Ti-4Al-0.005B titanium alloy T-joints, welded via different friction stir welding sequences

Ti–4Al-0.005B titanium alloy T-joints were produced with two different friction stir welding (FSW) sequences, and its effect on the low-cycle fatigue performance was investigated. Results show that hysteresis loop became a straight line with no significant fatigue damage occurring at low strain amplitudes (0.2% and 0.4%). As the strain amplitude increased to 0.6%, the area enclosed by the hysteresis loop increased for both T-joints and the base material (BM) due to fatigue damage accumulation. As the stress amplitude decreased gradually with increasing number of cycles, the fatigue life followed this decreasing trend. The fatigue life of single-weld T-joints is close to that of the double-weld T-joints, with a cyclic strain hardening index of the BM being in-between of the two T-joints. However, cyclic strength coefficient of BM is the lowest, and that of the double-weld T-joint is larger than that of the single-weld T-joint. The single-weld T-joint breaks at the heat affected zone (HAZ) on the advancing side, where the double-weld T-joint breaks at the HAZ of the second weld.