Research on Titanium Alloys with High Toughness and High Damage Tolerance

Abstract

The recent shift in the design focus for aeroplanes from strength to damage tolerance has led to a subsequent shift in the focus of Ti alloy research. China first started to research Ti alloys with damage tolerance from the year 2000. The first product stemming from this research is a Ti alloy with high strength, high toughness and damage tolerance (TC21). TC21 exhibits high strength (UTS  1100MPa), high fracture toughness (K1c  70MPa.m1/2) and a low crack propagation rate (da/dN being similar to Ti-6-4 with  annealing). Another Ti alloy, named TC4-DT, has also been produced. It has moderate strength, along with high toughness and damage tolerance (UTS  900MPa, K1c  70MPa.m1/2, da/dN being similar to Ti-6-4 with  annealing). Both TC21 and TC4-DT are now undergoing rapid development, with the former alloy also being applied to a full scale aeronautical application. Both TC21 and TC4-DT have promising futures in the industry. They will be the main Ti alloys with damage tolerance utilised in the Chinese market.