Microstructural evolution and oxidation in α/β titanium alloy under fretting fatigue loading

Abstract

Coupling effects of fretting wear and cyclic stress could result in significant fatigue strength degradation, thus potentially causing unanticipated catastrophic fractures. The underlying mechanism of microstructural evolutions caused by fretting wear is ambiguous, which obstructs the understanding of fretting fatigue issues, and is unable to guarantee the reliability of structures for long-term operation. Here, fretting wear studies were performed to understand the microstructural evolution and oxidation behavior of an α/β titanium alloy up to 108 cycles. Contact surface degradation is mainly caused by surface oxidation and the generation of wear debris during fretting wear within the slip zone.