Surface Modification of Titanium Alloys by High-Frequency Mechanical Impact to Enhance Operation Properties of Aviation Parts and Details
摘要
Increased requirements for the reliability of parts and structural elements of aviation and rocket and space technology facilitate finding high-performance methods for surface finishing of metallic materials. Surface severe plastic deformation (SSPD) techniques can be recommended to improve the operational properties of products and parts made of titanium alloys. This study reports on the efficiency of high-frequency mechanical impact (HFMI) treatment using ultrasonic equipment. It outlines the key factors that affect the operation life of the gas turbine engine parts made of α + β titanium alloys of various molybdenum (Moeq = −(0.205–2.375)) and aluminium (Aleq = 8.355–8.6) equivalents (Ti-6Al-4V (VT6), Ti-6Al-3Mo (VT8), and Ti-6Al-2Mo-1Cr (VT3-1)). Along with appropriate thermal treatment, the HFMI surface treatment is shown to allow positive influencing on these factors, i.e., it decreases the surface roughness and forms the ultrafine-grained microstructure and residual compressive stresses in the hardened near-surface layers decreasing the stress concentration on microrelief and microstructure elements and postponing the cracks’ initiations. The HFMI-modified titanium alloys are shown to acquire a hardened surface and increased resistance to fatigue. The HFMI treatment can be recommended as an efficient surface-finishing process for two-phase titanium alloys.