Studies of Wear and Tensile Behavior of Titanium-Based Alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) Joint Developed by Electron Beam Welding

The present work concerns evaluating the wear resistance and tensile properties of welded Ti6Al4V developed by electron beam welding. The welding has been performed at a fixed voltage and varied current, welding speed and beam oscillation. The microstructure of the weld zone consisted of α′ martensite, α and a few β. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and % elongation of the joint is marginally reduced (YS: 878-934 MPa, UTS 878-934 MPa, % elongation: 7.3 − 11.3%) compared to the as-received Ti6Al4V (YS: 934 MPa, UTS: 935 MPa, 17.3%). The wear kinetics against a 10 mm tungsten carbide (WC) ball in reciprocating fretting wear mode is marginally reduced (.000109–.000106 mm³/mm) compared to .00015 mm³/mm of the base metal. The mechanism of wear was found to be the same for both the weld zone and the as-received Ti6Al4V. The wear mechanism was predominantly fretting-assisted abrasive wear in both cases.