A Comparative Investigation on Mechanical and Electrochemical Characteristics of Annealed Ti-6Al-4V ELI with Other Grades of Titanium Alloys

The proposed work presents a comprehensive analysis on mechanical and electrochemical properties of annealed Ti-6Al-4V ELI, and its performance is compared with Ti-6Al-4V, annealed Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloys. The various mechanical and electrochemical properties, including wear, hardness, wettability, fracture toughness, and corrosion tests, are done to assess the performances of the selected material. Electrochemical methods are employed to evaluate the behaviour of corrosion. The fracture toughness value for the chosen material is 69.7 MPa m^1/2, which is higher than Ti-6Al-4V and annealed Ti-6Al-4V (16-65.94 MPa m^1/2 made by different methods and post processing). The selected material’s Vickers hardness number (HV_0.5 = 245-337.6) is comparable with other titanium-grade alloys (HV_0.5 = 301-346) except for dense (HV_0.5 = 372-377) and printed parts (HV_0.5 = 359-451) made by direct metal laser sintering process (DMLS). The annealed Ti-6Al-4V ELI possesses the least COF (0.25; 6 N) compared to other grades of titanium alloys (0.297-0.4; 6 N). The corrosion rate is less in additively manufactured annealed Ti-6Al-4V ELI (0.00188-0.00192 mm/year) than Ti-6Al-4V and annealed Ti-6Al-4V (0.00221-0.00822 mm/year) and comparable with Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy (0.00187-0.00195 mm/year) which indicates that additively manufactured annealed Ti-6Al-4V ELI possess more corrosion resistance than Ti-6Al-4V, and annealed Ti-6Al-4V alloy. These findings will be helpful in various fields, including marine, aerospace, and biomedical engineering. The obtained results offer valuable insights regarding alloys’ mechanical and electrochemical performances.