Fatigue modeling of AM titanium

Purpose and goal:

The purpose of the project is to develop a state-of-the-art numerical model for prediction of fatigue life of aircraft structures made of L-PBF AM titanium Ti-6Al-4V. The model shall include the effects of complex geometry and loading, surface roughness, porosity, residual stresses and anisotropy on the fatigue life.

Expected results and effects:

The expected project outcome is a validated numerical model that can be used both in industry and in academia for effective predictions of fatigue life of AM titanium structures. The result is expected to contribute to introduction of AM technology for load carrying parts in aerospace industry. Approach and implementation:

The project has an experimental part where specimens are manufactured and tested in cyclic loading to characterize the material fatigue properties from several aspects. Parallel to this, model development work is conducted and the test data is used for model calibration. Finally, validating structural testing is performed and the results are compared to the model predictions. The project is conducted in collaboration between Saab, Linköping University, Mid Sweden University and Amexi AB.