Effects of wire electrical discharge machining on fracture toughness of grade 5 titanium alloy

Grade 5 titanium (Ti6AI4V) is considered as the workhorse material when it comes to automotive and aerospace applications. It is widely referred to as an aerospace alloy and is relatively a new engineering material. The main attraction of this material is its high strength to weight ratio when compared to such common engineering materials such as steel and aluminum alloys. One of the major challenges in the use of this aerospace material is its machinability. Its high strength which is maintained at elevated temperatures, low thermal conductivity, low elastic modulus and high reactivity with oxygen is a perfect recipe for machining challenges. This leads to high tool wear and long production times. Such challenges are sometimes overcome by electrical discharge machining (EDM). Given that titanium is usually applied to mission critical components (gears, shafts, wing sections), it is important to understand the possible effect of wire EDM on their structural performance. One of the structural integrity indicators in such applications is fracture toughness. Fracture toughness is widely used for damage tolerance analysis of aerospace components in which critical crack sizes are computed for given loading conditions to arrive at safe inspection and maintenance intervals. It is therefore the purpose of this paper to conduct a study on the effect of wire EDM on the fracture toughness of this aerospace material. Standard test procedure using compact tension (CT) specimen is used to measure the fracture toughness. Four specimens are produced using wire EDM. This includes the pre-crack which is usually produced by fatigue cycling. Obtained results indicate a slight decrease in fracture toughness compared to that reported in literature. In addition, it can also be concluded that wire EDM can be used as an alternative to fatigue precracking in fracture toughness testing of titanium alloys.