Ultrasonic Characterisation of Micro-Texture Regions

Project: Research - Studentship

Project Details

Description

PhD studentship funded by the EPSRC CDT in Future Innovation in NDE.

To ensure optimal creep and fatigue properties of Titanium alloys, it is desirable that the micro-structure of these components is fine grained and exhibits no local textures. However, due to the sensitivity of Titanium alloys to manufacturing process parameters, the near α phase Titanium alloy, Ti-6Al-4V, can develop micro-texture regions (MTRs), where large regions of contiguous crystals exhibit a single preferential orientation. When these regions have an area greater than 1mm2, they present potential sites for preferential nucleation of cracks and the material becomes more susceptible to fatigue, thus reducing the component’s lifespan. Ultrasonic testing has been used to detect the presence of these MTRs [3] but as yet, no method exists which can localise and characterise these defects from the ultrasonic inspection data. This EngD will build upon the findings of a previous feasibility study conducted by Dr K. Tant and Prof. A Mulholland carried out for IHI, which examined the feasibility of using non-destructive ultrasonic time of flight measurements to assess the texture of Ti-6Al-4V.

Objectives
1. To develop an automated framework for processing high resolution electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurements into a format suitable for finite element simulation studies.
2. To derive a relationship between the distribution of crystal sizes and orientations encountered by a propagating wave, and its transmitted phase and amplitude.
3. To detect, localise and quantitatively characterise the size and properties of any detected MTRs.
4. To use mathematical analysis to comment on the resolution of the approach as a function of the material parameters and comment on the probability of detection.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/10/201/11/24

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