International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73

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International Journal of Fatigue

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijfatigue

Low cycle fatigue properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy fabricated by high-power T

laser directed energy deposition: Experimental and prediction
⁎
Y.M. Rena,b,c, X. Lina,b, , P.F. Guoa,b, H.O. Yanga,b, H. Tana,b, J. Chena,b, J. Lia, Y.Y. Zhanga,b,
⁎
W.D. Huanga,b,
a
State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710072, PR China
b
Key Laboratory of Metal High Performance Additive Manufacturing and Innovative Design, MIIT China, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710072,
PR China
c
The Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Functional Materials and Devices, Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an 710021, PR China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The low cycle fatigue (LCF) properties of Ti-6Al-4V parts fabricated by high-power laser directed energy de-
Low cycle fatigue position were investigated. The results show that the parts after solution treatment and aging exhibit superior
Titanium alloy LCF lives to those of other reported AM Ti-6Al-4V parts, as well as are comparable to those of the wrought
Laser directed energy deposition counterparts at intermediate strain amplitudes (from 0.8% to 1.1%). Cyclic softening behaviors were found at
Additive manufacturing
various strain amplitudes (from 0.65% to 1.7%). In addition, a microstructure-based multistage fatigue model
Fatigue model
was used to predict their LCF lives and shows good agreement with the experimental data.

1. Introduction
Laser directed energy deposition additive manufacturing (AM) is a
near-net shape production technology can directly fabricate large and
complex geometry titanium alloys parts used in aerospace and auto-
motive fields [1,2]. Titanium alloys, particularly Ti-6Al-4V, are in-
creasingly being used for structural applications in aerospace because of
their high specific strength and excellent corrosion resistance [3]. In
general, the tensile properties of AM Ti-6Al-4V parts [4–7] are com-
parable to those of their wrought counterparts. However, the low cycle
fatigue (LCF) properties of AM Ti-6Al-4V parts [8–10] are inferior to the
wrought standard, which restricts its widely used in industrial appli-
cation. To improve the working reliability and trustworthiness of AM
Ti-6Al-4V parts, their LCF properties should be improved.
Several authors [11,12] have reported the LCF properties of AM Ti-
6Al-4V parts and they believed that the microstructure, defects (e.g.,
pores, lack-of-fusion, and unmelted powders), residual stress, and rough
surface can strongly affect their LCF properties. For example, the lack-
of-fusion defects decrease the LCF property more severely than the
pores and unmelted powders [11]. Thus, optimizing AM processing
parameters [13,14] and applying hot isostatic pressing [15–17] would
strongly enhance the fatigue properties of AM parts. Although many
investigators [1,18–23] reviewed the fatigue behavior of AM Ti-6Al-4V
parts, their primary concern is high cycle fatigue properties. However,
the LCF properties and fracture behavior of AM Ti-6Al-4V parts are still
not fully understood.
Laser solid forming (LSF), a laser directed energy deposition tech-
nology based on simultaneous powder feeding, which is also known as
laser metal deposition (LMD) or Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS)
[1,24,25], has advantages in the fabrication of large and complex parts.
Recently, with the development of the energy output stability for lasers,
high-power (≥4000 W) lasers are used for LSF technology to improve
deposition efficiency, and much attention has been paid in the manu-
facturing of large-scale complex titanium alloy parts [26,27]. Mean-
while, the microstructure of the high-power LSF parts is different from
that of the conventional low-power conditions [28,29], thus it will re-
sult in different low-cycle fatigue property. Generally, AM parts fabri-
cated by high power lasers typically have a large scale rough surface
due to large laser beam and large layer thickness [1]. In addition, the
porosity of deposited parts depends on the combination of deposition
parameters (e.g., laser power, scanning velocity, layer thickness) [1].
Importantly, high-power AM processes often induce coarse prior-β
grains with thick α-laths in AM parts [30,31], which would strongly
affect LCF and tensile properties. In this work, the LCF properties of Ti-
6Al-4V parts fabricated by high power (7600 W) LSF were studied. The
cyclic deformation behaviors of LSF Ti-6Al-4V specimens were in-
vestigated. In addition, a microstructure-based multistage fatigue
model was used to predict the low cycle fatigue life of LSF Ti-6Al-4V

⁎
Corresponding authors at: State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710072, PR China.
E-mail addresses: xlin@nwpu.edu.cn (X. Lin), huang@nwpu.edu.cn (W.D. Huang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2019.05.035
Received 8 March 2019; Received in revised form 21 May 2019; Accepted 30 May 2019
Available online 31 May 2019
0142-1123/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y.M. Ren, et al.
alloy.
2. Experimental procedures
2.1. Deposited parts preparation
Deposited parts (140 × 70 × 90 mm3) of Ti-6Al-4V alloy were fab-
ricated via LSF [25], using an LSF-V system (Rofin DC80 8 kW CO2)
under an argon atmosphere (oxygen content less than 50 ppm). The Ti-
6Al-4V powder was produced by plasma rotating electrode process with
a spherical particle size between 45 and 325 μm. The average chemical
composition of the Ti-6Al-4V powder (wt%) was measured as Al-6.15,
V-4.05, O-0.15, H-0.004, N-0.01, C-0.005, Fe-0.09, Si-0.02 and Ti bal-
ance. The laser processing parameters are as follows: laser power
7.6 kW, beam diameter 6 mm, powder feed rate 500 g/h, overlap 40%,
Z-axis increment 0.8 mm, and scanning velocities 900 and 1500 mm/
min. To reduce the anisotropy of the mechanical properties, a cross-
directional (N-layer, 45°; and (N + 1) layer, 135°) laser scanning
strategy was used. To improve the ductility and uniformity of LSF
samples, the solution treatment and aging (STA) were conducted at
950 °C for 2 h followed by air cooling (AC) and 550 °C for 4 h followed
by AC. After post-LSF heat treatment, we remove the surface oxygen
layer and machined the samples far away from the surface oxygen layer
of the deposits, and the fatigue samples were cut by electrical discharge
machining (EDM) in the deposited parts. The oxygen content of as-
deposited parts after heat treatment are 0.18 wt%, indicating the
oxygen content slightly increased in the deposited parts after STA
process. The residual stress of the heat-treated sample is smaller than
that of the as-deposited parts, this result supported by the study from
Leuders et al. [32]. In addition, the residual stress for the fatigue spe-
cimen will change during this EDM process. Therefore, in this work, we
did not consider the effect of residual stress on fatigue lives for STA
specimens. A more detailed description of the LSF Ti-6Al-4V experi-
mental and deposition patterns can be found in Ref. [25].
2.2. Low cycle fatigue tests
Strain-controlled LCF tests were carried out at room temperature in
fully reversed mode (strain ratio Rε = −1, f = 0.3 Hz, triangular wa-
veform) at constant total strain amplitudes (Δε/2 = 0.55%, 0.65%,
0.7%, 0.8%, 1.1%, 1.4% and 1.7%, respectively) using an INSTRON
8802 with extensometer of 12.5 mm gauge length. LCF samples with
gauge diameter of 6 mm, gauge length of 15 mm and total length of
73 mm were extracted from the LSF Ti-6Al-4V deposited parts by EDM
in accordance with Chinese standard for low cycle fatigue tests GB/T
15248-2008. The gauge section of each fatigue specimen was polished
along the longitudinal axis to reduce surface roughness effects on fa-
tigue behavior. We did not consider the surface roughness in this work,
because the fatigue specimen was machined by EDM from the heat-
treated deposited parts. In addition, the specimen have strictly re-
quirement for surface roughness (0.32 μm) for the fatigue specimen.
Twenty fatigue specimens for V900 and 21 for V1500 were con-
ducted at seven strain amplitudes. At the beginning of the LCF tests, we
conducted two V900 specimens for evaluating LCF lives at a strain
amplitude of 0.55% and found that the specimens were subjected to
little plastic strain from their hysteresis loops, showing an approxi-
mately linear relation. Thus, we increased the strain amplitudes (from
0.65%) for the following LCF tests for both V900 and V1500 specimens.
For a given strain amplitude, a minimum of three specimens was tested
to increase the fatigue data reliability, except for two specimens fati-
gued at high strain amplitude of 1.7% owing to their highly unstable
fatigue test processes. LCF lives of LSF Ti-6Al-4V specimens were
counted after the specimen fractured. Both the loading stress axis of the
LCF and tensile samples are parallel to the deposition direction (Z-axis)
of the LSF components. Note that all fatigue specimens were polished
along the longitudinal direction to impart a maximum of 0.4 μm surface
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International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73
roughness. That is, after polishing, all remaining grinding and polishing
marks should be longitudinal. Before the LCF tests, tensile tests were
also conducted at room temperature using an INSTRON 3382 universal
testing system at a strain rate of 1.7 × 10-3 s−1. We conducted the
tensile tests three times under a given condition (V900 and V1500,
respectively). The tensile test samples were cut from the deposited
samples (140 × 70 × 90 mm3) with gauge diameter of 4 mm, gauge
length of 15 mm and total length of 73 mm.
2.3. LCF model and analysis
Generally, there are many methods for evaluating low cycle fatigue
life and the two well-known methods were widely used. One is the
universal slope method, and the other is the local strain approach.
Manson [33] first proposed the universal slope method to evaluate the
low cycle fatigue data or strain-life curve. In addition, the slopes of the
plastic and elastic lines are universalized for all materials (c = −0.6;
b = −0.12), while σf′and εf′are dependent on tensile strength and true
fracture strength [33,34]. Later, to improve the prediction accuracy for
LCF life, a modified universal slope method (c = −0.56, b = −0.09)
was developed by Muralidharan and Manson [35]. A more detailed
description of estimation method for strain-life curves can be found in
M. Ricotta’s work [34].
The local strain approach relates the applied strain amplitude to the
number of reversals to failure, according to the Basquin, Manson and
Coffin equations [36–38]. The classical strain-controlled LCF approach
was used to predict the fatigue life for the initiation and early growth of
a crack within the strain field associated with the fully plastic region
ahead of a stress concentration [39]. In general, the total strain am-
plitude, Δε/2, separated elastic and plastic strain amplitude (Eq. (1)).
To evaluate the elastic strain component of fatigue lives, the Basquin
equation (Eq. (2)) was used. LCF behavior was analyzed using the
Coffin-Manson relation (Eq. (3)) between the plastic strain amplitude
Δεp/2 and the number of reversals to failure (2Nf). According to Eqs.
(1)–(3), one can obtain the total relation (Eq. (4)) between the strain
amplitude and fatigue life. The cyclic stress-plastic strain amplitude
curve is characterized by the relationship presented in Eq. (5).
Δε /2 = Δεe/2 + Δεp/2 (1)
σf′
Δεe/2 = (2Nf )b
E (2)
Δεp/2 = εf′ (2Nf )c (3)
σf′
Δε /2 = (2Nf )b + εf′ (2Nf )c
E (4)
Δσ /2 = K ′ (Δεp/2)n′ (5)
where Δε/2 is the total strain amplitude, Δσ/2 is the stress amplitude,
Δεe/2 is the elastic strain amplitude, Δεp/2 is the plastic strain ampli-
tude, σf′ is the fatigue strength coefficient, εf′ is the fatigue ductility
coefficient, b is the fatigue strength exponent, c is the fatigue ductility
exponent, K ′ is the cyclic strength coefficient, n′ is the cyclic strain
hardening exponent, E is the Young's modulus (∼117 GPa for LSF Ti-
6Al-4V alloy), and 2Nf is the number of reversals to failure.
3. Results
3.1. Low cycle fatigue properties
Fig. 1 shows the low cycle fatigue properties of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-
4V samples at two scanning velocities (900 and 1500 mm/min). By
comparing the LCF properties for V900 and V1500 samples, we found
that the LCF properties at scanning velocities 900 and 1500 mm/min
are not easy to distinguish (Fig. 1a). This small difference of LCF
properties existing in V900 and V1500 samples was due to the scatter in
Y.M. Ren, et al. International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73

Fig. 1. Low cycle fatigue properties of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples at two scanning velocities. (a) Sample position in deposited parts (140 × 70 × 90 mm3) and
the geometry of LCF samples, (b) LCF data at scanning velocities of 900 and 1500 mm/min, (c,d) Plastic amplitude range (Δεp/2) and reversals to failure (2Nf) at
scanning velocities of 900 and 1500 mm/min, (e,f) Stress amplitude and plastic amplitude at scanning velocities of 900 and 1500 mm/min. The forging equation is
derived from Ref. [40].

Table 1 STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples are comparable to the values of wrought
Strain-controlled fatigue parameters of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples. standard [40], whereas at strain amplitudes (Δε/2) between 1.1% and
σf′ (MPa) b εf′ c k′ (MPa) n’ 1.7% the LCF properties are smaller than those of wrought standard.
The Z-direction of deposited parts and the loading direction for the
V900 1134.90 −0.05217 0.20621 −0.57527 984.12 0.04781 fatigue specimen are shown in Fig. 1b. According to the Coffin-Manson
V1500 1106.82 −0.04474 0.21597 −0.60018 1033.20 0.04868
and Basquin equations, the relationships of Δε/2 − 2Nf, Δεp/2 − 2Nf,
Δεe/2 − 2Nf and Δσ/2 − Δεp/2 are depicted (see Fig. 1c–f) at scanning
Note: σf′: Fatigue strength coefficient; b: Fatigue strength exponent; εf′: Fatigue
ductility coefficient; c: Fatigue ductility exponent; k′: Cyclic strength coeffi- velocities of 900 and 1500 mm/min. From these fitting lines (see
cient; n′: Cyclic strain hardening exponent. Fig. 1c–f) of the important fatigue parameters, we can compare the
difference between LCF data in V900 and V1500 samples. The curve for
LCF data from the heterogeneous microstructure and the presence of wrought standard [40] is not a minimum bound. This curve fitted by
defects (such as pores, lack-of-fusion) in the specimens. In addition, at Coffin-Manson equation presents best fitting effect for all fatigue data.
strain amplitudes (Δε/2) between 0.8% and 1.1%, the LCF properties of The wrought standard Ti-6Al-4V alloy [40] exhibits equiaxed

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Fig. 2. Fatigue failure process of V1500 Ti-6Al-4V at a strain amplitude of 1.4%: (a) stress amplitude and Nf. (b) plastic strain amplitude and Nf; (c) stress and total
cycle times; (d) the magnified image at the beginning stage (at the beginning of the 40 s) corresponding to (c) marked dashed rectangle. (e) elastic modulus and Nf, (f)
the typical low cycle fatigued morphology of the V1500 sample at a strain amplitude of 1.4%.

microstructure (i.e. equiaxed α phase and β phases). For LSF Ti-6Al-4V
alloy, the microstructure has columnar prior-β grains and α-laths
within the grains. Compared with LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloy, the wrought Ti-
6Al-4V alloy has relatively finer grains than the LAM Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
The values of the important fatigue parameters are listed in Table 1.
From Table 1, we found fatigue strength exponent (b) and fatigue
ductility exponent (c) are close to the values (c = −0.56, b = −0.09)
from a modified universal slope method was developed by Mur-
alidharan and Manson [35]. This result demonstrates that the local
strain method is consistent with the modified universal slope method to
evaluate the low cycle fatigue life of LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
To understand the LCF mechanism, the detailed fatigue failure
process of STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V under the strain amplitude of 1.4% con-
dition was investigated (Fig. 2). The STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V shows initial
cyclic softening followed by steady state stage (Fig. 2a,b) and a typical
fatigued fracture surface (inset in Fig. 2b). The trend of the stress-time
relationship is similar to the stress-Nf curves at the whole stages
(Fig. 2c). Note that the stress values gradually reduced during the cyclic
loading. Furthermore, this result also demonstrates that LSF Ti-6Al-4V
alloy displayed tension-compression asymmetry behavior during LCF
loading. For example, under the strain amplitude of 1.4% condition, the
maximum tension stress is 918 MPa, and the minimum compression-
stress is −993 MPa (Fig. 2d), which caused the ratio of tension to
compression stress to not be equal to their strain ratio −1 (the real ratio
is −0.92). The loading and unloading moduli decreased with increasing
Nf during the fatigue process (Fig. 2e). In addition, Fig. 2f shows a ty-
pical macroscopic fatigued fracture of the LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The
fracture surface typically exhibits inclined characters to the loading
axis.
3.2. Cyclic softening behavior
Generally, the engineering alloys subjected to fatigue loading ex-
hibit cyclic softening or cyclic hardening phenomena [39]. A stress-Nf

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Fig. 3. Cyclic softening behavior of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples under different strain amplitudes: (a) Δε/2 = 0.65%, (b) Δε/2 = 0.7%, (c) Δε/2 = 0.8%, (d) Δε/
2 = 1.1%, (e) Δε/2 = 1.4% , (f) Δε/2 = 1.7%,
curve (Fig. 2a) shows that the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples subjected to
strain-controlled LCF loads exhibit the cyclic softening phenomenon. To
investigate the cyclic softening behavior of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V
samples, the hysteresis loop at different strain amplitudes (Fig. 3) was
used. Fig. 3 shows the cyclic softening behavior of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-
4V samples at six strain amplitudes (0.65%, 0.7%, 0.8%, 1.1%, 1.4%
and 1.7%). The hysteresis loops enlarged with the strain amplitudes
increased from 0.65% to 1.7%. In addition, with increasing the number
of cycles (Nf), the stress decreased at a given strain amplitude
(Fig. 3a–f). These results demonstrate that the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloy
exhibited the cyclic softening behavior under the strain–controlled
cyclic loading conditions. In general, the initial state of material con-
trolled the cyclic softening or hardening behavior [41]. When the initial
material belongs to soft state (UTS/YS ≥ 1.4), cyclic hardening occurs;
however, in the hard state (UTS/YS < 1.2), cyclic softening occurs. We
observed cyclic softening in this study, where the ratio of UTS/
YS≈1.12 belongs to the hard state for this criterion. For a clear illus-
tration, the cyclic softening ratio (CSR) during LCF is determined as
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International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73
follows [42]:
CSR = (Δσ max − Δσ half )/Δσ max (6)
where CSR is the cyclic softening ratio, Δσ max
is the maximum stress
amplitude and Δσhalf is the stress amplitude at the half lifetime.
Fig. 4 shows that the cyclic softening ratio of the LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloy
increased dramatically (from ∼0 to 0.12) at low strain amplitudes
(from 0.65% to 0.8%), whereas the SR increased slowly from ∼0.12 to
∼0.17 at high strain amplitudes (from 1.1% to 1.7%). With an increase
in strain amplitude, the cyclic softening behavior of STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V
enhanced. Note that the curves of cyclic softening ratio and strain
amplitude almost overlap in V900 and V1500 samples during the LCF
process. These results indicate that strain amplitudes during LCF tests
strongly affect the cyclic softening ratio during LCF tests. However,
these results also demonstrate that the microstructures have little effect
on the cyclic softening behavior. Fig. 5a and b shows the hysteresis
loops during the 10th cycles and half-life cycles at different strain
amplitudes, respectively. From Fig. 5a and b, we found increasing strain
Y.M. Ren, et al.
Fig. 4. Hysteresis loops of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples under different strain
amplitudes.
amplitude results in increasing area of the hysteresis loops. At the half
life cycles, the max stresses decreased compared with those at the 10th
cycles (Fig. 5a). From the Ramberg-Osgood relation [39], the cyclic
stress-strain curves can be expressed as follows:
Δε Δσ Δσ
= +( )1/0.05 (10th cycles)
2 2 × 110000 2 × 1080
Δε Δσ Δσ
= +( )1/0.05 (half life cycles)
2 2 × 100000 2 × 960
To understand the detailed fatigue failure behavior of STA LSF Ti-
6Al-4V, we also investigated the stress and plastic strain amplitudes
under different strain amplitudes (Fig. 6). The stress amplitude de-
creased and plastic strain amplitude increased with an increase of the Nf
at a given strain amplitude. These results also demonstrate cyclic soft-
ening behavior of STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V parts under cyclic loading con-
ditions. Note that, at large strain amplitudes (Δε/2 ≥ 1.1%), the plastic
strain amplitude increased larger than that at low strain amplitudes
(from 0.65% to 0.8%). The large increment of the plastic strain am-
plitude also demonstrated severe fatigue damage during the cyclic de-
formation process.
3.3. Fractographic analysis of the low cycle fatigued Ti-6Al-4V
To understand the fatigue crack initiation sites, LCF fractographs at
two scanning velocities (900 and 1500 mm/min) and three strain am-
plitudes (0.65%, 1.1% and 1.7%) were investigated. The fatigue crack
Fig. 5. Hysteresis loops of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples under different strain amplitudes: (a) 10th cycles, (b) Nf/2 cycles. The tips of stable hysteresis loops provide
the cyclic stress-strain curve, which are the fitting curves in (a) and (b).
International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73
initiated at the surface or subsurface of the samples at three different
strain amplitudes (Fig. 7). Furthermore, with increasing strain ampli-
tude (from 0.65% to 1.7%), the angle of fracture surface and stress-axis
increased in STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples (see inset of Fig. 7). These
findings demonstrate that strain amplitude can strongly affect the
fracture morphology of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples.
To clarify the fatigue crack propagation of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V
samples, LCF fractographs at two scanning velocities (900 and
1500 mm/min) and three strain amplitudes (0.65%, 1.1% and 1.7%)
were also studied. Compared with the fracture morphology (Fig. 8) of
the fatigue samples, the fatigue crack propagation features are similar
at the same strain amplitudes. For example, the fatigue striations ex-
isted in the propagation stage at strain amplitudes (0.65% and 1.1%),
but were hardly found in the samples at the large strain amplitude (Δε/
2 = 1.7%). That is, the fatigue morphology of STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V
samples exhibits different features at different strain amplitudes. Sec-
ondary cracks can be observed in all the fatigued LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples
(see Fig. 8). In addition, the secondary cracks increased and broadened
in the fracture surface at larger strain amplitudes (from 1.1% to 1.7%).
In addition, fracture morphology of a fatigued V1500 specimen at a
strain amplitude of 0.65% was observed (Fig. 9). We found the fatigue
crack initiated from the surface pore defect of a specimen (Fig. 9a, b). In
the fracture surface, typical striations, secondary cracks and propaga-
tion steps were also found (Fig. 9c, d).
Moreover, we observed each fatigued surface fractograph of V900
and V1500 specimens by SEM and the observed defects (see Fig. 10a–g)
(7)
and their sizes are listed in Table 2. Note that V1500 specimens typi-
cally have more and larger defects than V900 specimens. The equiva-
lent diameter by the square root of the area of the largest defect (i.e.,
(8)
lack-of-fusion) was observed to be ∼400 μm in the V1500 specimen
(see Fig. 10g). These findings demonstrate that a small surface defect
(diameter < 60 μm) will slightly decrease the LCF lives of LSF speci-
mens. A similar result has been reported by Åkerfeldt et al. [11] for
lack-of-defect affected LCF life in laser metal wire deposited Ti-6Al-4V.
This result may be caused by the different defect sensitivities for various
microstructures and the small experimental error during fatigue tests.
4. Discussions
4.1. Comparison of LCF properties of various AM Ti-6Al-4V samples
In general, the LCF properties of AM Ti-6Al-4V parts are strongly
dependent on their microstructures and the presence of defects (e.g.,
pores and lack-of-fusion) in deposited parts [21]. We collected the re-
cent LCF data of AM Ti-6Al-4V (see Table 3) from refs.[8–10,40,43–45]
to summarize the relationships between microstructural morphology,
deposition parameters and LCF properties. We investigated the LCF
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Fig. 6. Max stress and plastic strain amplitude versus number of cycles to failure at various strain amplitudes. (a) Max stress and number of cycles to failure (Nf)
under different strain amplitudes at a scanning velocity of 900 mm/min, (b) Max stress and Nf under different total strain amplitude at V1500; (c) Plastic strain
amplitude and Nf under different total strain amplitude at V900, and (d) Plastic strain amplitude and Nf under different total strain amplitude at V1500.

Fig. 7. LCF fractographs of STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples at different scanning velocities and strain amplitudes. The dash circle represents the crack origin under low
cycle fatigue processes. V900 and V1500 represent the scanning velocity 900 and 1500 mm/min, while the strain amplitude is 0.65%, 1.1% and 1.7%, respectively.
The inset is another view for the samples.

properties of LSF STA Ti-6Al-4V specimens with different prior-β grain amplitudes (from 0.55% to 1.7%) (Fig. 1b). We used the Δε/2 − 2Nf
sizes at two scanning velocities (900 and 1500 mm/min). The LCF curves to compare the differences in the LCF properties (Fig. 11a,b).
property data presented a scatter distribution at different strain These were fit by the Coffin-Manson and Basquin’s equations [39],

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Fig. 8. Low cycle fatigued fractographs of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples at different strain amplitudes and scanning velocities. (a) V900-0.65% represents the
scanning velocity 900 mm/min and strain amplitude 0.65%, (b) V1500-0.65%, (c) V900-1.1%, (d) V1500-1.1%, (e) V900-1.7%, and (f) V1500-1.7%.

which are the most popular equations for LCF properties. According to
the hysteresis loop at different strain amplitudes, we found that the
strain amplitude from 0.55% to 1.7% has a proper parameter for the
fatigue test. For example, the higher strain amplitude (Δε/2 > 1.7%)
caused the typical fatigue life to be less than 100 cycles (see Fig. 1b),
whereas at a lower strain amplitude (Δε/2 < 0.55%), the fatigue life
was typically greater than 104 cycles (see Fig. 1b). To distinguish this
slight difference of LCF curves for AM Ti-6Al-4V in Fig. 11a, we mag-
nified the Δε/2-2Nf curves (Fig. 11b). Thus, almost all the LCF prop-
erties of Ti-6Al-4V fabricated by AM are lower than those of their
wrought counterparts. (Fig. 11a, b). Note that the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V
parts have higher LCF lives than those of other AM Ti-6Al-4V in the
literature, which are comparable to those of their wrought counterparts
at intermediate strain amplitudes (from 0.8% to 1.1%). Ti-6Al-4V
wrought and Ti-6Al-4V extra low interstitial (ELI) wrought have su-
perior LCF lives than that of AM Ti-6Al-4V owing to their fine equiaxed
α grains resulting in a combination of high strength and high ductility,
especially the Ti-6Al-4V ELI wrought [45]. Note that the differences in
LCF properties between AM Ti-6Al-4V and the wrought standard are
much greater with an increase in the strain amplitude (Δε/2 ≥ 1.1%)
(Fig. 11a, b). Generally, the low cycle fatigue life for a given materials
and strain amplitude still exhibit large scatter [39]. In order to

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Fig. 9. Fracture morphology of a low cycle fatigued V1500 specimen at a strain amplitude of 0.65%. (a) Macro-morphology of a fatigued specimen. FCG denotes
fatigue crack propagation, (b) Fatigue crack initiated from surface pore, (c) Typical striations presented in FCG region, and (d) Fracture morphology showing
secondary cracks, striations and steps in the transition region.
eliminate the influence of the scatter of fatigue data, we use a unified
formula (i.e. Coffin-Manson equation) for comparative study. In addi-
tion, the fatigue data fitted by Coffin-Manson equation represents the
best confidence for each study. Thus, the substantial distinction from
the Coffin-Manson equation can basically reflect the difference between
all these datasets. These results demonstrate that the LSF Ti-6Al-4V
fabricated by high-power and certain deposition parameters have better
LCF lives than other AM Ti-6Al-4V under low-power (≤4000 W) con-
dition from references.
In addition, the ductility of LSF parts plays a more important role in
LCF properties than the tensile strength [39]. According to Refs. [20]
and our previous work [43], we found that as-built Ti-6Al-4V parts
typically have high yield strength (∼830–1000 MPa) but low ductility
(∼7%–11%). Because the low ductility of as-built Ti-6Al-4V parts ty-
pically result in inferior LCF lives, the LCF properties of as-built Ti-6Al-
4V V900 and V1500 specimens were not reported in this work, but can
be found in our previous work [43] using similar deposition para-
meters. The difference between our previous and present work lies in
the scanning velocity, for example, ∼700 mm/min as reported in Ref.
[43] but 900 and 1500 mm/min in this work. Furthermore, the LCF
properties of LSF Ti-6Al-4V under as-deposited, STA, and HIP condi-
tions were also reported (see curves F8-F10 in Table 2). We found that
the V900 and V1500 specimens under STA condition have superior LCF
lives as compared to those of our previous work under as-deposited,
STA, and HIP conditions.
Furthermore, the Coffin-Manson curves (Fig. 11c) from the fatigue
data at two scanning velocities (900 and 1500 mm/min) were studied
to evaluate the LCF properties. The LCF life curves for V900 and V1500
specimens present crossing characters within their strain amplitude
conditions (Δε/2 from 0.55% to 1.7%). For example, when the number
of reversals to failure (2Nf) is lower than ∼5000 cycles, the LCF
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International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73
properties of V1500 samples are slightly lower than those of the V900
samples. However, when 2Nf are higher than ∼5000 cycles, the LCF
properties of V1500 are higher than those of V900. These results de-
monstrate that increasing the scanning velocity may enhance the LCF
properties of the LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloys at the lower strain amplitudes.
Note that the LCF lives of the V1500 specimen are slightly higher than
those of the V900 specimens at low strain amplitudes regimes. This
result may be caused by the V1500 specimens with the finer α-phase
(5 ± 1.0 μm) and finer prior-β grains (630 ± 150 μm) than those of
the V900 specimen with the coarser α-phase (9 ± 1.0 μm) and coarser
prior-β grains (1000 ± 150 μm), these microstructures can be found in
our previous work [25]. The difference between the LCF curves for
V900 and V1500 specimens is slightly smaller due to the small differ-
ence between their tensile properties; particularly the ductility was
approximately equal.
Generally, the strain-life curves are often called “low cycle fatigue”
due to their data resulting in fewer than ∼105 cycles [46]; therefore,
we used this number (∼105 cycles) as a boundary for low and high
cycle fatigue lives. Fig. 11d shows a schematic of the relationship
among yield strength (YS), elongation to failure (δ) and LCF properties.
According to the Coffin-Manson equation, (Eq. (4)), it was found that
YS generally controlled the fatigue strength coefficient (σf′) and the
fatigue strength exponent (b), whereas elongation to failure (δ) con-
trolled the fatigue ductility coefficient (εf′) and the fatigue ductility
exponent (c). Therefore, the improvement in YS will increase the LCF
life at low strain amplitudes, while the improvement of the δ will in-
creases the LCF life at high strain amplitudes. Both YS and δ of AM Ti-
6Al-4V parts increase, and the LCF life will be enhanced at all strain
amplitudes. From the influence of yield strength and ductility on LCF
lives (see Fig. 11d), the LCF lives of V900 specimens should be higher
than those of the V1500 specimens at a large strain amplitude regime
Y.M. Ren, et al. International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73

Fig. 10. Fractographs of low cycle fatigued Ti-6Al-4V specimens showing the observed pores and lack-of-fusion defects. (a) V900-0.55% and Nf = 16136, (b) V1500-
0.7% and Nf = 3240, (c) V1500-1.4% and Nf = 95, (d) V1500-0.8% and Nf = 1660, (e) V1500-1.1% and Nf = 550, (f) V900-0.65% and Nf = 4505, (g) V1500-1.4%
and Nf = 194, (h) V1500-0.8% and Nf = 1660, (i) V1500-1.1% and Nf = 456. Note that the equivalent diameter area of lack-of-fusion defect (∼540 μm × 295 μm)
is ∼400 μm in (g).

(Δε/2 ≥ 1.0%).
Fig. 12 shows a schematic of the relationship between linear energy
density and tensile properties and microstructures for the LSF process.
Owing to the strength-ductility trade off dilemma, we should balance
the strength and ductility for LSF Ti-6Al-4V parts under low and high
power LSF processes. The AM Ti-6Al-4V parts under large linear energy
density (E) conditions usually have lower tensile strength than under
low E conditions [25,28]. Thus, for high power LSF processes, we
should decrease the linear energy density to enhance the strength of AM
Ti-6Al-4V parts. This result is mainly caused by the post-LSF heat
treatment, which essentially sacrificed strength to increase ductility.
Based on the relationship between the tensile properties and low
cycle fatigue properties, it can be seen that the LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloy has
high plasticity typically has a high LCF life. Fig. 13 is a schematic of the

Table 2
The observed defects in fractographs of fatigued STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples.
No. Sample condition Diameter of defect size (μm) Position of defects Nf (cycles)

N1 V900-3#-0.55% 115 Surface 16,136

N2 V900-17#-0.65% 40 Interior 4505
N3 V900-12#-0.8% 35 Interior 2650
N4 V1500-39#-0.65% 150 Surface 4298
N5 V1500-40#-0.65% 190 Surface 4872
N6 V1500-26#-0.7% 105, 105, 140 Surface, others interior 3240
N7 V1500-23#-0.8% 130, 230 Interior 1800
N8 V1500-13#-0.8% 200 Surface 1660
N9 V1500-25#-1.1% 280 Subsurface 550
N10 V1500-9#-1.1% 80 Interior 669
N11 V1500-15#-1.1% 70 Interior 456
N12 V1500-38#-1.4% 35, 150, 150, 400 Interior 194
N13 V1500-21#-1.4% 290 Surface 95

Note that the defect size of 105 μm with bold-fonts is the surface defect of the sample. other defects (105, 140 μm) are the interior defects.

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Y.M. Ren, et al. International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73

Table 3
Low cycle fatigue Δε/2 − 2Nf curves of the Ti-6Al-4V fabricated by AM process and wrought counterparts from various references.
No Condition β grain size (μm) α morphology and average size YS (MPa) El (%) Δε/2 − 2Nf equation Ref.
(μm)

F1 LSF TC4 STA 1000 ± 150 Basket-weave α + AMellar 791.6 ± 12 18.2 ± 0.2 Δε/2 = 0.0097(2Nf)−0.05217 + 0.20621(2Nf)−0.57527 This
V900 (αs + β), 9 ± 1.0 work
F2 LSF TC4 STA 630 ± 150 Basket-weave α + AMellar 839.5 ± 11 17.8 ± 0.5 Δε/2 = 0.00946(2Nf)−0.04474 + 0.21597(2Nf)−0.60018
V1500 (αs + β), 5 ± 1.0
F3 As-built LENS ∼138 α laths, (138 μm long, 4 μm width) 908 3.8 Δε/2 = 0.022(2Nf)−0.135 + 0.030(2Nf)−0.530 [8]
F4 HT LENS ∼138 α laths, (74 μm long, 11 μm width) 959 3.7 Δε/2 = 0.015(2Nf)−0.111 + 0.736(2Nf)−0.967
F5 Annealed LENS ∼138 Widamanstatten α-laths (coarse) 957 34 Δε/2 = 0.040(2Nf)−0.210
F6 LENS 1 Large Basket-weave α (coarser) + αs 908 15.2 Δε/2 = 0.019412(2Nf)−0.136 + 0.256(2Nf)−0.797 [9]
F7 LENS 2 Small Basket-weave α 956 13.4 Δε/2 = 0.019583(2Nf)−0.127 + 7.55(2Nf)−1.290
F8 As-built TC4 200–1000 Widamanstatten α, 1–2 893 11 Δε/2 = 0.01177(2Nf)−0.07162 + 2.13535(2Nf)−1.00070 [43]
F9 STA TC4 200–1000 Basket-weave α, 2.5–3.5 896 10 Δε/2 = 0.01058(2Nf)−0.06089 + 0.77732 (2Nf)−0.83707
F10 HIP TC4 200–1000 Basket-weave α, 2.5–3 872 12.3 Δε/2 = 0.01028(2Nf)−0.05750 + 0.58990(2Nf)−0.78261
F11 LSF STA 200–500 Basket-weave α, 2–5 1020 14 Δε/2 = 0.013975(2Nf)−0.09854 + 0.703526(2Nf)−0.89922 [10]
F12 TC4ELI wrought α grain: ∼4um Equiaxed α 992 15 Δε/2 = 0.01242(2Nf)−0.060 + 4.83(2Nf)−0.898 [45]
F13 TC4 wrought Equiaxed grains Equiaxed α ≥825 ≥10 Δε/2 = 0.013 (2Nf)−0.07 + 2.69(2Nf)−0.96 [40]
F14 SLM TC4 ELI Fine acicular a’ martensite 1015 10 Δε/2 = 0.02761 (2Nf)−0.186 + 15.35(2Nf)−1.47 [44]

Note: LSF: laser solid forming, STA: solution treatment and aging, LENS, laser engineered net shape, HT: heat treated, HIP: heat isostatic pressing, ELI: extra low
interstitial, YS: yield strength, El: elongation to failure. TC4: Ti-6Al-4V.

Fig. 11. Comparison of LCF properties of AM Ti-6Al-4V and the wrought standard: (a) various AM Ti-6Al-4V samples and the wrought standard. (b) Magnification of
(a) shown in the dashed rectangle; TC4 is short for Ti-6Al-4V. (c) LCF properties of LSF Ti-6Al-4V at two scanning velocities, (d) Schematic of the relationships among
yield strength (YS), elongation to failure (δ) and LCF properties. Note: F1-F2[This work], F3-F5[8], F6-F7[9], F8-F10[43], F11[10], F12[45], F13[40], and F14[44].

relationships between LCF properties, tensile properties, and micro-
structure characteristics of AM Ti-6Al-4V. In Fig. 13, the wrought
standard (i.e., elongation is 10%, yield strength is 825 MPa) is used as
the boundary. When the tensile property is higher than the wrought
standard, this tensile property is basically qualified, as shown in the
acceptable region. Outside this acceptable zone, it is an unacceptable
(i.e., not acceptable) zone. In the upper half of the unacceptable zone,
the microstructure usually has a martensitic α’ phase, which reduced to
AM parts have high strength and low elongation. In the lower half of the
unacceptable zone, AM parts usually have both low strength and low
elongation due to the presence of a large number of defects in the
sample and the α-phases. In the acceptable region, the microstructure is
usually a mixture of equiaxed or α-laths phase and fine lamellar
(αs + β). From the results of the LCF properties comparison, in order to
obtain excellent LCF performance, the corresponding data points should
first fall into the acceptable area, and secondly in the lower right part of
the acceptable area (more excellent plasticity). Combined with tensile
properties and LCF properties, it can be seen that the high power LCF
Ti-6Al-4V alloy generally has a higher elongation and thus has a better
LCF property than the AM process under low power conditions. In ad-
dition, AM Ti-6Al-4V parts with lamellar (αs + β) microstructures ty-
pically exhibit superior ductility, and these findings are supported by

68
Y.M. Ren, et al.
Fig. 12. Schematic of microstructures and tensile properties versus linear en-
ergy density for LSF process, Note that dβ and dα represent the prior-β grain
width and α-lath width, respectively.
Fig. 13. Relationships between LCF, tensile strength and microstructure fea-
tures for AM Ti-6Al-4V.
the Ref. [47].
4.2. Surface defects versus LCF properties
For defect and fatigue properties, the well-known relation was de-
scribed by the so-called Kitagawa-Takahashi diagram [48]. More re-
cently, Beretta and Romano [49] reviewed the fatigue strength of AM
Ti-6Al-4V, especially in terms of sensitivity to defects and in-
homogeneities. M. Benedetti et al. [44] investigated the influence of
mean stress and defect sensitivity on low and high cycle fatigue re-
sistance of Ti-6Al-4V ELI additively manufactured via selective laser
melting process. They found the defectiveness in high cycle fatigue
regime is well represented by the Murakami model. Tammas-Williams
et al. [50] believed that the size and location of these defects is crucial
in determining the fatigue life of AM Ti-6Al-4V samples. However, little
work was reported about the surface defect and LCF properties for AM
parts. Thus, the LCF lives of LSF Ti-6Al-4V specimens at certain strain
amplitudes (0.65% and 1.1%) were presented (see Fig. 14a–h and
Table 4) to investigate the influence of surface defects on LCF
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International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73
properties. It can be found from Table 4 that a medium (∼190 μm)
surface defect dramatically decreased the LCF properties. Surprisingly,
the fatigued specimens with a small (∼60 μm) surface defect still have
a high LCF life (see Table 4) at a given strain amplitude.
To explain the effect of surface defects on fatigue life, we in-
vestigated the relationship between the defect diameter versus strain
amplitude and maximum stress amplitude for LSF Ti-6Al-4V subjected
to LCF loading. The main formulas are as follows:
Δσ ΔK
=
2 2Fw π area (9)
ΔK Δε
= σ0 [1 − exp(−A )]
2Fw π area 2 (10)
where area is Murakami’s parameter [51] for expressing the defect
size, Fw is a geometrical factor and depends on the defect location
(Fw = 0.65 for surface defect and Fw = 0.5 for internal defect), ΔK is the
stress intensity factor range, Δσ is the applied stress range. σ0 and A are
constants. Detailed descriptions of Eqs. (9) and (10) see supplementary
material A1.
Because ΔK is unknown in this formula, and this value directly
determines the position of the black solid line and the red dashed line, it
corresponds to the relationship between the defect size and the stress
amplitude or strain amplitude, thus, we needs to first determine the ΔK
value. In order to obtain the effect of surface defects on fatigue life, we
choose the experimental results of the stress amplitudes of 6 surface
defects from Table 4 (see the data labeled surface in Table 4 for details),
due to the experimental point (0.55%–115 μm) is the point at which the
fatigue fracture passes through the smallest point of the surface defect
size, and the experimental point (1.1%–60 μm) is the point at which the
surface defect size has no influence on the fatigue crack initiation po-
sition. In this work, these two points are taken as the critical point for
determining ΔK, so that ΔK = 15.5 MPa m1/2 was obtained. Therefore,
the relationship between the defect and the stress amplitude and the
relationship between the defect and the strain amplitude during low-
cycle fatigue can be expressed as:
Δσ 15.5
=
2 2Fw π area (11)
15.5 Δε
= 986.13346[1 − exp( −1.99124 )]
2Fw π area 2 (12)
Thus, it can be judged that the presence of the maximum defect size
does not affect its LCF life under a given strain amplitude.
The sample with surface defect (black curve) is more harmful
(Fw(surface)/ Fw(interior) = 0.65/0.5 = 1.3 times) than that with interior
defect (red dash curve) to fatigue lives. The experimental data (e.g.,
from Exp. 1 to Exp. 6 in Fig. 15) were obtained by SEM observing the
fatigued fracture surface of STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V samples. Meanwhile,
from Fig. 15 the effect of the size of the defect on LCF life can be easily
predicted. If the combination of defect size and cyclic load (for ex-
ample, maximum stress amplitude or strain amplitude) is located in the
lower left area (Olive area) of Fig. 15, the defect may slightly reduce the
LCF life of the Ti-6Al-4V sample; if this combination is in the area above
the red dashed curve, the defect will significantly reduce the low cycle
fatigue life. In addition, Fig. 15(b) can predict the effect of surface
defects and internal defects on fatigue life under different strain am-
plitudes. For example, at a given strain amplitude, a horizontal line can
be drawn to intersect the black solid line and the red dashed line to
obtain a critical value of the defect size. If the actual defect size is larger
than the critical value, the defect can be basically predicted the strain
amplitude is dangerous, that is, it will greatly reduce the final LCF life;
if the actual defect is less than the critical value, it can be predicted that
the defect is safe under this strain amplitude, that is, it is not significant
reduce the LCF life.
Y.M. Ren, et al. International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73

Fig. 14. Surface defects and fatigue crack initiation of the fatigued V1500 specimen: (a) marked area contains a defect (pore) at the surface of the fatigued sample, (b)
magnified defect morphology showing this ∼60 μm defect position without affect the fatigue crack initiation, (c) fatigued sample after 669 cycles, (d) typical
fractograph of the sample, (e) magnified image of the (d) showing dashed rectangle, (f) fatigue crack initiated at ∼190 μm surface defect, (g) fatigued sample after
4872 cycles, (h) fatigued surface of the specimen (Nf = 4872 cycles) corresponds to (g).

Table 4 formed by a particle or pore, Nmsc represents the number of cycles re-
LCF properties of LSF Ti-6Al-4V V1500 with surface defects at different strain quired for growth of an MSC, Npsc is the number of cycles required for
amplitudes. propagation of a PSC with length in the interval and Nlc is the number
Δε/2 (%) Nf (cycles) Surface defect size Crack initiation of cycles required for long crack growth to final failure, which depends
(μm) position on the loading level and the extent of local plasticity ahead of the crack
tip. In general, for AM Ti-6Al-4V specimens, Nlc was not observed and
0.65 4872 ∼190 Cross the defect
was thus neglected [53].
0.65 4298, 6068
1.1 669 ∼60 Not cross the defect Crack incubation at pores or inclusions was modeled by a modified
1.1 374, 456, 550, Coffin-Manson relation, as shown by Eqs. (14)–(18):
702 α
Cinc Ninc =β (14)

1 l
4.3. A Fatigue life prediction model and calibration Cinc = Cn + < − 0.3 > (Cm − Cn )
0.7 D (15)

A microstructure-based multistage fatigue (MSF) model was first P∗

Δγmax l
β= = Y (εa − εth )q , < ηlim
developed by McDowell et al. [52] for a cast A356-T6 aluminum alloy 2 D (16a)
and was calibrated by Torries et al. [53] for laser additive manu-
P∗
facturing Ti-6Al-4V. A brief recast of the MSF model is described in the Δγmax l l
β= = Y (1 + ξ )(εa − εth )q , > ηlim
following accompanied by a detailed explanation of model parameters 2 D D (16b)
for LSF Ti-6Al-4V. In the MSF model, the stages of fatigue damage D0 d′
evolution typically contain crack incubation, microstructurally small Y = [y1 + (1 + R) y2 ]( )
D (17)
crack (MSC) and physically small crack (PSC) growth as well as long
crack (LC) growth. Thus, the total fatigue life, Nt, may be considered as: l < ε − εth > l
= ηlim a , < ηlim
D εper − εth D (18a)
Nt = Ninc + Nmsc/psc + Nlc (13)
l εper r l
= 1 − (1 − ηlim )( ), > ηlim
where Ninc is the number of cycles to incubate a crack at a micronotch D εa D (18b)

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Y.M. Ren, et al. International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73

Table 5
List of parameters used in the MSF model for LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
Definition Parameter value Ref.

Incubation
Coefficient for nucleation in HCF region Cn 0.009
Coffin-Manson coefficient for incubation Cm 0.21
Ductility exponent in Coffin-Manson law α V900: −0.575
V1500: −0.6
Exponent in remote strain to local plastic q 2.45 [53]
shear strain
Constant in remote strain to local plastic y1 100
shear strain
Shape constant for the transition to limit r 0.2
plasticity
Percolation limits from constrained to ηlim 0.3 [53]
unconstrained
Cyclic plastic strain percolation limits εper 0.52%
Fatigue damage threshold εth 0.22%

MSC/PSC growth
Constant factor to model combined stress θ 0
state effects
Material constant χ 0.32 [55]
Coefficient for the LCF regime CI 1.3 × 105
Coefficient for the HCF regime CII 0.35
Exponents for the HCF regime n 4.3 [57]
Average void volume fraction (porosity) f(ϕ) ∼1
Burgers vector for HCP Ti, b ΔCTDth 2.95 × 10-4 μm [3]

Note that the parameter without cited reference is from this work.

Fig. 15. Defects size and fatigue crack initiation of the fatigued specimen: (a)
relationship between the defects size and max stress amplitudes, and (b) re-
lationship between the defects size and strain amplitudes.
where Cn is the coefficient in the HCF regime for nucleation and small
crack growth at inclusions, α is the ductility exponent in the Coffin-
Manson law, R is the load ratio, β is the nonlocal damage parameter
based on the ratio between plastic zone sizes around a defect, D is the
size of the pertinent inclusion at which fatigue incubates, l/D is the
nominal ratio between the plastic zone size and the diameter of the
defect that forms the fatigue damage, εth = 0.29Sut/(E(1 − R)) is the
fatigue damage threshold, εper = (0.7 − 0.9) σycyc/ E is the cyclic plastic
strain percolation limit, q is the exponent in remote strain to local
plastic shear strain, and ξ is the geometric factor determined in mi-
cromechanical simulations. The r is a shape constant for the transition
to limit plasticity, and ηlim is the limiting factor that defines the tran-
sition from constrained microplasticity to unconstrained microplasticity
at the notch. D0 is the diameter of the pore serving as the crack in-
itiation site, and d’ is the effect of the pore size on local plastic strain; y1
and y2 are constants, the parameter Y is correlated with y1 and y2.
Function < f > = f if f ≥ 0; < f > = 0 otherwise.
The MSC/PSC growth law is given by Eqs. (19)–(21):
da
( )msc/psc = χ (ΔCTD − ΔCTDth)
dN (19)
∧ P
DCS U Δσ n DCS Δγmax 2
ΔCTD = f (φ¯)CII ( )[ ] ai + CI ( )( ) driven by the MSC/PSC growth stage, which is the same result found in
DCS0 Sut DCS0 2 (20)
ϕ¯
f (ϕ¯ ) = 1 + ω {1 − exp(− )}
2ϕth (21)
where ΔCTD is the crack tip displacement range, which is proportional
to crack length ai = 0.5625D, σan is the nth power of the applied stress
amplitude in the HCF regime and the range of macroscopic plastic shear
strain in the LCF regime, CI is the LCF coefficient, CII and n are the
coefficient and exponents for the HCF regime, re-
∧
spectively.Δσ = 2θσ¯a + (1 − θ)Δσ1 is the equivalent applied stress
' '
3 Δσij Δσij
range, σ¯a = [ 2 2 2 ]0.5 is the von Mises uniaxial effective stress am-
plitude, and Δσ1 is the maximum principal stress range. The parameter θ
is in the range of 0≤ < θ ≤ 1, with θ = 1 as the von Mises stress
dominant case and θ = 0 as the maximum principal stress dominant
case. Note that χ is a constant for a given microstructure, typically less
than unity, and ΔCTD is the range of cyclic crack tip displacement. DCS
is the dendrite cell size, and DCS0 is the reference dendrite cell size. The
function f (ϕ¯ ) represents the average void volume fraction (porosity) ϕ̄ .
The parameter U is the load ratio parameter in the form of U = 1/
(1 − R) for R ≤ 0 and U = 1 for R > 0. A more detailed description
and assumption for the MSF model can be found in Refs. [54–56].
A summary of the MSF model parameters for the LSF Ti-6Al-4V
alloy is shown in Table 5. Among these parameters, the coefficients of
Eqs. (19)–(21) and previous Eqs. (14)–(18) for predicting incubation
life were determined by Refs. [54,55,57] and this work. Once the
parameters were determined, the incubation life, MSC/PSC life, MSF
prediction life, as well as MSF upper and lower bounds can be obtained
according to MSF model. MSF model parameters were obtained using
Microsoft Excel and Origin software for model correlation and optimi-
zation for each stage of fatigue life. Note that the combination of the
parameters of MSF model controls the prediction effect of fatigue life.
Fig. 16 shows the fatigue life predictions using the MSF model for
STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloys under V900 and V1500 conditions. Fig. 16(a,
c) present the contribution of crack incubation and MSC/PSC growth to
the total fatigue life, given by the MSF model, for the V900 and V1500
specimens. Fig. 16(b, d) presents the fatigue upper and lower bounds
for the V900 and V1500 specimens, respectively. As shown in Fig. 16(a,
c), the fatigue life of STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V appears to be almost entirely
Ref. [53] reporting the MSF model for AM Ti-6Al-4V. The MSF model
can give satisfactory fatigue life predictions for STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V ex-
cept for a slightly differences at low (0.55%) strain amplitudes in V900
specimens. The prediction fatigue life is slightly lower than the ex-
perimental fatigue data at 0.55%, this difference may be caused by the

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Y.M. Ren, et al.
Fig. 16. Fatigue life predictions using MSF model for STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloys under V900 and V1500 conditions. (a) Incubation and MSC/PSC life for V900
specimens, (b) MSF lower bound and upper bound for V900 specimens, (c) Incubation and MSC/PSC life for V1500 specimens, (d) MSF lower bound and upper bound
for V1500 specimens. The upper and lower bounds were obtained for the smallest (∼5 μm) and largest (∼400 μm) average incubation pores or inclusions. The MSF
prediction life was obtained for intermediate (∼100 μm) pores or inclusions.
parameters used in the MSF model and the large dispersity of experi-
mental data. In addition, this MSF prediction error has a similar ten-
dency with that of Ref. [53], which presents large error at low strain
amplitude. Thus, this MSF prediction error is acceptable in this in-
vestigation. For the lower bounds and MSF prediction life, we used the
largest (∼400 μm) and moderate (∼100 μm) average incubation pores
or inclusions. The MSF lower bound and prediction total life are fit well
with the experimental data; this may be caused by the presence of
several pores or lack-of-fusion defects in the fatigued specimens
showing similar weight factor with such large (∼400 and ∼100 μm,
respectively) pores in the MSF model. Thus, through the MSF model,
fatigue life predictions of LSF Ti-6Al-4V can be more accurately pre-
dicted, resulting in more trustworthy LSF parts and quicker adoption of
LSF processes for industry applications.
5. Conclusions
Low cycle fatigue (LCF) properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy fabricated by
high-power (7600 W) laser solid forming (LSF) additive manufacturing
at solution treatment and aging (STA) condition were investigated. The
main findings are summarized as follows:
(1) The STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V parts exhibit higher LCF lives than those of
other AM Ti-6Al-4V in the literature, which are also comparable to
those of their wrought counterparts at intermediate strain ampli-
tudes (from 0.8% to 1.1%).
(2) Cyclic softening behaviors of the STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V parts are found
at various strain amplitudes (from 0.65% to 1.7%). With an in-
crease in strain amplitude, the degree of cyclic softening increased.
(3) Small surface defect (diameter less than ∼60 μm) slightly decreases
72
International Journal of Fatigue 127 (2019) 58–73
the LCF lives of STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V parts even at a high (∼1.1%)
strain amplitude.
(4) A microstructure-based multistage fatigue (MSF) model was used to
predict the LCF life for STA LSF Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The fatigue life
prediction obtained with this MSF model shows good agreement
with our experimental data.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Key Research and
Development Plan of China (2016YFB1100104).
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2019.05.035.
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