Quantitative evaluation of residual stress and microstructural effects on the surface hardness of machined Ti-6Al-4 V alloy with microscopic characterization techniques

The surface hardness of machined Ti-6Al-4 V components has a significant influence on the service performance and fatigue life. It's acknowledged that the hardness value of machined surface is dependent on microstructure and residual stress, however, the quantification of their influence levels on surface hardness is still an unresolved issue, which limits the potential for further enhancing the mechanical property of machined parts. Furthermore, it's difficult for current studies to fully reveal the mechanism of hardness fluctuation due to release of residual stress. To address these gaps, this study presents a novel method for quantitatively evaluating residual stress and microstructural effects on the machined surface hardness using microscopic characterization techniques. The microstructures of machined Ti-6Al-4 V workpiece were characterized by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and the microstructural hardening effects were analyzed. The residual stresses release and evaluation were performed by the Focused Ion Beam-Digital Image Correlation (FIB-DIC) ring core method, then the surface hardening originated from residual stress and microstructural effects can be assessed by nano-indentation measurements. The results show that the surface hardness increase induced by the combined effects of compressive residual stress and microstructure, where the microstructural hardening can be strengthening by obtaining smaller grain size and high proportion low grain boundary, and the higher magnitudes of compressive residual stress can also enhance the hardness increase. The surface softening induced by compressive residual stress relaxation with no obvious microstructural alterations was observed and the maximum softening reached 14.54% in this study. The findings are beneficial for understanding the mechanical property strengthening mechanism of the machined parts.