Microstructure–fracture toughness correlation in an aircraft structural component alloy Ti–5Al–5V–5Mo–3Cr

Ti–5Al–5V–5Mo–3Cr alloy is a relatively new alloy developed for aircraft structural application where fracture toughness is an important property of consideration. A systematic variation of processing parameters has been carried out to generate different beta annealed microstructures, in terms of their dimensions in this alloy. Quantitative measurements of microstructural features have been carried out using stereological procedures. Different length scales of features have been correlated with the fracture toughness in order to optimize the processing parameters to develop desired microstructure that results in improved fracture toughness. The change in fracture mode associated with different microstructures has been investigated using fractographic analysis.