In situ strain profiling of elastoplastic bending in Ti–6Al–4V alloy by synchrotron energy dispersive x-ray diffraction

Elastic and plastic strain evolution under four-point bending has been studied by synchrotron energy dispersive x-ray diffraction. Measured strain profiles across the specimen thickness showed an increasing linear elastic strain gradient under increasing four-point bending load up to ∼2 kN. The bulk elastic modulus of Ti–6Al–4V was determined as 118 GPa. The onset of plastic deformation was found to set in at a total in-plane strain of ∼0.008, both under tension and compression. Plastic deformation under bending is initiated in the vicinity of the surface and at a stress of 1100 MPa, and propagates inward, while a finite core region remains elastically deformed up to 3.67 kN loading. The onset of the plastic regime and the plastic regime itself has been verified by monitoring the line broadening of the (100) peak of α-Ti. The effective compression/tension stress-strain curve has been obtained from the scaling collapse of strain profile data taken at seven external load levels. A similar multiple load scaling collapse of the plastic strain variation has also been obtained. The level of precision in strain measurement reported herein was evaluated and found to be 1.5×10^-5 or better.