Comparison of mechanical efficiency of two microstructures of Ti5553 alloy in the case of bolted flanges submitted to tensile loading

A combination of numerical and experimental methods is used to compare the efficiency of two microstructures of Ti5553 titanium alloy in an industrial test case. The test case consists in two parts of sectors of aircraft engine stators linked together by an Inconel bolt and submitted to tensile loading. The efficiency of these microstructures is evaluated by using finite element (FE) models. The chosen FE models take into account elasto-visco-plastic material behaviors, contact with friction (bolt heads/flanges and flange/flange), and the initial bolt tightening. The parameters of the elasto-visco-plastic (EVP) material law are adjusted from experimental results extracted from tensile tests performed on Inconel, and Ti5553 alloys. Viscous properties are observed at different strain rates. The studied alloy is assumed to be plastically isotropic. In order to compare the fracture resistance of both microstructures, a micro-mechanical (damage based) rupture model ([4]) is used as a FE post-processing step.