Effect of residual stress relaxation by means of local rapid induction heating on stress corrosion cracking behavior and electrochemical characterization of welded Ti-6Al-4V alloy under slow strain rate test

In this study, a welded Ti-6Al-4V alloy was treated by means of local rapid induction heating in order to relax the residual stress existed in the weldment. The welded samples were heat treated at the different temperatures. The stress corrosion cracking behavior and electrochemical characterization of the as-welded samples before and after the post weld heat treatment as a function of residual stress were investigated. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements of the samples under slow strain rate test were performed in a LiCl-methanol solution. The results demonstrated that the residual stress in the as-welded sample was dramatically reduced after the post weld heat treatment, and the residual stress decreased with the increase in the heat treatment temperature. The stress corrosion cracking susceptibility and electrochemical activity of the as-welded sample were significantly reduced after the heat treatment due to the relaxation of the residual stress, which gradually decreased with the decreasing value of the residual stress distributed in the heat treated samples.