Structural Static Performance of Welded Built-Up Beams Made from Titanium and a Titanium Alloy

Titanium and its alloys are commonly used due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, high stiffness-to-weight ratio, excellent corrosion resistance, and superior ballistic properties. However, the cost of producing structural components made from titanium or its alloys is often greater than those made from other traditional materials.  The use of built-up welded fabrication has potential to reduce costs. Rolled plates and sheets of titanium and its alloys can be cut to size and welded together to fabricate a built-up structural component without having to machine the part from a large billet of titanium.  The results of a recent study on welded built-up beams are presented in this paper. The beams were fabricated by welding two flanges to the web plate using fillet welds produced by Pulsed GMAW process that was developed at the US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal Facility.  CP titanium (Grade 2) and a common titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) were the two materials used in the study.  Brief details of the welding process used in the project, and the structural static and fatigue behavior of the test beams are presented.  Stresses, strains, flexural stiffness, deflection, strength, and failure modes of the test beams under static loading are discussed.  The welded built-up beam concept for titanium and its alloys was found to be a suitable option for the fabrication of structural beams that are required to carry large transverse loads.