Titanium Brittle Alpha Case from Laser Engraving

Titanium is a commonly used material throughout Blue Origin's vehicles and engines. This student team will work with Blue Origin to investigate layer thickness of alpha case resulting from part-marking titanium parts via laser engraving and determine the effect of this alpha case on the fatigue and fracture performance of the material. This student team will work to characterize the presence of alpha case on laser engraving Ti hardware, understand the effect of the alpha case on properties, and set acceptance criteria for the presence of alpha case due to laser engraving based on part thickness. Although it is known that alpha case is brittle and can reduce the material's fatigue and fracture performance, Blue Origin is interested in quantifying its effect on hardware performance. This student team will work to characterize the presence of alpha case on laser engraved Ti hardware and understand the effect of the alpha case on properties. This student team will work to perform characterization on laser engraved parts, and compare the characterization to a baseline non-laser engraved Ti surfaces of the same alloy. The characterization this student team will work to conduct should include measuring depth of alpha case as a function of distance from laser engraving, cross sectional microscopy, and mechanical testing to determine the impact of the alpha case and geometric discontinuities on fracture performance when compared to baseline non-laser engraved Ti surfaces of the same alloy. This student team will work to create baseline and laser engraved data. The outcome this student team will work to achieve is a test report and presentation documenting the characterization methods, mechanical test methods, results and recommendations for a mitigation path forward for existing and future New Shepard Ti Parts.

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