  Results of shell-model calculations for lower fp-shell nuclei show that SU(3)
symmetry breaking in this region is driven by the single-particle spin-orbit
splitting. However, even though states of the yrast band exhibit SU(3) symmetry
breaking, the results also show that the yrast band B(E2) values are
insensitive to this fragmentation of the SU(3) symmetry; specifically, the
quadrupole collectivity as measured by B(E2) transition strengths between low
lying members of the yrast band remain high even though SU(3) appears to be
broken. Results for $^{44,46,48}Ti$ and $^{48}Cr$ using the Kuo-Brown-3
two-body interaction are given to illustrate these observations.
