Effects of Aging Temperature on Microstructure and High Cycle Fatigue Performance of 7075 Aluminum Alloy

The hardness, the tensile and the high-cycle fatigue（HCF） performances of 7075 aluminum alloy were investigated under temper T651, solution treated at 380 ℃ for 0.5 h and aged at different temperatures（150, 170, 190 ℃） for 10 hours. The optimal microstructures and the fatigue fracture surfaces were observed. The results show that the hardness and the tensile performances are at their optimum at T651, but the fatigue life is the shortest. The hardness and the elongation are the lowest after solution treatment. With the aging temperature increasing（150-190 ℃）, the HCF is improved. The crack is initiated from the impurity particles on the subsurface. Treated at 170 ℃,the area of the quasi-cleavage plane and the width of parallel serrated sections of the crack propagation are the largest. With increasing aging temperature, the dimple size of finally fracture surfaces becomes larger and the depth deeper.

Effect of initial microstructure on hot workability of 7085 aluminum alloy

The hot workability of 7085 aluminum alloys with different initial microstructures （as-homogenized and as-solution treated） was studied by isothermal compression tests at the deformation temperature ranging from 300 to 450 ℃ and the strain rate ranging from 0.0001 to 1 s 1. The strain rate sensitivity of the alloy was evaluated and used for establishing the power dissipation maps and instability maps on the basis of the flow stress data. The results show that the efficiency of power dissipation for the as-homogenized alloy is lower than that of the as-solution treated alloy. The deformation parameters of the dynamic recrystallization for the as-homogenized and as-solution treated alloy occur at 400 ℃, 0.01 s i and 450 ℃, 0.001 s-1, respectively. The flow instability region of the as-homogenized alloy is narrower than that of the as-solution treated alloy. These differences of the alloys with two different initial microstructures on the processing maps are mainly related to the dynamic precipitation characteristics.

The Role of Particles in Fatigue Crack Propagation of Aluminum Matrix Composites and Casting Aluminum Alloys

Fatigue crack propagation （FCP） behaviors were studied to understand the role of SiC particles in 10 wt pct SiCp/A2024 composites and Si particles in casting aluminum alloy A356. The results show that a few particles appeared on the fracture surfaces in SiCp/Al composites even at high △K region, which indicates that cracks propagated predominantly within the matrix avoiding SiC particles due to the high strength of the particles and the strong particle/matrix interface. In casting aluminum alloy, Si particle debonding was more prominent.Compared with SiCp/Al composite, the casting aluminum alloy exhibited lower FCP rates, but had a slight steeper slope in the Paris region. Crack deflection and branching were found to be more remarkable in the casting aluminum alloy than that in the SiCp/Al composites, which may be contributed to higher FCP resistance in casting aluminum alloy.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of 6061 aluminum alloy laser-MIG hybrid welding joint

In this paper, 3 mm 6061 aluminum alloy sheets were welded by laser MIG hybrid welding. Based on the experiment, the best welding parameters were determined to ensure the penetration welding. The detailed microstructure,tensile and fatigue fracture morphology and surface fatigue damage of the welded joints were analyzed by optical microscope(OM), scanning electron microscope(SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS). The results show that there are two main kinds of precipitates, one is the long Si rich precipitates at the grain boundaries, the other is the intragranular Cu rich precipitates. The tensile test results show that the tensile strength of the joint is 224 MPa, which is only 70.2% of the base metal. Through the analysis of tensile fracture, there are great differences in the formation of tensile dimple. In the tensile-tensile fatigue test with a stress rate of 0.1, the conditional fatigue limits of base metal and welded joint are 101.9 MPa and 54.4 MPa, respectively. By comparing the fatigue fracture of the welded joints under different stress amplitudes, it was found that the main factor leading to the fracture of the joint is porosity. Through further analysis of the pore defects, it was found that there are transgranular and intergranular propagation ways of microcracks in the pores, and the mixed propagation way was also found.

Influence of welding parameters on fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth rate in friction stir welded nugget of 2024-T351 aluminum alloy joints

Friction stir welding （FSW） was performed on 2024-T351 aluminum alloy plates. Metallographic analysis, Vickers microhardness and XRD tests were conducted to determine the properties of the welded zone. FE simulation of the FSW process was implemented for the different welding conditions to extract the residual stress and stress intensity factor （SIF）. Fracture and fatigue behaviors of the welds which have the initial crack in the nugget zone and the crack orientation along the welding direction, were studied based on standard test methods. Fracture behavior of the welds was also evaluated by shearography method. The results showed that the tool rotational and traverse speeds affect the fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth rate. FSW provides 18%-49% reductions in maximum fracture load and fracture toughness. A slight diminution in fracture toughness of the joints was observed for lower traverse speed of the tool, and at higher traverse or rotational speeds, increasing the probability of defects may contribute to low fracture toughness. Fatigue crack propagation rate of all welds was slower than that of the base metal for low values of stress intensity factor range ΔK （ΔK〈13 MPa·m^1/2）, but is much faster for high values of ΔK.

Fatigue crack propagation of 7050 aluminum alloy FSW joints after surface peening

The surface composite modification of the 7050 aluminum alloy friction stir-welded joints was performed by shot peening(SP)/multiple rotation rolling(MRR)and MRR/SP,and the fatigue performance of the nugget zone(NZ)was investigated.The results demonstrated that the fatigue life of SP/MRR samples is longer than that of MRR/SP.On the plane 150μm below the surface.The grains with high angle grain boundary account for 71.5%and 34.3%for MRR/SP and SP/MRR samples,respectively.The crack propagation path of the MRR/SP is transgranular and intergranular,and it is intergranular for the MRR/SP.Multitudinous fatigue striations and some voids appeared at the fracture during the stable crack propagation stage.However,fatigue striations for SP/MRR are with smaller spacing,fewer holes,and smaller size under SP/MRR compared with fatigue fracture of MRR/SP.The differences in fatigue properties and fracture characteristics of the NZ are related to the microstructure after the two combined surface modifications.

Improvement of microstructure and fatigue performance of wire-arc additive manufacture d 4043 aluminum alloy assiste d by interlayer friction stir processing

To expand the application of wire-arc additive manufacturing(WAAM)in aluminum alloy forming com-ponents,it is vitally important to reduce the porosity,refine microstructure,and thereby improve the mechanical properties of the components.In this study,the interlayer friction stir processing(FSP)tech-nique was employed to assist the WAAM of 4043 Al-Si alloy,and the related effects on the microstruc-ture evolutions and mechanical properties of the fabricated builds were systematacially investigated.As compared to the conventional WAAM processing of Al-Si alloy,it was found that the introduction of in-terlayer FSP can effectively eliminate the pores,and both theα-Al dendrites and Si-rich eutectic network were severely broken up,leading to a remarkable enhancement in ductility and fatigue performance.The average yield strength(YS)and ultimate tensile strength(UTS)of the Al-based components produced by the combination of WAAM and interlayer FSP methods were 88 and 148 MPa,respectively.Meanwhile,the elongation(EL)of 37.5%and 28.8%can be achieved in the horizontal and vertical directions,respec-tively.Such anisotropy of EL was attributed to the inhomogeneous microstructure in the stir zone(SZ).Notably,the stress concentration can be effectively reduced by the elimination of porosity and Si-rich eu-tectic network fragmentation by the interlayer FSP,and thus the fatigue behavior was improved with the fatigue strength and elongation increased by∼28%and∼108.7%,respectively.It is anticipated that this study will provide a powerful strategy and theoretical guidance for the WAAM fabrication of Al-based alloy components with high ductility and fatigue performance.

Effects of laser shock processing,solid solution and aging,and cryogenic treatments on microstructure and thermal fatigue performance of ZCuAl_(10)Fe_(3)Mn_(2)alloy

The materials used in variable temperature conditions are required to have excellent thermal fatigue performance.The effects of laser shock processing(LSP),solid solution and aging treatment(T6),and cryogenic treatment(CT)on both microstructure and thermal fatigue performance of ZCuAl_(10)Fe_(3)Mn_(2) alloys were studied.Microstructure and crack morphology were then examined by scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS).The result showed that,after being subjected to the combination treatment of T6+CT+LSP,the optimal mechanical properties and thermal fatigue performance were obtained for the ZCuAl_(10)Fe_(3)Mn_(2) alloy with the tensile strength,hardness,and elongation of 720 MPa,300.16 HB,and 16%,respectively,and the thermal fatigue life could reach 7,100 cycles when the crack length was 0.1 mm.Moreover,the ZCuAl_(10)Fe_(3)Mn_(2) after combination treatment shows high resistance to oxidation,good adhesion between the matrix and grain boundaries,and dramatically reduced growth rate of crack.During thermal fatigue testing,under the combined action of thermal and alternating stresses,the microstructure around the sample notch oxidized and became loose and porous,which then converted to micro-cracks.Fatigue crack expanded along the grain boundary in the early stage.In the later stage,under the cyclic stress accumulation,the oxidized microstructure separated from the matrix,and the fatigue crack expanded in both intergranular and transgranular ways.The main crack was thick,and the path was meandering.

Rotary bending fatigue behavior of A356 –T6 aluminum alloys by vacuum pressurizing casting

Vacuum pressurizing casting technique, providing better mould filling and inter-dendritic feeding, can reduce the porosity greatly in cast aluminum alloys, and improve the fatigue properties. The rotary bending fatigue properties of A356-T6 alloys prepared by vacuum pressurizing casting were investigated. The S-N curve and limit strength 90 MPa under fatigue life of 107 cycles were obtained. The analyses on the fatigue fractography and microstructure of specimens showed that the fatigue fracture mainly occurs at the positions with casting defects in the subsurface, especially at porosities regions, which attributed to the crack propagation during the fatigue fracture process. Using the empirical crack propagation law of Pairs-Erdogon, the quantitative relationship among the initial crack size, fatigue life and applied stress was established. The fatigue life decreases with an increase in initial crack size. Two constants in the Pairs-Erdogon equation of aluminum alloy A356-T6 were calculated using the experimental data.

Effects of microstructural heterogeneity on fatigue properties of cast aluminum alloys

Cast Al alloys are widely employed for engine components,structural parts,gear box,chassis,etc.and subjected to mechanical cyclic load during operation.The accurate fatigue life prediction of these alloys is essential for normal operation as fatigue cracks initiated during operation induce the lubrication oil leak and serious safety hazard.Microstructural heterogeneity,including shrinkage/gaspores and secondary phase particles,is the most detrimental factor that affects fatigue life of cast Al alloys.The approximate fatigue life cycles could be estimated based on the size distribution and locations of shrinkage pores/defects.The relationship between crack population and stress was reported by statistical distributions and the cumulative probability for cast Al alloys fail at a certain stress could be predicted by combination of Paris law and pore size distribution.Pore depth was found to dominate the stress field around the pore on the surface and the maximum stress increases sharply when the pore intercepted with the surface at its top.The microstructure of cast Al alloys usually is composed of primary Al dendrites,eutectic silicon,Fe-rich particles and other intermetallic particles are dependent upon alloy composition and heat treatment.The coalescence of microcracks initiated from the fractured secondary phases was clearly found and can accelerate the initiation and propagation of the fatigue cracks.A link between defect features and the fatigue strength needs to be established through a good understanding of the fatigue damage mechanisms associated with the microstructural features under specific loading conditions.This paper reviews the influences of shrinkage/gaspores and secondary phase particles,formed during casting process,on the fatigue life of Al-Si-Mg cast Al alloys.

Effects of trace Zr on the microstructure and properties of 2E12 alloy

Al-4.0Cu-1.4Mg-0.6Mn （2E12） and Al-4.0Cu-1.4Mg-0.6Mn-0.3Zr aluminum billets were manufactured by soft-contact electromagnetic continuous casting （EMC）. Subsequent forging and heat treatment were conducted and the effects of Zr on the microstructure and properties of the Al-4.0Cu-1.4Mg-0.6Mn alloy were studied. The results show that the addition of 0.3% Zr can reduce the dendrite and refine grains. During forging and solution treatment, fine and dispersive Al3Zr particles precipitated from the supersaturated α （Al） solid solution in the heating process of the billet can effectively pin dislocations and subgrain boundaries. Because of the addition of Zr, the mechanical properties are improved with the tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, and contraction of the area increasing by 5.4%, 11.3%, 9.7%, and 12.6%, respectively. Moreover, under the condition of R = 0.1, the fatigue crack growth rate （da/dN） of the Al-4.0Cu-1.4Mg-0.6Mn-0.3Zr alloy is lower than that of the Al-4.0Cu-1.4Mg-0.6Mn alloy.

Effect of Sheet Configuration on Microstructure and Mechanical Behaviors of Dissimilar Al–Mg–Si/Al–Zn–Mg Aluminum Alloys Friction Stir Welding Joints

Friction stir welding（FSW） was used to weld dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg aluminum alloys in this work.Influences of sheet configuration on microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints were mainly discussed.Results showed that rather different joint cross sections were obtained when using different sheet configurations.Coarser β＇ phases can be observed at the heat affected zone（HAZ） of the Al-Mg-Si alloy side,which was the main factor affecting the tensile properties and the fatigue properties.Tensile strengths of the dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg joints using both configurations were higher than that of the Al-Mg-Si FSW joint.When the Al-Zn-Mg alloy was located at the advancing side（AS）,the joints owned better fatigue properties due to the bridging effect of the big secondary phase particles.

Effects of pitting corrosion on fatigue life of aluminum alloy Y12CZ based on initial discontinuity state

Based on initial discontinuity state (IDS) of material, a preliminary analytical model was presented to evaluate the effect of interaction of pitting corrosion and fatigue loading on the residual fatigue life of aluminum alloy LY12CZ. A life prediction was carried out using constant and variable amplitude loading for various pitting corrosion levels, and the prediction agreed reasonably with the available test data. The results suggest that the combination of a pit and IDS can be treated as the initial crack size. Pitting corrosion causes a significant decrease in fatigue lives with small corrosion depths. But the effect of pit on fatigue life is gradually reduced with increasing pit size. A pit with a constant depth can be applied to the model for long exposure structure. A preliminary recommendation for the pit depth is about 1 mm for LY12CZ. At last the effect of multiple-site corrosion damage (MSCD) on fatigue life was also studied, and the result shows that MSCD can decrease substantially fatigue life compared with that of a single crack.

Effect of connection processes on mechanical properties of 7B04 aluminum alloy structures

The static and fatigue properties of 7B04 aluminum alloy structures connected by riveting and refill friction stir spot welding(refill FSSW)were compared and analyzed.Results show that the static compression load of the typical structure connected by riveting and refill FSSW fluctuated in the range of 117-124 kN,and the shear load was in the range of 89-95 kN.Welds spacing had a small influence on the static load of the structures joined by refill FSSW.However,the fatigue life of riveted structures was lower than that joined by refill FSSW.For the welded structure,the heterogeneous microstructures of the welded joint led to the uneven microhardness,and the hook at the lap interface bent upwards at the same time.These factors made the welded structures during the fatigue test failure along the path of sleeve moving.

Evolution of silicon particle damage on fatigue crack initiation and early propagation in an aluminum alloy

Low-cycle fatigue tests under both mechanical cyclic and thermal cyclic loadings were conducted to study the behavior of fatigue crack initiation and early propagation by means of metallographic and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The damage mode of silicon particles has significant influence on crack behavior.Cracks are induced from fractured particles in mechanical fatigue or from debonded particles in thermal fatigue.Initiation of cracks by breaking through particles happens in particles with non-equiaxial particles,while initiation of cracks from debonded interfaces happens widely in clustered particles.For cracks induced by fracture particles,the subsequent coalescence of microcracks proceeds through the alternation of brittle fracture of particles.The sequent broken of particles takes the important part in the early propagation stage of fatigue crack.

Fatigue crack initiation and early propagation behavior of 2A97 Al-Li alloy

The fatigue crack initiation and early propagation behavior of 2A97 Al-Li alloy was studied. The smooth specimens were fatigued at room temperature under constant maximum stress control when stress ratio （R） is 0.1 and frequency （f） is 40 Hz. Microstructure observations were examined by optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and electron back scattered diffusion, in order to investigate the relationship between microstructure and fatigue crack initiation and early propagation behavior of 2A97 alloy. The results show that the fatigue cracks are predominantly initiated at inclusions and coarsen secondary phases on the surface of 2A97 alloy. The fatigue crack early propagation behavior of 2A97 alloy is predominantly influenced by the interactions between grain structure and dislocations or persistent slip bands （PSBs）. When the misorientation of two neighbouring grains is close to the orientations of the favorable slip plane within these two grains, high-angle grain boundary severely hinders the PSBs passing through, and thus leads to crack bifurcation and deflection.

High-cycle fatigue crack initiation and propagation in laser melting deposited TC18 titanium alloy

This article examines fatigue crack nucleation and propagation in laser deposited TC18 titanium alloy. The Widmanstatten structure was obtained by double-annealing treatment,. High-cycle fatigue （HCF） tests were conducted at room temperature with the stress ratio of 0.1 and the notch concentration factor Kt = 1. Fatigue cracks initiated preferentially at micropores, which had great effect on the HCF properties. The effect decreased with the decrease of pore size and the increase of distance from the pore location to the specimen surface. The crack initiation region was characterized by the cleavage facets of a lamella and the tearing of β matrix. The soft a precipitated-free zone formed along grain boundaries accelerated the crack propagation. Subsurface observation indicated that the crack preferred to propagate along the grain boundary α or border of a lamella or vertical to a lamella.

Quantitative microstructure and fatigue life of B319 casting alloys

In this study, the microstructure of B319 casting alloys and effects of five different casting conditions on microstructure were studied. Multi-scale microstructure was quantified in terms of secondary dendrite arm spacing （SDAS）, and Si particle size and aspect ratio. The effects of SDAS, Si aspect ratio and size on fatigue life were analyzed. The results indicate that the size and aspect ratio of Si particles are a function of SDAS which is dependent on cooling rate during solidification. The fatigue life decreases with SDAS increasing as SDAS is smaller than 30 pm while it increases with SDAS increasing as SDAS is larger than 60 ~tm. In addition, the fatigue life decreases with Si aspect ratio and size increasing at the same SDAS. Moreover, SDAS and Si particles have also influence on fatigue fracture, such as the area of cracks propagation region and the roughness of fatigue fracture. The cracks propagation area is smaller, and the fatigue fracture is similar to tensile fracture with larger SDAS. Besides, the longitudinal section of fatigue fracture is rougher with large SDAS and elongated Si particles.

Fatigue behavior and life prediction of A7N01 aluminium alloy welded joint

Fatigue characteristics of A7N01 aluminium alloy welded joint were investigated and a fatigue crack initiation life-based model was proposed. The difference of fatigue crack initiation life among base metal, weld metal and heat affected zone (HAZ) is slight. Furthermore, the ratio of fatigue crack initiation life (Ni) to fatigue life to failure(Nf) is a material dependent parameter, 26.32%, 40.21% and 60.67% for base metal, HAZ and weld metal, respectively. Total fatigue life predicted using the presented model is in good agreement with the experimental data and that using Basquin’s model. The observation results of fatigue fracture surfaces, using scanning electron microscope (SEM), demonstrate that fatigue crack initiates from smooth surface due to welding process for weld metal, blowhole in HAZ causes fatigue crack initiation, and the crushed second phase particles play an important part in fatigue crack initiation in base metal.

Effects of microstructure on fatigue crack propagation behavior in a bi-modal TC11 titanium alloy fabricated via laser additive manufacturing

In this study, the crack propagation behaviors in the equiaxed and equiaxed-columnar grain regions of a heat-treated laser additive manufacturing(LAM) TC11 alloy with a special bi-modal microstructure are investigated. The results indicate that the alloy presents a special bi-modal microstructure that comprises a fork-like primary α(αp) phase surrounded by a secondary α colony(αs) in the α phase matrix after the heat treatment is completed. The samples demonstrate a fast crack growth rate with larger da/d N values through the equiaxed grain sample versus across the equiaxed-columnar grain sample at low K values(<13.8). The differences that are observed between the crack propagation behaviors(in the crack initiation stage) of the samples can be mostly attributed to the different size and morphology of the αp lamellae and αscolony within the grains in the equiaxed and columnar grain regions rather than the grain boundaries. The cracks prefer to grow along the α/β boundary with a smooth propagation route and a fast propagation rate in the equiaxed grain region, where the αpand α clusters have a large size.However, in the columnar grain region, small and randomly distributed αplamellae generate a zigzagshaped propagation path with a reduction in the da/d N value. Additionally, the change in the size of the αp lamellae in the equiaxed grains(heat affected bands, HAB) is also observed to influence the propagation behavior of the crack during the crack initiation stage.