Low-Cycle Fatigue of Ultra-Fine-Grained Cryomilled 5083 Aluminum Alloy

The cyclic deformation behavior of cryomilled (CM) AA5083 alloys was compared to that of conventional AA5083-H131. The materials studied were a 100 pct CM alloy with a Gaussian grain size average of 315 nm and an alloy created by mixing 85 pct CM powder with 15 pct unmilled powder before consolidation to fabricate a plate with a bimodal grain size distribution with peak averages at 240 nm and 1.8 μm. Although the ultra-fine-grain (UFG) alloys exhibited considerably higher tensile strengths than those of the conventional material, the results from plastic-strain-controlled low-cycle fatigue tests demonstrate that all three materials exhibit identical fatigue lives across a range of plastic strain amplitudes. The CM materials exhibited softening during the first cycle, similar to other alloys produced by conventional powder metallurgy, followed by continual hardening to saturation before failure. The results reported in this study show that fatigue deformation in the CM material is accompanied by slight grain growth, pinning of dislocations at the grain boundaries, and grain rotation to produce macroscopic slip bands that localize strain, creating a single dominant fatigue crack. In contrast, the conventional alloy exhibits a cell structure and more diffuse fatigue damage accumulation.     

Fatigue Performance of Friction-Stir-Welded Al-Mg-Sc Alloy

Fatigue behavior of a friction-stir-welded Al-Mg-Sc alloy was examined in cast and hot-rolled conditions. In both cases, the joints failed in the base material region and therefore the joint efficiency was 100 pct. The specimens machined entirely from the stir zone demonstrated fatigue strength superior to that of the base material in both preprocessed tempers. It was shown that the excellent fatigue performance of friction-stir joints was attributable to the ultra-fine-grained microstructure, the low dislocation density evolved in the stir zone, and the preservation of Al₃Sc coherent dispersoids during welding. The formation of such structure hinders the initiation and growth of fatigue microcracks that provides superior fatigue performance of friction-stir welds.     

Microstructure and Cyclic Deformation Behavior of a Friction-Stir-Welded 7075 Al Alloy

Microstructural changes and cyclic deformation characteristics of friction-stir-welded 7075 Al alloy were evaluated. Friction stir welding (FSW) resulted in significant grain refinement and dissolution of η′ (Mg(Zn,Al,Cu)₂) precipitates in the nugget zone (NZ), but Mg₃Cr₂Al₁₈ dispersoids remained nearly unchanged. In the thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ), a high density of dislocations was observed and some dislocations were pinned, exhibiting a characteristic Orowan mechanism of dislocation bowing. Two low-hardness zones (LHZs) between the TMAZ and the heat-affected zone (HAZ) were observed, with the width decreasing with increasing welding speed. Cyclic hardening and fatigue life increased with increasing welding speed from 100 to 400 mm/min, but were only weakly dependent on the rotational rate between 800 and 1200 rpm. The cyclic hardening of the friction-stir-welded joints exhibiting a two-stage character was significantly stronger than that of the base metal (BM) and the energy dissipated per cycle decreased with decreasing strain amplitude and increasing number of cycles. Fatigue failure occurred in the LHZs at a lower welding speed and in the NZ at a higher welding speed. Fatigue cracks initiated from the specimen surface or near-surface defects in the friction-stir-welded joints, and the initiation site exhibited characteristic intergranular cracking. Crack propagation was characterized by typical fatigue striations along with secondary cracks.     

塑性变形对6061铝合金疲劳寿命的影响

研究了6061铝合金在经过塑性变形后疲劳寿命的变化.对经过塑性变形和未经过塑性变形的铝合金板进行疲劳寿命试验,获得两种状态下的疲劳寿命.对实验数据进行处理,根据作图法利用小子样估计正态分布母体参数,给出了材料的P-N曲线和对应的方程.用t检验法进行显著性检验,并得到95％置信度时,两种状态材料的疲劳性能的差异.研究发现疲劳寿命具有明显的分散性,抽样的两个母体遵循正态分布,并且两种状态材料的疲劳性能差异明显.     

Corrosion Fatigue Study of 6061 Aluminum Alloy: The Effect of Coatings on the Fatigue Characteristics

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - This study proposes a method for protecting 6061 aluminum alloy from corrosion fatigue. Corrosion fatigue can reduce fatigue strength at the endurance...     

Ultrasonic Fatigue Endurance of Aluminum Alloy AISI 6061-T6 on Pre-corroded and Non-corroded Specimens

Ultrasonic fatigue tests are carried out on aluminum alloy 6061-T6 in order to analyze the fatigue endurance behavior under artificial pre-corrosion attack by hydrochloric acid for the pH concentrations of 0.47 and 0.80. The pre-corrosion attack is used to simulate the long-time environmental effect and the corresponding decay of fatigue life in regard to non-corroded specimens. Experimental results show that ultrasonic fatigue endurance under these two degrees of pre-corrosion attack decreases dramatically. Furthermore, it is observed that crack initiation is frequently associated with one or several pre-corrosion pitting holes at the specimen surface. Pitting holes are assumed to be semi-hemispherical and the stress concentration factors are evaluated taking into account the size and proximity of two crack initiation pitting holes. The crack growth rates are obtained for the pre-corroded specimens and compared to the non-corroded specimen. Finally, conclusions are listed concerning ultrasonic fatigue endurance of testing specimens, together with the fracture surfaces, crack paths, and crack growth rates.     

Low-Cycle Fatigue Behavior of an As-Extruded AM50 Magnesium Alloy

The low-cycle fatigue behavior of an as-extruded AM50 magnesium alloy has been investigated. The cyclic stress response of the alloy strongly depends on the imposed strain amplitude. It is also noted that at the higher total strain amplitudes, the alloy exhibits a pronounced anisotropic deformation behavior in the direction of tension and compression, where the width of the σ-ε hysteresis loop in the compressive direction is greater than that in the tensile direction. At the total strain amplitude of 1.5 pct, a serrated flow can be observed in both tensile and compressive directions of the σ-ε hysteresis loop. This means that dynamic strain aging takes place during fatigue deformation. The relation between elastic and plastic strain amplitudes with reversals to failure shows a monotonic linear behavior and can be well described by the Basquin and Coffin–Manson equations, respectively. In addition, crack initiation and propagation modes are suggested, based on scanning electron microscopy observations on the fracture surfaces of fatigued specimens. This article is based on a presentation given in the symposium entitled “Deformation and Fracture from Nano to Macro: A Symposium Honoring W.W. Gerberich’s 70th Birthday,” which occurred during the TMS Annual Meeting, March 12–16, 2006, in San Antonio, Texas, and was sponsored by the Mechanical Behavior of Materials and Nanomechanical Behavior Committees of TMS.     

X-Ray and Neutron Diffraction Measurements of Dislocation Density and Subgrain Size in a Friction-Stir-Welded Aluminum Alloy

The dislocation density and subgrain size were determined in the base material and friction-stir welds of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. High-resolution X-ray diffraction measurement was performed in the base material. The result of the line profile analysis of the X-ray diffraction peak shows that the dislocation density is about 4.5 × 10¹⁴ m⁻² and the subgrain size is about 200 nm. Meanwhile, neutron diffraction measurements have been performed to observe the diffraction peaks during friction-stir welding (FSW). The deep penetration capability of the neutron enables us to measure the peaks from the midplane of the Al plate underneath the tool shoulder of the friction-stir welds. The peak broadening analysis result using the Williamson–Hall method shows the dislocation density of about 3.2 × 10¹⁵ m⁻² and subgrain size of about 160 nm. The significant increase of the dislocation density is likely due to the severe plastic deformation during FSW. This study provides an insight into understanding the transient behavior of the microstructure under severe thermomechanical deformation.     

Effect of Overheating Events on Microstructure and Low-Cycle Fatigue Properties of a Nickel-Based Single-Crystal Superalloy

Micro-mechanical response to overheating events is an important factor when considering the serviceable life of aero-engine components. A key lifing consideration is the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of nickel-based single-crystal superalloy components. In this study, the LCF response was investigated at different overheating temperatures (1100 to 1300 °C) and times (30 to 120 min). The overheating events had an impact on the γ' phase content, which was observed to decrease with the increase in overheating temperature and time (fully dissolving at 1300 °C). Due to the dissolution of γ' precipitates, the average γ' size was shifted to larger values, however, the subsequent cooling post the overheating events resulted in the formation of tertiary γ' and a bimodal particle distribution. During the LCF tests, that were performed after the overheating exposure, either cyclic hardening or softening was observed. It could be concluded that overheating exposures had no significant effect on the fracture features. However, overheating events resulted in a decrease of LCF properties, which was correlated to the local dislocation response.

     

Effect of Processing Parameters on Plastic Flow and Defect Formation in Friction-Stir-Welded Aluminum Alloy

The effect of processing parameters on material flow and defect formation during friction stir welding (FSW) was investigated on 6.0-mm-thick 2014Al-T6 rolled plates with an artificially thickened oxide layer on the butt surface as the marker material. It was found that the “S” line in the stir zone (SZ) rotated with the pin and stayed on the retreating side (RS) and advancing side (AS) at low and high heat inputs, respectively. When the tool rotation rate was extremely low, the oxide layer under the pin moved to the RS first and then to the AS perpendicular to the welding direction, rather than rotating with the pin. The material flow was driven by the shear stresses produced by the forces at the pin–workpiece interface. With increases of the rotation rate, the depth of the shoulder-affected zone (SAZ) first decreased and then increased due to the decreasing shoulder friction force and increasing heat input. Insufficient material flow appeared in the whole of the SZ at low rotation rates and in the bottom of the SZ at high rotation rates, resulting in the formation of the “S” line. The extremely inadequate material flow is the reason for the lack of penetration and the kissing bonds in the bottom of the SZ at extremely low and low rotation rates, respectively.     

Strain-Controlled Low-Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Friction Stir-Welded AZ31 Magnesium Alloy

Strain-controlled low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of friction stir-welded (FSW) AZ31 joints, produced at rotation rates of 800 and 3500 rpm, was studied. The joints exhibited symmetric hysteresis loops, whereas asymmetric loops were observed for the parent material (PM). The fatigue resistance of the FSW joints was slightly improved as the rotation rate increased, and both the FSW joints possessed a fatigue life similar to that of the PM at the low strain amplitude of 0.1 pct. The obtained fatigue data for the PM and FSW joints can be well described using the Coffin–Manson and Basquin’s relationships. For the FSW joints, during LCF deformation, the $ \left\{ {10\bar{1}2} \right\} $ twinning originated from the nugget zone (NZ)/thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) boundary and then propagated to the NZ interior. This was attributed to different textures in these regions: the center of the NZ exhibited a hard orientation, whereas a soft orientation was observed in the region around the NZ/TMAZ boundary. The fatigue cracks initiated at the bottom of the joints and propagated along the NZ/TMAZ boundary or the NZ adjacent to the NZ/TMAZ boundary.     

Effect of Alclad Layer on Material Flow and Defect Formation in Friction-Stir-Welded 2024 Aluminum Alloy

The effect of the Alclad layer on material flow and defect formation during friction-stir welding (FSW) of 6.5-mm-thick 2024Al-T351 alloy plates was investigated. To characterize the material flow during FSW, different cross sections of the keyhole and “stop-action weld” were made for metallographic observations. It was found that the top Alclad assembled at the shoulder/workpiece interface, thereby weakening the material flow in the shoulder-driven zone and favoring the formation of void defect at high traveling speeds. The bottom Alclad layer extended into the weld at excess material flow state, which could be avoided at balanced material flow state. A conceptual model of material flow was proposed to describe the formation of the weld. It was indicated that a perfect FSW joint of Alclad 2024Al alloy without defect could be obtained at an optimum FSW condition.     

Influence of the Tool Pin and Shoulder on Microstructure and Natural Aging Kinetics in a Friction-Stir-Processed 6061–T6 Aluminum Alloy

The influence of the stirring pin and pressing tool shoulder on the microstructural softening during friction-stir processing (FSP) and subsequent natural aging behavior was investigated for a 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. The evolution of hardness profiles in various characteristic regions of the FSP plates was investigated as a function of time from 4 to 5760 hours after the FSP through the thickness of the plates and correlated to the microstructure and residual strain profiles measured by a neutron-diffraction technique. The results show that the microstructural softening and the natural aging observed in the dynamic recrystallized zone and thermomechanically affected zone are mainly caused by the frictional heating from the tool shoulder, resulting in dissolution and reprecipitation of strengthening precipitates. On the other hand, the softening in the heat-affected zone is due to the dissolution/growth of the precipitates and is not followed by the natural aging under the current processing condition. The kinetics of the natural aging behavior is also discussed.     

6061铝合金预拉伸板残余应力测量与分析

采用钻孔法对经不同拉伸量的60mm厚6061铝合金预拉伸板进行残余应力的测量,分析其现存残余应力大小与拉伸量的匹配关系.结果表明:对于60mm厚的6061预拉伸板经拉伸率1.9％左右的预拉伸后,其残余应力较低.     

Modeling of Strain Hardening in the Aluminum Alloy AA6061

In this paper, the evolution of work-hardening and dynamic recovery rates vs the flow stress increase (σ ? σ _y ) in Al-Mg-Si alloys is presented. The experimental data have been extracted from stress–strain curves. All curves show an initial very rapid decrease in slope of the σ–ε curve, which is associated with the elastic–plastic transition. After the elastic–plastic transition, there are typically two distinctive behaviors. For underaged alloys, there is an approximately linear decrease of work-hardening rate as (σ ? σ _y ) increases. However, for overaged alloys after elastic–plastic transition, there is a plateau in the work-hardening rate followed by an almost linear decrease. The maximum work-hardening and dynamic recovery rates are found to be dependent on the aging state. In order to investigate these phenomena, a model has been employed to simulate the work-hardening behavior of Al-Mg-Si alloys. The model is based on a modified version of Kocks–Mecking–Estrin (KME) model, in which there are three main components: (1) hardening due to forest dislocations, grain boundaries, and sub-grains; (2) hardening due to the precipitates; and (3) dynamic recovery. The modeling results are discussed and compared with the experimental data.     

6061铝合金搅拌摩擦焊接头组织与性能研究

采用搅拌摩擦焊方法(FSW)对6 mm厚的6061-T4铝合金板材进行对接,焊后利用光学显微镜(OM)和扫描电镜(SEM)分析、对比了焊接接头和母材的显微组织和断口形貌特征,并测试了其室温拉伸性能和显微硬度。实验结果表明:选择了适合于6061-T4铝合金板材搅拌摩擦焊的工艺参数:焊接时搅拌头旋转速度为1200 r.min-1,工件的进给速度为300 mm.min-1,在此参数下获得了与母材等强度、韧性接近于母材的焊接接头,为此种合金应用于汽车关键零部件提供了可靠的工艺方法。FSW板材接头焊核区的组织和性能明显优于其他区,热影响区是接头最薄弱的部分,焊核区的硬度最高,而热影响区的硬度最低,焊缝金属发生回复再结晶使晶粒细化。断口分析表明,断裂发生在热影响区,由于搅拌头的旋转运动和热量的累积,该区存在晶粒长大、组织粗化现象。对工艺参数的优化实验表明,搅拌头旋转速度与焊接速度对接头性能的影响存在一定的适配关系,通过工艺参数的调整可以有效地控制热影响区的焊缝组织和改善焊接接头的性能。细晶强化是搅拌摩擦焊接头强度与韧性提高的主要原因。     

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Thin Plates of A6061 Wrought Aluminum Alloy Using Rheology Forging Process with Electromagnetic Stirring

We propose the possibility of fabricating A6061 thin plates using the rheology forging process. Electromagnetic stirring (EMS) is used to fabricate a semi-solid slurry. A thin plate is formed by injecting the slurry into the forging die. When the punch speed used to compress the slurry is low, turbulent flow occurs. When the punch speed is high, laminar flow occurs, and the solid and liquid phases move simultaneously. For a pressure of 150 MPa or below, incomplete filling behavior and cracks occur. For a pressure of 200 MPa or above, a durable formed product can be obtained. However, the differences between the mechanical properties according to the application of EMS and pressure are slight. The microstructure of the slurry without EMS has an unclear distinction between the liquid phase and solid phase. However, the microstructure of the thin plates formed by using this slurry has a clear distinction between the liquid and solid with respect to the spheroid shapes. The tensile strength and elongation for a thin plate formed with a punch speed of 300 mm/s and pressure of 250 MPa with EMS slurry are 169 MPa and 11.0 pct, respectively. After T6 heat treatment, the tensile strength improves to 305 MPa.