Fatigue behavior of a 7075-T6 aluminum alloy coated with an electroless Ni–P deposit

An investigation has been carried out in order to study the fatigue and corrosion–fatigue behavior of a 7075-T6 aluminum alloy coated with an electroless Ni–P (EN) deposit, in the as-plated condition, of approximately 38–40 μm in thickness and a high P content, of approximately 18 wt%. The results obtained, show that the EN coating can give rise to a significant improvement in the fatigue and corrosion–fatigue performance of the substrate, depending on the testing conditions. When the coated system is tested in air, it is observed that the increase in fatigue properties decreases as the alternating stress applied to the material increases. At stresses of the order of 0.4 σ_0.2% the increase in fatigue life is more than about 100%. However, as the stress increases to values in the range of 0.7 σ_0.2%, no improvement in the fatigue performance of the system is observed and the behavior is similar to that of the uncoated substrate. Under corrosion–fatigue conditions, the fatigue life is observed to increase between approximately 60% and 70%, depending on the stress applied. It is shown that fatigue cracks are associated with nodular-like defects present on the surface of the coated samples. The deleterious effect of such defects seems to be more pronounced as the alternating stress applied to the material increases. A crude estimate of the yield strength of the EN coating from tensile measurements indicates that such a parameter is in the range of 3.8 GPa, in agreement with the computation of the absolute hardness of the deposit, of about 4 GPa, by means of Meyer’s law. It is also shown that the EN deposit has a very good adhesion to the substrate even when the system is subjected to tensile stresses greater than the yield strength. Such characteristics as well as the higher mechanical properties of the EN coating in comparison with the aluminum alloy substrate and the preservation of its integrity during fatigue testing contribute to the better fatigue performance of the coated system.     

Environmental effects on low cycle fatigue of 2024-T351 and 7075-T651 aluminum alloys

The environmental effects on the low cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of 2024-T351 and 7075-T651 aluminum alloys were studied at room temperature. The specimens were subjected to identical LCF tests at strain ratio R of −1 and frequency of 5 Hz in three environments: vacuum, air and 1% NaCl solution of pH 2. A separate group of specimens was pre-corroded in 1% NaCl solution and then LCF-tested in air. Their strain–life relations and cyclic stress–strain responses were investigated and compared. Furthermore, the fracture surface morphology was evaluated to find the association of LCF behavior and fractographic features under different environmental conditions.     

Multistage homogenization process of aluminum alloy 2618

Single-, two-, and three-stage homogenization treatments of heat-resistant alloy 2618 were conducted in this study. Results reveal a low melting point Al₂CuMg phase and high melting point Al₂Cu phase in the as-cast aluminum alloy 2618. After single-stage homogenization at 495 °C for 10 h, the Al₂CuMg phase dissolves completely, but the Al₂Cu phase cannot be completely dissolved even once the homogenization time is prolonged to 18 h. After the alloy 2618 are homogenized using two stages: 495 °C for 10 h and 520 °C for 8 h, a portion of the Al₂Cu phase remains in the alloy. The Al₂Cu phase remains undissolved even after prolonged time. After the two-stage homogenization treatment at 495 °C for 10 h and 540 °C for 5 h, the high melting point Al₂Cu phase completely dissolves but overburn occurs. After the alloy 2618 are homogenized using three stages at 495 °C for 10 h, 520 °C for 5 h, and 540 °C for 3 h, the Al₂Cu phase completely dissolves and no overburn is detected. The three-stage homogenization treatment is an effective method for dissolving the high melting point Al₂Cu phase in the alloy 2618 and increasing their overburn temperature and solid solution temperature.     

Effect of laser-arc hybrid welding on fracture and corrosion behaviour of AA6061-T6 alloy

The welding condition of the hybrid laser-gas metal arc (GMA) welding for AA6061-T6 alloy was optimized by tensile test. Formability performance was checked by the bend test. Fractographic analysis indicates a large number of fine ductile type voids in the fracture surface. The microstructure measurements exhibit a dendritic cellular structure in the weld fusion zone (WFZ) and a partially melted zone adjacent to the fusion boundaries. The corrosion behaviour of the weldment and the base alloy were investigated by weight-loss test in nitric acid solution. The WFZ suffers more severe pitting than the rest regions in the weldment. It shows that corrosion cracking is owing to the precipitation of intermetallic phases and the formation of galvanic corrosion couplings in the weldment of AA6061-T6 alloy.     

Numerical study of spalling in an aluminum alloy 7020-T6

Planar impact experiment is frequently used to investigate dynamic fracture of materials, particularly the spall phenomenon. Spalling is caused by the superposition of rarefaction waves reflected from free surfaces and the spall zone is found in the interior of the target. Behavior of materials in this kind of experiment is strongly affected by the stress level, time of loading and temperature. The rate and temperature effects are closely related to the thermally activated micromechanical processes [1]. Thus, in a stressed body the creation of new fracture surfaces frequently occurs with the assistance of thermal activation. For a more detailed study, it is therefore necessary to take into account the physical aspects of spalling, including dynamic plasticity and temperature coupling. This paper reports the numerical analysis performed using a finite element FE code by implementation of a cumulative fracture criterion proposed in [2] where the apparent energy of activation for spalling depends on stress, temperature and load history. Initially, a series of calculations have been run for the purely elastic case to analyze the minimum critical impact velocity needed to obtain the spall stress and it has been determined to be a function of the critical time of loading. Such analysis is of great value in designing experiments that are relatively expensive. Next, a viscoplastic constitutive relation together with the cumulative criterion, and the equation of heat conduction have been implemented in a FE code. The set of relations takes into account strain hardening, strain rate sensitivity and temperature. This series of FE calculations have been performed in order to take into account, changes of temperature due to volume dilatation as well as conversion of plastic work into heat. In addition to spalling, the free surface velocity–time profiles have been calculated for a number of impact velocities. Specific variations of the free surface velocity indicates the creation of a new fracture surface inside the target plate. The two sets of FE calculations reported in this paper led to some discussion on the influence of physical parameters on spall mechanics.     

Investigation of fracture mechanism of 6063 aluminum alloy under different stress states

Fracture mechanisms in a 6063 aluminum alloy were investigated and analyzed carefully by in-situ tensile tests in SEM with a vacuum chamber. Specimens used were designed to produce different stress states. Studies indicated that with stress triaxiality (σ _m/σ _e) decreasing, the fracture modes changed from normal fracture to shear fracture and the fracture surfaces changed from the dimples and intragranular dominated fracture mode to the shear dominated fracture mode. The grain boundaries of the 6063 aluminum alloy were the weakest positions. In the case of high stress triaxiality, the grain boundary cracks were produced by normal stress or by the incompatibility of deformation between neighboring grains, and the normal stress dominated the crack propagation. In the case of low stress triaxiality, the boundary cracks were produced by the relative slipping of grains against neighboring grains, and the shear stress dominated the crack propagation. The final fracture of the specimens occurred by connections of cracks through transgranular cracking of the ligaments among these cracks.     

Nanomechanical properties of friction stir welded AA6082-T6 aluminum alloy

Lightweight alloys are of major concern, due to their functionality and applications in transport and industry applications. Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state welding process for joining aluminum and other metallic alloys and has been employed in aerospace, rail, automotive and marine industries. Compared to the conventional welding techniques, FSW produces joints which do not exhibit defects caused by melting. The objective of the present study is to investigate the surface hardness (H) and elastic modulus (E) in friction stir welded aluminum alloy AA6082-T6. The findings of the present study reveal that the welding process softens the material, since the weld nugget is the region where the most deformations are recorded (dynamic recrystallization, production of an extremely fine, equiaxial structure), confirmed by optical microscopy and reduced nanomechanical properties in the welding zone. A yield-type pop-in occurs upon low loading and represents the start of phase transformation, which is monitored through a gradual slope change of the load-displacement curve. Significant pile-up is recorded during nanoindentation of the alloy through SPM imaging.     

Microstructural evolution in friction self-piercing riveted aluminum alloy AA7075-T6 joints

Friction self-piercing riveting(F-SPR)is an emerging technique for low ductility materials joining,which creates a mechanical and solid-state hybrid joint with a semi-hollow rivet.The severe plastic deforma-tion of work materials and localized elevated temperatures during the F-SPR process yield complex and heterogeneous microstructures.The cut-off action of the work materials by the rivet further compli-cates the material flow during joint formation.This study employed the F-SPR process to join AA7075-T6 aluminum alloy sheets and systematically investigated the microstructural evolutions using electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD)techniques.The results suggested that as the base material approached the rivet,grains were deformed and recrystallized,forming two distinct fine grain zones(FGZs)surround-ing the rivet and in the rivet cavity,respectively.Solid-state bonding of aluminum sheets occurred in the FGZs.The formation of FGZ outside the rivet is due to dynamic recrystallization(DRX)triggered by the sliding-to-sticking transition at the rivet/sheet interface.The FGZ in the rivet cavity was caused by the rotation of the trapped aluminum,which created a sticking affected zone at the trapped aluminum/lower sheet interface and led to DRX.Strain rate gradient in the trapped aluminum drove the further expansion of the sticking affected zone and resulted in grain refinement in a larger span.     

Influence of notch severity on the impact fracture behavior of aluminum alloy 7055

In this paper, the conjoint influence of notch severity and test temperature on the impact behavior of an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy 7055 in the T7751 microstructural condition is presented and discussed. Notch angles of 45°, 75° and 90° were chosen for a standard charpy impact test specimen containing two notches. For a given angle of the notch the increase in dynamic fracture toughness, with test temperature, is most significant for the least severe of the notches, i.e. 45°. At a given test temperature, the impact toughness of the T7751 microstructure decreased with an increase in notch severity. An increase in notch severity resulted in essentially Mode I dominated fracture at all test temperatures. The influence of localized mixed-mode loading is minimal for the alloy has low dynamic toughness. The impact fracture behavior of the alloy is discussed in light of alloy microstructure, mechanisms governing fracture and the deformation field ahead of a propagating crack.     

Effect of loading rate on absorbed energy and fracture surface deformation in a 6061-T651 aluminum alloy

The absorbed energy, micro- and macrodeformation on fracture surfaces were evaluated at various loading rates for a 6061-T651 aluminum alloy. The variation of absorbed energy with loading rate was compared with the variation of micro- and macrodeformation features in a wide loading rate range. It was found that there are correlations between loading rate dependences of total absorbed energy, whole fracture surface area, shear lip volume and shear lip shape.     

Microstructure and tensile properties of friction welded aluminum alloy AA7075-T6

Solid-state welding processes like friction welding and friction stir welding are now being actively considered for welding aluminum alloy AA7075. In this work, friction welding of AA7075-T6 rods of 13 mm diameter was investigated with an aim to understand the effects of process parameters on weld microstructure and tensile properties. Welds made with various process parameter combinations (incorporating Taguchi methods) were subjected to tensile tests. Microstructural studies and hardness tests were also conducted. The results show that sound joints in AA7075-T6 can be achieved using friction welding, with a joint efficiency of 89% in as-welded condition with careful selection of process parameters. The effects of process parameters are discussed in detail based on microstructural observations.     

高周疲劳载荷下6061-T6铝合金的温度演化

为了研究金属材料在疲劳载荷下的温度变化,采用红外热像系统对高周疲劳载荷下6061-T6铝合金的温度演化进行分析,用热像图对疲劳裂纹尖端的塑性区进行测量.结果显示,疲劳加载作用下,循环次数达到107次时6061-T6铝合金试样表面温度的变化分为四个阶段:初始温升阶段、温度缓降阶段、温度二次缓慢上升阶段和温度快速上升阶段.结合热弹性理论、铝合金塑性变形的微观机制分析并预测疲劳载荷下温度的演化和宏观裂纹扩展时裂纹尖端塑性区域大小.宏观裂纹开始扩展时,裂纹尖端的塑性区域可达3.6 mm2,红外热像仪测得结果为3.46 mm2,测试结果与理论结果吻合.     

On the relation between micro- and macroscopic fatigue crack growth rates in aluminum alloy AMS 7475-T7351

This paper discusses the relationship between striation spacing, i.e., the microscopic crack propagation rate, as measured in postmortem fractographic inspection of fatigue fractured surfaces, and the macroscopic crack propagation rate, i.e., da/dN, as monitored during fatigue crack growth tests. Compact tensile specimens C(T) in prevalent plane-strain conditions were extracted in LT orientation from the center of a 2-in. thick rolled plate of a SAE-AMS 7475-T7351 Al alloy. Testpieces were fatigue tested according to ASTM-E647 standard, at room temperature in a servo-hydraulic closed-loop MTS testing machine operating with the unloading elastic compliance technique. da/dN-ΔK data points were collected in the Paris’ law validity region, with crack growth rates typically ranging from 0.18 to 2.02 μm/cycle. Topographical survey was conducted on the test specimen fracture surfaces in a scanning electronic microscope in order to determine striation spacing created during the fatigue test. Macro- and micro-crack growth rates were compared and good correlation have been obtained for the data within the range of ΔK assessed in the study. Results of crack growth rates have been quantitatively evaluated in terms of fatigue life estimation.     

Time-dependent fracture criteria for 6061-T6 aluminum under stress-wave loading in uniaxial strain

New spallation threshold data for 6061-T6 aluminum were obtained under stress-wave loading conditions in uniaxial strain, covering the range of tensile pulse durations of 60 to 200 nsec. This range of pulse duration was achieved by using exploding-foil techniques to accelerate thin Mylar plates against thin aluninum specimens. A comparison was made between exploding-foil spallation tests on 6061-T6 aluminum in air and vacuum. The data indicate that the spallation threshold of 6061-T6 aluminum is sensitive to the tensile pulse duration, amplitude, and impulse at the spall location. The exploding-foil impact conditions were reduced to stress-pulse loading parameters by using a one-dimensional elastic-plastic hydrodynamic computer code. The time-dependent aspects of the spallation threshold of 6061-T6 aluminum were found to obey failure theories which were rate process oriented, and which combine the effects of tensile-pulse duration, peak tensile stress, tensile impulse, and tensile-pulse shape. The present data have been used to quantitatively establish failure relationships for 6061:T6 aluminum. Where applicable, supplemental information in the literature concerning dynamic fracture of 6061-T6 aluminum was utilized.     

Fatigue behavior of AA7075-T6 aluminum alloy coated with ZrN by PVD

The present investigation has been conducted in order to study the effect of the deposition of a ZrN coating, of 3 μm in thickness, on the static mechanical properties and fatigue behavior of a 7075-T6 aluminum alloy substrate. It has been determined that the coating deposition process gives rise to a significant decrease in such properties, which is not fully compensated for the presence of the film. When fatigue tests were carried out in a 3 wt.% NaCl solution at low alternating stresses, the ZrN film partially compensated for the decrease in fatigue properties of the coated substrate. Extensive delamination of the coating from the substrate was observed under the action of cyclic stresses greater than approximately 220 MPa. Below this stress and in the presence of NaCl, the behavior of the coated material approached that of the uncoated alloy, which highlighted the good corrosion resistance of the ZrN coating and its ability to protect the substrate when it remained adhered to the latter.