Environmental effect on the fatigue performance of bare and oxide coated 7075-T6 alloy

Fatigue behaviors of bare and anodic oxide coated 7075-T6 alloy have been investigated in laboratory air and 3.5%NaCI solution environment by using smooth cylindrical specimens. Presence of corrosive attack during fatigue test drastically reduced fatigue performance of the alloy. The deleterious effect was observed to be pronounced at high-cycles fatigue region, where the fatigue strength of the bare specimen was lowered by a factor of 2.9. However, the oxide coated specimens having a thickness of 23 μm showed a modest reduction in fatigue strength. Corrosion fatigue (CF) strength of the bare specimens was predominantly controlled by pitting-induced crack nucleation. Examinations on the surfaces of the corrosion-fatigued and immersed test specimens revealed that cyclic loading stimulated corrosion pit formation during CF tests. Also, corrosion behaviors of both the coated and bare specimen shave been investigated by potentiodynamic test. Despite superior corrosion resistance of coated specimens, fatigue performance was adversely affected under the combined action of corrosion attack and cyclic loading.     

Fatigue behaviour of double lap riveted joints assembled with and without interfay sealant

Fatigue tests on ‘double shear’ riveted specimens were carried out. Material was aluminium alloy, 7075‐T73, thickness 3 mm. Specimen surfaces were protected by chromic acid anodization and epoxy primer. The mating surfaces of some specimens were sealed by a two‐component manganese‐dioxide cured, polysulfide compound. Specimens were pre‐assembled by inserting a temporary spring fastener in a pilot hole. The holes were reamed to the final diameter after sealant curing; then the Hi‐Loks were installed. Comparative fatigue tests were carried out on dry assembled specimens. Quite surprisingly, the fatigue resistance of sealed specimens was very low when compared with the results of dry assembled specimens. Hysteresis cycles measured in sealed and un‐sealed specimens clearly indicated a lubricant effect of the sealing layer, which justified the results obtained. Additional tests were performed on specimens assembled by applying different clamping force during the sealant curing time. The results obtained indicated an independence of the fatigue resistance on this parameter. Different failure modes were observed in sealed and un‐sealed specimens: fatigue cracks nucleated outside the hole at a location in the shadow of the rivet in the un‐sealed joints, while fatigue cracks nucleated at both sides of the holes in sealed joints. Finite element calculations carried out under different values of the friction coefficient between the mating surfaces confirmed the different location of the fatigue critical areas in sealed and un‐sealed specimens.     

An investigation on the fatigue behaviour of Al 7075-T6 coated with titanium nitride using physical vapour deposition process

This paper investigates the fatigue behaviour of aluminium alloy 7075-T6 coated with 3-μm-thick titanium nitride (TiN) coatings using a physical vapour deposition (PVD) process. Preliminary work demonstrated that the high operating temperature of the deposition process markedly reduced the tensile properties of the coating-substrate system by comparison to the uncoated Al 7075-T6. The low tensile properties of the coated material caused a considerable reduction in the load-carrying capacity under fatigue loading. Consequently, a substantial decrease of 90% was found in the fatigue life of the coated material. The lost tensile properties were then satisfactorily recovered by applying a post heat treatment to the coated alloy leading to significant fatigue life improvements to approach original properties of the uncoated Al 7075-T6. The evaluation of fatigue fracture surfaces at high magnifications indicated that the fatigue cracks initiated at the outer surface of the aluminium substrate under the coating thin layer.     

The effect of pitting corrosion on the safe-life prediction of the Royal Australian Air Force P-3C Orion aircraft

This paper investigates if corrosion pitting invalidates the fatigue lifeing method used by the Royal Australian Air Force to manage the structural integrity of its P-3C Orion aircraft. Fatigue life predictions made using the P-3C Service Life Assessment Program method were compared with those from an Equivalent Crack Size model for pitting corrosion. The data for this comparison came from a program of variable amplitude fatigue tests of high-k_t specimens of 7075-T6. This testing was performed using two stress levels on both corroded and uncorroded specimens. Analysis of the results showed that the safe-life estimates made using the P-3 life assessment method were conservative in the presence of corrosion as they were above the 99.9th percentile of fatigue life predicted by the equivalent crack size method.     

CRACK INITIATION AND SMALL FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH BEHAVIOUR OF SQUEEZE-CAST Al-Si ALUMINIUM ALLOYS

Abstract— Fatigue strength, crack initiation and small crack growth behaviour in two kinds of squeeze-cast aluminium alloys, AC8A-T6 and AC4C-T6 were investigated using smooth specimens subjected to rotatary-bending fatigue at room temperature. Fatigue resistance of these alloys was almost the same as that of the wrought aluminium alloys because of their fine microstructure and of the decrease in defect size due to squeeze-casting. Fatigue crack initiation sites were at the eutectic silicon particles on the surface of specimens or at internal microporosity in the specimens. Crack initiation life, defined as a crack length of 50 μm on the specimen surface, was successfully estimated from an evaluation of initiation sites using fracture mechanics and the statistics of extrema. Small fatigue crack growth in the two kinds of alloys obeys the relation proposed by Nisitani et al. , namely that d(2c)/d N = C (σ_a/σ_B)ⁿ· (2 c ), where C is a constant and σ_B is the ultimate tensile strength. It is pointed out that an improvement in fatigue strength of cast aluminium alloys can be expected by refining the eutectic silicon rather than by an increase in static strength.     

Effect of detail design on fatigue performance of fastener hole

In the present study, a series of tests were conducted on aluminum alloy 2024 to investigate the effect of detail design on the fatigue behavior of fastener holes in specimens. Two types of detail designs were concerned. One was the mode of fastener holes (countersunk rivet or countersunk bolt), the other was drilling process (traditional air-drilling process or one step compound cutting process). The fracture surfaces were observed by means of an optical microscope. Finite element method (FEM) was employed to analyze the distribution of stress around the fastener holes. The results showed that crack always initiated at the hole edge where the stress concentration occurred. Crack initiation was induced by stress concentration. Crack initiation life accounted for 80% of total fatigue life of fastener holes. The fatigue life of fastener hole using countersunk rivet was longer than that using countersunk bolt. Contrasted to traditional air-drilling process, the fatigue life of fastener hole could be improved by 44–55% using one step compound cutting process. However, the dispersibility of fatigue life became increasingly severe when fatigue life was prolonged.     

Small-crack growth and fatigue life predictions for high-strength aluminium alloys. Part II: crack closure and fatigue analyses

Small-crack effects were investigated in two high-strength aluminium alloys: 7075-T6 bare and LC9cs clad aluminium alloys. Both experimental and analytical investigations were conducted to study crack initiation and growth of small cracks. In the experimental program, fatigue and small-crack tests were conducted on single-edge-notch tension (SENT) specimens and large-crack tests were conducted on middle-crack tension specimens under constant-amplitude and Mini-TWIST spectrum loading. A pronounced small-crack effect was observed in both materials, especially for the negative stress ratios. For all loading conditions, most of the fatigue life of the SENT specimens was shown to be crack propagation from initial material defects or from the cladding layer. In the analysis program, three-dimensional finite-element and weight-function methods were used to determine stress intensity factors, and to develop equations for surface and corner cracks at the notch in the SENT specimen. (Part I was on the experimental and fracture mechanics analyses and was published in Fatigue Fract. Engng Mater. Struct. 21 , 1289–1306, 1998.) This part focuses on a crack closure and fatigue analysis of the data presented in Part I. A plasticity-induced crack-closure model was used to correlate large-crack growth rate data to develop the baseline effective stress intensity factor range (Δ K _eff ) against rate relations for each material, ignoring the large-crack threshold. The model was then used with the Δ K _eff rate relation and the stress intensity factors for surface or corner cracks to make fatigue life predictions. The initial defect sizes chosen in the fatigue analyses were similar to those that initiated failure in the specimens. Predicted small-crack growth rates and fatigue lives agreed well with experiments.     

Retardation of cracks emanating from fastener holes

A limited number of cold expansion and interference fit fastener systems were evaluated to determine their capability to retard the growth of cracks emanating from fastener holes. The fastener systems were applied to specimens fabricated from 7075-T6 aluminum. In all cases the fastener holes had fatigue cracks emanating from them before the fastener system was applied. Some samples that were used as baseline were fitted with non-interference fit fasteners. All samples were tested in constant amplitude fatigue at an R ratio of 0.5 at maximum stresses of 20 or 30 ksi. The results show that a cold expansion or properly installed interference fit fastener system significantly retards the growth of preexisting cracks emanating from fastener holes irrespective of the amount of load transfer through the joint.     

An FE analysis for assessing the effect of short-term exposure to elevated temperature on residual stresses around cold expanded fastener holes in aluminum alloy 7075-T6

A previous experimental study revealed fatigue life reduction in Al 7075-T6 cold expanded fastener holes exposed to 120 °C for 1 h. The obtained experimental evidence indicated a residual stress reduction associated with material softening at elevated temperatures, termed as thermo-mechanical stress relaxation. In order to identify and characterize the potential features of this phenomenon, FE analysis is carried out in this study and a detailed body of evidence is provided for occurrence of a time-independent thermo-mechanical residual stress relaxation around cold expanded fastener holes due to exposure to elevated temperature. The results of FE simulation demonstrate a good agreement with experimental results obtained earlier.     

Fatigue life of cold‐expanded fastener holes with interference‐fit fasteners at short edge margins

The fatigue life of 7075‐T6 aluminium specimens with countersunk fastener holes with cold expansion and interference‐fit fasteners with short edge margins was studied. The study was performed experimentally and through finite element analysis. The experiments measured the total fatigue life and crack growth. The results from the finite element analysis consisted of tangential residual stress profiles, which were combined with applied cyclic stresses for fatigue analysis. The experiments showed that the fatigue life improved with interference‐fit fasteners and cold expansion at all edge margins. The fatigue life also increased with increasing edge margin. The finite element results were used to make fatigue life predictions that corresponded reasonably well with the experimental results.     

The effect of excimer laser surface treatment on the pitting corrosion fatigue behaviour of aluminium alloy 7075

An excimer laser (KrF) operating at a wavelength of 248 nm was used to modify the surface microstructure of 7075-T651 aluminium alloy. The aim was to improve both the corrosion resistance and the pitting corrosion fatigue resistance of the alloy by means of laser surface melting (LSM). The microstructure and the phases of the modified surface structure were analysed, and the corrosion behaviour of the untreated and the laser-treated specimens were evaluated by immersion test. The fatigue resistance of the 7075 alloy has been presented in the form of S/N curves.A microscopical examination and the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study revealed that LSM caused a reduction both in number and size of constituent particles and a refinement of the grain structure within the laser melted zone. As a result, the corrosion resistance of the aluminium alloy was improved. There was a significant reduction in the number of corrosion pits and shallow attack occurred. The fatigue test results showed that under dry fatigue conditions, the total fatigue life of the laser treated specimens, in which the crack initiation period is of considerable significance, was lower than that of the untreated specimens. However, after shot peening, the fatigue life of the laser treated specimens was recovered. This was primarily attributed to the elimination of surface defects, but also be in part, due to the introduction of compressive residual stresses in the surface layer of the specimen. The fatigue resistance of the shot peened laser-treated specimens, tested in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution with 48 hrs prior immersion, was greater than the untreated specimens with an increase of two orders of magnitude in fatigue life. This was primarily due to the elimination of surface defects and the reduction of corrosion pits.     

An experimental investigation on the effect of short time exposure to elevated temperature on fatigue life of cold expanded fastener holes

An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the effect of short time exposure to elevated temperature on fatigue life of cold expanded fastener holes. When cold expanded holes are subjected to temperature variations their fatigue life changes remarkably. However the exact governing mechanism has not been clearly addressed before. In this study, another stress relaxation mechanism rather than creep has been introduced which happens at a short time due to temperature rise. Results of fatigue tests on Al 7075-T6 show that the effect of this mechanism can be beneficial or detrimental. This research has sought to clarify this issue.     

The effect of electroless Ni–P coatings on the fatigue life of Al 7075-T6 fastener holes with symmetrical slits

In this paper, the fatigue behaviour of Al 7075-T6 fastener holes with symmetrical through slits was studied. The holes were coated with electroless nickel (EN) plating with a high phosphorous content of 10–13 wt% and a thickness of 40 μm. Uncoated open-hole, EN coated open-hole, uncoated bolted hole and EN coated bolted hole specimens were fatigue tested. Bolted samples were clamped with a high tightening torque of 7 Nm. The established S–N curves showed 282–1348% improvements in the fatigue life due to the combined effect of EN coating and bolt clamping, depending on the level of maximum alternating stress. Excellent adhesion was observed between the coating and the aluminium substrate along the crack path. Tensile tests results showed a considerable reduction of 54% in the ductility of the coated material while both the yield and ultimate strengths were found to slightly increase by approximately 6% in comparison with the uncoated aluminium alloy.     

Influence of residual fatigue damage on the fracture toughness parameters of an AA6082-T6 aluminium alloy

The present investigation has been carried out in order to study the influence of the previous accumulated fatigue damage induced during high cycle fatigue (HCF), on the fracture toughness parameters of an AA6082-T6 aluminium alloy. The results show that previous fatigue damage accumulated in HCF does not affect the tensile static mechanical properties of the material, but gives rise to a significant debit of the toughness properties on this aluminium alloy. The fracture toughness results have shown that the crack opening displacement at a crack extension of 0.2 mm (COD_0.2) decreases in the range of ∼18 to 36% whereas the value of the non-linear fracture mechanics parameter  J _0.2, decreases in the range of ∼11 to 25% at applied maximum stresses of 200 and 275 MPa, respectively. Optical microscopy observations conducted on the surface of the specimens subjected to HCF damage indicate the existence of microcracks ∼15 to 25 μm long nucleated along the grain boundaries of the material. Also, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations of the fracture surfaces after the tearing tests show the predominance of a ductile fracture mechanism for the material prior to residual fatigue damage, whereas a mixed ductile–brittle fracture mechanism and the presence of flat facets were observed on the fracture surfaces of the specimens with a fatigue damage of 0.70.     

Effect of solidification cooling rate on the fatigue life of A356.2-T6 cast aluminium alloy

The effect of the cooling rate during solidification on the fatigue life of a cast aluminium alloy (A356.2-T6) is examined. The fatigue lives were determined for specimens removed from ingots with a gradient in cooling rates along their heights. Low- and high-cycle fatigue tests were conducted under both axial loading and reciprocating-bending conditions at a stress (strain) ratio ( R ) of −1.0, 0.1 and 0.2. Results show that the fatigue life decreases by a factor of three in low-cycle fatigue ( R = −1.0) and by a factor of 100 in high-cycle fatigue ( R = 0.1) as solidification cooling rate decreases from ~10 to ~0.3 K s⁻¹ , as indicated by measurements of the secondary dendrite arm spacings in the ingots. Fatigue cracks initiated from porosity in the material solidified at slower cooling rates. When pore size is below a critical size of ~80 μm, as a result of increasing the cooling rate, the fatigue cracks initiated from near-surface eutectic-microconstituent. When present at or near the surface, large oxide inclusions initiated fatigue cracks.     

The effect of pitting corrosion on fatigue life

Fatigue testing of pre‐pitted 2024‐T3 aluminium alloy specimens is performed in laboratory air at 22 °C and 40% RH to characterize the effect of pitting corrosion on fatigue life. Specimens, pre‐corroded in a 0.5 M NaCl solution from 48 to 384 h, have fatigue lives that are reduced by more than one order of magnitude after 384 h pre‐corrosion as compared to those of uncorroded specimens. The reduction in fatigue life is interpreted in terms of the influence of the time of exposure to the corrosive environment or pit size. The crack‐nucleating pit sizes, ranging from 20 to 70 μm, are determined from post‐fracture examinations by scanning electron microscopy. Fatigue lives are estimated using a fracture mechanics approach and are shown to be in good agreement with the actual data. A probabilistic analysis shows that the distribution of fatigue life is strongly correlated to the distribution in nucleating pit size.     

Investigation of the fatigue life of pre- and post-drilling hole in dog-bone specimen subjected to laser shot peening

The influence of processing sequence of laser shot peening (LSP) on the fatigue properties of fastener hole was investigated with finite element method and experiments. The results show that different processing sequences lead to different residual stress distributions and different fatigue lives. The compressive residual stresses (CRS) are squeezed into two-sided surface layers of fastener hole by two sided laser shot peening, and the ellipse CRS fields are found on both sided surfaces of sample. However, when the pre-drilling hole in dog-bone specimen is subjected to LSP, the tensile stresses appear at its mid-thickness region, while the CRS distribute in the entire thickness region of the post-drilling hole after LSP. The fatigue crack initiation of specimens treated by LSP stems from the subsurface layer of hole edge. The fatigue striation spacing of specimen with post-drilling hole after LSP is narrower in comparison with that of case with pre-drilling hole before LSP. The fatigue life of post-drilling hole is longer than that of the pre-drilling hole.     

EXTENDING THE FATIGUE LIFE OF MULTI-LAYER METAL JOINTS

Abstract The influences of both hole cold expansion and interference-fit fasteners for extending the fatigue life of multi-layer aluminium alloy joint specimens under variable-amplitude loading have been examined experimentally. Improvements in fatigue life were markedly dependent on the degree of load transfer in the specimen joint. Secondary bending in the joint also had a major influence, reducing the effectiveness of these life improvement techniques. Depending on the joint configuration, improvements in fatigue life ranged from nothing at all to a factor of about 40. Fretting appeared to be involved in the initiation of all cracks and where this occurred on faying surfaces only small, if any, improvements in fatigue life were obtained.     

The effect of cold expansion on fatigue crack growth from open holes at room and high temperature

In this paper a series of residual stress measurements and fatigue crack growth tests have been carried out using aluminium alloy 2650 specimens containing cold expanded and non cold expanded holes. Residual stress measurements have been done after cold expansion and after various loading and temperature conditions. In order to measure an angular variation of residual stresses, X-ray and a new technique called the Garcia–Sachs method have been employed. Results revealed that residual stress relaxation occurred as a result of exposure at 150°C. The magnitude of relaxation was shown to be dependent on the level and the sign of externally applied load. Fatigue crack growth tests have been carried out at 20°C and 150°C for both cold expanded and non-cold expanded conditions. Fatigue crack growth rates in specimens containing cold expanded fastener holes were affected significantly by elevated temperature exposure. Depending on the exposure time and loading conditions the fatigue life improvement was found to be between one and greater than 10 for tests at 20°C.     

Gust severity effects on fatigue crack propagation in aluminium alloy sheet materials

Flight simulation fatigue tests were carried out on specimens of two aluminium alloys to investigate the effect of differing gust load experiences on fatigue crack propagation in 7075-T6 and the effect of gust load alleviation on 2024-T3. Two gust spectra were used: the Fokker F-27 spectrum for 7075-T6; and the reference spectrum TWIST for 2024-T3. There was a large systematic effect of gust severity on crack propagation rates in 7075-T6, and this effect correlated with the stress intensity factor for the root mean square of the gust amplitudes. Gust alleviation increased the crack initiation and total lives for 2024-T3, but decreased the crack propagation lives owing to a lessening of crack growth retardation following severe flights.