Failure of AA 6061 and 2099 aluminum alloys under dynamic shock loading

Microstructural aspects of the deformation and failure of AA 6061 and AA 2099 aluminum alloys under dynamic impact loading are investigated and compared with their responses to quasi-static mechanical loading in compression. Cylindrical specimens of the alloys, heat-treated to T4, T6 and T8 tempers, were subjected to dynamic compressive loading at strain rates of between 2800 and 9200 s⁻¹ and quasi-static compressive loading at a strain rate of 0.0032 s⁻¹. Plastic deformation under the dynamic impact loading is dominated by thermal softening leading to formation of adiabatic shear bands. Both deformed and transformed shear bands were observed in the two alloys. The shear bands offer preferential crack initiation site and crack propagation path in the alloys during impact loading leading to ductile shear fracture. While cracks propagate along the central region of transformed bands in AA 6061 alloy, the AA 2099 alloy failed by cracks that propagate preferentially along the boundary region between the transformed shear bands and the bulk material. Whereas the AA 2099 alloy shows the greatest propensity for adiabatic shear banding and failure in the T8 temper condition, AA 6061 alloy is most susceptible to formation of adiabatic shear bands and failure in the T4 temper. Deformation under quasi-static loading is dominated by strain hardening in the two alloys. Rate of strain hardening is higher for naturally aged AA 6061 than the artificially aged alloy, while the strain hardening rate for the AA 2099 alloy is independent of the temper condition. The AA 2099 alloy shows a superior mechanical behaviour under quasi-static compressive loading whereas the AA 6061 shows a higher resistance to impact damage.     

Fabrication and mechanical properties of Cu-coatedwoven carbon fibers reinforced aluminum alloy composite

Cu-coatedwoven carbon fibers/aluminum alloy composite (C_f/Al) was prepared by spark plasma sintering. Microstructure and mechanical properties of the composite were investigated. Microstructure observation indicates that the interface reaction is evidently inhibited by Cu coating. Woven carbon fibers are adhered to the matrix alloy by anchor locking effect of matrix alloy immersing into the interstices between carbon fibers. Under the quasi-static and dynamic compressive conditions, the composite exhibits excellent ductility even when the strain reaches 0.8. Adding carbon fibers into ZL205A alloy has no obvious influence on compressive flow stress of the composite. The compressive true stress–true strain curves show that the composite is a strain rate insensitive material. During the tensile tests, the elongation of the composite shows a sharp increase from 4.5% to 13.5% due to the adding of woven carbon fibers. Meanwhile, the tensile strength of the composite is increased slightly from 168 MPa to 202 MPa compared to that of ZL205A alloy. The good ductility of the composite is ascribed to the cracks deflection, fibers pulling out, debonding and breakage mechanisms.     

Accelerated ageing behaviors of aluminum plate with composite patches under salt fog effect

The present study investigated the salt fog effect on the quasi-static tensile and fatigue properties of the center-cracked aluminum plates which were single-sidedly repaired with C_f/epoxy composite patches. The results show that the salt fog has minimal impact on the quasi-static tensile properties of the epoxy resin and C_f/epoxy composites; while the quasi-static tensile and fatigue properties of the repaired and unrepaired specimens all decrease with the exposure time of the salt fog increasing. Compared to the unrepaired specimens, the repaired specimens have high resistance to salt fog degradation. Within the 0–900 h range of exposure time, the repaired specimens completely fail when the fatigue crack length is equal to the width of the aluminum plate. However, as the exposure time is larger than 900 h, the repaired specimens can still bear fatigue loading when the fatigue crack propagates through the aluminum plate.     

Cryogenic mechanical behavior of 5000- and 6000-series aluminum alloys: Issues on application to offshore plants

The mechanical behavior of aluminum alloys was investigated in terms of four aspects: temperature, strain rate, material type, and fracture shape. The candidate materials were 5000- and 6000-series alloys. The material characteristics were investigated and summarized as a function of low temperature (110–293 K) and quasi-static strain rate (10⁻⁴ and 10⁻² s⁻¹). The results confirmed that the strength and ductility of aluminum alloys improved with a decrease in the temperature. The aluminum alloys showed a strain rate effect only in terms of the ductility of the 5000-series alloys. In addition, fractography analyses were performed on the fracture specimens to explain the material behavior at cryogenic temperatures.     

The room temperature mechanical properties of hot rolled 7075 aluminum alloy

The effect of equivalent rolling strain and temperature on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of 7075-T7351 aluminum alloy has been studied. This has been carried out using tensile testing method. The results indicated that the predominant restoration process during rolling at 250 and 350 °C is dynamic recovery, and the driving force is not high enough to trigger the dynamic recrystallization. However, the recrystallized grains are clearly evident in the microstructure of the specimens which were rolled at 450 °C. The tensile test results showed that the room temperature strength and ductility were decreased by increasing rolling temperature in the temperature range of 250–350 °C. The room temperature mechanical properties of the alloy were started to improve by increasing the temperature up to 450 °C. The observed trends were explained through considering the microstructural evolution upon hot rolling.     

Damage accumulation modeling under uniaxial low cycle fatigue at elevated temperatures

The paper presents a fatigue damage accumulation model, which allows us to predict fatigue life under low cycle uniaxial loadings at elevated temperatures. The structure of the model has been based on the stress–strain curves obtained during the experimental study. The model has been verified experimentally by applying experimental studies carried out on ENAW-2024T3 aluminum alloy and 2Cr–2WVTa steel. Moreover, a comparison between the results of fatigue life prediction using the proposed damage accumulation model was done with the results obtained on the basis of various generally applied models, based on the Manson–Coffin dependency. Furthermore this paper presents the results of experimental studies carried out on the aluminum alloy ENAW 2024 T3 under uniaxial low cycle fatigue loadings in the conditions of elevated temperatures. In the course of the study, material constants and the parameters of the stress–strain curve in the range of low cycle fatigue for four levels of temperatures (20, 100, 200 and 300 °C) were set.     

Preparation of C200 green reactive powder concrete and its static–dynamic behaviors

In this paper, a new type of green reactive powder concrete (GRPC) with compressive strength of 200 MPa (C200 GRPC) is prepared by utilizing composite mineral admixtures, natural fine aggregates, short and fine steel fibers. The quasi-static mechanical properties (mechanical strength, fracture energy and fiber–matrix interfacial bonding strength) of GRPC specimens, cured in three different types of regimes (standard curing, steam curing and autoclave curing), are investigated. The experimental results show that the mechanical properties of the C200 GRPC made with the cementitious materials consisting of 40% of Portland cement, 25% of ultra fine slag, 25% of ultra fine fly ash and 10% of silica fume, 4% volume fraction of steel fiber are higher than the others. The corresponding compressive strength, flexural strength, fracture energy and fiber–matrix interfacial bonding strength are more than 200 MPa, 60 MPa, 30,000 J/m² and 14 MPa, respectively. The dynamic tensile behavior of the C200 GRPC is also investigated through the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) according to the spalling phenomena. The dynamic testing results demonstrate that strain rate has an important effect on the dynamic tensile behavior of C200 GRPC. With an increase of strain rate, the peak stress rapidly increases in the dynamic tensile stress–time curves. The C200 GRPC exhibits an obvious strain rate stiffening effect in the case of high strain rate. Finally, the mechanism of excellent static and dynamic properties gains of C200 GRPC is also discussed.     

Kinetics of low-temperature discontinuous deformation of metals

Kinetic characteristics of discontinuous yielding at a temperature of 4 K as functions of a number of factors are obtained using numerical simulation and experimental data for austenitic steel and aluminum alloy. During the development of a strain jump, the deformation rate and acceleration are 19 s⁻¹ and 5000 s⁻², respectively, for steel specimens and are much lower for aluminum alloy. The jump duration is mainly determined by the characteristics of the loading system. An equation relating the strain jump and the critical stress for low-temperature ductile materials is derived. The energy balance and the mechanism of low-temperature discontinuous yielding of metals are discussed. Its dynamic and thermally activated components are estimated taking into account the strain hardening of the material.     

Corrosion-fatigue behaviour of 7075-T651 aluminum alloy subjected to periodic overloads

The corrosion-fatigue behaviour of 7075-T651 aluminum alloy subjected to periodic overloads was examined. This aluminum alloy is typically used in aerospace structural components such as the wing spars of aircraft. Axial fatigue specimens were subjected to a loading spectrum that consisted of a fully reversed periodic overload of near-yield magnitude followed by 200 smaller cycles at high R-ratio. The specimens were fatigue tested while they were fully immersed in an aerated and recirculated 3.5 wt% NaCl simulated seawater solution.The results for the corrosion-fatigue testing were compared to data obtained for the same overload spectrum applied in laboratory air. A damage analysis showed that the presence of the corrosive environment accelerated the damage accumulation rate to a greater extent than that observed in air, particularly at low stress ranges. This resulted in a reduction in the fatigue strength of the material when it was simultaneously subjected to overloads and a corrosive environment. It is believed that the reduced fatigue life was due primarily to corrosion pit formation and a combination of anodic dissolution at the crack tip and hydrogen embrittlement. For practical purposes, the endurance-limit of the material disappears under these conditions.     

Lifetime behaviour of unidirectionally wire reinforced lightweight metal matrix composites

In the field of lightweight construction for transportation means, hybrid structures composed of high-strength and low-density materials exhibit a high application potential. The current work shows that a spring steel wire reinforcement content of 11.1 vol.% leads to a significant increase in lifetime of the magnesium alloy AZ31 under stress controlled fatigue loading. Based on the knowledge of the quasi-static behaviour of the single components and the fatigue behaviour of the single matrix material and on the understanding of mechanisms and mechanics of constituent deformation and damage evolution a new model is deduced from the quantitative strain response in order to predict the lifetime for different unidirectionally reinforced material systems.     

Strain rate dependence of HPFRCC cylinders in monotonic tension

High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composite (HPFRCC) materials exhibit strain hardening in uniaxial, monotonic tension accompanied by multiple cracking. The durability of HPFRCC materials under repeated loading makes them potentially suitable for seismic design applications. In this paper, the strain rate dependence of tensile properties of two HPFRCC materials in cylindrical specimens is reported from a larger study on strain rate effects in tension, compression and cyclic tension–compression loading. The cylindrical specimens were loaded in monotonic tension at strain rates ranging from quasi-static to 0.2 s⁻¹. To evaluate the impact of specimen geometry on tensile response, coupon specimens loaded in monotonic tension under a quasi-static strain rate were compared to corresponding cylindrical specimens made from the same batch of material. Tensile strength and ductility of the HPFRCC materials were significantly reduced with increasing strain rate. Multiple cracking, strain hardening, strain capacity, and the shape of the stress–strain response were found to be dependent on specimen geometry. SEM images taken of the fracture plane of several specimens indicated that pullout and fracture of the fibers occurred for both HPFRCC materials studied here.     

Fatigue behavior of a thin gage Ni alloy after exposure to elevated temperature

Thin gage Ni-base superalloy materials are being targeted for hypersonic applications up to 1100 °C. To achieve an optimized system design, standard mechanical behavior data on these materials are needed under a range of loading conditions such as tensile, creep and fatigue at representative temperatures. In order to meet this need, a unique test system developed in-house for determining materials properties of very thin materials was used to determine the fatigue response of a high temperature Ni alloy, both with and without prior exposure to elevated temperatures. This paper examines the effects of elevated temperature exposure on the ductility and fatigue resistance of Haynes 230 with a thickness of 0.127 mm.     

Effect of heat treatment on the behavior of an AA7055 aluminum alloy during ballistic impact

Effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties and ballistic resistance of AA 7055 aluminum alloy plates has been studied. Large differences in the static mechanical properties are observed in the plates subjected to three different heat treatment schedules namely under-aging, peak aging and over-aging. The peak-aged plate shows the maximum strength and hardness followed by the under-aged and over-aged plates. The ballistic resistance of these heat treated plates of thicknesses 5 and 10 mm are evaluated by impacting deformable projectiles at a velocity of 820 ± 10 m/s and at a normal angle of attack, by using a thick backing technique. The under-aged and peak-aged materials exhibit similar ballistic penetration resistances which are superior to the over-aged material. Metallographic examination of the impacted plates shows formation of adiabatic shear band (ASB) induced cracks and few transformed ASBs. Peak-aged 7055 aluminum alloy plate shows much improved ballistic properties compared to commercially available 7017 aluminum alloy plate in terms of the depth of penetration.     

Low cycle fatigue behavior of Cr–Mo–V low alloy steel used for railway brake discs

The cyclic stress–strain response and the low cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of Cr–Mo–V low alloy steel which was used for forged railway brake discs was studied. Tensile strength and LCF properties were examined over a range from room temperature (RT) to 600 °C using specimens cut from circumferential direction of a forged disk. The fully reversed strain-controlled LCF tests were conducted at a constant total strain rate with different axial strain amplitude levels. The cyclic strain–stress relationships and the strain–life relationships were obtained through the test results, and related LCF parameters of the steel were calculated. The studied steel exhibits cyclic softening behavior and behaves Masing type, especially at higher strain amplitudes. At higher than 600 °C, carbide particles aggregated and a decarburized layer developed near the specimen surface. Micro voids distribute within the depth of 50 μm from the specimen surface could coalesce with fatigue cracks. Multiple crack initiation sites were observed on the fracture surface. The oxide film that generated at 600 °C covered the fatigue striations and accelerated the crack propagation. Final fracture area with bigger and deeper dimples showed better ductility at higher temperature. The investigated LCF behavior can provide reference for brake disc life assessment and fracture mechanisms analysis.     

How surface damage removal affects fatigue life

The effect of the removal of work hardened surface layers from specimens of 2024-T4 aluminum alloy and AISI-4130 steel on their fatigue lives has been investigated. Specimens were fatigued at selected stress levels for a given number of cycles and the surface layer was removed followed by subsequent fatigue cycling. Results confirm that when a material is subjected to fatigue loading, damage accumulates in the surface layers in the form of work hardening. Removal of the surface layer brings the specimen back to its pre-fatigued condition.     

Thermomechanical fatigue evaluation and life prediction of 316L(N) stainless steel

An attempt has been made to understand the thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) behaviour of a nitrogen-alloyed type 316L austenitic stainless steel under different temperature domains. Smooth, hollow specimens were subjected to in-phase (IP) and out-of-phase (OP) thermal–mechanical cycling in air under a mechanical strain control mode, at a strain rate of 6.4 × 10^?5 s^?1 and a strain amplitude of ±0.4%. For the sake of comparison, total strain controlled low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests were also performed at the peak temperatures of TMF cycling on similar specimens employing the same strain rate and strain amplitude. Life was found to depend on the thermal/mechanical phasing and temperature. Creep was found to contribute to life reduction in IP tests when the peak temperature of cycling was above 600 °C. A few TMF tests were performed in vacuum in order to assess environmental influence on life. Thermomechanical fatigue cycling led to the development of significant amounts of mean stresses and the stress response was generally higher compared to that of LCF tests at the peak cyclic temperatures. Also, the isothermal tests at the peak temperature of TMF cycling resulted in lower lives compared to those obtained under TMF. An attempt was made to predict the TMF life using the isothermal database and satisfactory predictions were achieved using the Ostergren’s frequency modified damage function (FMDF) approach.     

强动载荷下焊接钢板力学性能及本构模型研究

为研究强动载荷下船用焊接钢板的力学性能。开展了典型船用焊接钢板母材、焊缝和热影响区的准静态拉伸试验、高温拉伸试验及SHPB动态压缩试验,分析了焊接钢板材料在不同应力状态下的力学行为,基于力学性能试验结果拟合了焊接钢板母材、焊缝和热影响区材料的本构模型。结果表明:准静态条件下,与母材相比,焊缝和热影响区材料的屈服强度与抗拉强度偏大,延伸率偏小;高应变率下,热影响区材料抵抗塑性变形的能力明显强于其他两种材料,且随着应变率的增加抵抗塑性变形的能力呈增强趋势;焊接板母材、焊缝与热影响区材料均表现出应变率效应和温度效应;热影响区是焊接板抗冲击性能相对薄弱的区域。建立的Johnson-Cook模型可以描述强动载荷下焊接钢板的力学性能。     

Experimental Study on the Effect of Strain Cycles on Mechanical Properties of AISI 1022 Steel

Abstract: The effect of cyclic loading on various mechanical properties of AISI 1022 steel was investigated in this study using laboratory‐based experimental method. Groups of specimens were tested in push‐pull strain‐controlled cyclic loading. Some of these specimens were tested to failure in pure fatigue tests. For the remaining specimens, cyclic loading tests were terminated at a specific number of cycles and these specimens were then tested to failure in quasi‐static tension. It was found that the strength increased, while the ductility and toughness decreased because of applications of strain cycles. As reduction in ductility weakens plastic strain resistance, and drop in toughness reduces resistance to fracture of this steel, the quasi‐static mechanical behaviour is expected to change as a consequence of application a certain number of strain cycles. This study therefore suggests that these changes in mechanical properties have to be contemplated in the associated design processes.     

Effect of rolling temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of 6063 Al alloy

Aluminium alloy (6063) was severely rolled upto 92% thickness reduction at liquid nitrogen temperature and room temperature to study the effect of rolling temperature on its mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics by using tensile tests and SEM/electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), DSC, X-ray diffraction (XRD) as compared to room temperature rolled (RTR) material with the same deformation strain. An improved strength (257 MPa) of cryorolled 6063 Al alloy was observed as compared to the room temperature rolled alloy (232 MPa). The improved strength of cryorolled alloy is due to the accumulation of higher dislocation density than the room temperature rolled material. The tensile properties of cryorolled alloy and the alloy subjected to different annealing treatments were measured. The cryorolled alloy subjected to annealing treatment at 300 °C for 5 min exhibits an ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructure with improved tensile strength and ductility.     

Microstructure and mechanical behavior of ECAP processed AZ31B over a wide range of loading rates under compression and tension

In this work, a commercial magnesium alloy, AZ31B in hot-rolled condition, has been subjected to severe plastic deformation via four passes of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) to modify its microstructure. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used to characterize the microstructure of the as-received, ECAPed and mechanically loaded specimens. Mechanical properties of the specimens were evaluated under both compression and tension along the rolling/extrusion direction over a wide range of strain rates. The yield strength, ultimate strength and failure strain/elongation under compression and tension were compared in detail to sort out the effects of factors in terms of microstructure and loading conditions. The results show that both the as-received alloy and ECAPed alloy are nearly insensitive to strain rate under compression, and the stress–strain curves exhibit clear sigmoidal shape, pointing to dominance of mechanical twinning responsible for the plastic deformation under compression. All compressive samples fail prematurely via adiabatic shear banding followed by cracking. Significant grain size refinement is identified in the vicinity of the shear crack. Under tension, the yield strength is much higher, with strong rate dependence and much improved tensile ductility in the ECAPed specimens. Tensile ductility is even much larger than the malleability under compression. This supports the operation of 〈c + a〉 dislocations. However, ECAP lowers the yield and flow strengths of the alloy under tension. We attempted to employ a mechanistic model to provide an explanation for the experimental results of plastic deformation and failure, which is in accordance with the physical processes under tension and compression.