Variation of the cyclic strain-hardening exponent in advanced aluminium alloys

The cyclic strain-hardening exponents for five fatigue-resistant aluminium alloys were determined throughout the fatigue life to study the degree of cyclic stability of these alloys. Data were compared with results for 2024-T4 aluminum and for two high-pressure steels. The strain-hardening exponent increased logarithmically in all cases except 2024-T4, although the increase was small and did not exceed 33% over the fatigue life. 7475-T351 aluminium alloy was found to be entirely stable, and 7075-T7351 almost so. These were followed in order of rising sensitivity by 2014-T6, 7050-T73651, and 2124-T851 aluminium alloys, and 28NiCrMo7.4 and 30CrNiMo8 steels. 2024-T4 aluminum alloy demonstrated a strong decrease in strain-hardening exponent with fatigue life.     

Wet chemical nitridation of (100)GaAs surface: Effect on electrical parameters of surface-barrier Au-Ti/GaAs structures

The influence exerted by wet chemical nitridation of the (100)GaAs substrate surface in hydrazinesulfide solutions before fabrication of barrier contacts on the parameters of surface-barrier Au-Ti/GaAs structures has been studied. The structures fabricated on nitrided substrates are characterized by lower reverse currents and higher breakdown voltages. The barrier height in structures of this kind is 0.71±0.02 eV, and the ideality factor, 1.06±0.01. The observed improvement in the electrical parameters of the structures is due to replacement of the natural oxide layer on the substrate surface by a thin coherent GaN film.     

CONSIDERATIONS OF THE EFFECT OF RESIDUAL STRESSES ON FATIGUE OF WELDED ALUMINIUM ALLOY STRUCTURES

A new class of large, high-speed seagoing ferry-boat is under development for service around the world. The ships, which are built entirely of aluminium-alloy plate and stiffeners, show a propensity for fatigue cracking of the welded structure. Cracks may occur in both the hulls and the superstructure early in their 20-year service life. Early appearance of fatigue cracks is shown to result from the combined stress and strain fields set up in weld zones by the static residual stresses and cyclic loads, beyond the effects of weld and detail geometry.  A numerical example demonstrates that conventional methods of fatigue analysis overestimate the lifetime of the welded aluminium structure, while damage tolerance analysis based on fracture mechanics leads to improved prediction.