Cyclic stress response and deformation behaviour of precipitation-hardened aluminium-lithium alloys

The cyclic stress response of two lithium-containing aluminium alloys aged to contain ordered precipitates was studied in different environments over a range of plastic strains. The specimens were cycled using tension-compression loading under total strain control. The peak-aged Al---Li---Mn alloy cyclically hardened to failure, whereas the peak-aged Al---Li---Cu alloy displayed softening for most of the fatigue life. The presence of shearable softening for most of the fatigue life. The presence of shearable precipitates in the two alloys results in a local decrease in resistance to dislocation movement, leading to a progressive loss of ordering contributions to hardening and slip concentration. This, coupled with the presence of precipitate free zones, promotes strain localization in intense slip bands and results in early crack nucleation. Transmission electron microscopy observations revealed homogeneous deformation in specimens cycled at high plastic strain amplitudes. However, at lower plastic strain amplitudes, deformation was inhomogeneous in the two alloy systems with the formation of intense planar slip bands. Results of this study reveal that the initial hardening observed is due to dislocation-dislocation and dislocation-precipitate interaction and that the softening observed in the Al---Li---Cu alloy is a mechanical and not an environmental effect.