Properties of Aluminum Alloys: Fatigue Data and the Effects of Temperature, Product Form, and Processing (#05156G)
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CHAPTER 2
2.1
All rotating-bending fatigue tests at room temperature were carried out in R.R. Moore rotating-beam machines using specimens
of the designs in Fig. A6.1(a and c). The stress ratio, R, the ratio of
minimum stress in each cycle to the maximum stress, was 1.0.
That is, the compressive stress is equal in magnitude to the tensile
stress.
When notched specimens were tested, the notch-tip radius was
generally less than 0.001 in. (0.025 mm) and actually measured
in the range of 0.0002 to 0.0005 in. (0.005 to 0.013 mm); this
provides a theoretical stress-concentration factor, Kt, in accordance with Neuber (Ref 1), in the range of 12 to 19, generally
referred to herein as greater than 12 (>12). As noted earlier, where
some figure captions refer simply to sharply notched specimens
2.2
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6 / Properties of Aluminum Alloys: Fatigue Data and the Effects of Temperature, Product Form, and Processing
of such tests, the specified stabilizing periods are always defined; if
no special stabilization period is included with the data, it is safe to
assume the stabilizing period was 1/2 h.
The test sections of the smooth and notched specimens used in
the high-temperature tests were identical to those used at room
temperature.
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
Except as noted previously in tests at high or subzero temperature, all tests for which data are presented herein were generated
in ambient laboratory environment in which temperature and humidity were maintained as constant and uniform as possible but in
which air conditioning and humidity were not as tightly controlled
as would now be required.
While it is therefore possible that some of the scatter in the data
may have been associated with unrecognized variations in testing
environment, the advantage provided by these data is that they
were all obtained in the same laboratory and same testing machines under consistent conditions year to year over a period of
many years and therefore should be useful in relative comparisons. However, the environmental factor should be recognized,
especially when comparing with results from different investigators and laboratories.
2.7
For all of the types of tests described previously, it was the practice to present the results in plots of the applied nominal stress
(i.e., calculated using the initial dimensions of the specimens) versus the fatigue life of the specimen at that stress, commonly referred to as S-N curves. Stress is presented on the ordinate in
cartesian coordinates, while life is presented on the abscissa on a
log scale, usually out to 109 cycles.
It is the usual practice when data for multiple lots of material
are presented to include the bands representing the majority of the
Chapter 2:
data other than obvious outliers. These bands are then used as
bases for comparison of one alloy or group of alloys with others.
These bands have usually been drawn by eyeballing the data,
not by the use of any statistical methods. Generally, when such
bands are developed to be representative of a given alloy and/or
temper, data from only longitudinal (L) and long-transverse (LT)
specimens are considered. The subject of variations in fatigue
strength with specimen direction is discussed in detail in Section
4.4 of Chapter 4.
Most of the graphs provided herein are of the S-N type. Most
others are of the modified Goodman type described in the next
section.
2.8
2.9
Among the test results included herein are some from experiments designed to determine whether or not variables in testing
practices may influence the results. These are itemized as follows.
2.9.1
2.9.3
2.9.4
Table 2.1
2.9.2
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As cast
0.01 in. (0.25 mm) removed
0.025 in. (0.64 mm) removed
See Fig. 380.RB02
ksi
MPa
21.0
19.5
17.5
145
134
121
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8 / Properties of Aluminum Alloys: Fatigue Data and the Effects of Temperature, Product Form, and Processing
Table 2.2
test bars
Figure No.
Fatigue specimens
ksi
MPa
242.0-T571
242.RB03
242.RB05
15.0
9.5
103
66
355.0-T7, T71
355.RB13
355.RB18
10.5
6.0
72
42
2. Aluminum Standards and Data (Standard and Metric Editions), The Aluminum Association, Inc., Washington, D.C.,
2008 (published periodically)
3. Manual on Fatigue Testing, American Society of Testing
Materials, 1949
4. E.C. Hartmann and F.M. Howell, Laboratory Fatigue Testing
of Materials, Metal Fatigue, G. Sines and J.L. Waisman, Ed.,
McGraw-Hill Co., New York, 1959
5. Haigh-Robertson wire fatigue testing machines, unpublished
design by Profs. Haigh and Robertson of the Royal Naval
College, Greenwich, and Bruntons, circa 1920; Reference to
their design is covered in R. Cazaud, Chapter III, Fatigue of
Metals, 1946.
6. Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization, MMPDS-02, Vol 3a: 20006000 Series Aluminum Alloys, Vol 3b: 7000 Series and Cast Aluminum Alloys, FAA,
April, 2005
7. Fatigue Data for Light Structural Alloys, ASM International,
1995
8. J.G. Kaufman and E.L. Rooy, Aluminum Alloy Castings
Properties, Processes, and Applications, ASM International,
2004