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Title: Influence of friction stir processing on the room temperature fatigue cracking mechanisms of A356 aluminum alloy

Journal Article · · Materials Science and Engineering. A, Structural Materials: Properties, Microstructure and Processing
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Univ. of North Texas, Denton, TX (United States)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  3. General Motors Technical Center, Warren, MI (United States)

Here, failure by fatigue is a common problem associated with cast aluminum alloys due to defects like shrinkage porosities, non-metallic inclusions, etc. Friction stir processing (FSP) has recently emerged as an effective technique for local modification of microstructure. This study investigates the fatigue crack initiation and growth mechanisms in cast and FSPed A356 aluminum alloy. Two sets of parameters were used to friction stir the cast alloy resulting in the complete modification the cast microstructure to a wrought microstructure. Both the FSPed microstructures exhibited severe abnormal grain growth (AGG) after heat treatment leading to a multimodal grain size distribution – the grain sizes ranging from a few microns to a few millimeters. One of the FSP conditions displayed an excellent improvement in fatigue life by an order of magnitude, while the other condition displayed an unexpectedly large scatter in fatigue lives. Detailed study of the fractured fatigue specimens by electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) revealed that both, fatigue crack initiation and propagation, were intimately tied to the grain size as well as the grain misorientations in the microstructure.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1418022
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-130375; PII: S0921509318300534; TRN: US1801235
Journal Information:
Materials Science and Engineering. A, Structural Materials: Properties, Microstructure and Processing, Vol. 716; ISSN 0921-5093
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 37 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

Quasi-Static Loading Responses and Constitutive Modeling of Al–Si–Mg alloy journal October 2018
Process parameters optimization of friction stir processed Al 1050 aluminum alloy by response surface methodology (RSM) journal November 2018
A parametric investigation on the fretting fatigue behaviour of heat treated Al 6061-T6 under rotating bending phenomena journal December 2019
Effect of Partial Substitution of Mn for Ni on Mechanical Properties of Friction Stir Processed Hypoeutectic Al-Ni Alloys journal October 2018

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