Abstract
A study was conducted to investigate the effect of solidification rate on the growth behavior of small fatigue cracks in a 319-type aluminum alloy, a common Al-Si-Cu alloy used in automotive castings. Fatigue specimens were taken from cast material that underwent a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process in order to eliminate shrinkage pores and to facilitate the observation of surface-initiated cracks by replication. Naturally initiated surface cracks ranging in length from 17 µm to 2 mm were measured using a replication technique. Growth rates of the small cracks were calculated as a function of the elastic stress-intensity-factor range (ΔK). Long-crack growth-rate data (10 mm≤length≤25 mm) were obtained from compact-tension (CT) specimens, and comparison to the small-crack data indicates the existence of a significant small-crack effect in this alloy. The solidification rate is shown to have a significant influence on small-crack growth behavior, with faster solidification rates resulting in slower growth rates at equivalent ΔK levels. A stress-level effect is also observed for both solidification rates, with faster growth rates occurring at higher applied-stress amplitudes at a given ΔK. A crack-growth relation proposed by Nisitani and others is modified to give reasonable correlation of small-crack growth data to different solidification rates and stress levels.
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Caton, M.J., Jones, J.W., Boileau, J.M. et al. The effect of solidification rate on the growth of small fatigue cracks in a cast 319-type aluminum alloy. Metall Mater Trans A 30, 3055–3068 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-999-0216-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-999-0216-4