Growth behavior and crack distribution characteristics of small surface cracks of age-hardened Al-alloy 2017-T4
Goto Masahiro; Kawagoishi Norio
Abstract:In order to study the fatigue behavior of an age-hardened Al-alloy 2017-T4, rotating bending fatigue tests were carried out on the plain specimens. The initiation and propagation behaviors of cracks were investigated by the successive observation of surface. The crack growth pass was analyzed and then the growth law of small surface cracks was studied. Moreover, the length distribution of all the cracks, which were larger than 0.01 mm and were initiated within the specific region (area: 10 - 20 mm2), was examined. The region was set on the replicas gathered from the midsurface of specimen. Key Words:fatigue 2017-T4, small surface crack, crack growth law, crack length distribution