Part VII – July 1969 - Papers - Longitudinal and Short Transverse Fatigue and Fracture Properties of Heavy Aluminum Alloy Plates, Produced by Forging and Rolling

An investigation has been conducted to compare short transverse and longitudinal fatigue and fracture properties in 4.25-in.-thick, high strength aluminum alloy plates. One plate was produced using standard rolling techniques while the other was pre.forged before rolling. Little difference was shown in fatigue strength of longitudinal specimens taken from mid-thickness of the plate. Howeuer, in the short transverse orientation fatigue strengths at 107 cycles were about 25 and 50 pct less, respectively, for the preforged and standard rolled plate. Differences in fatigue strengths were attributed to grain size and shape as well US orientation of constituents. Fatigue crack propagation rates and fracture toughness were compared at three different stress intensity (K) levels, using a constant compliance, double cantilever, wedge-shaped specimen. In a given plate, comparable fatigue crack Propagation rates were observed in the longitudinal (i9W) and short transverse (TW) orientations. Somezuhat gveater rates were observed in the short transzerse (TR) orientation. The preforged plute gave a lower rate for all three directions. Considerable secondary cracking developed, at times, over portions of the fatigue crack in both plates, particularly at the lower stress intensity levels in the short transverse specimens. Micro structure revealed constituent stringers as possible causes of the crack branching. Fracture toughness was considerably less in both plates in the short transuerse orientation. It is concluded that preforging not only improved directional tensile properties but also the fatigue and fracture properties in general. On occasion, aluminum plates have been milled away for hinges or bolted connections and stressed through the thickness or short transverse direction. Little or no information is available concerning fatigue characteristics or fracture toughness in this loading orientation in aluminum plate, or of the effect of fabrication on these properties. It was the intent of this project to examine, develop, and apply a unique specimen that has been advocated by others to study the fatigue characteristics and fracture toughness of two differently fabricated high strength aluminum plates. Linear elastic fracture mechanics criteria may be applied to the specimen so that the fatigue crack propagation rate and fracture toughness data may be of use for design or inspection applications. Fatigue characteristics are generally measured in the longtudinal or long transverse direction, where fairly large specimens such as center notched panels,' are usually employed. Limitations are evident due to plate thickness, however, in the type and size of specimen that may be tested in the short transverse direction without extensions. Therefore, a specimen that is to be loaded in this direction should, for convenience, be compact. The general type of fatigue crack propagation specimens discussed and employed herein meet this requirement. These specimens are commonly called double cantilever beam specimens and lately "crackline-loaded edge-crack specimens".2 They may vary from a slope of zero (parallel-sides) to a wedge shape, the type employed herein. In general for most specimens the stress intensity KI at the tip of a crack is a function of the load, P and crack length, a. Some varieties of the wedge shaped specimen, however, give essentially a constant stress intensity KI over a considerable range of crack length.' This feature can be a valuable asset in fatigue crack propagation experiments because the stress-intensity can be controlled simply by controlling the load without regard to crack length. MATERIAL AND METHODS Material. A standard rolled (light pass reduction) and a ~reforged and rolled (heavy pass reduction) plate of 7179-T651 material were used for the evaluation. The chemistry, processing history and average tensile properties are shown in Table I. Specimen Selection and Preparation. The specimen selected for the generation of fatigue initiation or S-N data was an axial tension type and is shown in Fig. 1. Specimens were taken from mid-thickness in the longitudinal and short transverse directions from both plates. Specimens were polished with 500 grit paper in a direction parallel to the loading axis. For the fatigue crack propagation tests, the specimen shown in Fig. 2 was used. This is similar to a specimen that has been employed by Mostovoy3 for fracture toughness studies on 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. It also fortuitiously agrees quite well with the dimensions of a specimen for which Srawley and Gross2