Nucleation and Short Fatigue Crack Growth Behaviour in the 2024-T3 Aluminum Alloy

224 Pages·2013·4.54 MB·English

Nucleation and Short Fatigue Crack Growth Behaviour in the
2024-T3 Aluminum Alloy
By
Jonathan P. Tsang
B.A.Sc.
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate
Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Applied Science
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Ottawa-Carleton Institute for
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
May 2005
© Copyright
2005 J. Tsang
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The undersigned recommends to the Faculty
of Graduate Studies and Research,
acceptance of the thesis:
Nucleation and Short Fatigue Crack Growth Behaviour in the
2024-T3 Aluminum Alloy
Submitted by
Jonathan P. Tsang
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the Degree of Master of Applied Science.
Thesis Supervisor
Chairman
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
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ABSTRACT
In this thesis, different crack detection and monitoring techniques are studied including
surface replication, marker bands, and electrical potential drop (EPD). The EPD method
is the most successful short crack detection technique detecting cracks as small as 42 pm
in radius in the 2024 aluminum alloy.
From post-fracture analysis, it is concluded that almost all the fatigue failures originate at
constituent particles, ranging from approximately 50 pm2 to 550 pm2 in size, with many
cracks nucleating along the notch wall. This leads to the hypothesis that cracks nucleate
early during fatigue testing but then become arrested. This process repeats until one
crack breaks through the arresting barrier and propagates to failure. The time required
for the crack to break through barrier is the reason why the majority of the fatigue life is
spent in the nucleation and short crack regimes.
A chemical analysis of the constituent particles reveals a compositional difference
between the large particles at the nucleation sites and the smaller particles that have no
role in fatigue crack nucleation. The larger particles contain significant iron and
manganese and increased copper compared to the smaller particles. Therefore, to
improve the fatigue life of 2024, the iron content must be lowered.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to thank my mother, Ivy Wong, for all of her
encouragement, guidance and love. She was always there for me when I needed help or
advice and her strength and compassion inspires me to do my best. Without her, none of
this would have been possible.
I’d also like to thank Dr. Jonathan Beddoes and Dr. Ali Merati for their helpful
supervision. They have always been there to help with any technical problems and were
also able to give me enough space and responsibility so that I may exercise my own
judgment. Both of them have always had my best interest in mind and a graduate student
could not ask for better supervisors.
Dr. Rick Kearsey and Scott Yandt have provided a lot of help and consultation for my
thesis work, especially in regards to the EPD testing. It has been a tremendous benefit to
have them work so closely with me. Thanks also go to Dr. Stephen Smith at NASA for
his help with the EPD testing.
Lastly, I’d like to thank the Department of National Defence for partial funding of this
thesis work.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................................viii
LIST OF TABLES..........................................................................................................................xiii
LIST OF TABLES..........................................................................................................................xiii
1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................1
2.0 OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH...........................................................................................5
3.0 REVIEW OF LITERATURE....................................................................................................7
3.1 Importance of Short Cracks...................................................................................................7
3.2 Difference Between Short and Long Cracks.....................................................................8
3.3 Fatigue Crack Initiation and Short Crack Growth Behaviour.....................................12
3.3.1 Results of Kitagawa.......................................................................................................15
3.3.2 Results of Hunter and Fricke......................................................................................16
3.3.3 Results of Grosskreutz and Shaw................................................................ 16
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3.3.4 Results of Kung and Fine.............................................................................................17
3.3.5 Results of the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organization
(DSTO)......................................................................................................................................17
3.4 Characterization of Crack Nucleation Sites.....................................................................19
3.4.1 Equivalent Initial Flaw Size (EIFS)...........................................................................19
3.4.2 Equivalent Pre-crack Size (EPS)...............................................................................21
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3.4.3 Initial Discontinuity State (IDS)................................................................................23
3.5 Crack Front Findings...........................................................................................................26
3.6 Murakami’s Methodology..................................................................................................28
3.7 Transition from Short to Long Cracks..............................................................................29
3.8 Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) Analysis.......................................................................32
3.9 Electrical Potential Drop (EPD) Technique.....................................................................36
3.9.1 Use of Electrical Potential Difference (EPD) for Measuring Crack Size 38
3.9.2 Significance and Use of EPD Results.......................................................................43
3.9.3 Calibration Notes..........................................................................................................45
4.0 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES AND MATERIALS...............................................48
4.1 Material...................................................................................................................................48
4.2 Procedures..............................................................................................................................52
4.2.1 Metallography and Image Analysis..........................................................................52
4.2.2 Microsoft Excel Analysis Procedure........................................................................55
4.2.3 Fatigue Testing Procedure..........................................................................................56
4.2.4 Surface Replication......................................................................................................57
4.2.5 Marker Bands.................................................................................................................58
4.2.6 Electrical Potential Drop (EPD).................................................................................60
5.0 MICROSTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS..................................................................................70
5.1 Metallographic Thickness Analysis..............................................................................71
5.2 Weibull Distribution.......................................................................................................71
5.3 Microstructural Analysis.................................................................................................72
6.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION............................................................................................88
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6.1 Fatigue Testing.......................................................................................................................88
6.2 Surface Replication Technique...........................................................................................93
6.3 Marker Bands..........................................................................................................................95
6.4 Electrical Potential Drop (EPD).........................................................................................98
6.5 Post-Fracture Analysis........................................................................................................112
6.6 Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) Analysis.....................................................................126
7.0 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................131
8.0 FUTURE WORK......................................................................................................................136
9.0 REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................138
APPENDIX A - Image Pro Procedure......................................................................................144
APPENDIX B - Microsoft Excel Analysis Procedure...........................................................159
APPENDIX C - Specimen Preparation and Loading Procedure..........................................173
APPENDIX D - EPD Testing Procedure..................................................................................198
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. da/dN vs. a curve showing the transition between short and long cracks [11] 31
Figure 2. Cross-section of the Si - Li detector [33].................................................................33
Figure 3. The x-ray detection and photoelectron creation process [33].............................34
Figure 4. Schematic of the EDS system [33]............................................................................34
Figure 5. EDX sorting of characteristic x-ray photon data. Each column would represent
a certain element with those certain x-ray energy characteristics. In this example,
the EDX resolution is 100 eV................................................................................................35
Figure 6. Influence of different potential lead locations on measured potential differences
[35]..............................................................................................................................................46
Figure 7. Influence of different current lead locations on measured potential drops [35]47
Figure 8. A typical example of the image analysis performed on the SEM micrographs
using the ImagePro Software.................................................................................................55
Figure 9. Schematic showing the location of pictures taken during metallography. For
the LS and ST planes, the locations were chosen such that a through-thickness
microstructural analysis was performed. Ten rows of ten pictures were taken in each
plane for a total examination area of over 2 mm2............................................................55
Figure 10. Single-edge notched (SEN) fatigue sample...........................................................56
Figure 11. Marker band procedure................................................................................................59
Figure 12. Wiring diagram for EPD crack measurements......................................................61
Figure 13. Voltage drop reading stability test at 10A of current..........................................64
Figure 14. Voltage drop reading stability test at 12A of current..........................................65
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Figure 15. Voltage drop reading stability test at 14A of current...........................................65
Figure 16. Voltage variation test with an amplification of the voltage signal by 5000x. 67
Figure 17. Voltage variation test with an amplification of the voltage signal by 10 OOOx
68
Figure 18. Three dimensional microstructure of the new, bare 2024-T3 aluminum alloy,
using a) optical microscopy and b) scanning electron microscopy (backscattered
electrons)....................................................................................................................................75
Figure 19. Typical backscattered SEM micrographs of the 2024-T3 aluminum alloy
showing the a) LT plane, b) LS plane and c) ST plane..................................................76
Figure 20. Comparison of the average physical characteristics of the constituent particles
throughout the thickness in the LS Plane............................................................................77
Figure 21. Comparison of the average physical characteristics of the constituent particles
throughout the thickness in the ST Plane............................................................................77
Figure 22. Coordinates of all particles in the LS plane over a) 0.5 pm', b) 25 pm', c) 75
pm2, and d) 100 pm2................................................................................................................78
Figure 23. Coordinates of all particles in the ST plane over a) 0.5 pm2, b) 25 pm2, c) 75
pm2, and d) 100 pm2................................................................................................................79
Figure 24. Linearity plot for the Weibull Distribution of the area of the particles in the
LT plane of 2024-T3................................................................................................................80
Figure 25. Linearity plot for the Weibull Distribution of the area of the particles in the
LS plane of 2024-T3................................................................................................................81
Figure 26. Linearity plot for the Weibull Distribution of the area of the particles in the
ST plane of 2024-T3.................................................................................................................82
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