Fatigue behavior of aluminum structures subjected to corrosion

摘要

One of the important characteristics of metallic structures affecting structural integrity is their behavior in corrosive environment. In this respect, aircraft components made from aluminum alloys can catastrophically fail due to pitting corrosion and fatigue damage. Pitting, because of stress concentration, is responsible for fatigue crack nucleation in the material. In the current study, tensile-shape samples of aluminum alloy are immersed in NaCl solution, which simulates the natural exposure in a marine environment. This has an objective to induce accelerated electrochemical damage of the material under testing by the controlled pitting corrosion in a specific area of the surface using different electrochemical techniques, while the rest of the specimen remains completely sealed. In order to investigate the effect of pitting corrosion on the degradation of the material's mechanical performance, the specimens were subjected to cyclic loading. The corrosion fatigue testing results were compared to data obtained from the uncorroded materials. Using a scanning white-light interferometer the pits' morphology was characterized and the effect of corrosion on the fatigue life was assessed. The results were validated using two complimentary nondestructive techniques, namely infrared thermography and acoustic emission.