Stringer effect on fatigue crack propagation in A2024-T351 aluminum alloy welded joint

This paper describes fatigue crack growth in a friction stir welded T joints made of aluminum alloy A2024-T351 under three point bending loads. For this purpose, three dimensional homogeneous isotropic model is used to study the mechanical properties of the welded structure. Extended Finite Element Method (xFEM) including ABAQUS and Morfeo software are used to demonstrate the results of the growth of cracks in FSW 2024-T351 welded joints. Three point bending fatigue load stress is applied in the center of the plate opposite to the initial crack. The material properties in all welded regions of the joint are adopted from available experiments, as well as the fatigue crack growth. Although limited to relatively small crack growth, good agreement between experimental and numerical results, indicate significant potential of the xFEM, enabling also reliable prediction of stringer effect on fatigue crack growth.