Effect of Microstructure on the Fatigue Behavior of a Friction Stirred Channel Aluminium Alloy

The influence of microstructure on fatigue behavior was investigated on a friction stirred channel strain hardened 5083-H111 aluminium alloy. Friction Stir Channeling (FSC) is an innovative solid-state manufacturing technology able to produce continuous, integral channels in a monolithic plate in a single step. Four sets of FSC parameters were implemented in order to obtain channels with different microstructure and geometry. Fatigue tests were carried out under four-point bending loading. Detailed metallographic, geometric and fractographic analyses were obtained via OM and SEM. It is shown that the fatigue strength is dependent on the channel's nugget (friction stir zone) width.