Comparison of the simulation and experimental fatigue crack behaviors in the aluminum alloy HS6061-T6

This work deals with rotating bending fatigue tests on aluminum alloy HS6061-T6. Results have been obtained for two sizes of narrow section diameter for specimens with one hole. Results show that fatigue endurance is reduced in the case of the hole. In order to explain this behavior, numerical analysis by FEM were carried out to determine the stress concentrations for the two types of specimens. It is found that the important factor affects fatigue life is the narrow section diameter of the specimens, and the maximum damage occurs in the outer part of the specimen at the first stages of loading, however, it moves toward the center of the bar under uniaxial loading. The number of cycles to failure predicted numerically is higher than the experimental one. This difference is attributed mainly to an upper stage of fatigue crack growth, particularly, the interaction between fatigue crack growth and growth that can not be accounted for in the numerical model.