Strength distribution of fatigue crack initiation sites in an Al-Li alloy

The stress-number of cycles to failure (S-N) curves were measured along the short-transverse (S) and rolling (L) directions of a hot-cross-rolled AA 8090 Al-Li alloy plate (45-mm thick). The alloy was solution heat treated, quenched in water, strained by 6 pct, and peak aged. Fatigue tests were carried out in four-point bend at room temperature, 20 Hz, R = 0.1, in air. It was found that the fatigue limits in the S and L directions were 147 and 197 MPa, respectively. The crack population on the surface of a sample at failure increased with the applied stress level and was found to be a Weibull function of the applied maximum stress in this alloy. The strength distribution of fatigue weakest links, where cracks were initiated, was derived from the Weibull function determined by the experimental data. The fatigue weakest-link density was defined as the crack population per unit area at a stress level close to the ultimate tensile stress and can be regarded as a materials property. The density and strength distribution of fatigue weakest links were found to be markedly different between the L and S directions, accounting for the difference in fatigue limit between the directions in this alloy. They were also found to be different between S-L and S-T samples, and between L-T and L-S samples of this alloy, which could not be revealed by the corresponding S-N curves measured. These differences were due to the anisotropy of the microstructures in different directions in this alloy.