Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Cyclic Plastic Deformation of Al-Mg Alloy

Abstract

In this work, low-cycle fatigue (LCF) tests are performed on as-received and solution-treated Al-Mg alloy (AA 5754). Solution heat treatment of the as-received alloy is performed at 530 °C for 2 h and then quenched in water at room temperature. The low-cycle fatigue response of the as-received and solution-treated alloy is evaluated at five different strain amplitudes from 0.2 to 0.6%. The strain rate of 0.5 × 10 −3  s −1 is kept constant in all the LCF tests. The LCF behavior of AA 5754 is modeled by finite element method (FEM) using Chaboche kinematic hardening cyclic plasticity model. Hardening behavior or fatigue life of as-received and solution-treated alloy is successfully simulated using this model. The results obtained by FEM simulations are compared with those obtained by LCF experiments. Microstructural studies are also performed for as-received and solution-treated alloy. The fracture surfaces obtained from LCF tests are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy.