Fatigue of V-notched ZK60 magnesium samples: X-ray damage evolution characterization and failure prediction

Abstract

Magnesium and its alloys are very attractive lightweight materials and have a potential of applications in different industries. However, their applications as materials for load bearing components are hindered by the limited knowledge of their fatigue behavior, especially in the presence of notches. The goal of this research is to investigate the fatigue behavior of V-notched specimens machined from ZK60-T5 extruded magnesium. V-notched specimens were loaded at different stress amplitudes. One sample was analyzed using x-ray tomographic to evaluate the damage evolution. In addition, the strain energy density approach was used to analyze fatigue of magnesium for the first time.