Influence of deformation prior to ageing on fatigue behavior of extruded AA6082-T6 profiles

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of plastic deformation before artificial ageing on fatigue behavior of extruded AA6082-T6 profiles. As-received, T4-temper materials are pre-deformed at different strains and followed by artificial ageing to T6-temper, simulating industrial manufacturing route of aluminum components. Load controlled, high-cycle fatigue tests are conducted for deformed, aged specimens to explore their fatigue behavior. An 18–23% increase in fatigue life is achieved by pre-straining of 5–15% in T4-temper, as compared to that without pre-straining. Furthermore, the designed manufacturing route provides a transient cyclic softening stage for AA6082 samples. The pre-strained material provides a larger cycle softening during fatigue.