An Experiment of Fatigue Crack Growth under Different <i>R</i>-Ratio for 2024-T4 Aluminum Alloy

Abstract

The fatigue crack growth tests of compact tension (CT) specimens of 2024-T4 aluminum alloy were conducted under constant amplitude loading with different R- ratios, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 0.75, respectively. The thickness of the specimen is 3.8mm. All the fatigue crack growth experiments were carried out in ambient air without a pre-crack. The early crack growth region reflects the influence of the notch. An optical reading micrometer with a magnification of 40 was used to measure the crack length. The size of the notch together with the loading conditions has a great influence on the early crack growth within the notch influenced region. Beyond the notch influenced zone, the stable fatigue crack growth is reached and can be characterized by the Paris law. The experimental results indicate that fatigue crack growth rate increases with the R -ratio for a given stress intensity factor amplitude.