Influence of Particle Sizes and Volume Fractions on Fatigue Crack Growth Rates of Aerospace Al-Alloys Composites

Recently, the need to develop fuel efficient transport systems has led to the development of a range of materials of low density, high stiffness and high strength each can be made at a reasonable cost. The aluminium based alloys are particularly important because of their improved mechanical, physical and technical properties. Fatigue failures have been recognised since the early days of the industrial revolution. Fatigue response of most of materials is related with the microstructural variations in the structure. Hence, in this study, influence of particle size and volume fractions on fatigue properties of Al-alloy composites was investigated. It was found that particle size and volume fraction of reinforcement particles play significant role on fatigue propagation rates, stress intensity threshold values, crack tip opening distance and crack tip plastic zone sizes.