TWI Digital Library

Fatigue crack initiation and propagation was studied in friction stir welded aluminium alloy 7010-T7651 and also in the parent alloy, using a combination of theoretical and experimental techniques. Finite element analysis was used to model the stress-strain distribution in a friction stir welded specimen. A parent alloy sample was subjected to a range of stresses, and the corresponding strains measured and compared with the finite element predictions. Fatigue crack initiation and growth in both parent alloy and friction stir welded specimens were studied during room temperature fatigue testing, and related to the stress distributions predicted by finite element analysis.

2nd International Symposium, 26-28 Jun 2000, Session 8, Paper 03