Cyclic deformation and fatigue of rolled AZ80 magnesium alloy along different material orientations

Abstract

The effect of material orientation on cyclic deformation and fatigue behavior of rolled AZ80 magnesium (Mg) alloy was experimentally investigated under fully reversed strain-controlled loading in ambient. The testing specimens were taken from a rolled AZ80 Mg plate at four orientations with respect to rolled plane: 0°(ND, normal direction), 30°(ND30), 60°(ND60), and 90°(RD, rolled direction). Fatigue fracture morphologies of specimens along different orientation were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Overall cyclic hardening was observed for the material loaded in different directions. For a given strain amplitude, the ND specimens had the lowest fatigue resistance among the specimens of all material orientations. The fatigue life of an ND30 specimens is similar to that of an ND60 specimen at a given strain amplitude and both are higher than that of an RD specimen when the strain amplitude is higher than 0.4%, whereas an RD specimen exhibits a better fatigue resistance when the strain amplitude is lower than 0.4%. A mixed fracture mode with transgranular and intergranular cracking related to lamellar-like features occurred during stable crack growth, and an intergranular fracture mode related to dimple-like features exhibited in the fast fracture region. A multiaxial fatigue model based on the strain energy density can correlate all the fatigue experiments of the material at different material orientations.