Abstract
The effect of natural aging by multifunction cavitation (MFC) on the fatigue behaviour of heat-treatable Al-Si7Mg aluminum alloys was examined. Surface observation and plane bending fatigue tests were conducted for the MFC-treated aluminum alloys at a stress ratio, R, of −1. The hardness of aluminum alloy without T6 treatment was significantly increased by MFC due to both the work hardening and natural aging. MFC treatment improved the fatigue lives and the fatigue strength at N = 107 cycles of aluminum alloys due to the generation of compressive residual stress and increasing the surface hardness; however, surface pits were large enough to easily nucleate an initial fatigue crack. In addition, the fatigue strength at N = 107 cycles of MFC-treated aluminum alloys can be estimated considering the residual stress, pit size and surface hardness.
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