Experimental Study of Cyclic Bending Failure for Round-hole Tubes with a Redundant Round Hole in the Same Direction but Different Cross Sections

Abstract

This paper presents the influence of a redundant round hole in the same direction but different cross sections on the response and failure of round-hole 6061-T6 aluminum alloy tubes subjected to cyclic bending. In this study, round-hole 6061-T6 aluminum alloy tubes with a constant hole diameter of 6 mm were drilled to obtain a redundant round hole in the same hole direction but different cross sections. The experimental results revealed that the moment–curvature relationship exhibited an almost steady loop from the beginning of the first cycle. The redundant round hole showed minimal influence on the moment–curvature relationship. However, the ovalization–curvature relationship demonstrated an asymmetrical, increasing, ratcheting and bow pattern along with the bending cycle, while the redundant round hole showed a significant influence on this relationship. In addition, six groups of round-hole 6061-T6 aluminum alloy tubes were tested, the controlled curvature-number of bending cycles required to ignite failure relationships on double logarithmic coordinates exhibited nonparallel straight lines. Finally, a theoretical model was proposed for simulating the controlled curvature–number of cycles to ignite failure. The simulation result was compared with experimental test data, which showed generally good agreement.