Fatigue Characteristics of 7050-T7451 Aluminum Alloy Friction Stir Welding Joints and the Stress Ratio Effect

The fatigue crack initiation and growth characteristics in 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy butt joints subjected to different stress ratios and owing to friction stir welding (FSW) were investigated using fatigue tests for stress ratios of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5. The difference between the fatigue crack initiation in the base material (BM) and FSW joints, related to coarse secondary phases, was explored using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Accordingly, Al23CuFe4, Al7Cu2Fe, and Al2Mg3Zn3 were the preferred joint crack initiation locations, whereas Mg2Si was the major fracture initiation point of the parent material, and cracks tended to propagate along dense, coarse secondary phases, becoming more pronounced for larger cracks. In addition, as the stress ratio increased, non-Mg2Si phase fracture initiation points appeared in the BM. Meanwhile, the quantity of non-Mg2Si phases in the joints continued to increase, and the crack initiation sites became increasingly concentrated in the TMAZ-HAZ region.