Reduction in Fatigue Strength of Arc Welded Aluminium 5083-H111 on Immersion in NaCl

Abstract:

The design of welded aluminium structures subjected to fatigue loading is usually carried out on the basis of reference fatigue curves published in design codes. The reference curves are usually relevant to dynamic loading in ambient air and make provision for the presence of a corrosive environment by downgrading the detail category for a particular joint type. This investigation studied the corrosion-fatigue behaviour of Al 5083-H111 welded using ER5356 wire. Comparison between experimentally determined fatigue curves and reference fatigue design curves published in Eurocode 9 confirms that 5083-H111 welds display significantly lower reference fatigue strengths than unwelded base material. Immersion in a NaCl solution during testing reduced the reference fatigue strengths even further. The reduction in detail category number recommended in Eurocode 9 for aluminium butt welds on immersion in sea water appears suitable (or even marginally conservative) for the 5XXX series Al-Mg-Mn welds examined in this investigation.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 891-892)
• Pages: 1469-1475
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.891-892.1469
• Online since: March 2014
• Authors: Madeleine du Toit*, Kalenda Mutombo
• Keywords: Aluminum (Al), Corrosion Fatigue, Welding

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