Fatigue crack growth and probability assessment for transverse TIG welded Aluminum alloy 6013-t4

The aim of this study is to investigate the fatigue crack growth behavior with post weld heat
treatments (T4) on transverse tungsten inert gas-welded Aluminum alloy 6013. All fatigue
tests have been carried out using center cracked tension specimens at ambient temperature
under a stress ratio of R = 0.3. The results revealed that various time of aging in T4
affects its mechanical properties, also the fatigue crack growth behavior as well. It has been
observed that in the heat treated samples the crack growth rate is lower than that in the
as-welded sample, but higher than the rate in the base metal. To be more specific, samples
with 18 hours aging exhibit the highest tensile strength and fatigue resistance compared to
the other heat treated samples. The probability assessment has also been used to determine
the fatigue crack growth rate and a good linearity has been found.