Project A2: Fatigue of Al Alloys
Project Leader: Dr Christopher Hutchinson
Many engineering applications require materials to perform under sustained and dynamic mechanical loadings. In these applications, the material properties must be stable under the loading conditions for the expected lifetime of the material.  This principal aim of this project is to gain a better understanding of the fundamental principles governing both high cycle and low cycle fatigue of Al alloys.
The ultimate objective is to extract sufficient understanding to formulate design strategies for fatigue resistant Al alloys. Here, researchers from a number of nodes are carrying out systematic studies of fatigue behaviour by isolating and studying the effect of important microstructural variables such as: (i) grain/cell size (ii) grain boundary character, and (iii) solutes and precipitates on fatigue behaviour.  This exciting approach to a complex problem is providing a quantitative platform for understanding the fatigue life of selected Al alloys.