Damage Assessment of A356 Al Alloy Under Ratcheting–Creep Interaction

The aim of this report was to examine the influence of asymmetric cyclic stress on the ratcheting behavior of A356 Al alloy with special emphasis on its postratcheting creep behavior. A series of A356 alloy specimens were deformed under asymmetrical cyclic loading with different combinations of mean stress and stress amplitude. These tests were carried out up to 2000 cycles. Followed by ratcheting, the specimens were subjected to impression creep tests under varied stresses and temperatures. It is revealed from the ratcheting tests that strain accumulation increases with increasing stress amplitude or mean stress. However, total accumulated ratcheting strain of the investigated alloy was significantly low compared to that reported for some other aluminum alloys. The results of creep tests indicated that predominantly dislocation climb–assisted creep occurred for the alloy. Postratcheted specimens exhibited higher creep rates compared to that of the as-received A356 alloy; this fact was attributed to the work softening of the specimens during the impression creep test. The extent of work softening was minimum in the specimen that accumulated the highest strain during ratcheting, leading to its lowest creep rate.