Strain-Controlled Low-Cycle Fatigue Properties of a Newly Developed Extruded Magnesium Alloy

To reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, magnesium alloys are being considered for automotive and aerospace applications due to their low density, high specific strength and stiffness, and other attractive traits. Structural applications of magnesium components require low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior, since cyclic loading or thermal stresses are often encountered. The aim of this article was to study the cyclic deformation characteristics and evaluate LCF behavior of a recently developed AM30 extruded magnesium alloy. This alloy exhibited a strong cyclic hardening characteristic, with a cyclic strain-hardening exponent of 0.33 compared to the monotonic strain-hardening exponent of 0.15. With increasing total strain amplitude, both plastic strain amplitude and mean stress increased and fatigue life decreased. A significant difference between the tensile and compressive yield stresses occurred, leading to asymmetric hysteresis loops at high strain amplitudes due to twinning in compression and subsequent detwinning in tension. A noticeable change in the modulus was observed due to the pseudoelastic behavior of this alloy. The Coffin–Manson law and Basquin equation could be used to describe the fatigue life. At low strain ratios the alloy showed strong cyclic hardening, which became less significant as the strain ratio increased. The lower the strain ratio, the lower the stress amplitude and mean stress but the higher the plastic strain amplitude, corresponding to a longer fatigue life. Fatigue life also increased with increasing strain rate. Fatigue crack initiation occurred from the specimen surface and crack propagation was mainly characterized by striation-like features. Multiple initiation sites at the specimen surface were observed at higher strain amplitudes.