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Cryogenic toughness of commercial aluminum-lithium alloys: Role of delamination toughening

  • Mechanical Behavior
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Abstract

Mechanisms influencing the plane-strain fracture toughness behavior of commercial aluminum-lithium alloys at cryogenic temperatures are investigated as a function of microstructure and plate orientation. It is confirmed that certain alloys show a markedincrease in tensile ductility and toughness withdecrease in temperature, although such behavior is not found in the short-transverse orientations, or for all alloys and aging conditions. Specifically at lower temperatures, the majority of Al-Li alloys, namely 2090-T8E41, 8091-T8X, 8090-T8X, and 2091-T351, show a significantincrease in fracture toughness in the in-plane orientations (L-T, T-L), without any apparent change in fracture mode. Such behavior is attributed primarily to loss of through-thickness constraint resulting from enhanced short-transverse delamination (termed crack-divider delamination toughening), consistent with observed reductions in plane-strain ductility and short-transverse (S-L, S-T) toughness. Conversely, in underaged microstructures of 8091, 8090, and peak-aged 2091, a decrease in toughness with decreasing temperature is found for both L-T and S-L orientations, behavior, which is associated conversely with a fracture-mode change from ductile void coalescence to brittle transgranular shear and integranular delamination at lower temperatures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Materials, Materials and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, CA

    K. T. Venkateswara Rao (Postdoctoral Research Engineer) & R. O. Ritchie (Professor and the Director)

  2. Department of Materials Science and Mineral Engineering, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, CA

    K. T. Venkateswara Rao (Postdoctoral Research Engineer) & R. O. Ritchie (Professor and the Director)

  3. Raychen Corporation, Menlo Park, CA

    Weikang Yu (formerly with)

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  1. K. T. Venkateswara Rao
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  2. Weikang Yu
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  3. R. O. Ritchie
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W{upeikang} Y{upu}, formerly with the Department of Materials Science and Mineral Engineering, University of California, Berkeley

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Venkateswara Rao, K.T., Yu, W. & Ritchie, R.O. Cryogenic toughness of commercial aluminum-lithium alloys: Role of delamination toughening. Metall Trans A 20, 485–497 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02653929

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