Effect of Electromagnetic Treatment on Fatigue Resistance of 2011 Aluminum Alloy

Abstract

Beneficial effects of the electromagnetic treatment on fatigue resistance were reported on several engineering alloys. These could be linked to the dislocation activity and the rearrangement of the crystal structure of the material under the electromagnetic field (EMF), resulting in delayed crack initiation. This paper presents an experimental study on the effect of pulsed electromagnetic treatment on the fatigue resistance of 2011 aluminum alloy. Circular cantilever specimens with loads at their ends were tested on rotating fatigue machine SM1090. Fatigue lives of treated and untreated specimens were analyzed and compared systematically. It has been found that the effect of the pulsed electromagnetic treatment on the fatigue resistance is dependent on the intensity of the pulsed EMF and the number of the treatment applied. Clear beneficial effect of the pulsed electromagnetic treatment on the fatigue resistance of the aluminum alloys has been observed, demonstrating a potential new technique to industries for fatigue life extension.

Improvement of cavitation erosion resistance of structural metals by alternating magnetic field treatment

“…In the last 40 years, there has been growing interest in the use of external magnetic fields to improve materials properties. Studies have shown that an external magnetic field can improve fatigue resistance [14,15], microhardness [16], corrosion resistance [17] and tribological properties [18,19]. There is also evidence that the application of a magnetic field may lead to stress relief and stress relaxation [20,21].…”

Influence of Constant Magnetic Field upon Fatigue Life of Commercially Pure Titanium

“…The traditional methods of external energy deposition, such as thermal, thermochemical, electron beam, plasma, laser treatment, and others, influence the structure, physical, and mechanical properties of metals, including their fatigue resistance, due to the rearrangement of the dislocation substructure and phase composition of metals. For example, the experimental results concerning the effect of electric discharge machining on the fatigue crack growth in aluminum alloys obtained by the authors of [ 3 , 4 ] allowed the conclusion that an increase in the fatigue life is associated with the effect of crack shielding due to the localized melting caused by a pulse electric current of 90 A/mm 2 . In [ 5 , 6 ], it was established that after the laser hardening of Ti–6Al–4V alloy, the cycle life increases by 2.4–42.7% depending on the number of laser passes and reaches its maximum (33,200 cycles) after the 3-time pass.…”

Improvement of Cavitation Erosion Resistance of Structural Metals by Alternating Magnetic Field Treatment

“…In the last 40 years, there has been growing interest in the use of external magnetic fields to improve materials properties. Studies have shown that an external magnetic field can improve fatigue resistance [14,15], microhardness [16], corrosion resistance [17] and tribological properties [18,19]. There is also evidence that the application of a magnetic field may lead to stress relief and stress relaxation [20,21].…”