Cumulative Damage Behavior of Anisotropic Al-6061-T6 as a Function of Axial-Torsional Loading Mode Sequence

Two types of low cycle fatigue tests were conducted along two principal orthotropic directions of an orthotropic Al-6061-T6 plate in strain control at room temperature: (1) reference fatigue tests under three loading conditions: push-pull, torsion, and combined push-pull/torsion in-phase; (2) sequential fatigue tests in which different sequences of push-pull and torsion were performed. Fatigue cracking behavior was observed during all of the fatigue tests. Shear cracking dominated the damage of the material. Anisotropic constitutive relations of the material were used in the evaluation of several multiaxial fatigue damage models. The predictive capabilities of these models were assessed based on the results of reference fatigue tests. The damage accumulation behavior of the material was found to depend on the sequence of the loading mode. For the sequence of torsion then push-pull, the damage summation was greater than unity. However, for the sequence of push-pull then torsion, the damage accumulation was near unity as predicted by the linear damage rule. A nonlinear damage accumulation rule could represent the results of the sequential fatigue tests.