Fatigue behaviors of laser hybrid welded AA7020 due to defects via synchrotron X-ray microtomography

Defect or shrinkage is known to have a detrimental effect on the fatigue resistance of casting lightweight alloys and additively manufactured or 3D printed materials. However, very few works focus on the damage mechanism of fusion welded Al alloys due to gas pores or metallurgical defects. This paper performs an investigation on the effect of porosity on the damage evolution of laser hybrid welded 7020-T651 alloys. The critical pore size comparable with average weld grain was assumed in terms of the population and dimension of micropores. To characterize the coupling effect between gas pores and cracks, an in situ fatigue testing rig was developed to well work at the synchrotron radiation tomography system. Combining synchrotron X-ray microtomography and fatigue resistance testing, the pore size and location were correlated with the crack initiation and crack growth path but relatively less on the long crack propagation rate. Furthermore, the interaction between the porosity and stress concentration was elucidated by using finite element simulations, which shows that the gas pore appears to be a preferred cracking site especially near the surface.