Fatigue Life Prediction for Overlap Friction Stir Linear Welds of Magnesium Alloys

This work was undertaken to analyze the stress/strain state at the critical sites in friction stir welded specimens and, further, to assess the fatigue strength of friction stir welded specimens with conventional fatigue life prediction approaches. Elastoplastic and elastic finite-element stress/strain analyses were carried out for friction-stir-linear-welded (FSLW) specimens made of magnesium alloys. The calculated stress/strain at the periphery of the weld nugget was used to evaluate the fatigue life with local life prediction approaches. First, elastoplastic finite-element models were built according to experimental specimen profiles. Fatigue life prediction was conducted with Morrow's modified Manson–Coffin (MC) damage equation and the Smith–Watson–Topper (SWT) damage equation, respectively, for different specimens under different loading cases. Life prediction results showed that both equations can to some extent give reasonable results, especially within a low-cycle fatigue life regime, with the SWT damage equation giving more conservative results. As for high-cycle life, predicted results were much longer and scattered for both methods. Shell element elastic models were then used to calculate the structural stress at the periphery of the weld nuggets. The correlation between structural stress amplitude and experimental life showed the appropriateness of the structural stress fatigue evaluation for friction stir welds. The effect of the notches at the periphery of the faying surface on life prediction was further discussed.