The aim of this work was to study the corrosion process of new aluminium alloy AA2524-T3 (Solution Heat Treated and Cold Worked), which is a promising substitute of the base line AA2024-T3 for aircrafts fabrication, by global and localised techniques in sodium chloride medium (0.05 mol L-1 NaCl). The open circuit potential results revealed a stochastic evolution of pitting events and to the resulting variations in the ratio of passive/active areas and/or cathode/anode, which may be related to the presence of different types of intermetallics. The cyclicvoltammetry showed that the corrosion potential (Ecorr) and the pit nucleation potential (E pit) values are quite similar (approximately -0.525 V). The results of EIS show that the corrosion rate is quite stable, with no tendency to increase or decrease for longer immersion periods. The results of SVET were in agreement with the results obtained by EIS technique, showing strong anodic activity on the surface with no repassivation along the whole immersion time. Besides, corrosion process led to significant surface degradation after 24h.

The HSLA (High-Strength Low Alloy) steels are used in the production of pipes, flanges and connectors to build ducts for ore, oil and gas transport. The conventional processes are the rolling or forging. In the transport of ore and heavy oil, the abrasive particles impair the surfaces and reduce the pipelines lifetime. Therefore, besides the mechanical properties as API 5L, it is important to verify the wear resistance of these steels. In this context, two microalloyed steels were forged in the form of square bars. Thereafter, specimens of these bars were annealed at 930 ºC, quenched at 900 ºC and tempered at 600 ºC. Tensile and wear tests were performed. The results show that molybdenum and niobium present similar effects on phase transformation of steels, promoting a desired acicular ferrite/bainite microstructure and fulfill the mechanical strength of API 5L-X70 standard. The molybdenum has dominating effect in the hardenability when in solid solution, however, after tempering, thermodynamic simulation by FactSage software indicates that niobium probably promotes secondary hardening.

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effect of low temperature and saline environment on the fatigue crack growth behavior of the AA7050-T7451 Al alloy and the recently developed AA2050-T Al-Cu-Li alloy. Fatigue at room and low temperature and corrosion-fatigue tests were carried out using an applied stress ratio (R) of 0.1, 15 Hz frequency (air at RT and –54 °C) and 1 Hz frequency (seawater fog) using a sinusoidal wave form. In the near-threshold region, in air and at RT it was found a ΔKth = 2.9 MPa.m1/2 for AA2050-T84, in saline environment this value increased to ΔKth = 4.9 MPa.m1/2, due to closure effect through wedge effect by the corrosion products. At the beginning of the Paris-Erdogan region, the crack closure effect was not present for the AA7050-T7451, but persisted for the AA2050 Al-li alloy. It was observed that both alloys were equally affected by temperature reduction. When the saline environment is considered it was observed that the AA7050-T7451 presents lower m value (2.6) than the one for AA2050-T84 (3.4), meaning a lower FCG rate variation with ΔK, however it presented the highest C value, as a consequence the worst FCG behavior.

This article investigates a fatigue approach conducted from the design phase to testing approval. It considerers modern analytical and experimental tools for structural durability assessment over each development phase for two reference components aiming an early approval methodology validation for a new design. A Finite element analysis procedure was used to set critical spots for measurements minimizing the data acquisition efforts. Based on measured data, strain life calculation was done for two reference components in order to set the release goals for a new design submitted to this approach. An innovative fatigue experimental technique is proposed using component extracted specimens and an edited input cycle loads. Considering the random data from a standard test track and signal proportionality evaluation, while assuming the Brown Miller equation for bi-axial fatigue together with Ramberg-Osgood model, equivalent damage load blocks were edited and used as input for durability assessment on specimens representing the component material. The results for the three parts materials were plotted as Weibull diagram for B10 life estimation. Fatigue life results showed good correlation with the reference parts structural performance thus validating the method as well as approving the new design for production without additional on-vehicle durability testing. The methodology and the fatigue testing proposal is therefore recommended for future applications on similar developments.

This study investigates the influence of quenching/tempering temperatures on the fracture toughness and fatigue life of SAE 5160 steel, considering different phosphorus contents. Quenching and tempering treatments were applied to samples removed from different bars of commercial SAE 5160 steel with different P content. Three different austenitizing temperatures for quenching: 850, 900 and 1000 ºC and a constant holding time of 15 minutes were used. The oil temperature for quenching was kept at 66 ºC and the tempering conditions were 470, 500 and 530 ºC with the necessary time for a final hardness of 45 ± 3 HRC. Therefore, the heat treatments cycles were applied to specimens containing low (0.012 wt. (%)), medium (0.017 wt. (%)) and high (above 0.025 wt. (%)) phosphorus contents, in order to observe the effects of this element on the susceptibility of these steels to enhance quench and tempering embrittlements. The Charpy tests results showed that the phosphorus content analyzed in this work has caused embrittlement, even in the bars with the lowest P content, leading to intergranular fracture. However, if the nucleation life is taken into consideration, this embrittlement has no effect on the nucleation fatigue life of the component.