Fatigue and corrosion-fatigue tests were performed to quantify the fatigue properties of AA2524-T3 and AA2198-T851 Al alloys. High cycle axial fatigue tests were carried out under air and salt-water fog conditions. In air, the specimens were fatigue tested at a frequency of 50 Hz, using specimens with and without preconditioning in a salt spray chamber, and for the corrosion fatigue condition, the tests took place at a frequency of 30 Hz in a salt-water fog condition. In all cases it was used a sinusoidal waveform and a stress ratio (R) of 0.1. The results indicate that the saline environment had a deleterious effect on the fatigue life of the two aluminum alloys. AA2524-T3 exhibited a better fatigue strength than AA2198-T851 when fatigue tested in air. However, considering the corrosion fatigue test in a saline fog environment an inverse behavior was observed with the AA2198-T851 exhibiting higher fatigue strength.

A indústria aeronáutica está constantemente à procura de materiais que oferecem benefícios em termos de desempenho, peso e custo. As vantagens destas ligas são a leveza, resistência à corrosão, boa condutividade térmica e eléctrica. Neste trabalho, foi investigada a resistência à corrosão de duas ligas de alumínio através de potencial de circuito aberto, polarização potenciodinâmica e ensaios de nevoeiro salino. Os resultados sugerem que a liga AA2198-T851 apresenta melhor resistência à corrosão quando comparada com a liga AA2524-T3. Consequentemente, em casos onde a corrosão é o principal parâmetro a ser considerado, a liga AA2198-T851 pode ser substituída pela liga AA2524-T3.

The aircraft industry is constantly looking for improved materials that offer benefits in terms of performance, weight and cost savings. The advantages of these alloys are lightweight, corrosion resistance, and very good thermal and electrical conductivity. In this paper, the corrosion resistance of two aluminum alloys was investigated by open circuit potential, potentiodynamic polarization and salt spray tests. The results suggest that the AA2198-T851 alloy tend to present a higher corrosion resistance when compared with the AA2524-T3 alloy. Consequently, in cases where corrosion is the main parameter to be considered, the AA2198-T851 may be a substitute for the AA2524-T3 alloy.