Fatigue Crack Nucleation Studies on Sulfuric Acid Anodized 7075-T73 Aluminum

The influence of a sulfuric acid anodic coating process on the fatigue crack nucleation behavior of 7075-T73 aluminum alloy was investigated. Silicone surface replication in combination with carbon sputter coating and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allowed for in situ monitoring of the number of cycles for crack nucleation. A single edge circular notch (SECN) coupon was designed for the present study to localize fatigue damage thus enhancing fatigue crack detection and capture the effects of multiaxial stress conditions indicative of a majority engineering applications. Linear elastic finite element modeling of the SECN coupon was performed to quantify the von Mises equivalent stress distribution and the stress concentration factor of the notched region. The experimental results indicate that the presence of localized pitting corrosion initiated during the anodic coating pretreatment process had an adverse effect on fatigue performance. Specifically, multiple crack nucleation sites were evident as opposed to a single crack origin for the untreated specimens. Post-cycling SEM surface examinations displayed networks of micro-cracks in the anodic coating emanating from the pits although these were not found to be fatigue crack origin sites during post SEM fractographic exams. Thus, the stress concentration effect of the corrosion pits was found to be predominant. The total cycles to failure on average was reduced by approximately 60% for the anodic coated versus untreated specimens. A strategy is also discussed on how to mitigate accelerated crack nucleation by controlled surface pretreatment and use of a chromated chemical conversion coating in lieu of an anodic coating for selective applications.