Experimental Study on Fatigue Characteristics for Aluminium and Al-SiC Composite Material Edge Crack Specimens under Flexural Loading Conditions

Abstract—Crack propagation studies on an Aluminium plate and Aluminium-Silicon Carbide composite plate under three point bend test conditions were done experimentally and the results so obtained been compared between Isotropic Aluminium and Aluminium-Silicon Carbide composite materials. The specimens with different crack length (a) to the depth (d) ratios (a/d Ratios) were prepared and the fracture characteristics of the specimens with different a/d ratios have been obtained experimentally and analyzed. The analysis has been done for both the Isotropic Aluminium and Aluminium-Silicon Carbide composite material specimens with different a/d ratios. A comparative analysis between the fracture characteristics of the Aluminium and Aluminium-Silicon Carbide composite material specimens for the same a/d ratio has been done and the results been plotted. Also the fractography at the cracked surface of the Aluminium and Aluminium-Silicon Carbide composite material specimens were undertaken along with the microstructures of these specimens. An attempt has been made to relate the fracture location and propagation to the microstructure of the material specimens