Influence of Aging Conditions on Fatigue Fracture Behaviour of 6063 Aluminum Alloy

Aluminum - Magnesium - Silicon (Al-Mg-Si) 6063 alloy was heat-treated using under aged, peak aged and overage temperatures. The numbers of cycles required to cause the fatigue fracture, at constant stress, was considered as criteria for the fatigue resistance. Moreover, the fractured surface of the alloy at different aging conditions was evaluated by optical microscopy and the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The SEM micrographs confirmed the cleavage surfaces with well-defined fatigue striations. It has been observed that the various aging time and temperature of the 6063 Al-alloy, produces different modes of fractures. The most suitable age hardening time and temperature was found to be between 4 to 5 hours and to occur at 460 K. The increase in fatigue fracture property of the alloy due to aging could be attributed to a vacancy assisted diffusion mechanism or due to pinning of dislocations movement by the precipitates produced during aging. However, the decrease in the fatigue resistance, for the over aged alloys, might be due to the coalescence of precipitates into larger grains