Low cycle fatigue behavior of die cast Mg-Al-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy

Fatigue failure is a main failure mode for magnesium and other alloys. It is beneficial for fatigue design and fatigue life improvement to investigate the low cycle fatigue behavior of magnesium alloys. In order to investigate the low cycle fatigue behavior of die cast Mg-Al-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy, the strain controlled fatigue experiments were performed at room temperature and fatigue fracture surfaces of specimens were observed with scanning election microscopy for the alloys under die-cast and aged states. Cyclic stress response curves, strain amplitude versus reversals to failure curve, total strain amplitude versus fatigue life curves and cyclic stress-strain curves of Mg-Al-Mn-Ce alloys were analyzed. The results show that the Mg-Al-Mn-Ce alloys under die-cast (F) and aged (T5) states exhibit cyclic strain hardening under the applied total strain amplitudes, and aging treatment could greatly increase the cyclic stress amplitudes of die cast Mg-Al-Mn-Ce alloys. The relationships between the plastic strain amplitude, the elastic strain amplitude and reversals to failure of Mg-Al-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy under different treatment states could be described by Coffin-Manson and Basquin equations, respectively. Observations on the fatigue fracture surface of specimens reveal that the fatigue cracks initiate on the surface of specimens and propagate transgranularly.