Determination of the Fatigue Life on the Basis of Fatigue Test and FEM for EN-MCMgY4RE3Zr with Rare Earth Elements

Fatigue wear is the type of wear, wherein the local loss of cohesion and the associated material losses are caused by fatigue due to the cyclic interaction of the contact stresses at the surface layer. During fatigue wear changes are multiple macroscopic elastic deformations, surface fatigue cracks arise in friction, typically under the influence of multiple elasto-plastic or plastic deformation. Defects occurring in the process influence on the ultimate service life under real conditions. The appeared cracks or microcracks in the material may cause the nucleation of defects and their propagation leading to the through cracks--particularly dangerous for the structure. For the study, we used EN-MCMgY4RE3Zr (WE43) casting magnesium alloys to determine the fatigue strength on the stand bench for testing of unilateral bending. Casting of magnesium alloys with rare earths, for example, yttrium, zirconium, silver have high strength properties that are comparable with the properties of titanium alloys, or steel. The study compared the effects of the appearance of fatigue cracks on the alloy, both in experimental (laboratory) and the simulation using the FEM (Finite Elements Method).