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The True Origin of Ductile Fracture in Aluminum Alloys

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Abstract

It has generally been assumed that metals usually fail as a result of microvoid nucleation induced by particle fracture. Here, we concentrate on high-density micropores filled with hydrogen in aluminum, existence of which has been largely overlooked until quite recently. These micropores exhibit premature growth under external loading, thereby inducing ductile fracture, whereas the particle fracture mechanism operates only incidentally. Conclusive evidence of a micropore mechanism is provided by the observation of an instantaneous release of gas at failure. We can therefore conclude that the growth of micropores dominates ductile fracture. Since the material we used has a standard pore density, we can assume that an identical fracture mechanism operates in other aluminum alloys. This finding suggests that intense heat treatment, which is generally believed to enhance the mechanical properties through homogenization, may have entirely the opposite effect. This revelation will have a major impact on the engineering design of metals.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly undertaken with the support of the Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research from JSPS through Subject No. 20246102. The synchrotron radiation experiments were performed with the approval of JASRI through proposal Nos. 2009B1131 and 2009A1315. The support provided by the Light Metal Educational Foundation to HT is also gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Dr. Katsumi Koyama for analyzing the hydrogen content of the materials used.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyushu University, 744, Motooka, Nishi-ward, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan

    Hiroyuki Toda (Professor)

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1, Hibarigaoka, Tempaku, Toyohashi, Aichi, 441-8580, Japan

    Hideyuki Oogo (Graduate Student) & Masakazu Kobayashi (Associate Professor)

  3. Department of Mechanical Science and Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3, Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-8531, Japan

    Keitaro Horikawa (Associate Professor)

  4. Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1, Kouto, Mikazuki-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo, 679-5198, Japan

    Kentaro Uesugi (Researcher), Akihisa Takeuchi (Researcher) & Yoshio Suzuki (Researcher)

  5. Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Keio University, 3-14-1, Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 223-8522, Japan

    Mitsuru Nakazawa (Graduate Student) & Yoshimitsu Aoki (Associate Professor)

Authors
  1. Hiroyuki Toda
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  2. Hideyuki Oogo
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  3. Keitaro Horikawa
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  4. Kentaro Uesugi
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  5. Akihisa Takeuchi
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  6. Yoshio Suzuki
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  7. Mitsuru Nakazawa
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  8. Yoshimitsu Aoki
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  9. Masakazu Kobayashi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroyuki Toda.

Additional information

Manuscript submitted July 3, 2013.

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Toda, H., Oogo, H., Horikawa, K. et al. The True Origin of Ductile Fracture in Aluminum Alloys. Metall Mater Trans A 45, 765–776 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-013-2013-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-013-2013-3

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