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Scripta Materialia 61 (2009) 992–995

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Effect of stress ratio on the fatigue behavior of a friction stir

processed cast Al–Si–Mg alloy
S. Jana,a,c R.S. Mishra,a,* J.B. Baumannb and G. Grantc
a
Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USA
b
The Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO 63166, USA
c
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Received 14 July 2009; accepted 10 August 2009
Available online 13 August 2009

The effect of friction stir processing (FSP) on the fatigue life of a cast Al–7Si–0.6 Mg alloy at stress ratios of R = 0 and R = 1
was evaluated. Two types of specimen geometry were used for the FSPed condition, through thickness processed and partial thick-
ness processed. At R = 0, the microstructural refinement enhanced the fatigue life by a factor of 15, whereas at R = 1 the improve-
ment in fatigue life was 5-fold. In light of these observations, various closure mechanisms were examined.
Ó 2009 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Friction stir processing; Cast aluminum alloys; Fatigue; Microstructure

In today’s world of rising energy costs, cast alu-
minum alloys are finding increased application in the
automotive and aerospace industries because of the
associated weight savings and ease of processing. One
of the most widely used cast aluminum alloys is
Al–7Si–0.6 Mg. This hypoeutectic alloy is popular be-
cause of its excellent castability, mechanical properties
and corrosion resistance [1]. As a cast alloy, however,
it is associated with various casting defects, e.g. porosity,
oxides and inclusions, and therefore shows poor fatigue
properties. Any post-process treatment that eliminates
the cast microstructure and other casting defects would
therefore result in better fatigue properties.
Friction stir processing (FSP) is an adaptation of fric-
tion stir welding, a process invented at TWI, UK in 1991
[2]. It has emerged as a method for improving fatigue
properties by modifying cast microstructures [3,4]. A de-
tailed study by Sharma et al. [3] noted that FSP led to
the break-up of coarse acicular Si particles in a cast
A356 alloy. Further, both dendritic microstructure and
casting porosity were found to be eliminated as a result
of FSP. These microstructural changes led to significant
improvement in both strength and ductility. Sharma
et al. [4] studied the effects of FSP on fatigue properties
* Corresponding author. Address: Missouri University of Science and
Technology, 218 McNutt Hall, Rolla, MO 65409, USA. Tel.: +1 573
341 6361; fax: +1 573 341 6934; e-mail: rsmishra@mst.edu
of A356 alloy. To study fatigue properties, cast A356
plates were FSPed at two process parameter combina-
tions using two different tool geometries. Ma et al. [4]
carried out fatigue tests under axial load at a stress ratio
of R = 0.1 and a frequency of 80 Hz. Their results dem-
onstrated a more than 80% increase in fatigue strength
over the cast alloy. This study attributed fatigue perfor-
mance enhancement to a reduction in Si particle size and
porosity. In a similar study [5], the present authors ob-
served significant improvement in fatigue life as a result
of FSP of an F357 alloy. This previous work showed an
almost 5-fold improvement in fatigue life when cast and
FSP samples were tested at the same stress levels. This
improvement was linked to the closure of porosity,
which acted as easy crack nucleation sites in cast
specimens.
In the previous work, all fatigue tests involved a com-
pletely reversed stress cycle, i.e. a stress ratio of R = 1
(R = rmin/rmax). To explore the role of the stress ratio,
the present study evaluated fatigue properties in cast
and FSPed conditions at a stress ratio of 0 at various
stress levels. Further, the previous study compared fati-
gue properties of through thickness FSPed specimens
with those of cast specimens. In real life, through thick-
ness processing of a cast component would be virtually
impossible. Therefore, the present study compares the
fatigue properties of partially FSPed specimens with
those of cast specimens.

1359-6462/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.scriptamat.2009.08.011
 S. Jana et al. / Scripta Materialia 61 (2009) 992–995 993

Investment cast F357 plates of 3.3 mm thickness (a) 300

Cast + T6
were used for the present study. The actual alloy compo- FSP + T6 (partial)
sition is shown in Table 1. This alloy is a Be-free variant 250 FSP + T6 (full)
of alloy A357. The alloy was received without any heat

Max. Stress (MPa)

200
treatment. A conical pin with a stepped spiral feature
was used for FSP. The FSP tool had a pin height of 150
1.9 mm, a diameter of 4 mm at mid-pin height and
a tool shoulder diameter of 12 mm. Therefore, the 100
FSPed region had a thickness of 2.0 mm. A process
parameter combination of 2236 rpm and 2.33 mm s1 50
R=0
was used for the FSP runs. Since the fatigue test speci-
0
men width was much wider than the FSP tool diameter, 10
4
10
5
10
6
10
7
10
8

multi-pass runs were employed. To cover the region of No. of Cycles to Failure
interest, 10 overlapping passes were carried out, with a
distance of 3 mm between each pass. Once the first pass (b) 300
was made, subsequent passes were always made on the
retreating side of the previous pass. 250

Following the FSP runs, the fatigue specimens were

Max. Stress (MPa)

200
machined from friction stir processed plates. Both
through thickness FSPed and partial thickness FSPed 150
specimens were machined using a desktop CNC ma-
chine. Specimens from cast plates were also machined 100
Cast + T6, R = -1
for comparison. Machined specimens were then heat FSP + T6 (full), R = -1
treated to peak strength with a solution treatment at 50 FSP + T6 (partial), R = 0
Cast + T6, R = 0
540 °C for 8 h followed by water quenching at room FSP + T6 (full), R = 0
0
temperature. The specimens were then artificially aged 10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
10
7
10
8

at 170 °C for 6 h and finally ground to a 600 grit
(16 lm) longitudinal surface finish on both sides.
Fatigue tests were conducted on an LFE 150 desktop
bending fatigue machine at a stress ratio of R = 0 and a
frequency of 30 Hz. A total of 15 samples, six in the as-
cast condition and nine in the FSP condition, were
tested at various stress levels to generate the S–N plot.
Out of the nine FSPed samples, four were through thick-
ness processed and the rest were partial thickness pro-
cessed. The final thickness of the fatigue specimens in
both the cast and partial thickness FSPed conditions
was kept at 3.0 mm. Further, the partial thickness
FSPed specimens were loaded in such a manner that
the top face of the specimen (tensile stress side) was al-
ways FSPed and the bottom face had an as-cast micro-
structure. This loading condition ensured that any
porosity that was present on the cast side would not
get a chance to open up as a crack during loading.
Figure 1a shows the S–N plot comparing the fatigue
properties between the cast specimens and both FSPed
specimens at a stress ratio of R = 0. Maximum bending
stress is plotted against the number of cycles to failure,
Nf. As expected, the fully processed specimens showed
a longer fatigue life than the cast specimens at the same
stress level. Further, the partially processed specimens
had a slightly shorter fatigue life than the fully processed
specimens. When the maximum bending stress was
above 200 MPa, FSP improved the fatigue life of
through thickness processed specimens 5 times more
than that of cast specimens. Under similar conditions,
FSP improved the fatigue life of partially processed
No. of Cycles to Failure
Figure 1. (a) S–N plot comparing the cast and FSPed conditions at
R = 0. (b) S–N plot comparing fatigue data between the cast and the
FSPed conditions at R = 0 and R = 1.
specimens 2.5 times more than that of cast specimens.
However, at a lower stress level of 150 MPa, FSP led
to an 15-fold improvement in the fatigue life of
through thickness FSPed specimens over that of cast
specimens. When a partially processed sample was com-
pared with a cast sample at the same stress level, this ra-
tio dropped to 4. Finally, a cast specimen showed no
failure until 1  107 cycles when tested at 110 MPa,
whereas a partially processed FSP specimen was tested
at 146 MPa without failure at the same number of
cycles.
Figure 1b compares an S–N plot of the cast condition
with one of the FSP conditions at R values of 0 and 1.
As noted earlier, FSP led to a 5-fold improvement in
fatigue life at R = 1. In this condition the degree of
fatigue life enhancement was also slightly less at a higher
stress level than at a lower stress level. Further, as
mentioned above, FSP enhanced fatigue life by a similar
margin at R = 0 when the applied stress was above
200 MPa; below that stress level, the improvement was
even greater, e.g. 15-fold at 150 MPa for through
thickness processed specimens. Therefore, the enhance-
ment of fatigue life as a result of FSP is more pronounced
at lower applied maximum stress levels and higher R val-
ues, with the R value playing the major role. In addition,

Table 1. Chemical composition (wt.%) of F357 alloy.

Al Si Fe Cu Mg Ti Others
Balance 6.827 0.063 0.016 0.571 0.178 0.014
994 S. Jana et al. / Scripta Materialia 61 (2009) 992–995

as evident in Figure 1b, the fatigue life of the cast specimen the partial thickness processed specimens falls between
increased by a factor of 5 with a change in R value from 1 the cast and fully processed data, which was expected
to 0. This increase was due to the change in the applied since the specimen cross-section contains both the
stress range, Dr = rmax–rmin. At R = 1, which repre- FSPed and the cast microstructure. The values of Bas-
sents fully reversed load condition, Dr = 2rmax. On the quin exponent, b, were 0.23 and 0.20 for the cast
other hand, for R = 0, which represents zero to tensile samples at R = 0 and R = 1, respectively. In the case
loading fatigue, Dr = rmax. Now, according to Paris law, of FSPed samples, b values were noted to be 0.10 for
da/dN = C(DK)m, where da/dN is the fatigue crack growth both the partial and full FSPed samples in the R = 0
increment, DK is the stress intensity factor range, and C and condition, whereas in the R = 1 condition b was found
m are constants [6]. Here, DK is related p to the stress range to be 0.17. This similarity in the values of b in both the
Dr by the relationship, DK = YDr (pa), where Y is a partial and through thickness FSPed specimens in the
geometrical factor and a is the crack length. Therefore, at R = 0 condition suggests that FSP can significantly
any given stress level, the cast specimen is subjected to twice enhance fatigue life even in the partially processed
the stress intensity factor range at R = 1 than at R = 0. specimens for some stress ratio and loading conditions.
As a result, the crack growth rate da/dN in the R = 1 con- This enhancement was possible because of the bending
dition is higher than the R = 0 condition by a factor of 2m. load and the presence of the FSPed microstructure on
Moreover, in the case of the cast samples, the crack initia- the tension side. The porosity that acted as easy crack
tion period can be neglected because of the presence of nucleation sites was eliminated as a result of FSP.
defects, and therefore the lower crack growth rate leads Therefore, the presence of the FSPed side on the tension
to a longer life at higher stress ratio. side ensured that cracks would not be initiated easily.
Figure 2a plots the stress amplitude, ra, as a function On the other hand, keeping the cast microstructure on
of the number of load reversals, which is two times the the lower side ensured that the porosity would not devel-
Nf, on a log–log scale for the cast and the two FSP spec- op into cracks because the bottom face goes through
imens in the R = 0 condition. As shown in Figure 2a, the compression to zero loads. As a result, the behavior of
data shows a linear relationship between stress ampli- the partially processed specimen was almost the same
tude and the number of load reversals according to the as that of the fully processed specimen.
Basquin relationship, ra = rf (2Nf)b, where rf and The total life of partially processed specimens was
b are the fatigue strength coefficient and Basquin expo- slightly lower because of the presence of the cast micro-
nent, respectively [6]. Further, the data from the cast structure. Figure 2b compares the Basquin plot in the
and from the through thickness processed specimens cast vs. FSP condition at two R ratios, 1 and 0. It
clearly separate on the Basquin plot. The data from can be noted from Figure 2b that the use of a higher
stress ratio resulted in a shorter fatigue life at the same
stress amplitudes for all specimens. Further, as a result
(a) 200 of FSP under the R = 1 condition, fatigue life
Cast + T6
R=0
FSP + T6 (partial)
enhancement was slightly greater at lower stress ampli-
FSP + T6 (full) tudes than at higher values.
Collectively, these results indicate that an increase in
Stress Amplitude, MPa

the stress ratio has a significant effect on the fatigue life

100
of an FSPed specimen. A change in the stress ratio from
90 1 to 0 changes the nature of the loading from tension–
80 compression to tension–zero. Such changes strongly
70 influence the degree of crack closure during fatigue.
60 The concept of crack closure (or premature contact of
the crack faces during the unloading phase of the load-
50
10
4
10
5
10
6
10
7
10
8 ing cycle) was first introduced by Elber [7]. Elber argued
2 x No. of Cycles to Failure that the crack can propagate only during that fraction of
the fatigue loading cycle when the crack faces are sepa-
(b) 300 Cast + T6, R = 0 rated. The effective stress range, Dreff, and the corre-
FSP + T6 (partial), R = 0
FSP + T6 (full), R = 0
sponding effective stress intensity factor range, DKeff,
200 Cast + T6, R = -1 which are responsible for crack growth, are given by [7].
Stress Amplitude, MPa

FSP + T6, R = -1
Dreff ¼ rmax  rop ¼ U Dr; DK eff ¼ K max  K op ¼ U DK
ð1Þ
100
90 where rop and Kop represent the stress and the stress
80 intensity factor, respectively, at which the crack faces
70
open up, and U is the crack closure ratio. Elber [7] fur-
60
ther showed that
50
5 6 7 8
10 10 10 10 K op
2 x No. of Cycles to Failure ¼ 0:5 þ 0:1R þ 0:4R2 ð2Þ
K max
Figure 2. (a) Basquin plot for the R = 0 condition comparing the cast
and FSPed situations. (b) Basquin plot for the cast and FSPed Eq. (2) can be expanded in the following manner to re-
samples, R = 1 vs. R = 0. late U to the stress ratio, R:
 S. Jana et al. / Scripta Materialia 61 (2009) 992–995
Figure 3. Interface between the cast and the FSPed region. The left
side of the image is FSPed and resembles the Al–12.6Si (modified)
eutectic microstructure. The right side is the hypoeutectic cast
microstructure of the parent Al–7Si alloy.
K op K max  K op U DK
1 ¼ ¼ ¼ U ð1  RÞ ð3Þ
K max K max K max
and therefore
0:5  0:1R  0:4R2
U¼ ð4Þ
1R
U is calculated as 0.1 for R = -1, and 0.5 for R = 0
according to Eq. (4), implying a five times higher closure
at R = 1 than at R = 0. Previously, Couper et al. [8] at-
tempted to evaluate U at R = 1. Since no data was
available in the literature for the tension–compression
conditions, they assumed U to be 0.5 at R = 1.
As noted by both Suresh [6] and Taylor [9], various
mechanisms of crack closure have been identified by
researchers. These crack closures are classified as (i)
plasticity induced, (ii) roughness/microstructure in-
duced, (iii) oxide induced, (iv) viscous fluid induced
and (v) phase transformation induced. Because FSP
led to two significant changes in the cast Al–7Si–
0.6 Mg alloy, the closure mechanisms most pertinent
to the present study are (i) plasticity induced and (ii)
roughness induced. First, FSP resulted in significant
enhancement of ductility. The elongation to failure
was less than 2% in the cast + T6 condition, whereas
in the FSP + T6 condition it was at least 10%. Secondly,
FSP caused major microstructural change through
refinement of acicular Si particles and their redistribu-
tion in an almost homogeneous manner. This change
is apparent in Figure 3, which shows the interface be-
tween the cast and the FSPed region. According to plas-
ticity induced crack closure, there is a wake of plastically
deformed material along the crack sides that remains
under compressive residual stress. Since FSP results in
higher ductility, the plastic zone around any crack will
differ significantly from that of the cast condition, hence
the degree of crack closure will be much higher in the
FSPed condition. Further, a recent study by Lados
et al. [10] compared the level of roughness induced crack
closures among various cast Al–Si alloys. They noted
that the degree of crack closure increased as the Si con-
tent of the alloy changed from 1% to 7%, and finally to
13%. The change in Si content meant a change from a
hypoeutectic microstructure to a completely eutectic
microstructure. A hypoeutectic microstructure com-
prises a-Al dendrites with eutectic Si particles in the
995
inter-dendritic regions, whereas a eutectic microstructure
is an almost homogeneous mixture of a-Al and Si parti-
cles. As shown in Figure 3, the microstructure generated
after FSP closely approximates the eutectic Al-modified
Si structure because of the homogeneous distribution;
therefore, the degree of roughness induced crack closure
would also be higher in the case of the FSPed material.
These changes in mechanical properties/microstructure
may explain the higher fatigue life observed in the fully
processed specimens as compared to the cast samples at
R = 0. Further, the presence of a high compressive load
in the R = 1 condition likely masks the differences in
the degree of crack closure between the FSPed and cast
conditions. Hence, the level of enhancement is lower
than that in R = 0 condition. Finally, fatigue life
enhancement as a result of FSP was more prominent
at lower stress levels because crack closure is more dom-
inant at lower DK levels (i.e. lower Dr), as was noted by
Suresh [6].
In summary, FSP improved the fatigue life of a cast
Al–7Si–0.6 Mg alloy by a factor of 15 when specimens
were tested at the same stress level and at a stress ratio
of R = 0. This level of enhancement was noted in the
through thickness processed alloy and has been attrib-
uted to the difference in the level of crack closure seen
in the cast and FSPed samples. A higher degree of plas-
ticity induced and roughness induced crack closure is
present in the FSPed sample because of the associated
improvement in the ductility and distribution of refined
Si particles.
This work was performed under the NSF-IUCRC
for Friction Stir Processing and the additional support
of NSF-IIP (0531019), GM and Friction Stir Link for
the Missouri S&T site is acknowledged. This report
was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an
agency of the United States Government. The views
and opinions of authors expressed herein do not neces-
sarily state or reflect those of the United States Govern-
ment or any agency thereof.
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