MICROFRACTOGRAPHY OF NEAR-THRESHOLD FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH

The fracture surface micromorphology in the near-threshold FCG region was studied in LD-10 aluminum alloy and Ti-6Al-4V allov.The SEM examinations reveal that the frac- ture surface of both alloys at low crack growth rates(1×10~(-7)-1×10~(-5)mm/cycle)takes on a cyclic facet appearance.The typical morphologies were either sawtoothedfacets or terraced facets for LD-10 aluminum alloy and isolated island facets for Ti-6Al-4V alloy.The mech- anism of near-threshold fatigue crack growth is explicated on the basis of experimental ob- servations.