| Fatigue and crack-growth tests were conducted on 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy under a wide range of loading conditions. Crack-growth tests were conducted on compact, C(T), specimens under constant-amplitude loading, single-spike overloads, and a simulated aircraft spectrum loading. Fatigue tests were also conducted on single-edge-notch bend, SEN(B), specimens under constant-amplitude loading and three aircraft load spectra. The FASTRAN, life-prediction code, was used to make crack-growth predictions on the C(T) specimens; and to make fatigue-life calculations using a 12-micrometer initial flaw size at the center of the edge-notch on the SEN(B) specimens. The predictions agreed fairly well with most of the tests, except the model was unconservative on the single-spike overload tests and the severe spectrum Mini-TWIST+ Level 1 tests. The discrepancy was suspected to be caused by a low constraint factor and/or crack paths meandering around overload plastic zones. A roughness- and plasticity-induced crack-closure model would be needed to improve the model. |
