Effect of Mean Stress on the Fatigue Life Prediction of Notched Fiber-Reinforced 2060 Al-Li Alloy Laminates under Spectrum Loading

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the fatigue life prediction of notched fiber-reinforced 2060 Al-Li alloy laminates under spectrum loading by applying the constant life diagram. Firstly, a review on the state of the art of constant life diagram models for the life prediction of composite materials is given, which highlights the effect on the forecast accuracy. Then, the fatigue life of notched fiber-reinforced Al-Li alloy laminates (2/1 laminates and 3/2 laminates) is tested under cyclic stress, which has different stress cycle characteristics (constant amplitude loading and Mini-Twist spectrum loading). The introduced models are successfully realized based on the available experimental data of examined laminates. In the case of Mini-Twist spectrum loading, the effect of the constant life diagram on the life prediction accuracy of examined laminates is studied based on the rainflow-counting method and Miner damage criteria. The results show that the simple Goodman model and piecewise linear model have certain advantages compared to other complex models for the life prediction of notched fiber metal laminates with different structures under Mini-Twist loading. From the engineering perspective, the S-N curve prediction based on the piecewise linear model is most applicable and accurate among all the models.