Fatigue Resistance of Aluminum and Its Products

Data are presented to show the various factors that affect the fatigue strength of aluminum. For metallurgical size test specimens, the fatigue strength is affected by the alloy, temper, metallurgical condition, shape of specimen, surface condition, type of loading, product, stress concentration, residual stress, and temperature. However, these variables generally do not have a great effect on the fatigue strength of service parts containing stress raisers. Thus, for long fatigue life, good design and attention to details are generally more important than choice of alloy.