Experimental analysis of fatigue behaviour and metallographic characterization of Sc-Al alloy coupons

Materials and different technologies employed in the aerospace field play an important role. Aerospace materials can be described as structural materials that support the loads exerted on the aircraft throughout flight operations. Continuous research is carried out leading to an improvement in the quality of the materials used in this field. There is always the need for lighter materials that could be used in airframe structures. At the same time, these materials need to provide excellent strength. Aluminum alloys are widely used in airplane structures due to their variety of qualities that make them ideal for this application. Deep research has been done on aluminum alloys and continues up to this day. Fatigue analysis is part of this research and has been studied intensively to understand and gain better knowledge about fatigue behaviour and fatigue mechanism of these materials. A full analysis of coupons made with Scalmalloy has been conducted in this study to evaluate the properties and functionality of this material. An in-depth literature review concerning the static and fatigue behaviour of Scalmalloy coupons has been done before proceeding with experimental tests. Static and fatigue tests were carried out and were then compared with the literature results. Metallographic analysis was then performed, including microscopic observations, fractography analysis, and additional procedures. This prepares the coupons examined for the study of their microstructures. The objective of the thesis includes the complete fatigue and metallographic investigation of Scalmalloy coupons and their comparison with the literature review. This comparison allows the evaluation of the material properties and their reliability and from this analysis, other methods by which the work could be improved are suggested.