Simulation of seawater corrosion effect on the fatigue life of 5083 MIG welded aluminum alloy after friction stir processing

In this study, using finite element simulation, the effect of seawater corrosion on the fatigue life of 5083 aluminum alloy welded by shielding gas method after turbulent friction process has been investigated. Plates with different dimensions of 49.1 to 49.8 cm3 were modeled and then simulated with conical corrosion attacks, having different diameters and heights and random distribution. Afterward, considering experimentally mechanical properties reported by other researchers, fatigue life was analyzed through ABAQUS software solver. The results of corrosion as well as material properties effects on fatigue life and also the effect corrosion of the useful life of the aluminum alloy were investigated. The results showed that by increasing the corrosion rate of aluminum alloy, it had less resistance to fatigue, so that by creating approximately 1.8% corrosion on the sample surface, a 5.6% reduction in cycle was achieved. The validation of the simulation results in corrosion fatigue analysis, obtained in the present study through the stress-life method, with the use of the results published by other researchers, reveals a good agreement.