Investigation of the sensitivity of the fatigue resistance to defect position in aluminium alloys obtained by Selective laser melting using artificial defects

Abstract This study focuses on the influence of defects on the fatigue behavior of AlSi7Mg0.6 alloy produced by Selective laser melting. Artificial defects were generated in fatigue specimens by introducing holes in the CAD files prior manufacturing. The introduction of such defects, whose sizes and positions are controlled, aims to provide a proper assessment of defect sensitivity, in particular regarding the influence of defect position. Fatigue tests were performed, and finite-element calculations accounting for real defect geometries were conducted. The criticalities of the simulated defects were then evaluated using a non-local Crossland criterion, and discussed with regard to the experimental results.