Microstructure tailoring with minor nanoparticle addition for superior fatigue resistance in aluminum alloys
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Laichang Zhang: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0661-2051
Abstract
Fatigue resistance is a key performance metric for 2 × × × series Al alloys in aerospace applications. In this work, minor TiC-TiB2 nanoparticle addition was utilized to enhance the fatigue resistance of 2024Al through the synergistic regulation of multiple fatigue-governing microstructural factors, while simultaneously reducing stress concentration and enabling dynamic stress unloading. The fatigue strength was enhanced by 12.0%, and the increase in fatigue life under low-stress conditions (120-170 MPa) exceeded 500%. Specifically, targeted microstructure tailoring, including weakened segregation, a high fraction of low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs), refined precipitates, and coherent Cu-rich nanoclusters, was achieved in 2024Al alloy by minor TiC-TiB2 manipulation. The penetration of dislocations into LAGBs, refined Al20Cu2Mn3 with twin plates, and nanoclusters effectively reduced stress concentration. Meanwhile, the migration of LAGBs promoted the consumption of plastic work induced by cyclic stress. The refinement of non-shearable Al2CuMg phases improved deformation uniformity during fatigue testing and reduced the fatigue crack propagation (FCP) rate. In addition, minor TiC-TiB2 nanoparticle addition facilitated dynamic recovery and recrystallization during fatigue loading, thereby effectively releasing part of the accumulated stress under cyclic deformation. These results demonstrate that the superior fatigue resistance originates from the synergistic regulation of segregation, grain-boundary characteristics, precipitate structure, nanocluster dispersion, and dynamic restoration behavior. This work is expected to provide significant guidance for microstructural tailoring of Al alloys toward high fatigue resistance and to offer new insights into the correlation between microstructure and fatigue resistance in Al alloys.
Keywords
2××× series Al alloy, fatigue resistance, microstructure evolution, microstructure tailoring, nanoparticles
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
6-1-2026
Volume
961
Publication Title
Materials Science and Engineering: A
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Engineering
Funders
National Natural Science Foundation of China (52475484) / Changbaishan Laboratory Project (CBS2025004-03) / China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2025M780122) / Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF (GZB20250019) / 2025 Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (2025ZB276)
Copyright
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Comments
Liu, T., Yang, H., Tan, C., Dong, B., Shu, S., Jiang, Q., Qiu, F., & Zhang, L. (2026). Microstructure tailoring with minor nanoparticle addition for superior fatigue resistance in aluminum alloys. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 961, 150168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2026.150168