LOW-CYCLE FATIGUE ANALYSIS OF ALUMINUM ALLOY GUSSET JOINTS AND LATTICED SHELL BASED ON CONTINUUM DAMAGE MECHANICS

Aluminum alloys have been widely used for structures in environments subject to corrosion. However, aluminum alloys have lower elastic modulus as compared to steels, and are more sensitive to low-cycle fatigue failure. This study performed low-cycle fatigue experiments of aluminum alloy gusset joints. A damage-coupled cyclic plastic constitutive model of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy was established based on continuum damage mechanics. Numerical simulations of the joints and a latticed shell were carried out incorporating the constitutive model. Low-cycle fatigue life of the joints and the latticed shell structure were estimated based on damage distribution calculated by the simulations.
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