Multiaxial fatigue design of cast parts: Influence of complex defect on cast AS7G06-T6

•Tension torsion fatigue tests results for two load ratio.•Influence of complex morphology defect.•Influence of the distance between two defects.•Equivalent defect size.•Competition between single and several defect. AS7G06-T6 cast aluminum alloy is tested under tension, torsion and tension–torsion fatigue loading for two load ratios. Basquin’s law and step loading method are used to obtain the fatigue limit under multiaxial loading. Crossland criterion and principal stress criterion considering Goodman idea are compared to evaluate the multiaxial behavior. The influence of complex defects on fatigue limit is analyzed under multiaxial loadings. Several artificial defects are machined on fatigue specimen with different distance between edges. A new definition of the equivalent defect size considering the distance between defect edges is proposed. For both tension and tension–torsion fatigue, the competition between single natural defect and complex artificial defects is observed and analyzed.