Effects of micro arc oxidation on fatigue limits and fracture morphologies of 7475 high strength aluminum alloy

The oxide coatings with thicknesses of 8 μm, 10 μm, and 15 μm were prepared on 7475 aluminum alloy with micro arc oxidation (MAO) by controlling MAO time, the fatigue limits of original and MAO samples were contrastively measured by the Roccati method. The surface-interface morphologies, fracture morphologies, surface phases, and residual stresses of MAO coating were analyzed with a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and XRD stress tester, respectively. The results show that fatigue limits of the MAO samples decreases as the coating thickness increasing. The fatigue limit of MAO sample with thickness of 8 μm, 10 μm, and 15 μm decreases by 6.48%, 8.33%, and 11.11%, respectively, compared with the original sample. The residual stress and defects introduced by MAO were the main factors of decreasing fatigue limits. The fatigue limit of original sample was 216 MPa (a), while that of MAO samples with thickness of 8 μm, 10 μm and 15 μm was 202 MPa, 198 MPa and 192 MPa (b). The fatigue limit of MAO samples with thickness of 8 μm, 10 μm and 15 μm decreased by 6.48%, 8.33% and 11.11% compared with that of the original sample, as a result, the fatigue limit decreased with the MAO film thickness increasing. [Display omitted] •The fatigue limits of MAO samples decrease with the oxide thickness increasing.•The overgrowth regions cause the crack source expanding.•The overgrowth of MAO film and tensile residual stress decrease fatigue limit.