Fatigue properties of zinc–aluminium alloys in 3.5% NaCl and 1% HCl solutions

A series of binary zinc–aluminium alloys were produced by permanent mould casting. Fatigue behaviour of the alloys was investigated in 3.5% NaCl and 1% HCl solutions using a rotating bending fatigue machine. The stress amplitude versus number of cycles to failure curves of the alloys were obtained for both environments. The fatigue strength and fatigue lifetime of the alloys were found to be very sensitive to these environments. Acid solution was found to be much more effective on the fatigue behaviour of these alloys than the salt water. It was also observed that the fatigue lifetime of the alloys decreased with increasing aluminium content and as the aluminium content increased their sensitivity to corrosive environments increased. It was also found that Basquin’s law could be used to express the fatigue behaviour of the zinc–aluminium alloys in these environments.