Fatigue performance of aluminum alloy EN-AW 5083 cut edges produced by abrasive water jet and laser cutting

The application of aluminum alloys within the maritime industry is very common for hull structures of smaller vessels and lightweight constructions such as deck housings and other superstructure elements. Besides welded details, the geometry of cut-outs and openings within the structure leads to stress concentrations that could be considered critical for the fatigue behavior. These openings are in general cut by thermal processes or waterjets. In the recommendations and class regulations for fatigue design of cut edges made of aluminum alloys, the amount of available guidelines for these details is very limited. The recommendations by IIW include only one design category of cut edges for the nominal stress approach. In addition, no differentiation is made regarding cutting techniques and qualities, as it is done for steel, as well as not for edge treatments such as grinding. This paper describes the fatigue testing of different specimen series cut out by laser and abrasive water jet (AWJ). All specimen bodies are made out of aluminum alloy EN-AW 5083 plate material with a thickness of 4 or 5 mm.