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Cryogenics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cryogenics
Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Pusan National University, 30, Jangjeon-Dong, Geumjeong-Gu, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea
Department of Extreme Energy Systems, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon 305-343, Republic of Korea
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 1 September 2014
Received in revised form 1 February 2015
Accepted 9 February 2015
Available online 18 February 2015
Keywords:
Aluminum alloy
Cryogenic mechanical test
Fracture
Strain rate sensitivity
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
a b s t r a c t
The mechanical behavior of aluminum alloys was investigated in terms of four aspects: temperature,
strain rate, material type, and fracture shape. The candidate materials were 5000- and 6000-series alloys.
The material characteristics were investigated and summarized as a function of low temperature (110
293 K) and quasi-static strain rate (104 and 102 s1). The results conrmed that the strength and ductility of aluminum alloys improved with a decrease in the temperature. The aluminum alloys showed a
strain rate effect only in terms of the ductility of the 5000-series alloys. In addition, fractography analyses
were performed on the fracture specimens to explain the material behavior at cryogenic temperatures.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The focus of natural resource development is now shifting from
continental to the polar and subsea regions. In keeping with this
trend, it has become increasingly important to build vessels that
can safely travel to and carry people and goods into these areas.
Many vessels, such as icebreakers, liquid natural gas (LNG) carriers,
drillships, and offshore plants such as FPSO (oating, production,
storage, and ofoading) and jacket structures, are already operating in this eld. Most of these vessels and structures are pioneering
new routes into the Arctic to contribute to subsea resource development projects. Therefore, it is essential to consider low temperatures when designing a structure for operating in these
harsh conditions. In particular, an understanding of structural
behavior at cryogenic temperatures is vital for designing LNG carriers, pipelines, etc., because the inner walls of these structures are
in direct contact with LNG at 110 K (163 C). To predict the structural behavior at low temperatures reliably, a precise understanding of the mechanical behavior and fracture characteristics of the
main materials used in the structure is needed rst.
Recently, stainless steel, nickel steel, and invar alloys have
mainly been used as cryogenic materials in ships and offshore
structures. These materials show excellent mechanical properties
45
Table 1
Components of selected aluminum alloys in wt (%).
Alloy
5052-H34
5086-H112
6061-T6
6082-T6
Fe
Cu
Mn
Mg
Cr
Zn
Ti
Al
0.05
0.05
0.66
0.95
0.12
0.16
0.36
0.19
0.01
0.01
0.17
0.04
0.46
0.01
0.08
0.72
3.50
2.55
0.84
0.89
0.15
0.26
0.07
0.08
0.01
0.01
0.12
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
Bal.
Bal.
Bal.
Bal.
46
Fig. 1. (a) Photograph of the universal testing machine with cryogenic chamber and (b) schematic overview of the experimental apparatus.
Fig. 2. Tensile test under (a) ambient and (b) cryogenic conditions.
quasi-static strain rates of 104 and 102 s1 were adopted in the
present study to identify the rate dependence of aluminum alloys.
The experimental scenario is summarized in Table 2. To obtain
repeatable test results, three tests were performed for each scenario (120 tests in total). Fig. 4 shows the variance of the test results in
the case of No. 10 for AA5052 and AA6061. As the stress and strain
values were signicantly low, their average values were used to
prepare the representative stressstrain curves. Finally, fractography analyses of the fracture specimens were conducted using an
S-4800 SEM (Hitachi Inc., Japan) at an accelerating potential of
20 kV to analyze the behavior of each material.
3. Comparative analysis
3.1. Temperature
Fig. 5 shows the temperature-dependent stressstrain relationship of the aluminum alloys at a strain rate of 104 s1. The
47
Fig. 3. Test specimen shape and dimensions of aluminum alloy (KS B0801 10).
Table 2
Conditions for cryogenic tensile tests.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Strain-rate (s1)
Specimen (EA)
104
102
104
102
104
102
104
102
104
102
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Material
AA5052
AA5086
AA6061
AA6082
48
Fig. 5. Temperature dependent stressstrain curves of the aluminum alloys: (a) AA5052, (b) AA5086, (c) AA6061 and (d) AA6082.
49
Fig. 6. Temperature dependent ultimate yield stress and fracture strain of the aluminum alloys: (a) AA5052, (b) AA5086, (c) AA6061 and (d) AA6082.
50
Fig. 7. Stressstrain relationship with regard to the strain-rate of the aluminum alloys at 110 and 293 K, for (a) AA5052, (b) AA5086, (c) AA6061 and (d) AA6082.
aluminum alloys has a small strain rate sensitivity [9,26]. Also, the
strain rate sensitivity drops with an increase of the alloy content
and tempering. Therefore, the 6000-series alloys were less inuenced by the variation of strain rate than the 5000-sereis alloys,
as heat treatment and cold working reduces strain rate sensitivity
of 6000-series alloys.
3.3. Aluminum alloy type and its applicability
Offshore structures such as FPSO structures, drill ships, and
jack-up rigs consist of several structural components to extract
deepwater natural resources such as crude oil and natural gas. In
their structural design, harsh environmental conditions should be
considered in view of the safety aspect. In general, because the performance of the structural members depends on the material capacity, various considerations must be made before structural design.
In the last few decades, stainless steel, nickel alloys, and aluminum
alloys have been widely used in such offshore structures. Among
these, the present study focuses on the mechanical characteristics
of four aluminum alloys and performs a comparative study with
AA5083. AA5083 is the most widely used material for lowtemperature conditions in marine structures, and its applicability
to ship and offshore structures has been proved in a previous
study [1].
Fig. 9 shows the comparative investigation between AA5083
and the tested aluminum alloys. All data were selected based on
the maximum properties under low-temperature conditions from
110 to 153 K. Fig. 9(a) shows that the yield, ultimate tensile
strength, and fracture strain of each material increased at cryogenic temperatures compared to room temperature conditions. In
other words, aluminum alloys with a value above 1 (reference value) showed improved mechanical properties at low temperature.
All tested alloys showed a value above 1. Therefore, the mechanical
properties of these alloys, including AA5083, improved at low temperature. In comparison to AA5083, the rate of increase of the four
aluminum alloys showed a similar tendency, except for fracture
strain. In addition, AA6082 exhibited the highest increase rate in
terms of the yield (1.30) and ultimate tensile stress (1.31), and
AA5052 exhibited the highest increase rate in terms of fracture
strain (1.58).
51
Fig. 8. Strain-rate dependent yield and ultimate tensile stress and fracture strain, for (a) AA5052, (b) AA5086, (c) AA6061 and (d) AA6082.
In Fig. 9(b), the yield and ultimate tensile stress and fracture
strain of AA5083 were xed at 1, and the properties of the other
aluminum alloys were expressed in terms of their ratio to
AA5083. If the property value of an aluminum alloy was above 1,
it indicated that this property was superior compared to that of
AA5083. It was conrmed that the ultimate tensile stress of the
5000-series alloys was markedly lower than that of AA5083
(AA5052: 0.43, AA5086: 0.28), whereas the fracture strain was
higher (AA5052: 1.64, AA5086: 2.01). On the contrary, the ultimate
tensile stress of 6000-series alloys was higher than that of AA5083
(AA6061: 1.23, AA6082: 1.42), whereas the fracture strain was
lower (AA6061: 0.74, AA6082: 0.55). In terms of the yield and ultimate stress, except for AA5083, AA6082 exhibited the highest value (yield stress: 1.16 and ultimate stress: 1.42), followed by
52
Fig. 9. (a) Temperature dependent increase rate of mechanical properties (value at cryogenic temperature/value at room temperature) and (b) material-type dependent ratio
of mechanical properties (value of each aluminum alloy/value of AA5083).
use in structures that require large displacements. However, necessary precautions are required when 5000-series alloys are used at
temperatures below 110 K, because the fracture strain of the material decreases and certain portions of the material show brittle
fracture. On the other hand, the superior tensile strength of
6000-series alloys could be used for structures that are subjected
to signicant loading conditions under cryogenic conditions,
because the strength of these alloys increased steadily with
decreasing temperature. However, precautions are again required
for the application of these materials in structures that experience
large displacements. Therefore, 5000-series alloys are generally
used for thin plates and 6000-series alloys, for extrusions and thick
plates. In addition, the strength and ductility of each aluminum
alloy was complementary; for example, the low strength of
5000-series alloys could be sufciently reinforced through proper
hardening of the material, instead of decreasing fracture strain.
In addition, because the 5000- and 6000-series alloys are of seawater-resistant grade, these materials are highly advantageous for use
in marine structures that are submerged for a long time in
seawater.
Similarly, aluminum alloys offer strong advantages for cryogenic applications in a marine environment. As frequently pointed
out, however, proper aluminum alloys should be selected by rst
predicting the stress and displacement of the structures. To provide a quantitative indicator for the use of an aluminum alloy as
a cryogenic material, the experimental results for all the aluminum
alloys are summarized in Tables 36. The temperature dependencies were calculated using the reference values at room temperature and two strain rates. In Tables 36, ref signies the
reference values for the increment calculations. In addition, to
understand the test results clearly for different aluminum alloys,
the mechanical properties were plotted together in Fig. 10.
Table 3
Experimental results for AA5052.
e_ (s1)
Temp. (K)
rY (MPa)
rY Increment (%)
rT (MPa)
rT Increment (%)
eF
eF Increment
4
10
293
223
153
133
110
120.76
126.49
131.21
136.30
136.81
ref
4.74
8.64
12.86
13.29
305.22
283.23
314.64
333.50
350.82
ref
7.20
3.08
9.26
14.94
0.303
0.338
0.419
0.436
0.372
ref
11.35
38.09
43.54
22.61
102
293
223
153
133
110
126.62
130.80
131.97
122.24
89.42
ref
3.29
4.22
3.46
29.37
281.52
279.18
310.82
330.14
346.36
ref
0.83
10.40
17.26
23.03
0.320
0.334
0.380
0.375
0.303
ref
4.44
18.58
17.01
5.28
Table 4
Experimental results for AA5086.
e_ (s1)
Temp. (K)
rY (MPa)
rY Increment (%)
rT (MPa)
rT Increment (%)
eF
eF Increment
104
293
223
153
133
110
77.19
79.23
79.49
83.05
89.68
ref
2.64
2.97
7.59
16.17
211.97
208.15
230.57
245.60
268.28
ref
1.80
8.77
15.86
26.56
0.336
0.380
0.466
0.535
0.533
ref
13.18
38.51
59.04
58.53
102
293
223
153
133
110
73.37
76.94
82.80
89.17
86.87
ref
4.86
12.84
21.52
18.40
201.01
211.46
229.29
246.87
268.53
ref
5.19
14.06
22.81
33.58
0.359
0.408
0.440
0.457
0.455
ref
13.51
22.42
27.05
26.56
53
e_ (s1)
Temp. (K)
rY (MPa)
rY Increment (%)
rT (MPa)
rY Increment (%)
eF
eF Increment
4
10
293
223
153
133
110
335.79
337.07
367.64
372.99
388.02
ref
0.37
9.48
11.07
15.55
353.63
356.94
398.21
408.40
425.47
ref
0.93
12.60
15.48
20.31
0.177
0.192
0.191
0.198
0.185
ref
8.86
8.25
11.93
4.90
102
293
223
153
133
110
337.57
342.42
379.61
385.22
395.41
ref
1.43
12.45
14.11
17.13
352.10
362.03
405.35
417.57
433.88
ref
2.82
15.12
18.59
23.22
0.175
0.175
0.185
0.192
0.198
ref
0.19
5.59
9.59
12.89
Table 6
Experimental results for AA6082.
e_ (s1)
Temp. (K)
rY (MPa)
rY Increment (%)
rT (MPa)
rT Increment (%)
eF
eF Increment
104
293
223
153
133
110
340.63
379.36
405.09
412.22
447.89
ref
11.36
18.92
21.01
31.48
375.54
412.99
443.05
450.70
491.21
ref
9.97
17.97
20.01
30.80
0.146
0.138
0.148
0.138
0.136
ref
5.50
1.23
5.50
6.76
102
293
223
153
133
110
343.69
356.17
423.43
430.31
463.69
ref
3.63
23.20
25.20
34.91
368.40
381.40
455.03
462.42
501.14
ref
3.52
23.51
25.51
36.03
0.137
0.138
0.140
0.126
0.127
ref
0.24
1.51
8.65
7.90
4. Fracture analysis
4.1. Macroscopic analysis
Aluminum alloys have an FCC crystal structure. In general,
metallic materials with this structure have numerous slip systems
and show plastic deformation owing to the movement of dislocations along the slip system. Therefore, the ductility of aluminum
alloys is very high, and their tensile fracture surfaces show ductile
fractures such as cup-and-cone or shear fractures [22].
The fracture surfaces were characterized by ductility (fracture
strain 100%), and fractured materials with higher ductility, as
seen in the fractured cup-and-cone shape, were arranged from
the left in Fig. 11(a). This gure shows the typical macroscopic
fracture surfaces of the specimens, which exhibit representative
fracture shapes and fracture surfaces as a result of the tensile tests.
The most outstanding materials from each aluminum alloy series,
AA5086 and AA6061, were fractured in a cup-and-cone shape.
The total length of the AA5086 specimen after the tensile test
was longer, and the diameter of the fracture surface (circle) was
smaller than that of AA6061. In addition, for AA5086, which had
the highest ductility, a snail-shaped spiral shape was observed.
The holding trace of the particles in the internal structure was also
partly seen for AA5052. However, for AA6061, the shape was characterized by a at plane surface in the fracture surface. In
Fig. 11(b), the ductile fractures exhibited a characteristic surface
with a small shear lip, where the shear fracture had a 45 fracture
surface relative to the applied stress. The shear lip, which indicated
that slip occurred, was clearly observed in AA5052 and AA6082
specimens. Similar to the results of cup-and-cone-shaped fractures, a holding trace of the particles was seen in the internal structure of AA5052, whereas the surfaces of AA6082 consisted mainly
of a at shape. Therefore, even if the aluminum alloy was classied
by the same type of ductile materials, cohesion between particles
depended on the internal structure, which determined the ductility
of the material. This means that the ductility of the material could
54
ductile behavior. The effect of the strain rate on the ductility of the
AA6061 and AA6082 specimens was found to be insignicant
judging from the small strain rate sensitivity from the SEM
observations.
The SEM observations of the fracture surfaces of AA5052 and
AA5086 at different temperatures and strain rates are shown in
Figs. 15 and 16. For AA5052, it was observed that at constant strain
rates of 104 s1, the density of the dimples increased with
decreasing temperature until 153 K. The fracture surfaces at
110 K (Fig. 15(d)) showed a fragile aspect with a small portion of
brittle fraction surfaces. In some parts of the fracture surfaces,
the fractured grain was at, and there were fragile aspects with
large brittle fracture surfaces and a small fraction of voids
55
(f) show the typical fracture surfaces of the AA5052 specimen and
Fig. 16(d) and (f), those of the AA5086 specimen, at a temperature
of 110 K under constants strain rates of 104 and 102 s1, respectively. The voids and dimples that were formed at the low strain
rate were observed to be relatively ne and clear, although their
depth and density were reduced at the higher strain rate. Precipitate particle fractures were observed along with dimple-like
structures. In contrast to the strain rate dependency of the ductility
at 293 K, low-temperature fractures resulted in a combination of
voids and dimples as well as atter fragile fracture surfaces, which
showed gradually decreasing ductility at the higher strain rate
(Fig. 8(a) and (b)).
4.3. Discussion
Fig. 12. Fracture mode of (a) AA5052 and (b) AA6082 at each temperature.
of the AA5052 specimen and Fig. 16(a) and (e), those of the AA5086
specimen, at a temperature of 293 K under constant strain rates of
104 and 102 s1, respectively. Large void fractions and a higher
density of dimples were observed at the higher strain rate. The
dimples formed during the coalescence of voids suggested that
the fractures were in a more ductile manner at the higher strain
rate. It was noted that the ductility of AA5052 and AA5086
increased under a higher strain rate at a temperature of 293 K
(Fig. 8(a) and (b)). However, under a temperature of 110 K, different fracture features were observed in the two cases. Fig. 15(d) and
56
Fig. 13. Fracture surfaces of the AA6061 specimen at different temperatures and strain-rates: (a) 293, (b) 222, (c) 153 and (d) 110 K at 104 s1, (e) 293 and (f) 110 K at
102 s1.
Fig. 14. Fracture surfaces of the AA6082 specimen at different temperatures and strain-rates: (a) 293, (b) 222, (c) 153, (d) 110 K at 104 s1, (e) 293 and (f) 110 K at 102 s1.
of the four aluminum alloys, it was not evident whether the toughness modulus value itself was directly related to the density of the
dimples and voids in the SEM observations. It therefore has to be
applied differently in each material. In addition, the modulus of
toughness was not an efcient measure to obtain the degree of
ductility and fracture shape of materials, although a high toughness modulus absorbed lots of energy, which delayed fracture.
As the temperature decreased, the modulus of toughness
increased accordingly, and the aluminum alloys could absorb more
energy. As a result, the fracture of the material was delayed, changing, for example, the fracture surface of the specimen from a shear
fracture at the ambient condition to a cup-and-cone fracture at
cryogenic temperature (Fig. 12). In addition, the SEM analysis conrmed that the density and depth of the dimples increased with
decreasing temperature (Figs. 1316). From a macroscopic, microscopic, and quantitative viewpoint, it was observed that aluminum
57
Fig. 15. Fracture surfaces of the AA5052 specimen at different temperatures and strain-rates: (a) 293, (b) 222, (c) 153, (d) 110 K at 104 s1, (e) 293 and (f) 110 K at 102 s1.
Fig. 16. Fracture surfaces of an AA5086 specimen at different temperatures and strain-rates: (a) 293, (b) 222, (c) 153, (d) 110 K at 104 s1, (e) 293 and (f) 110 K at 102 s1.
Table 7
Modulus of toughness of aluminum alloys at 293 and 110 K.
Aluminum alloy
Temp. (K)
Property
293
ut MPa)
Fracture type
110
ut MPa)
Fracture type
Increment (increase rate (%))
AA5052
AA5086
AA6061
AA6082
76.9
Shear
59.9
Cup-cone
54.7
Cup-cone
50.9
Shear
112.3
Cup-cone
35.4 (46.03)
121.5
Cup-cone
61.6 (102.83)
69.6
Cup-cone
14.9 (27.23)
62.5
Cup-cone
11.6 (22.78)
5. Conclusions
In this study, the cryogenic mechanical behavior of four types of
aluminum alloys, which have been used in ships and offshore
industries, was investigated using tensile tests with different temperatures and quasi-static strain rate conditions. In addition, the
58