Mutombo, KalendaDu Toit, Madeleine2012-04-252012-04-252011-12Kalenda Mutombo & Madeleine du Toit, Corrosion fatigue behaviour of aluminium alloy 6061-T651 welded using fully automatic gas metal arc welding and ER5183 filler alloy, International Journal of Fatigue, vol. 33, no. 12, pp. 1539-1547 (2011), doi: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2011.06.012.0142-1123 (print)1879-3452 (online)10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2011.06.012http://hdl.handle.net/2263/18633The fatigue life of aluminium 6061-T651 at various applied stress amplitudes in the unwelded and welded condition was found to be significantly reduced on immersion in a 3.5% NaCl simulated sea water solution, compared to that measured in ambient air. The ratio of fatigue life in NaCl test solution to that in air increased as the stress amplitude decreased. The observed reduction in the fatigue life in the NaCl test solution was most likely due to the presence of pits which nucleated on second phase particles or precipitates. Welded joints performed using pulsed gas metal arc welding and ER5183 filler wire failed at the interface between the weld metal and the heat-affected zone as a result of a high pitting rate in this region.en© 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in International Journal of Fatigue. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in International Journal of Fatigue, vol. 33, issue 12, December 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2011.06.012.6061-T651 aluminium alloyPulsed gas metal arc weldingER5183 filler wirePitting corrosionCorrosion fatigue propertiesAluminum alloys -- FatigueAluminum alloys -- WeldingAluminum alloys -- CorrosionGas metal arc weldingFiller metalPostprint Article