Investigation of thermal fatigue behavior of aluminum 4032 alloy under cyclic thermal loading: An experimental study

Muhammad Arslan; Muhammad Zubair Farrukh; Zaheer Uddin Kamran; Ahmed Usman Yasir; Muhammad Arslan; Muhammad Zubair Farrukh; Zaheer Uddin Kamran; Ahmed Usman Yasir

doi:10.3934/matersci.2026019

AIMS Materials Science

2026, Volume 13, Issue 2: 368-390. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2026019

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Research article

Investigation of thermal fatigue behavior of aluminum 4032 alloy under cyclic thermal loading: An experimental study

1.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxila, 47080, Pakistan
2.
Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN, 38505, USA
3.
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, 35294, USA

Received: 31 December 2025 Revised: 07 April 2026 Accepted: 23 April 2026 Published: 08 May 2026

Thermal fatigue is a dominant failure mechanism in aluminum piston alloys exposed to repeated heating and cooling in internal combustion engines. In this study, the thermal fatigue behavior of cast aluminum 4032 alloy (Al4032) was investigated using a custom-built test rig that combines external electrical heating with internal water cooling to generate severe cyclic thermal gradients in wedge-shaped specimens. The specimen-tip temperature was cycled between 75 and 270 ℃ with 10 s heating and 10 s cooling per cycle, and crack initiation and growth were monitored by optical microscopy. Thermal fatigue started cracking at approximately 3000 cycles, predominantly near the internally cooled region where the thermal gradient and associated stresses are highest. After initiation, crack length increased rapidly during intermediate cycles and then stabilized, with crack growth approaching saturation at approximately 15, 000 cycles under the tested conditions. These results demonstrate that gradient-driven cyclic thermal stresses govern crack nucleation sites and subsequent propagation behavior in Al4032 and provide service-representative experimental evidence relevant to piston regions influenced by internal cooling.
- thermal fatigue,
- aluminum 4032,
- thermal stresses,
- crack initiation,
- crack propagation,
- crack saturation
Citation: Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Zubair Farrukh, Zaheer Uddin Kamran, Ahmed Usman Yasir. Investigation of thermal fatigue behavior of aluminum 4032 alloy under cyclic thermal loading: An experimental study[J]. AIMS Materials Science, 2026, 13(2): 368-390. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2026019

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Abstract

Thermal fatigue is a dominant failure mechanism in aluminum piston alloys exposed to repeated heating and cooling in internal combustion engines. In this study, the thermal fatigue behavior of cast aluminum 4032 alloy (Al4032) was investigated using a custom-built test rig that combines external electrical heating with internal water cooling to generate severe cyclic thermal gradients in wedge-shaped specimens. The specimen-tip temperature was cycled between 75 and 270 ℃ with 10 s heating and 10 s cooling per cycle, and crack initiation and growth were monitored by optical microscopy. Thermal fatigue started cracking at approximately 3000 cycles, predominantly near the internally cooled region where the thermal gradient and associated stresses are highest. After initiation, crack length increased rapidly during intermediate cycles and then stabilized, with crack growth approaching saturation at approximately 15, 000 cycles under the tested conditions. These results demonstrate that gradient-driven cyclic thermal stresses govern crack nucleation sites and subsequent propagation behavior in Al4032 and provide service-representative experimental evidence relevant to piston regions influenced by internal cooling.

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