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7075 aluminum alloy has been widely used because of its excellent mechanical properties. The fatigue crack acceleration induced by compressive overloading is detrimental to 7075 aluminum alloy in service, and the corresponding mechanisms are complex. To further reveal these mechanisms, the effect of microstructure on fatigue damage response ahead of the crack tip is simulated based on the damage-coupled crystal plasticity model for 7075 aluminum alloy. Results show that the ratchetting strain ahead of the crack tip at the compressive overload ratio of −3 is greater than that at the compressive overload ratio of −2, which is attributed to the fact that higher compressive overloading induces greater tensile residual stress ahead of the crack tip. The proportion of material points with no less than four activated slip systems increases after compressive overloading, indicating the number of activated slip systems ahead of the crack tip increases because of the compressive overload effect. This causes the dislocation multiplication rate to be faster, thereby accelerating the fatigue damage accumulation after compressive overloading. Furthermore, the effect of compressive overload changes the slip system activity, and this change in slip system activity depends on grain orientation. It is also found that for a grain ahead of the crack tip, the acceleration of fatigue damage accumulation caused by the effect of compressive overload is influenced by the orientation of its nearest neighbor grains. The findings provide further insight into the acceleration mechanisms induced by the compressive overload effect from a microscopic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the serviced components of a 7075 aluminum alloy, the propagation of fatigue crack can be retarded because of the overload effect; however, the corresponding retardation mechanisms are complex. To provide further insights into the retardation mechanisms of 7075 aluminum alloys, this study addresses the crack tip damage response of a cracked 7075 aluminum alloy under an overload effect. Based on the dual-scale modeling approach and the damage-coupled crystal plasticity model, the effect of the microstructure of a 7075 aluminum alloy on the damage behavior ahead of the crack tip under an overload was studied. The factors affecting fatigue damage accumulation ahead of the crack tip, such as dislocation density, the variation in the activities of slip systems, and the orientation effect of the nearest neighbor grains, are described. The results show that for the 7075 aluminum alloy, the compressive residual stress induced by the overload effect not only decreases the number of activated slip systems, but also lowers the rate of increase in dislocation density. This causes a decrease in fatigue damage accumulation during deformation. Moreover, the overload effect decreases the slip system activity as well as the resultant plastic slip; however, the decrease in plastic slip varies with the grain orientation, indicating that the overload effect depends on the grain orientation. It can also be found that both the damage strain energy release rate and lattice strain are influenced by the orientation of the nearest neighbor grains, which can eventually affect the overload effect. These findings contribute to understanding the retardation mechanisms from a microscopic perspective and provide guidance on improving the material design of a 7075 aluminum alloy to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]