Innovative Ultrasonic Fatigue Testing for Additively Manufactured Aeronautical Alloys in the Very High Cycle Regime

June 24, 2026

Aircraft structural failures often take place due to fatigue damage accumulation over time. Many aerospace parts are subjected to complex high-frequency vibrations for long periods of time, executing billions of cycles in their service life, thus entering the under-explored regime of very high cycle fatigue (VHCF). New components produced using the emergent metal additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are, henceforth, expected to withstand these fatigue loading conditions. Therefore, to ensure the present and future safety of aviation, there's a need for faster and more efficient testing methodologies, currently being presented in the form of ultrasonic fatigue testing (UFT) at a frequency of 20kHz. The present work proposes an innovative application of recent advances in ultrasonic fatigue testing to the development of a novel cantilever bending specimen geometry, fabricated in aeronautical aluminium alloys by additive manufacturing, as well as the establishment of its testing methodology. While most of the literature focuses on uniaxial tension–compression conditions, the objective here lies with bridging the gap between material and component testing in UFT by providing practises that allow the reproduction of stress states and fracture conditions similar to those found in aerospace components, thereby improving the characterization of AM materials under VHCF.

Authors in the community:

• 

  A

  Adriana Serrano de Oliveira

  ist199449

Supervisors of this institution:

• 

  J

  José Henrique Costa Lopes

  ist181213

• 

  L

  Luís Filipe Galrão dos Reis

  ist13987

mechanical-engineering - Mechanical engineering

eng - English

Instituto Superior Técnico