The Influence of the Mean Stress on the Propagation of Fatigue Cracks in Light Alloy Sheet: An investigation into the effect of reducing stress levels on the rate of crack propagation

Clad 2024‐T3 and 7075‐T6 sheet specimens were loaded at three different load amplitudes and three different mean loads. It turned out that the mean stress had an important influence on the crack propagation rate. The crack growth rate in the 7075 specimens was three to four times as large as in the 2024 specimens.