MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF AVIATION ALUMINUM–LITHIUM ALLOY SAMPLES OBTAINED BY PLASMA-ASSISTED LASER CUTTING

Results of tensile and low-cycle fatigue testing of samples made of an aluminum–lithium alloy of the Al–Mg–Li system obtained by plasma-assisted laser cutting performed by a pulsed CO₂ laser in an argon jet with the laser beam and optical discharge plasma simultaneously affecting the material are reported. Low-cycle fatigue tests show that the number of loading cycles survived by the sample obtained by plasma-assisted laser cutting is more than twice greater than the number of cycles survived by the samples obtained by conventional laser cutting with a continuous beam.