Development of multi-physics numerical simulation model to investigate thermo-mechanical fatigue crack propagation in an autofrettaged gun barrel

In this research,a detailed multi-physics study has been carried out by numerically simulating a solid fractured gun barrel for 20 thermo-mechanical cycles.The numerical model is based on thermal effects,mechanical stress fields and fatigue crack mechanics.Elastic-plastic material data of modified AISI 4340 at temperatures ranging from 25 to 1200℃and at strain rates of 4,16,32 and 48 s^(-1) was acquired from high-temperature compression tests.This was used as material property data in the simulation model.The boundary conditions applied are kept similar to the working gun barrel during continuous firing.A methodology has been provided to define thermo-mechanically active surface-to-surface type interface between the crack faces for a better approximation of stresses at the crack tip.Comparison of results from non-autofrettaged and autofrettaged simulation models provide useful information about the evolution of strains and stresses in the barrel at different points under combined thermo-mechanical loading cycles in both cases.The effect of thermal fatigue under already induced compressive yield due to autofrettage and the progressive degradation of the accumulated stresses due to thermo-mechanical cyclic loads on the internal surface of the gun barrel(mimicking the continuous firing scenario)has been analyzed.Comparison between energy release rate at tips of varying crack lengths due to cyclic thermo-mechanical loading in the non-autofrettaged and autofrettaged gun has been carried out.

An estimation of stress intensity factor in a clamped SE(T) specimen through numerical simulation and experimental verification:case of FCGR of AISI H11 tool steel

A finite element analysis of stress intensity factors （KI） in clamped SE（T）c specimens （dog bone profile） is presented. A J-integral approach is used to calculate the values of stress intensity factors valid for 0.125≤a/W≤0.625. A detailed comparison is made with the work of other researchers on rectangular specimens. Different boundary conditions are explored to best describe the real conditions in the laboratory. A sensitivity study is also presented to explore the effects of variation in specimen position in the grips of the testing machine. Finally the numerically calculated SIF is used to determine an FCGR curve for AISI Hll tool steel on SE（T）c specimens and compared with C（T） specimen of the same material.

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Verification of CMOD in SENT Specimen: Application on FCGR of Welded Tool Steel

Single-edged notched tension （SENT） specimen is used to study the fatigue crack growth rate （FCGR） behavior of AISI 50100 steel using MTS 810. Calibration tests are run to get plots of crack mouth opening displacement （CMOD） vs. load and CMOD vs. crack length-to-width ratio with the known crack lengths. Numerical simulation is also done to try to establish a relation between crack length and CMOD. FCGR of welded and un-welded specimens are plotted against stress intensity factor range to show the effect of welding on fatigue crack growth rate of AISI 50100 steel. The experimentally obtained CMOD values are compared with values obtained by numerical simulation using ABAQUS/StandardTM software package. Results show that numerical values are in good agreement with experimental data for small crack lengths and lower values of applied load,