Research into Applicability of Wöhler Curve Method for Low-Cycle Fatigue of Metallic Materials

Recently,a description on a practicability of the Wöhler Curve Method for low-cycle fatigue of metals was given by the author.By the description and the low cycle fatigue test data of 16 MnR steel,it is important to show that,for low cycle fatigue of metals,such a way that a stress-based intensity parameter calculated by the linear-elastic analysis is taken to be a stress intensity parameter,S,to establish a relationship between the stress intensity parameter,S,and the fatigue life,N,is practicable.In this paper,many metallic materials from the literature are given to show that the Wöhler Curve Method is well suitable for low-cycle fatigue analysis of metals.

Effect of long-period stacking ordered structure on very high cycle fatigue properties of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloys

Magnesium alloys with a long-period stacking ordered(LPSO)structure usually possess excellent static strength,but their fatigue behaviors are poorly understood.This work presents the effect of the LPSO structure on the crack behaviors of Mg alloys in a very high cycle fatigue(VHCF)regime.The LPSO lamellas lead to a facet-like cracking process along the basal planes at the crack initiation site and strongly prohibit the early crack propagation by deflecting the growth direction.The stress intensity factor at the periphery of the faceted area is much higher than the conventional LPSO-free Mg alloys,contributing higher fatigue crack propagation threshold of LPSO-containing Mg alloys.Microstructure observation at the facets reveals a layer of ultrafine grains at the fracture surface due to the cyclic contact of the crack surface,which supports the numerous cyclic pressing model describing the VHCF crack initiation behavior.

Low cycle fatigue behavior of the extruded AZ80 magnesium alloy under different strain amplitudes and strain rates

Low cycle fatigue behavior of extruded AZ80 magnesium alloy was investigated under uniaxial tension-compression at different strain amplitudes and strain rates.The results show that the extruded AZ80 magnesium alloy exhibits cyclic hardening at strain amplitudes ranging from 0.4%to 1.0%,the asymmetry of hysteresis loops becomes increasingly obvious when the strain amplitude increases.Higher strain rates correspond to higher stress amplitudes,high mean stresses and short fatigue life.{10–12}extension twins play a role in the cyclic deformation under higher strain amplitudes(0.8%,1.0%).The relationship between total strain energy density and fatigue life can be described by the modified Morrow model.The effect of strain rate on the fatigue life can also be predicted by the model.

Effects of Hydrogen on Behaviour of Low Cycle Fatigue of 2.25Cr-1Mo Steel

The effects of hydrogen atoms on behaviour of low cycle fatigue of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel have been investigated in present work. The results indicate that the cyclic softening rate and low cycle fatigue life are respectively increased and reduced remarkably by hydrogen atoms. In addition, hydrogen atoms make the original stress amplitude of low cycle fatigue increase, which is because of the drag effect of hydrogen atoms on the moving dislocations. Analyses using electron microscopy show that hydrogen atoms accelerate crack initiation of low cycle fatigue from inclusion and transfer the source of low cycle fatigue crack from the surface of specimen to the inclusion, which results in the marked decrease of low cycle fatigue life. The increase of cyclic softening rate for hydrogen charged specimen is due to hydrogen atoms accelerating the initiating and growing of microvoids from the secondary phase particles in the steel. The reducing of the drag effect of hydrogen atoms on moving dislocations is also helpful to the increase of the cyclic softening rate.

Revised damage evolution equation for high cycle fatigue life prediction of aluminum alloy LC4 under uniaxial loading

The fatigue life prediction for components is a difficult task since many factors can affect the final fatigue life. Based on the damage evolution equation of Lemaitre and Desmorat, a revised two-scale damage evolution equation for high cycle fatigue is presented according to the experimental data, in which factors such as the stress amplitude and mean stress are taken into account. Then, a method is proposed to obtain the material parameters of the revised equation from the present fatigue experimental data.Finally, with the utilization of the ANSYS parametric design language(APDL) on the ANSYS platform, the coupling effect between the fatigue damage of materials and the stress distribution in structures is taken into account, and the fatigue life of specimens is predicted. The outcome shows that the numerical prediction is in accord with the experimental results, indicating that the revised two-scale damage evolution model can be well applied for the high cycle fatigue life prediction under uniaxial loading.

Low cycle fatigue behavior of die cast Mg-Al-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy

Fatigue failure is a main failure mode for magnesium and other alloys. It is beneficial for fatigue design and fatigue life improvement to investigate the low cycle fatigue behavior of magnesium alloys. In order to investigate the low cycle fatigue behavior of die cast Mg-Al-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy, the strain controlled fatigue experiments were performed at room temperature and fatigue fracture surfaces of specimens were observed with scanning election microscopy for the alloys under die-cast and aged states. Cyclic stress response curves, strain amplitude versus reversals to failure curve, total strain amplitude versus fatigue life curves and cyclic stress-strain curves of Mg-Al-Mn-Ce alloys were analyzed. The results show that the Mg-Al-Mn-Ce alloys under die-cast(F) and aged(T5) states exhibit cyclic strain hardening under the applied total strain amplitudes, and aging treatment could greatly increase the cyclic stress amplitudes of die cast Mg-Al-Mn-Ce alloys. The relationships between the plastic strain amplitude, the elastic strain amplitude and reversals to failure of Mg-Al-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy under different treatment states could be described by Coffin-Manson and Basquin equations, respectively. Observations on the fatigue fracture surface of specimens reveal that the fatigue cracks initiate on the surface of specimens and propagate transgranularly.

High cycle fatigue behavior of the forged Mg-7Gd-5Y-1Nd-0.5Zr alloy

This paper investigated the high cycle fatigue behavior of a forged Mg-7Gd-5Y-1Nd-0.5Zr alloy with different stress concentration factor(Kt),under different stress ratio(R),and along different loading direction.The smooth specimen(Kt=1),under R=0.1 and along longitude direction,shows a high fatigue strength of 162 MPa at 107 cycles.The fatigue behavior of the forged Mg-7Gd-5Y-1Nd-0.5Zr alloy exhibits a high sensitive to the notch.Moreover,change of stress ratio from 0.1 to−1 may also result in a bad fatigue property.The flux inclusions were elongated along longitude direction and/or transverse direction during the forging process of the Mg-7Gd-5Y-1Nd-0.5Zr alloy.The interface between the flux inclusion and the matrix may debond and serve as the crack initiation site during the fatigue loading process,leading to the deterioration of the fatigue property along thickness direction and a high anisotropic fatigue behavior between longitude direction and thickness direction.

High cycle fatigue life prediction method for tail gearbox casing of a helicopter transmission system

A method and procedure of high cycle fatigue life prediction for helicopter transmission system tail gearbox casing is presented, including fatigue test load, three parameters S-N curve, reduction factor and cumulative damage law. According to the fatigue test results, the design load spectrum and the three parameters S-N curve, a fatigue life prediction of the tail gearbox casing of a helicopter is performed as an example.

Low cycle fatigue estimation of low yield point steel

With the development of technology for earthquake resistant,the research of the low yield point(LYP) steel which used for the fabrication of energy dissipation damper were paid more and more attention.The common studies of the low yield point steel is mainly about the performance with constant amplitude and constant frequency.The low cycle fatigue properties of low yield piont steel were studied by series of test with continuous varying amplitude and varying frequency with the materials testing system by us.The test results showed that low yield point steel of Baosteel have excellent low cycle fatigue properties,which meet the requirement for steel used for the fabrication of energy dissipation damper completely.The low cycle fatigue performance of low yield point steel of Baosteel mainly depended on the amplitude in test.And the effect of varying frequency for the low yield point steel was more less than varying amplitude.

High cycle fatigue behavior of titanium microalloyed high-strength beam steels

The realization of an ideal combination of mechanical and fatigue properties is prerequisites for practical application of titanium(Ti)microalloyed steel in automotive field.The fatigue behavior of four Ti microalloyed high-strength beam steels with different Ti contents was systematically studied.The results show that the content of microalloying element Ti has a significant effect on the fatigue properties,especially in the steel with a high Ti content.For the experimental Ti microalloyed steel,inclusion-induced crack initiation is the main fatigue failure mode.Different from general fatigue fracture mechanism in Ti-contained steel,no TiN,which is the most detrimental to fatigue behavior,was found in fatigue crack initiation area.However,the large-sized TiN and oxide complex inclusion with a core-shell structure is the dominant cause of fatigue fracture.Because of the intense-localized deformation at the interface between complex inclusion and matrix,the angular TiN in the outer shell has a serious deteriorating effect on the fatigue properties,which is consistent with the result of the Kernel average misorientation map.Besides,the modification effect of a small amount of MnS on large-sized inclusion is not obvious and has little effect on the fatigue behavior.For more practical guidance,the critical inclusion sizes of the experimental steels were also investigated by experimental extrapolation method.With the increasing tensile strength,the inclusion sensitivity of the experimental steels increases,leading to the small critical inclusion size.

Microstructure and low cycle fatigue of a Ti2AlNb-based lightweight alloy

Ti2AlNb-based intermetallic compounds are considered as a new category of promising lightweight aerospace materials due to their balanced mechanical properties.The aim of this study was to evaluate monotonic and cyclic deformation behavior of an as-cast Ti-22A1-20Nb-2V-1Mo-0.25Si(at.%)intermetallic compound in relation to its microstructure.The alloy containing an abundant fine lamellar O-Ti2AlNb phase exhibited a good combination of strength and plasticity,and superb fatigue resistance in comparison with other intermetallic compounds.Cyclic stabilization largely remained except slight cyclic hardening occurring at higher strain amplitudes.While fatigue life could be described using the common Coffin-Mason-Basquin equation,it could be better predicted via a weighted energy-based approach.Fatigue crack growth was characterized mainly by crystallographic cracking,along with fatigue striationlike features being unique to appear in the intermetallics.The results obtained in this study lay the foundation for the safe and durable applications of Ti2AlNb-based lightweight intermetallic compounds.

Influence of neodymium on high cycle fatigue behavior of die cast AZ91D magnesium alloy

High cycle fatigue behavior of die cast AZ91D magnesium alloy with different Nd contents was investigated.Axial mechanical fatigue tests were conducted at the stress ratio R=0.1 and the fatigue strength was evaluated using up-to-down load method on specimens of AZ91D with different Nd contents.The results showed that the grain of AZ91D alloy was refined,the size and amount of β-Mg17Al12 phase decreased and distributed uniformly with increasing Nd content.At the number of cycles to failure,Nf=107,the fatigue strength of AZ91D evaluated by up-to-down load method increased from 75 MPa(0.5%Nd) up to 85 MPa(1.0%Nd) and then decreased to 79 MPa(1.5%Nd),respectively.The fatigue crack of AZ91D alloy initiated at the surface defect or porosities and inclusions which existed near the surface,and propagated along the grain boundary.The fatigue crack propagation region was composed of some small facets.The clear fatigue striations appeared at the alloy of containing 1.0%Nd.The fatigue fracture surfaces of test specimens showed the mixed-fracture characteristics of quasi-cleavage and dimple.The fatigue step,trans-granular and along-granular cracks existed in the local fracture surface.

High-temperature failure mechanism and defect sensitivity of TC17 titanium alloy in high cycle fatigue

Crack initiation is an essential stage of fatigue process due to its direct effect on fatigue failure.However,for titanium alloys in high-temperature high cycle fatigue(HCF),the crack initiation mechanisms remain unclear and the understanding for the defect sensitivity is also lacking.In this study,a series of fatigue tests and multi-scale microstructure characterizations were conducted to explore the high-temperature failure mechanism,and the coupled effect of temperature and defect on TC17 titanium alloy in HCF.It was found that an oxygen-rich layer(ORL)was produced at specimen surface at elevated temperatures,and brittle fracture of ORL at surface played a critical role for surface crack initiation in HCF.Besides,internal crack initiation with nanograins at high temperatures was a novel finding for the titanium alloy.Based on energy dispersive spectroscopy,electron backscatter diffraction and transmission electron microscope characterizations,the competition between surface and internal crack initiations at high temperatures was related to ORL at surface and dislocation resistance in inner microstructure.The fatigue strengths of smooth specimens decreased at elevated temperatures due to the lower dislocation resistance.While the fatigue strengths of the specimens with defect were not very sensitive to the temperatures.Finally,a fatigue strength model considering the coupled effect of temperature and defect was proposed for TC17titanium alloy.

Numerical investigation of low cycle fatigue life for channel wall nozzles

The thermal-structural response and low cycle fatigue life of a three-dimensional(3D)channel wall nozzle with regenerative cooling were numerically investigated by coupling the finite volume fluid-thermal method,nonlinear finite element thermal-structural analysis and local strain methods.The nozzle had a high area ratio(nozzle exit area divided by throat area)under cyclic working loads.Parametric studies were carried out to evaluate the effects of channel structural parameters such as channel width,channel height,liner thickness and rib width.Results showed that the integrated effects of three-dimensional channel structure and load distribution caused serious strain,which mainly occurred at the intersectant regions of liner wall on the gas side and the symmetric planes of channel and rib.The cooling effect and channel structural strength were significantly improved as the channel width and height decreased,leading to substantial extension of the nozzle service life.On the other hand,the successive decrease in liner thickness and rib width apparently increased the strain amplitude and residual strain of channel wall nozzle during cyclic work,significantly shortening the service life.The present work is of value for design of the channel wall nozzle to prolong its cyclic service life.

Mechanism of subsurface microstructural fatigue crack initiation during high and very-high cycle fatigue of advanced bainitic steels

Advanced bainitic steels with the multiphase structure of bainitic ferrite,retained austenite and martensite exhibit distinctive fatigue crack initiation behavior during high cycle fatigue/very high cycle fatigue(HCF/VHCF)regimes.The subsurface microstructural fatigue crack initiation,referred to as“non-inclusion induced crack initiation,NIICI”,is a leading mode of failure of bainitic steels within the HCF/VHCF regimes.In this regard,there is currently a missing gap in the knowledge with respect to the cyclic response of multiphase structure during VHCF failure and the underlying mechanisms of fatigue crack initiation during VHCF.To address this aspect,we have developed a novel approach that explicitly identifies the knowledge gap through an examination of subsurface crack initiation and interaction with the local microstructure.This was accomplished by uniquely combining electron microscopy,three-dimensional confocal microscopy,focused ion beam,and transmission Kikuchi diffraction.Interestingly,the study indicated that there are multiple micro-mechanisms responsible for the NIICI failure of bainitic steels,including two scenarios of transgranular-crack-assisted NIICI and two scenarios of intergranular-crack-assisted NIICI,which resulted in the different distribution of fine grains in the crack initiation area.The fine grains were formed through fragmentation of bainitic ferrite lath caused by localized plastic deformation or via local continuous dynamic recrystallization because of repeated interaction between slip bands and prior austenite grain boundaries.The formation of fine grains assisted the advancement of small cracks.Another important aspect discussed is the role of retained austenite(RA)during cyclic loading,on crack initiation and propagation in terms of the morphology,distribution and stability of RA,which determined the development of localized cyclic plastic deformation in multiphase structure.

Microstructural influences on the high cycle fatigue life dispersion and damage mechanism in a metastable β titanium alloy

In this work,the effect of microstructure features on the high-cycle fatigue behavior of Ti-7Mo-3Nb-3Cr-3Al(Ti-7333)alloy is investigated.Fatigue tests were carried out at room temperature in lab air atmosphere using a sinusoidal wave at a frequency of 120 Hz and a stress ratio of 0.1.Results show that the fatigue strength is closely related to the microstructure features,especially theα_(p) percentage.The Ti-7333 alloy with a lowerα_(p) percentage exhibits a higher scatter in fatigue data.The bimodal fatigue behavior and the duality of the S-N curve are reported in the Ti-7333 alloy with relatively lowerα_(p) percentage.Crack initiation region shows the compoundα_(p)/βfacets.Facetedα_(p) particles show crystallographic orientation and morphology dependence characteristics.Crack-initiation was accompanied by faceting process across elongatedα_(p) particles or multiple adjacentα_(p) particles.These particles generally oriented for basal slip result in near basal facets.Fatigue crack can also initiate at elongatedα_(p) particle well oriented for prismatic slip.Theβfacet is in close correspondence to{110}or{112}plane with high Schmid factor.Based on the fracture observation and FIB-CS analysis,three classes of fatigue-critical microstructural configurations are deduced.A phenomenological model for the formation ofα_(p) facet in the bimodal microstructure is proposed.This work provides an insight into the fatigue damage process of theβprecipitate strengthened metastableβtitanium alloys.

Fatigue life improvement and grain growth of gradient nanostructured industrial zirconium during high cycle fatigue

The effect of surface gradient nanostructure on the fatigue life of commercial pure(CP)Zr was investigated.Four point bending fatigue tests indicated that the fatigue limit of CP Zr with surface gradient nanostructure was increased by about 28.3%compared with the original sample(annealed state).The microstructure evolution at different fatigue loading stages was characterized.The high strength of surface gradient nanostructure could increase the crack initiation resistance.Furthermore,electron back scattered diffraction(EBSD)analysis demonstrated that the surface nanocrystals grew and rotated gradually during the fatigue loading,which was beneficial to reducing stress concentration,inhibit fatigue crack initiation,and prolong crack initiation life.The stored distortion energy of CP Zr calculated before and after fatigue indicated that the stored distortion energy decreased dramatically during cyclic loading,which provided the driving force for grain growth.Besides,the growth of nanocrystals consumed the mechanical energy produced by the applied load to a certain extent,thus,slowing down the accumulation of fatigue damage.The coarse grains at the interior could deform plastically and reduce the crack growth rate.In addition,the compressive residual stress caused by USSP treatment reduced the local effective stress and the driving force of crack growth.

An energy-based low-cycle fatigue life evaluation method considering anisotropy of single crystal superalloys

The crystal orientation significantly affects the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) propertiesof single crystal (SC) superalloys. However, the orientation-dependent LCF life model withprecise mechanisms and strong applicability is still lacking. This investigation aims at establishing an energy-based LCF life evaluation method that could consider the orientation effect. First,the influencing factors of anisotropy were identified through the literature review. Secondly, themultiaxial formula of the Ramberg-Osgood (ReO) equation was established to describe theanisotropic cyclic deformation characteristics. Furthermore, the strain energy density of SC superalloys was determined based on this equation, and the effective strain energy density wasintroduced to account for the effect of orientation. Finally, the energy-based method was validated by its application to several SC superalloys. Results showed that the crystallographicorientation with a lower Young’s modulus usually exhibits better LCF resistance. This phenomenon could be attributed to the different values of strain energy density dissipated in one cycle.The multiaxial ReO relationship could capture the anisotropic cyclic deformation response ofDD6. Compared with the classical methods, the energy-based model is favored by its precisemechanism and strong applicability. And it also exhibited better prediction accuracy. Most datapoints of different crystallographic orientations lay within the
3 error band.

Mathematical simulation of low cycle fatigue of high-loaded engine parts

The paper discusses main aspects of low cycle fatigue influence on the lifetime ofengine parts.The importance and history of the problem,the main experiments and the effectsimpacting the low cycle fatigue of structural materials are described.A hypothesis about theexistence of a thermomechanical surface of structural material,generalized to the case of acyclical loading was used to approximate the loops of cyclic nonisothermal elastoplasticdeformation curves.The cyclic deformation curve model is based on the following threeparameters:the elastic modulus during unloading,the Bauschinger effect and the conversionparameter of the nonlinear part of its first halfcycle.This model also accounts for theaccumulated plastic strain,as well as the testing temperature.The criterion of durability isformulated,based on the dependence between the number of halfcycles to failure and theaccumulated plastic deformation.Deformation theory of plasticity,generalized to the case ofcyclic deformation,in combination with the durability model and technology of"dying"elements is applied to the finite element analysis of low cycle fatigue of gas turbine engineparts.The results of calculations are demonstrated.

Effect of Strain Ratio on Fatigue Model of Ultra-fine Grained Pure Titanium

The ultra-fine grained(UFG)pure titanium was prepared by equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)and rotary swaging(RS).The strain controlled low cycle fatigue(LCF)test was carried out at room temperature.The fatigue life prediction model and mean stress relaxation model under asymmetrical stress load were discussed.The results show that the strain ratio has a significant effect on the low cycle fatigue performance of the UFG pure titanium,and the traditional Manson-coffin model can not accurately predict the fatigue life under asymmetric stress load.Therefore,the SWT mean stress correction model and three-parameter power curve model are proposed,and the test results are verified.The final research shows that the threeparameter power surface model has better representation.By studying the mean stress relaxation phenomenon under the condition of R≠-1,it is revealed that the stress ratio and the strain amplitude are the factors that significantly afiect the mean stress relaxation rate,and the mean stress relaxation model with the two variables is calculated to describe the mean stress relaxation phenomenon of the UFG pure titanium under different strain ratios.The fracture morphology of the samples was observed by SEM,and it was concluded that the final fracture zone of the fatigue fracture of the UFG pure titanium was a mixture of ductile fracture and quasi cleavage fracture.The toughness of the material increases with the increase of strain ratio at the same strain amplitude.