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.

Effect of main inclusions on crack initiation in bearing steel in the very high cycle fatigue regime

This work aims to investigate the effect of main inclusions on crack initiation in bearing steel in the very high cycle fatigue（VHCF） regime. The size and type of inclusions in the steel were quantitatively analyzed, and VHCF tests were performed. Some fatigue cracks were found to be initiated in the gaps between inclusions（Al2 O3, Mg O-Al2 O3） and the matrix, while other cracks originated from the interior of inclusions（Ti N, Mn S）. To explain the related mechanism, the tessellated stresses between inclusions and the matrix were calculated and compared with the yield stress of the matrix. Results revealed that the inclusions could be classified into two types under VHCF; of these two, only one type could be regarded as holes. Findings in this research provide a better understanding of how inclusions affect the high cycle fatigue properties of bearing steel.

A two-parameter model to predict fatigue life of high-strength steels in a very high cycle fatigue regime

In this paper, ultrasonic （20 kHz） fatigue tests were performed on specimens of a high-strength steel in very high cycle fatigue （VHCF） regime. Experimental results showed that for most tested specimens failed in a VHCF regime, a fatigue crack originated from the interior of specimen with a fish-eye pattern, which contained a fine granular area （FGA） centered by an inclusion as the crack origin. Then, a two-parameter model is proposed to predict the fatigue life of high-strength steels with fish-eye mode failure in a VHCF regime, which takes into account the inclusion size and the FGA size. The model was verified by the data of present experiments and those in the literature. Furthermore, an analytic formula was obtained for estimating the equivalent crack growth rate within the FGA. The results also indicated that the stress intensity factor range at the front of the FGA varies within a small range, which is irrespective of stress amplitude and fatigue life.

Effects of Aging Temperature on Microstructure and High Cycle Fatigue Performance of 7075 Aluminum Alloy

The hardness, the tensile and the high-cycle fatigue（HCF） performances of 7075 aluminum alloy were investigated under temper T651, solution treated at 380 ℃ for 0.5 h and aged at different temperatures（150, 170, 190 ℃） for 10 hours. The optimal microstructures and the fatigue fracture surfaces were observed. The results show that the hardness and the tensile performances are at their optimum at T651, but the fatigue life is the shortest. The hardness and the elongation are the lowest after solution treatment. With the aging temperature increasing（150-190 ℃）, the HCF is improved. The crack is initiated from the impurity particles on the subsurface. Treated at 170 ℃,the area of the quasi-cleavage plane and the width of parallel serrated sections of the crack propagation are the largest. With increasing aging temperature, the dimple size of finally fracture surfaces becomes larger and the depth deeper.

Very high cycle fatigue behavior of bridge steel welded joint

Very high cycle fatigue（VHCF） behaviors of bridge steel（Q345） welded joints were investigated using an ultrasonic fatigue test system at room temperature with a stress ratio R = -1. The results show that the fatigue strength of welded joints is dropped by an average of 60% comparing to the base metal and the fatigue failure still occurred beyond 10~7 cycles.The fatigue fracture of welded joints in the low cycle regime generally occurred at the solder while at the heat-affected zone（HAZ） in the very high cycle regime.The fatigue fracture surface was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,showing welding defects such as pore,micro-crack and inclusion were the main factors on decreasing the fatigue properties of welded joints.The effect of welding defects on the fatigue behaviors of welded joints was discussed in terms of experimental results and finite element simulations.

Effect of low cycle fatigue pre-damage on very high cycle fatigue

Carbon-manganese steel is often applied in components of pipes in nuclear plant. Ultrasonic fatigue tests following low cycle fatigue （LCF） cycles damaged are used to study the strength of very high cycle fatigure （VHCF）. The comparison of test results of simple VHCF and cumulative fatigue （LCF plus VHCF） shows that LCF load influences the following VHCF strength. Continuum damage mechanics model is extended to VHCF region.

Correlation of crack growth rate and stress ratio for fatigue damage containing very high cycle fatigue regime

A model is proposed to correlate the crack growth rate and stress ratio containing very high cycle fatigue regime.The model is verified by the experimental data in literature.Then a formula is derived for the effect of mean stress on fatigue strength,and it is used to estimate the fatigue strength of a bearing steel in very high cycle fatigue regime at different stress ratios.The estimated results are also compared with those by Goodman formula.

High cycle fatigue behavior of the second generation single crystal superalloy DD6

The second generation single crystal superalloy DD6 with 0.10%Hf and 0.34%Hf （in mass fraction） was subjected to high-cycle fatigue （HCF） loading at temperatures of 700 ℃ in ambient atmosphere. SEM was used to determine the initiation site and the failure mechanism. Evolution of the microstructure was investigated by TEM observation. The results show that fatigue limit of DD6 alloy with 0.34%Hf is a little smaller than that of the alloy with 0.10%Hf. The fatigue cracks initiated on the surface or near the surface of the specimens. The crack would propagate along { 111 } octahedral slip planes, rather than perpendicular to the loading axis of specimen. Typical fatigue striation formed in steady propagation of fatigue crack. The fracture mechanisms of the high cycle fatigue of DD6 alloys with 0.10%Hf and 0.34%Hf are quasi-cleavage fracture. Different types of dislocation structures were developed during high cycle fatigue deformation.

Very high cycle fatigue for GCr15 steel with smooth and hole-defect specimens

Very high cycle fatigue（VHCF） properties of a low temperature tempering bearing steel GCr15 with smooth and hole-defect specimens are studied by employing a rotary bending test machine with frequency of 52.5 Hz.Both smooth and hole-defect specimens break in VHCF regime with some difference in fatigue crack initiation.For smooth specimens,a fine granular area（FGA） is observed near the grain boundary in the fracture surface of the specimens broken after 10~7 cycles. But no FGA is observed in the hole-defect specimens broken in VHCF regime,and the VHCF crack does not initiate from the small hole at the surface as it does at low or high cycle fatigue regime. Internal stress is employed to explain the VHCF behavior of these two types of specimens.At last,an advanced dislocation model based on Tanaka and Mura model is proposed to illustrate the internal stress process and to predict fatigue crack initiation life with FGA observed in the fracture region.

Very High Cycle Fatigue Behaviors and Surface Crack Growth Mechanism of Hydrogen-Embrittled AISI 304 Stainless Steels

The influence of hydrogen embrittlement on the fatigue behaviors of AISI 304 stainless steel is investigated. The fatigue endurance limits of the untreated and hydrogen-embrittled materials were almost the same at 400 MPa, and hydrogen embrittlement had little influence even though the sample contained about 8.1 times more hydrogen. Thus, the sensitivity of hydrogen gas in this material is very low. A surface crack initiation, growth, coalescence, and micro ridge model is proposed in this study. Slip line formation?⇒microcrack formation?⇒increases in the crack width, and blunting of the crack tip as it grows?⇒formation of many slip lines because of deformation in the shear direction?⇒growth of the crack in the shear direction, forming micro ridges, coalescence with adjacent cracks ⇒?continuous initiation, growth, coalescence, and ridge formation of surface cracks and specimen breakage.

Improving fatigue strength of bainite/martensite dual-phase steels in very high cycle fatigue regime by refining microstructures

Very high cycle fatigue behaviors of two bainite/martensite dual-phase steels were investigated.One of the steels was cyclic rapid heat treated and its microstructures were refined. Fatigue strength of the steel is 225 MPa higher than that without refining.Observation of fracture surfaces show that the fatigue cracks initiate at bainites for non-refined steel and at non-metallic inclusions for the refined steel.The size of inclusions is much smaller than that of bainites which results in the improvement of fatigue strength.

Effects of Al and Co doping on the structural stability and high temperature cycling performance of LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) spinel cathode materials

The poor structural stability and capacity retention of the high-voltage spinel-type LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4)(LNMO)limits their further application.Herein,Al and Co were doped in LNMO materials for a more stable structure and capacity.The LNMO,LiNi_(0.45)Al_(0.05)Mn_(1.5)O_(4)(LNAMO)and LiNi_(0.45)Co_(0.05)Mn_(1.5)O_(4)(LNCMO)were synthesized by calcination at 900℃ for 8 h,which was called as solid-phase method and applied universally in industry.XRD,FT-IR and CV test results showed the synthesized samples have cation disordering Fd-3m space group structures.Moreover,the incorporation of Al and Co increased the cation disordering of LNMO,thereby increasing the transfer rate of Li+.The SEM results showed that the doped samples performed more regular and ortho-octahedral.The EDS elemental analysis confirmed the uniform distribution of each metal element in the samples.Moreover,the doped samples showed better electrochemical properties than undoped LNMO.The LNAMO and LNCMO samples were discharged with specific capacities of 116.3 mA·h·g^(-1)and 122.8 mA·h·g^(-1)at 1 C charge/discharge rate with good capacity retention of 95.8% and 94.8% after 200 cycles at room temperature,respectively.The capacity fading phenomenon of the doped samples at 50℃ and 1 C rate was significantly improved.Further,cations doping also enhanced the rate performance,especially for the LNCMO,the discharge specific capacity of 117.9 mA·h·g^(-1)can be obtained at a rate of 5 C.

Dual-System Activation of Ni-Base Superalloy under High Strain and High Temperature

Due to their superior combination of heat resistance, high temperature corrosion resistance, toughness and strength, nickel-based superalloys have become of extensive use in the aerospace industry. This research aims to explain why the fatigue life of Inconel-718 in preconditioned samples had larger fatigue lives than pristine samples. The hypothesis is that preconditioning at 700°C and 1.0% strain could lead to thermal activation of the {100} cubic slip plane alongside the {111} octahedral slip plane, potentially improving fatigue life. Using SEM and EBSD imaging, the microstructure of Inconel-718 samples were characterized before and after preconditioning. The directions of the slip bands that formed following the preconditioning were determined. The result was that the existence of both the cubic and octahedral slip systems was confirmed, leading to the thermal activation hypothesized. The existence of both slip planes was considered to be the reason behind the improved fatigue life due to better strain accommodation within the microstructure. It is suggested that focuses for future research includes conducting in-situ observation of slip activation and the application of preconditioning as a manufacturing method.

HIGH CYCLE FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF NICKEL-BASE ALLOY 718

The fatigue properties of nickel-base Alloy 718 with fine- and grain-coarse grains were investigated. In the fine-grain alloy, the fatigue strength normalized by the tensile strength was 0.51 at 107 cycles. In contrast, the fatigue strength of the coarse-grain alloy was 0.32 at the same cycles, although the fatigue strengths in the range from 103 to 105 cycles are the same for both alloys. The fracture appearances fatigued at around 106 cycles showed internal fractures originating from the flat facets of austenite grains for both alloys. The difference in fatigue strength at 107 cycles between the fine- and coarse-grain alloys could be explained in terms of the sizes of the facets from which the fractures originated.

Ultra-high cycle fatigue behavior of high strength steel with carbide-free bainite/martensite complex microstructure

The ultra-high cycle fatigue behavior of a novel high strength steel with carbide-free bainite/martensite （CFB/M） complex microstructure was studied. The ultra-high cycle fatigue properties were measured by ultrasonic fatigue testing equipment at a frequency of 20 kHz. It is found that there is no horizontal part in the S-N curve and fatigue fracture occurs when the life of specimens exceeds 10^7 cycles. In addition, the origination of fatigue cracks tends to transfer from the surface to interior of specimens as the fatigue cycle exceeds 10^7, and the fatigue crack originations of many specimens are not induced by inclusions, but by some kind of ＂soft structure＂. It is shown that the studied high strength steel performs good ultra-high cycle fatigue properties. The ultra-high fatigue mechanism was discussed and it is suggested that specific CFB/M complex microstructure of the studied steel contributes to its superior properties.

High-cycle fatigue behavior of friction stir butt welded 6061 aluminium alloy

Friction stir welding （FSW） of 6061 aluminium alloy butt joint was carried out at each rotation speed of 600, 800, 1000, 1200 r/min for two different travel speeds, 80 and 100 mm/min, at a constant probe depth of 1.85 mm. The calculated energy input based on the FSW parameters studied shows that the ultimate tensile strength （UTS） of the butt joint is obtained within a certain range of energy input of 297 kJ to 354 kJ out of total range of energy input studied from 196 kJ to 405 kJ. The fatigue behaviors of high-strength and low-strength joints performed at different stress ratios, i.e., 0.5, 0.3, 0.1, -0.3, -0.5, indicate that the fatigue behaviors of both the welds are sensitive to the microstructural features, such as stir zone （SZ）, thermo mechanically affected zone （TMAZ） and heat affected zone （HAZ）. The observed fatigue strengths were discussed in terms of the microstructure, crack path behavior and fracture surface.

Effect of nano-sized Al2O3 reinforcing particles on uniaxial and high cycle fatigue behaviors of hot-forged AZ31B magnesium alloy

The effect of hot-forging process was investigated on microstructural and mechanical properties of AZ31 B alloy and AZ31 B/1.5 vol.%Al2 O3 nanocomposite under static and cycling loading. The as-cast alloy and composite were firstly subjected to a homogenization heat treatment at 450 ℃ and then an open-die forging at 450 ℃. The results indicated that the presence of reinforcing particles led to grain refinement and improvement of dynamic recrystallization. The forging process was more effective to eliminate the porosity in the cast alloy workpiece. Microhardness of the forged composite was increased by up to 80% and 16%, in comparison with those of the cast and forged alloy samples, respectively. Ultimate tensile strength and maximum tensile strain of the composite were improved by up to 45% and 23%, compared with those of the forged alloy in similar regions. These enhancements were respectively 50% and 37% in the compression test. The composite exhibited a fatigue life improvement in the region with low applied strain;however, a degradation was observed in the high applied strain region. Unlike AZ31 B samples, tensile, compressive and high cycle fatigue behaviors of the composite showed less sensitivity to the applied strain, which can be attributed to the amount of porosity in the samples before and after the hot-forging.

Fatigue small crack growth threshold determination of a high-Nb TiAl alloy at different temperatures by in-situ observation

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the fatigue crack growth threshold of a high-Nb TiAl alloy at the different temperatures based on scanning electron microscopy （SEM） in-situ observation. The results indicated that the fatigue crack growth threshold △Kth of a nearly lamellar high-Nb TiAl alloy with 8% Nb content at room temperature and 750℃ was determined as 12.89 MPa.m^1/2 and 8.69 MPa.m^1/2, respectively. The effect of the elevated temperature on the fatigue crack growth threshold cannot be ignored. At the same time, the early stage of fatigue crack propagation exhibited multicrack initiation and bridge-link behavior.

Interaction of fatigue and creep of GH33 under multi-axial stress at high temperature

Low-cycle fatigue experiments of tension-compression, torsion andtension-torsion with holding time were performed. The interaction law of creep and fatigue undermultiaxial stress at high temperature was investigated, and the micro-mechanism of equilibriumdiagrams was analyzed. A united equation of fatigue life under multiaxial stress was proposed.

High Cycle Fatigue Properties of Die-Cast Magnesium Alloy AZ91D with Addition of Different Concentrations of Cerium

The effect of addition of different concentrations of Ce on high-cycle fatigue behavior of die-cast magnesium alloy AZ91D was investigated. Mechanical fatigue tests were conducted at the stress ratio of R = 0.1, and fatigue strength was evaluated using up-and-down loading method. The results show that the grain size of AZ91D alloy is remarkably refined, and the amount of porosity decreases and evenly distributes with the addition of Ce. The fatigue strength of AZ91D alloy at room temperature increases from 96.7 up to 116.3 MPa （ 1% Ce） and 105.5 MPa （2 % Ce）, respectively, at the number of cycles to failure, Nf = 1 × 10^7. The fatigue crack of AZ91D alloy initiates at porosities and inclusions, and propagates along grain boundaries. The fatigue striations on fractured surface appear with Ce addition. The fatigue fracture surface of test specimens shows mixed-fracture characteristics of quasi-cleavage and dimple.