EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL STUDY ON NUMERICAL DENSITY EVOLUTION OF SHORT FATIGUE CRACKS

Fatigue testing was performed using a kind of triangular shaped specimen to obtain the characteristics of numerical density evolution for short cracks at the primary stage of fatigue damage. The material concerned is a structural alloy steel. The experimental results show that the numerical density of short cracks reaches the maximum value when crack length is slightly less than the average grain diameter, indicating grain boundary is the main barrier for short crack extension. Based on the experimental observations and related theory, the expressions for growth velocity and nucleation rate of short cracks have been proposed. With the solution to phase space conservation equation, the theoretical results of numerical density evolution for short cracks were obtained, which were in agreement with our experimental measurements.

GROWTH BEHAVIOR OF SHORT FATIGUE CRACKS FOR ALUMINUM- LITHIUM ALLOY 8090

The growth behaviors of short through cracks (0.2 < △a < 2.2mm) and long cracks are compared using CT type specimens in aluminum-lithium alloy 8090 T651. It is found that the short cracks grow much more than long ones and are observed to grow at the stress intensity ranges far below the long crack threshold. The distinction of growth bahavior between short and long cracks is attributed to the difference of their crack closure effect. The growth behavior of short cracks can be rationalized with that of long ones in terms of effective stress intensity ranges. The upper demarcation value of short through cracks for aluminum-lithium alloy 8090 is presented.

Size Evolution of the Surface Short Fatigue Cracks of 1Cr18Ni9Ti Weld Metal

Size evolution of the surface short fatigue cracks of lCrl8Ni'9Ti weld metal was investigated. A local viewpoint is applied to be agreement with a so-called 'effectively short fatigue crack criterion'. Attention was paid to the dominant effectively short fatigue crack (DESFC) initiation zone and the zones ahead of the DESFC tips. The results revealed that the evolutionary size shows a significant character of microstructural short crack (MSC) and physical short crack (PSC) stages. In the MSC stage, fatigue damage is due to mainly the initiation and irregular growth of the effectively short fatigue cracks (ESFCs). In the PSC stage, the damage is conversely due to mainly the DESFC growth and partially, the growth of the ESFCs and the coalescence of the ESFCs themselves with the DESFC. The process involves from a non-ordered/chaotic state in the initiation of MSC stage, gradually to an independently random state at the transition point between the MSC and PSC stages and then, to an ordered/history-dependent random state. Interactive effect of the collective cracks is stronger and shows an increase in the MSC stage, it reaches a maximum value at the transition point and then, tends to a decrease in the PSC stage. The DESFC acts as a result of the interactive cracks and thus, is deemed suitable to describe the behaviour of collective cracks.

Micromechanics behavior of fatigue cracks in Hadfield steel railway crossing

In order to predict the mechanism of the formation and propagation of rolling contact fatigue cracks in Hadfield steel railway crossings(HSRC),the residual strain,microstructure,crystal orientation,and microhardness surrounding fatigue cracks were investigated.Results show that the formation and propagation of fatigue cracks in HSRC have no correlation with the crystal orientation and boundaries of grains.The hardness and residual strain in the field around the fatigue crack are lower than those in other regions.The compressive strain around the fatigue crack is released after crack propagates,which reduces the hardness around the fatigue crack.Deformation twins and dislocations play a key role in the work hardening of HSRC.

Fatigue Investigations on Steel Pipeline Containing 3D Coplanar and Non-Coplanar Cracks

Fluctuated loadings from currents,waves and sea ground motions are observed on offshore steel pipelines,and they will result in small cracks to propagate continuously and cause unexpected damage to offshore/geotechnical infrastructures.In spite of the availability of efficient techniques and high-power computers for solving crack problems,investigations on the fatigue life of offshore pipelines with 3D interacting cracks are still rarely found in open literature.In the current study,systematic numerical investigations are performed on fatigue crack growth behaviours of offshore pipelines containing coplanar and non-coplanar cracks.Extended finite element method(XFEM)is adopted to simulate the fatigue crack growth.The qualitative validations of numerical results are made for certain cases with available experimental results.Parametric studies are conducted to investigate the influences of various important parameters on fatigue crack growth.The results will be helpful to assess the fatigue behaviours of steel pipeline with 3D interacting cracks.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SHORT CRACKS AND EQUIVALENT PARAMETER OF FATIGUE DAMAGE

In order to understand which parameters, such as the number of cracks and the total crack length is the useful indicators of fatigue damage, rotatory bending fatigue tests are carried out using smooth specimens of a medium-carbon steel. The behavior of short crock propagation and the evolution of surface cracks during fatigue are examined. The aim of this paper is to study how these damage parameters are correlated with the process of fatigue in order to evaluate the effectiveness of damage detection methods.

GROWTH OF SHORT CRACKS OF A537CLI STEEL UNDER FATIGUE LOADING IN 3.5% NaCl SOLUTION

The effects of environmental media,both in atmosphere and in 3.5% NaCl aqueous solution, on the growth of short cracks in comparison with the long ones have been investigated under fatigue loading on the specimens of single-edge crack about 0.05—0.15 mm for A537CLI steel.The growth rate of short cracks is faster than those of long ones around the threshoht stress intensity.The threshold stress intensity for short crack growth decreases with de- creasing crack length.The acceleration effect of the salt water,as compared with atmosphere environment,on the growth of short cracks under fatigue is much greater than that on the growth of long cracks.

Diffusive healing of internal fatigue micro-cracks in pure titanium

The internal micro cracks with the critical length about 30?μm and thickness less than 1?μm were introduced into the pure titanium samples by uniaxial tension compression low cycle fatigue method. The experimental results indicate that the internal fatigue micro crack clearly evolves from the original penny shaped crack into a string of spherical voids in the longitudinal section plane of the fatigue sample after the vacuum diffusive healing at the high temperature. The quantitative relationship between the radius and the spacing of spherical voids depends on the crack position (within grains, on grain boundaries or transgranular sites) and its orientations within the grain. The diffusive healing, the related thermodynamics and mechanism, and the effect of the surface tension anisotropy on the relationship between void diameter and void spacing are also discussed.

Effects of orientation on the fatigue crack growth behaviors of the ZK60 magnesium alloy in air and PBS

Strong anisotropic corrosion and mechanical properties caused by specimen orientations greatly limit the applications of wrought magnesium alloys.To investigate the influences of specimen orientation,the corrosion tests and(corrosion)fatigue crack growth tests were conducted.The rolled and transverse surfaces of the materials show distinct corrosion rate differences in the stable corrosion stage,but the truth is the opposite for the initial stage of corrosion.In air,specimen orientations have a significant influence on the plastic deformation mechanisms near the crack tip,which results in different fatigue fracture surfaces and cracking paths.Compared with R-T specimens,N-T specimens show a slower fatigue crack growth(FCG)rate in air,which can be attributed to crack closure effects and deformation twinning near the crack tip.The corrosion environment will not significantly change the main plastic deformation mechanisms for the same type of specimen.However,the FCG rate in phosphate buffer saline(PBS)is one order of magnitude higher than that in air,which is caused by the combined effects of hydrogen-induced cracking and anodic dissolution.Owing to the similar corrosion rates at crack tips,the specimens with different orientations display close FCG rates in PBS.

Fatigue crack initiation and early propagation behavior of 2A97 Al-Li alloy

The fatigue crack initiation and early propagation behavior of 2A97 Al-Li alloy was studied. The smooth specimens were fatigued at room temperature under constant maximum stress control when stress ratio （R） is 0.1 and frequency （f） is 40 Hz. Microstructure observations were examined by optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and electron back scattered diffusion, in order to investigate the relationship between microstructure and fatigue crack initiation and early propagation behavior of 2A97 alloy. The results show that the fatigue cracks are predominantly initiated at inclusions and coarsen secondary phases on the surface of 2A97 alloy. The fatigue crack early propagation behavior of 2A97 alloy is predominantly influenced by the interactions between grain structure and dislocations or persistent slip bands （PSBs）. When the misorientation of two neighbouring grains is close to the orientations of the favorable slip plane within these two grains, high-angle grain boundary severely hinders the PSBs passing through, and thus leads to crack bifurcation and deflection.

Fatigue behavior of friction stir spot welded AZ31 Mg alloy sheet joints

The fatigue behavior of friction stir spot welded （FSSW） AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet joints was investigated by tension- compression of fatigue test. The results suggest that all the fatigue failures occur at the stir zone of the FSSW AZ31 sheet joints, and all cracks initiate at the stir zone outer edge between the upper and lower sheet. When the cycle force equals 1 kN, the crack propagates along the interface of heat-affected zone and thermo-mechanical zone, simultaneously across the direction of force; while the cycle force equals 3 kN, the crack propagates along the diameter of stir zone and shear failure occurs finally. Moreover, the transverse microsections indicate that there is a tongue-like region at the outer edge of stir zone between the two AZ31 sheets, and the direction of tongue-like region is toward outside of the stirred zone and all fatigue cracks initiate at the tongue-like region.

Corrosion fatigue behavior of epoxy-coated Mg-3Al-1Zn alloy in gear oil

The corrosion fatigue behavior of epoxy-coated Mg-3Al-1Zn alloy in gear oil was investigated. The corrosion and the fracture surfaces after fatigue test were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and the corrosion compositions were measured by energy-dispersive spectrometry(EDS). The fatigue properties and the crack initiation mechanisms of the specimens before and after epoxy coating treatment were discussed. The results indicate that the fatigue limit after epoxy coating treatment in gear oil is higher than that of the uncoated specimens. The epoxy coating is an excellent way to prevent direct contact between the Mg-3Al-1Zn alloy and surrounding environments. The mechanical properties of the epoxy coating layer are lower than that of magnesium alloy, which is the main reason for the fatigue crack initiation on the epoxy coating layer. In addition, the gear oil lubrication could lead to the flaking off of the epoxy-coated layer.

BLOCK SPECTRUM CHARACTERISTICS AND FATIGUE CRACK RANDOM GROWTH

Two parameters,block spectrum intensity Seq and spectrum shape factor a,which describe the characteristics of the loading block spectrum are defined,and the relationship between the parameters and fatigue crack propagation behaviours is investigated.It is shown that the spectrum intensity is an 'average drive force' of fatigue crack propagation,and the variance of fatigue crack size at a given fatigue life is closely related to the spectrum shape factor α.

Influence of chemical liquids on the fatigue crack growth of the AZ31 magnesium alloy

The fatigue crack growth behavior of an AZ31 magnesium alloy was investigated by comparing the effect of zirconate and phos-phate chemical liquids. The morphology, components, and phase compositions of the chemical depositions at the fatigue crack tip were analyzed by employing scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, and X-ray diffraction （XRD）, respectively. For samples with and without the chemical liquids, their stress-intensity factor values at the fatigue crack tip were compared by using a stress-strain gauge. The results demonstrated that a zirconate film （ZrxOy-ZnxOy） and a phosphate film （Zn3（PO4）2·4H2O and MgZnP2O7） could be formed on the fatigue crack-surface at the fatigue crack tip. The stress distribution was changed because of the chemical depositions and the causticity of the chemical liquids. This could decrease the stress-intensity factor value and thus effectively cause fatigue crack closure, which reduces the fatigue crack growth rate. Moreover, it was found that the fatigue crack closure effect of zirconates was more positive than that of phosphates.

Low-cycle fatigue behavior of K416B Ni-based superalloy at 650 ℃

A study on the low-cycle fatigue(LCF)behavior of K 416 B alloy was conducted at 650℃.According to the results,the LCF behavior of K 416 B alloy at 650℃ is mainly manifested as elastic deformation and the fatigue life of the alloy is determined by the level of material strength.When tension-compression fatigue occurs,the deformation mechanism of the alloy is reflected in the form of dislocation slip,and the deformation dislocations are bowed out in the matrix by Orowan mechanism,which leads to a dislocation configuration similar to the Frawk-Reed source.At the late stage of low-cycle fatigue,the fatigue-induced cracks develop from the alloy surface.As fatigue test proceeds,it is possible for the cracks to continue development along the regions of eutectic and the bulk M 6 C carbide due to stress concentration,thus causing the alloy to show cleavage fracture.

Nonequilibrium Statistical Modeling of Fatigue Crack Growth Behaviour

In order to study the influence of microstructural texture on the growth of short fatigue cracks in metals, the nonequilibrium statistical theory of fatigue fracture correlating a microscopic mechanism with the macroscopic properties is modified to take into consideration the microstructural features of a material, thereby allowing a rationalisation of the experimental data of short fatigue crack growth and long fatigue crack growth. The nonequilibrium statistical theory thus developed relates the growth of cracks with a dislocation mechanism to simulate short fatigue crack growth with the long fatigue crack growth behaviour and predicts the fatigue crack growth rates throughout the fatigue lifetime. The results is finally compared with that of other fatigue theories.

Study of Thermal Fatigue Resistance of a Composite Coating Made by a Vacuum Fusion Sintering Method

Thermal fatigue behavior of a Ni base alloy chromium carbide composite coating made by a vacuum fusion sintering method are discussed. Results show that thermal fatigue behavior is associated with cyclic upper temperature and coating thickness. As the thickness of the coating decreases, the thermal fatigue resistance increases. The thermal fatigue resistance cuts down with the thermal cyclic upper temperature rising. The crack growth rate decreases with the increase in cyclic number until crack arrests. Thermal fatigue failure was not found along the interface of the coating/matrix. The tract of thermal fatigue crack cracks along the interfaces of phases.

In-situ quantitative monitoring of fatigue crack using fastest time of flight diffraction method

Due to the cyclic loading and longtime exposure under extreme environment conditions, fatigue cracks often generate in the aircraft metal structures, i.e. wing skin, fuselage skin, strigners, pylons. These cracks could cause severe damages to the aircraft structures. Thus the position and size monitoring of fatigue cracks in the metal structures is very important to manufacturers as well as maintenance personnel for significantly improving the safety and reliability of aircraft. Much progress has been made for crack position monitoring in the past few years. However, the crack size monitoring is still very challenging. Fastest time of flight diffraction （FTOFD） method was developed to monitor both the position and size of a crack. FTOFD method uses an integrated sensor network to activate and receive ultrasonic waves in a structure. Diffraction waves will be generated when the ultrasonic waves pass a crack. These diffraction waves are received and analyzed to get the position and size of the crack. The experiment results show that the monitored size of the simulated crack is very close to the real size of the crack, and for frequencies of 350 and 400 kHz, the monitoring errors are both smaller than 5%.

The Role of Particles in Fatigue Crack Propagation of Aluminum Matrix Composites and Casting Aluminum Alloys

Fatigue crack propagation （FCP） behaviors were studied to understand the role of SiC particles in 10 wt pct SiCp/A2024 composites and Si particles in casting aluminum alloy A356. The results show that a few particles appeared on the fracture surfaces in SiCp/Al composites even at high △K region, which indicates that cracks propagated predominantly within the matrix avoiding SiC particles due to the high strength of the particles and the strong particle/matrix interface. In casting aluminum alloy, Si particle debonding was more prominent.Compared with SiCp/Al composite, the casting aluminum alloy exhibited lower FCP rates, but had a slight steeper slope in the Paris region. Crack deflection and branching were found to be more remarkable in the casting aluminum alloy than that in the SiCp/Al composites, which may be contributed to higher FCP resistance in casting aluminum alloy.

Ultrahigh cycle fatigue fracture mechanism of high-quality bearing steel obtained through different deoxidation methods

The mechanism of oxide inclusions in fatigue crack initiation in the very-high cycle fatigue(VHCF)regime was clarified by subjecting bearing steels deoxidized by Al(Al-deoxidized steel)and Si(Si-deoxidized steel)to ultrasonic tension-compression fatigue tests(stress ratio,R=−1)and analyzing the characteristics of the detected inclusions.Results show that the main types of inclusions in Si-and Al-deoxidized steels are silicate and calcium aluminate,respectively.The content of calcium aluminate inclusions larger than 15μm in Si-deoxidized steel is lower than that in Al-deoxidized steel,and the difference observed may be attributed to different inclusion generation processes during melting.Despite differences in their cleanliness and total oxygen contents,the Si-and Al-deoxidized steels show similar VHCF lives.The factors causing fatigue failure in these steels reveal distinct differences.Calcium aluminate inclusions are responsible for the cracks in Al-deoxidized steel.By comparison,most fatigue cracks in Si-deoxidized steel are triggered by the inhomogeneity of a steel matrix,which indicates that the damage mechanisms of the steel matrix can be a critical issue for this type of steel.A minor portion of the cracks in Si-deoxidized steel could be attributed to different types of inclusions.The mechanisms of fatigue fracture caused by calcium aluminate and silicate inclusions were further analyzed.Calcium aluminate inclusions first separate from the steel matrix and then trigger crack generation.Silicate inclusions and the steel matrix are closely combined in a fatigue process;thus,these inclusions have mild effects on the fatigue life of bearing steels.Si/Mn deoxidation is an effective method to produce high-quality bearing steel with a long fatigue life and good liquid steel fluidity.