A Superposition Approach for Time-Dependent Fatigue Crack Growth

Abstract

High temperature fatigue crack growth is a combination of fatigue, creep and environmental attack, which greatly enhance fatigue crack growth. In order to understand the damage mechanisms and develop a physically based crack growth model, systematic experimental research has been conducted under various loading conditions for different specimen geometries made from a high strength nickel alloy. Test results from this work showed that time-dependent fatigue crack growth rates differ significantly from those observed in conventional fatigue crack growth tests. Crack geometry and loading history significantly affect fatigue crack growth rate. These results suggest the need for a change in the K based superposition approach for time-dependent crack growth modeling. A phenomenological model has been developed to predict time-dependent crack growth under various loading histories and crack geometries. In this model an effective stress intensity factor is defined to account for the effects of constraint loss of fracture mechanics due to crack-tip plasticity, and the creep stress relaxation on stress intensity factor. It is found the model can accurately predict the dwell crack growth rates for different crack geometries under various loading conditions.