Changes in magnetic flux density around fatigue crack tips of carbon tool steels

Abstract

Fatigue failure of steel occurs when small cracks form in a component and then continue to grow to a size large enough to cause failure. In order to understand the strength of steel components it is important to find the cracks which eventually grow to cause failures. However, at present, it is not easy to distinguish, in the early stages of growth, the cracks which will grow fast and cause failure. We hypothesized that it may be possible to distinguish them by comparing changes in the magnetic flux density around the tips of those cracks that grew large enough to cause failure. In order to measure these changes in magnetic flux density, we developed a scanning Hall probe microscope and observed the fatigue cracks growing from artificial slits in carbon tool steels (JIS SKS93). We also compared the changes in magnetic flux density around crack tips which grew under different loads and found that there is a strong correlation between the magnetic flux density, crack growth and stress intensity factors. In order to understand this relation, we measured the changes in the magnetic flux density and residual tensile stress by using an X-ray system, and found that the magnetic flux density changes not only in the plastic deformation area but also in the area of elastic stress field with increased stress.