Damage mechanisms and failure analysis of high-strength eutectoid and duplex stainless steel wires subjected to static and cyclic axial tension loading under transverse compressive loads

Abstract

Multi-wire strands used in a wide range of structural applications are designed to withstand high axial and cyclic tensile loads, but they can also be subjected to permanent or accidental transverse loads that might alter their tensile and fatigue behavior. In this context, the paper presents, respectively, a comparative experimental analysis involving two types of high-strength cold-drawn wires made of conventional eutectoid steel and an advanced lean duplex stainless steel. The same empirical fracture criterion was found to predict the tensile bearing capacity as a function of the applied transverse load in the two wires. The fatigue endurance required by the standards in force for prestressing steel wires when free from transverse loads are satisfied by the two wire types even under transverse loads as high as 40% of their tensile strength. The analysis of the failure mechanisms reveals consistent macroscopic and microscopic differences between the wires, which result from the local biaxiality of stress state and from the microstructural alteration induced by the transverse load when large plastic deformation occurs.