Cycle Fatigue Mechanism Research Articles

Cyclic fatigue tests on non-anatomic specimens of dental ceramic materials: A scoping review

The aim of the present scoping review was to identify and discuss the methods, testing parameters, and characteristics used to induce cyclic fatigue on non-anatomic dental ceramic specimens. In vitro studies written in English which evaluated commercially-available non-anatomic dental ceramic specimens subjected to mechanical cyclic fatigue were selected. The search was performed in the PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases. The initial search yielded 1,636 articles, of which 81 were included. Based on the collected data, most of the included studies evaluated dental ceramic specimens cemented to supporting substrate (n= 42; 51.9%); used step-stress (n= 35; 42.2%) accelerated fatigue test, loading frequencies above 10 Hz (n= 31, 35.6%), stainless steel (n = 28, 32.6%) load applicator with spherical shaped tip 40 mm diameter (n= 25, 30.9%); applied only axial loads (n= 77, 95.1%); and considered a wet testing environment (n= 65, 78.3%). The definition of test geometry, method, and testing parameters must be cautiously considered according to the study objective and the scenario that is simulated. Accelerated fatigue tests, load frequencies up to 20 Hz, a 40 mm stainless steel spherical load applicator and a wet testing environment are the major common defined parameters presented in the existing literature. More studies exploring the influence of such factors on fatigue mechanism are necessary.

Cyclic Mechanical Fatigue Lifetime of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-Based Eco-Piezoceramics.

The mechanical strength and cyclic fatigue behavior of PIC700 commercial eco-piezoceramic disks are investigated under biaxial loading on unpoled and poled samples. The bending strength of unpoled samples was higher than those of poled ones. Fatigue tests were conducted under a load ratio of 10 at a frequency of 20 Hz with a sinusoidal waveform. The curve fitting for the S-N fatigue diagram is used to predict the lifetime of these eco-piezoceramics and describe their fatigue behavior. It was also found that the unpoled samples exhibited higher fatigue resistance than the poled ones. The fatigue limit of maximum load for ten million cycles of unpoled and poled samples was estimated to be 160 and 135 MPa, respectively. The detailed observations of the fatigue fracture surfaces by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that a wavy surface with a mixture of transgranular and intergranular fractures occurred preferentially in the case of the poled material. On the other hand, transgranular fractures seem to be predominant in the unpoled samples. It appears that the poling process causes the change in failure characteristics due to domain orientation that leaves an anisotropic stress field in the material. The poled ceramics possess a local stress concentration created by the orientation under the electric poling field of the 90° ferroelectric–ferroelastic domains. Under this local stress concentration, a microstructural degeneration is induced by domain switching under the cyclic load that accelerates crack growth, thereby reducing fatigue lifetime.

Laboratory simulation of longitudinally cracked teeth using the step-stress cyclic loading method.

To simulate in a laboratory setting longitudinal cracking in root filled premolar teeth, using cyclic mechanical fatigue. Mesial-occlusal-distal (MOD) cavities were prepared in twenty root filled, single-rooted, mandibular premolars restored with fibre posts and resin composites. The samples were randomly divided into two groups based on the loading approaches: static loading with a crosshead speed of 0.5mm/min and step-stress cyclic loading (1Hz) with increasing amplitude. The loads and numbers of cycles to failure were recorded. Micro-CT was also used to identify the fracture modes. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test. The level of significance was set at 0.05. The mean fracture loads for the static loading and cyclic loading groups were 769±171N and 720±92N, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The proportions of longitudinal, cuspal and mixed-mode fractures under cyclic loading were 50%, 20% and 30%, respectively. Longitudinal fractures occurred with larger numbers of cycles and higher average loads per cycle compared with the other fractures. Static loading produced only cuspal fractures. Longitudinally cracked premolar teeth with root fillings were successfully produced using the step-stress cyclic loading method. This provides a more clinically representative methodology for studying cracked teeth in a laboratory setting.

Study of monotonic and cyclic mechanical behavior and microstructural evolution at a high temperature of ASTM A297 HP steel modified with niobium

The present work studies the effects of niobium on the mechanical properties and the elastoplastic/viscoelastic behavior at 927 °C of ASTM A297 grade, HP cast stainless steel in the as-cast material, to simulate the actual work condition. Tensile tests were carried out at different temperatures, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), relaxation tests, the fatigue of continuous cycles under the triangular waveform, and fatigue with a trapezoidal waveform of the type “Dwell” with dwell times of 120 and 300 s as specified in the E2714-13 standard and hot torsion tests, to analyze the variations in the mechanical properties. The results of the mechanical tests and studies of the microstructural evolution, as well as of its later analyzes, provided data, not only in the form of data sheet's for the application of the values obtained in projects but concurrently after comparing property and microstructure, to deepen the phenomenology of mechanical stress behavior versus monotonic and cyclic deformation, high-temperature deformation mechanisms, dynamic recovery, of the type of microstructure resulting after the tests and also of the fracture mechanisms associated with the types of mechanical stresses imposed on the material, obtained by through the mechanical tests mentioned above. The high-temperature fatigue tests showed expected stress versus strain behavior, where cycles without dwell times showed lower hysteresis area values, from where the energy consumed in a strain cycle is calculated. The increase in the consumed energy values is due to the insertion of the dwell times, but it is important to note that for the tests that contain dwell times of 120 s and 300 s they did not show significant differences between the consumed energy, showing a saturation effect of tension that does not promote more significant inelastic strains. The cyclic mechanical fatigue stresses with dwell times and the low deformation rate led to intense precipitation of secondary carbides Cr23C6 chromium alloys added to the intrinsic properties of stainless steel dislocation slip were factors that resulted in the dynamic recovery phenomenon. Fractographic analyzes performed on monotonically fractured specimens and specimens after fatigue tests revealed that the material is prone to fracture in intergranular regions.

A phase field modeling approach of cyclic fatigue crack growth

Phase field modeling of fracture has been in the focus of research for over a decade now. The field has gained attention properly due to its benefiting features for the numerical simulations even for complex crack problems. The framework was so far applied to quasi static and dynamic fracture for brittle as well as for ductile materials with isotropic and also with anisotropic fracture resistance. However, fracture due to cyclic mechanical fatigue, which is a very important phenomenon regarding a safe, durable and also economical design of structures, is considered only recently in terms of phase field modeling. While in first phase field models the material’s fracture toughness becomes degraded to simulate fatigue crack growth, we present an alternative method within this work, where the driving force for the fatigue mechanism increases due to cyclic loading. This new contribution is governed by the evolution of fatigue damage, which can be approximated by a linear law, namely the Miner’s rule, for damage accumulation. The proposed model is able to predict nucleation as well as growth of a fatigue crack. Furthermore, by an assessment of crack growth rates obtained from several numerical simulations by a conventional approach for the description of fatigue crack growth, it is shown that the presented model is able to predict realistic behavior.

Comparison of Fracture Load and Surface Wear of Microhybrid Composite and Ceramic Occlusal Veneers.

To compare in vitro fracture load, surface wear, and roughness after thermal cycling and cyclic mechanical fatigue loading among cemented microhybrid resin-based composite and ceramic occlusal veneers fabricated at two thicknesses (1.5 and 2.5 mm). Sixty-four extracted premolars without root canal treatment were prepared and restored with occlusal veneers of two thicknesses (1.5 and 2.5 mm), using four different materials: microhybrid composite (MC), fiber-reinforced microhybrid composite (FMC), heat-pressed lithium disilicate ceramic (HPC), and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufactured lithium disilicate ceramic (CCC). The specimens underwent thermal cycling and cyclic mechanical fatigue loading, and were then subjected to fracture testing, with loads at failure recorded as fracture load. Wear and surface roughness were recorded before and after fatigue loading. Results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA (α= 0.05). All specimens survived thermal cycling and cyclic mechanical fatigue loading. At 1.5-mm thickness, the mean fracture load of FMC was highest (3926.48± 556.54 N), while that of CCC was highest (3066.45± 559.94 N) at 2.5 mm. Regardless of thickness, the fracture load of CCC was higher than that of HPC (p= 0.004 and p= 0.023). The wear of MC and FMC was significantly higher than those of HPC and CCC (p≤ 0.001), but was similar in terms of the wear rate of tooth enamel. HPC exhibited the lowest surface roughness after fatigue loading (p≤ 0.001). All tested occlusal veneers exhibited a fracture load considerably exceeding the maximum occlusal force in the posterior dentition. When the attainable space for restoration varies, different occlusal veneer materials should be considered. The surface wear and roughness also need to be considered when selecting materials.

On phase field modeling in the context of cyclic mechanical fatigue

AbstractIn this work the phenomenon of cyclic fatigue is integrated within a phase field model for brittle fracture by means of an additional contribution in the internal energy formulation in order to achieve a dependency of the crack evolution on the number of load cycles. Results of numerical fatigue crack growth simulations are presented.

Al-Si piston alloy behavior under combined mechanical and thermal cyclic loading with superimposed high-frequency thermal cycling

Abstract On pistons for diesel direct injection engines, the thermally high loaded bowl rim is exposed to high-cycle mechanical and high-cycle thermal loading during each combustion event in addition to the thermal cycling induced by variable engine loading, e. g. between idle and full load. This combined loading at various overall temperatures during engine operation contributes to material damage and finally to a limited service life. In the past, the high-cycle thermal loading has neither been experimentally investigated nor incorporated into a numerical model for lifetime estimation. The work described in this paper deals with the setup of an experimental test procedure on samples taken from components for which the effects of slow temperature cycling, fast temperature cycling and mechanical cyclic fatigue loading can be combined in different ratios. The aim of the investigation is to characterize the sample lifetime with respect to varied test conditions in order to differentiate alloy- or process-related material variations in support of process and material development.

Study on fatigue resistance of low alloy steels with Mo and Cr

This paper presents, based on a case study, the analysis of the factors that influence the mechanical cyclic fatigue resistance of two grades of low alloy steel with Mo and Cr. It was studied the fatigue behavior in real operating conditions of some active elements manufactured from the two low-alloyed steel grades, elements that are equipping some farm implements. Using the fractographic analysis, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, were analyzed the samples that carried away because of the fatigue fracture. On samples taken from the two brands of low alloy steels with Mo and Cr were performed tempering thermal treatments that modified the structure, in order to improve the operating characteristics. The effect of those thermal treatments was initially observed by microstructural analysis of metallographic prepared samples (by polishing and chemical attack using nital reagent), that revealed a troostite type structure. On the heat-treated samples were determined a number of mechanical properties: hardness, impact strength and tensile test. There was observed an improvement of the impact bending strength for both alloys and a tensile behavior that favors increasing resistance to fatigue.

Effect of Heat Treatment Process on Microstructure and Fatigue Behavior of a Nickel-Base Superalloy.

The study of fatigue behaviors for nickel-base superalloys is very significant because fatigue damage results in serious consequences. In this paper, two kinds of heat treatment procedures (Pro.I and Pro.II) were taken to investigate the effect of heat treatment on microstructures and fatigue behaviors of a nickel-base superalloy. Fatigue behaviors were studied through total strain controlled mode at 650 °C. Manson-Coffin relationship and three-parameter power function were used to predict fatigue life. A good link between the cyclic/fatigue behavior and microscopic studies was established. The cyclic deformation mechanism and fatigue mechanism were discussed. The results show that the fatigue resistance significantly drops with the increase of total strain amplitudes. Manson-Coffin relationship can well predict the fatigue life for total strain amplitude from 0.5% to 0.8%. The fatigue resistance is related with heat treatment procedures. The fatigue resistance performance of Pro.I is better than that of Pro.II. The cyclic stress response behaviors are closely related to the changes of the strain amplitudes. The peak stress of the alloy gradually increases with the increase of total strain amplitudes. The main fracture mechanism is inhomogeneous deformation and the different interactions between dislocations and γ′ precipitates.

Statistical method for the fatigue life estimation of coke drums

Coke drums are vertical pressure vessels used in the delayed coking process in petroleum refineries. They are operated under severe thermal–mechanical conditions by cyclic heating and quenching processes, which make them susceptible to damage. To accurately predict the safety lives of coke drums, a statistical fatigue life evaluation method is proposed in this study. To develop this method, thermal–mechanical cyclic fatigue tests of coke drum materials were firstly conducted to obtain strain-life curves, then simplified thermal-elasto-plastic analytical models were developed to calculate maximum equivalent strain amplitudes for global cycling and local hot and cold spot events. Statistical analysis of temperature data on a coke drum shell was also performed to get the probability distributions of the hot and cold spot events. The final statistical fatigue life evaluation model is based on Palmgren-Miner’s damage accumulation rule. The fatigue life of a selected coke drum is hereafter estimated according to the maximum equivalent strain amplitudes in both cladding and base plate. The predicted fatigue life of the coke drum is about 5000 operation cycles, which is within the range of operation cycles to the first-through-thickness crack in coke drums, reported by American Petroleum Institute (API) survey. The evaluation methodology developed in this study can be employed to predict the safety lives of coke drums and is expected to be helpful for the design and maintenance of the equipment.

Low Cycle Fatigue Behavior and Mechanism of Newly Developed Advanced Heat Resistant Austenitic Stainless Steels at High Temperature

Austenitic stainless steel grade UNS S31035 (Sandvik Sanicro® 25) has been developed for the next generation of 700°C A-USC power plant. This paper will mainly focus on the study of low cycle fatigue behavior and damage mechanisms of the material at room temperature, 600C to 700C by using electron back scatter diffraction and electron channeling contrast image techniques. At room temperature, the material shows a hardening and softening behavior as usual. At high temperature, however, it shows only a cyclic hardening behavior. Dynamic strain ageing can be one of the mechanisms. The damage and fatigue crack initiation mechanisms due to cyclic loading at different temperatures and loading conditions have been identified. The interactions between dislocations or slip bands with grain boundary or twin boundary are the main damage mechanism at low temperature or at high temperature with large strain amplitudes. Strain localization due to dislocation slipping is the main mechanism for the damage in grain.

Characterization of Solder Joint Reliability Using Cyclic Mechanical Fatigue Testing

This article summarizes the mechanics of two mechanical fatigue methods, cyclic bending fatigue and shear fatigue, in inducing failure in solder joints in package assemblies, and it presents the characteristics of fatigue failures resulting from these methods using example cases of Sn-Pb eutectic and Sn-rich Pb-free solder alloys. Numerical simulation suggests that both testing configurations induce fatigue failure by the crack-opening mode. In the case of bending fatigue, the strain induced by the bending displacement is found to be sensitive to chip geometry, and it induces fatigue cracks mainly at the solder matrix adjacent to the printed circuit board interface. In case of shear fatigue, the failure location is firmly fixed at the solder neck, created by solder mask, where an abrupt change in the solder geometry occurs. Both methods conclude that the Coffin–Manson model is the most appropriate model for the isothermal mechanical fatigue of solder alloys. An analysis of fatigue characteristics using the frame of the Coffin–Manson model produces several insightful results, such as the reason why Pb-free alloys show higher fatigue resistance than Sn-Pb alloys even if they are generally more brittle. Our analysis suggests that it is related to higher work hardening. All these results indicate that mechanical fatigue can be an extremely useful method for fast screening of defective package structures and also in gaining a better understanding of fatigue failure mechanism and prediction of reliability in solder joints.

Cyclic pull-out test of single PVA fibers in cementitious matrix

Recently, many studies have been conducted to examine the behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) subjected to cyclic loading. However, cyclic and fatigue behavior is so complex that the mechanism of degradation cannot be cleared just by simple mechanical tests such as flexural and tensile tests of FRC specimens that measure typical overall behavior of the material. Besides these kinds of investigations, the individual behavior of the constituents and the interaction between them need to be investigated to reveal the cyclic degradation and fatigue mechanism of FRC detail. So far, only a few experiments have been devoted to the cyclic degradation of fibers in FRC. Therefore, cyclic pull-out behavior of single fiber is investigated in this study. A main objective of this article is to propose a test method for a cyclic pull-out test of a single fiber and to investigate the degradation behavior of single PVA fibers under cyclic loading conditions. Single PVA fibers were tested using quasi-static and cyclic loading methods, and the test results revealed the bridging load of PVA fibers decreases continuously and it become less than half the initial load during the cyclic loading process.

Fatigue Crack Initiation and Propagation in Aileron Lever Using Successive-Initiation Modeling Approach

Crack initiation and propagation due to cyclic mechanical fatigue damage in the T-38 aileron lever is modeled using a continuum damage modeling approach in conjunction with a “successive-initiation” technique. Successive initiation is a continuum-based damage-propagation methodology that is based on updating the state of damage in material and accumulating damage in individual elements according to their stress-life history. The elements are eliminated from the structure if they exceed the defined damage threshold. In contrast to available fracturemechanics approaches, this method does not require an initial crack and is capable of determining the initiation site. The model is used to predict the number of cycles to crack initiation and propagation to critical size. This approach successfully predicts the location of crack initiation, propagation path and propagation rate. Field data and experimental observations of the cracks correlated very well with finite element results. Probability design approach using a Monte Carlo simulation is used to determine the sensitivity of fatigue-life response to variation in load and mechanical-property inputs. As expected, the most important parameter was found to be the damage exponent. A sensitivity study was conducted without damage parameters as input variables. The results of this study show that load variations are more important than material-property variations.

Analytical modelling for static stress analysis of pin-loaded lugs with bush fitting

Pin-loaded connections are widely used in the industry. Connecting rods of reciprocating engines in automotive applications or pin-loaded lugs of landing gears and airframe structures can be cited as examples. These systems are subject to thermomechanical cyclic loadings and fatigue mechanisms are often observed. The calculation of stresses in the lug is crucial in view of a fatigue lifetime analysis. Analytical modelling may be very helpful in the early design stage, by allowing fast parametric studies and the identification of the most influent parameters on the response in stresses. In this paper, we propose analytical models for bush fitting and pin-loading conditions, leading to the complete calculation of the stress distribution in the lug. In each case, the analytical solutions are compared with finite element simulations. In the last part, we perform a sensitivity analysis as an application of the presented analytical tools.

Load‐bearing capacity of all‐ceramic three‐unit fixed partial dentures with different computer‐aided design (CAD)/computer‐aided manufacturing (CAM) fabricated framework materials

The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the load-bearing capacity of posterior three-unit fixed dental prostheses (FDP) produced with three different all-ceramic framework materials: glass-infiltrated alumina (ICA), glass-infiltrated alumina strengthened with zirconia (ICZ), and yttria-stabilized polycrystalline zirconia (YZ). Additionally, the influence on aging of mechanical cyclic fatigue loading and thermal cycling in water were evaluated. A total of 20 frameworks each were fabricated from ICA, ICZ, and YZ by a computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) system. The framework designs were identical for all specimens. All frameworks were veneered with porcelain and cemented with glass-ionomer. Prior to fracture testing, 10 FDP of each experimental group were subjected to thermal and mechanical cycling. Additionally, fractographic analysis was performed. Statistical analysis showed that FDP made from YZ had significantly higher load to failure, whereas no difference was found between the other two materials. Aging did not have a significant effect on the fracture load.

Crack Propagation Behavior of Alumina with Different Grain Sizes under Static and Cyclic Fatigue

A compliance function is used to quantify the shielding capacity of grain bridging, the degradation of which is the main cyclic fatigue mechanism in alumina. Materials with different grain sizes were processed and the fatigue experiments were performed using the double torsion test. Significant degradation is observed in the coarse grain material and a marked sensitivity to the loading level is outlined. At moderate loads, bridging degradation occurs prior to fatigue crack growth during an incubation period. At low cyclic loads, the shielding capacity can be entirely degraded, leading to a cyclic fatigue threshold equivalent to that of the fine grain material.

Quantitative Analysis of Crack Shielding Degradation During Cyclic Fatigue of Alumina

Grain bridging degradation behind a crack tip is the main cyclic fatigue mechanism in nontransforming ceramics. In this work, a compliance function is used to quantify the shielding capacity of grain bridges during cyclic loading of alumina ceramics with different grain sizes. This allows to identify the different stages occurring during cyclic loading. Significant degradation is observed in the coarse grain material and a marked sensitivity to the loading level is outlined. At moderate loads, bridging degradation occurs prior to fatigue crack growth during an incubation period which can reach several million cycles. At low cyclic loads, the shielding capacity can be entirely degraded, leading to a cyclic fatigue threshold equivalent to that of the fine grain material.

Mechanistic aspects of in vitro fatigue-crack growth in dentin

Although the propagation of fatigue cracks has been recognized as a problem of clinical significance in dentin, there have been few fracture mechanics-based studies that have investigated this issue. In the present study, in vitro cyclic fatigue experiments were conducted over a range of cyclic frequencies (1–50Hz) on elephant dentin in order to quantify fatigue-crack growth behavior from the perspective of understanding the mechanism of fatigue in dentin. Specifically, results obtained for crack extension rates along a direction parallel to the dentinal tubules were found to be well described by the stress-intensity range, ΔK, using a simple Paris power-law approach with exponents ranging from 12 to 32. Furthermore, a frequency dependence was observed for the crack-growth rates, with higher growth rates associated with lower frequencies. By using crack-growth experiments involving alternate cyclic and static loading, such fatigue-crack propagation was mechanistically determined to be the result of a “true” cyclic fatigue mechanism, and not simply a succession of static fracture events. Furthermore, based on the observed frequency dependence of fatigue-crack growth in dentin and observations of time-dependent crack blunting, a cyclic fatigue mechanism involving crack-tip blunting and re-sharpening is proposed. These results are deemed to be of importance for an improved understanding of fatigue-related failures in teeth.