Effect Of Stress Ratio Research Articles

Fatigue fracture mechanism and life prediction of steel-aluminium clinched joints under different stress ratios

Vehicle bodies are subject to complex random loads during travelling, making it imperative to investigate the effects of different stress ratios on the body joining structure. To investigate the fatigue performance of steel-aluminium clinched joints under different stress ratios, fatigue experiments were conducted on these joints subjected to different load levels at stress ratios of -0.4, 0.1, and 0.4. The fracture mechanism of steel-aluminium clinched joints under different stress ratios was investigated through analysis of the joint's fracture morphology and the composition of abrasive chips using Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. A fatigue life prediction model for steel-aluminium clinched joints was developed by employing the modified Paris formulation of the Wallker equation. The results indicate that joint failure can be classified into three main forms: lower sheet fracture, upper sheet pull-off accompanied by lower sheet fracture and reaching infinite life (2 million times). The lower sheet of a fatigue failure specimen in a steel-aluminium clinched joint exhibited a novel form of fretting damage known as lower sheet inter-plate fretting wear. Furthermore, the application of Walker's improved Paris formula proved to be highly effective in accurately predicting the fatigue life of steel-aluminium clinched joints under different stress ratios, with the predicted results demonstrating excellent agreement with experimental findings.

Generalized Effective Stress of Dual-Porosity Geomaterials Considering Thermochemical Effects

The accurate calculating of effective stress is crucial to predicting soil deformation and ensuring structural safety under complex mechanical, thermal, and chemical loads. In this study, the thermodynamic pressures of the solid phase, and liquid phases in macropores and micropores of dual-porosity geomaterials are determined on the basis of thermodynamics and conservation equations with considering for the impact of temperature and solute concentration on soil-water interactions. In particular, thermal pressurization related to temperature, and generalized osmotic pressure related to solute concentration were incorporated into the liquid-phase thermodynamic pressure equations. Thereafter, an equation for the generalized effective stress that could be applied specifically to dual-porosity geotechnical materials with consideration for environmental loads was derived from the definition of the stress tensor. The deformation behavior of clay under mechanical, thermal, and chemical coupling loading conditions was predicted using the newly proposed generalized effective stress. Predicted results revealed a stronger correlation between the generalized effective stress and void ratio, thereby confirming the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed approach. The derived equation establishes a solid theoretical foundation for designing impermeable buffer barriers in geotechnical engineering and geo-environmental engineering safety assessments.

Effect of torsional shear stress on the deformation characteristics of clay under traffic load

The soft clay under the road ground will suffer cyclic torsional shear stress encountered traffic load in addition to axial stress, which will cause further deformation of clay. To investigate the effect of torsional shear stress on the cumulative axial strain of clay, a series of undrained tests under cardioid stress path were performed on K0 consolidated undisturbed samples by using a hollow cylinder apparatus (HCA). The effect of vertical cyclic stress ratio (VCSR) and shear stress ratio (η) on the deformation and degradation characteristics of clay was investigated. The results indicate that there is inconsistency between the strain path and stress path. The increase in η further accelerates the accumulation of axial strain, which resulted from the degradation of clay induced by torsional shear stress. Considering the VCSR and η, a calculation method of degradation index was developed. Furthermore, a cumulative axial strain prediction model of clay under the cardioid stress path was established considering the degradation. This model addresses the limitation of traditional prediction models by considering the impact of torsional shear stress on cumulative axial strain.

Stability behavior of T-shaped retrofitting cross bracings in existing transmission towers

To analyze the stability behavior of T-shaped retrofitting cross bracings, finite element models were developed and validated by full-scale experiments of cross bracings available in the literature. Effects of stress ratio, nominal slenderness ratio, width-to-thickness ratio, and yield strength on the failure mode and bearing capacity were considered for T-shaped retrofitting cross bracings without auxiliary members (TCB) and with auxiliary members (TCBA). Results show that the failure modes of T-shaped retrofitting cross bracings are out-of-plane bending of the entire brace. As the stress ratio decreases, the failure modes transition to the bending of the longer section of the brace. When the nominal slenderness ratio is below 160 for TCB, local buckling dominates and nominal slenderness ratio has few effects on the bearing capacity. Also, stress ratio has a minimal impact on bearing capacity when it is less than −0.2. In addition to above, bearing capacity is related to nominal slenderness ratio and stress ratio. A higher width-to-thickness ratio increases the nominal stability coefficient for TCB, but has a negligible effect on TCBA. Increasing yield strength can effectively enhance the bearing capacity of TCB when stress ratio is below 0, while yield strength has little impact in other conditions.

Very high cycle fatigue behavior of TC4 titanium alloy: Faceting cracking mechanism and life prediction based on dislocation characterization

This research analyzes the very-high-cycle-fatigue behavior of TC4 titanium alloy through fatigue tests at R = −1, −0.3, and 0.1. The results show that the S-N curves are all bilinear and exhibit three failure modes as surface slip failure, surface cleavage failure and interior cleavage failure. Transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals the dislocation structure in interior cleavage failure and suggests that the deformation mechanism of faceting cracking involves both anti-phase boundary shearing and stacking fault shearing mechanisms. It concludes that interior failure results from cleavage fracture of α grains due to dislocation slip. Based on the stress intensity factor of the maximum defect, a slip-cleavage competitive failure model was developed by considering factors such as control volume, defect size, external loading, and grain content, with good predictive results. Additionally, on the basis of the failure mechanism and crack propagation rate model, considering the coupled effects of crack tip blunting, stress ratio, Vickers hardness, and material fracture toughness on crack propagation, the crack propagation life prediction model is constructed. The life prediction model is further modified to be more conservative and accurate in predicting life by consideration the maximum defect size, providing important theoretical support and practical guidance for engineering applications.

Influence of Anisotropic Consolidation on the Instability of Loose Granular Soils Under Undrained and Drained Loading

Previous studies, mostly experimental, have reported conflicting observations on the effect of the initial anisotropic consolidation stress ratio (η<sub>0</sub>) on the stress ratio at the onset of instability (η<sub>f</sub>) for drained and undrained loading that involve static liquefaction. They indicate that as η<sub>0</sub> increases, η<sub>f</sub> could decrease, increase, or remain invariant, albeit without providing potential mechanistic factors. In this study, the anisotropic critical state theory (ACST) is used to investigate potential factors, including compressibility, state, and fabric anisotropy, that can explain the influence of η<sub>0</sub> on η<sub>f</sub> under undrained and drained loading. The assessments consider numerical simulations with the ACST-based SANISAND-F model, insights from SANISAND-F based instability criteria, the instability surface concept, and available experimental observations. Our findings show that compressibility and fabric anisotropy (and its evolution) are key factors in explaining the influence of η<sub>0</sub> on η<sub>f</sub>. In particular, the results show that if fabric evolution is not substantial, an increase in η<sub>0</sub> decreases η<sub>f</sub> for materials with significant compressibility, whereas the effect of η<sub>0</sub> in low compressibility materials is minimal. On the other hand, for materials that promote fabric evolution, the results suggest that the effect of fabric changes counteract compressibility effects, potentially increasing η<sub>f</sub>.

Experimental Research on the Low-Cycle Fatigue Crack Growth Rate for a Stiffened Plate of EH36 Steel for Use in Ship Structures

This paper presents a straightforward approach for determining the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) crack propagation rate in stiffened plate structures containing cracks. The method relies on both the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and the accumulative plastic strain, offering valuable insights for ship structure design and assessing LCF strength. Meanwhile, the LCF crack growth tests for the EH36 steel were conducted on stiffened plates with single-side cracks and central cracks under different loading conditions. The effects of stress amplitude, stress ratio, and stiffener position on the crack growth behavior were examined. Fitting and verifying analyses of the test data were employed to investigate the relationship between CTOD and the crack growth rate of EH36 steel under LCF conditions. The results showed that the proposed CTOD-based prediction method can accurately characterize the LCF crack growth behavior for stiffened plate of EH36 steel for use in ship structures.

Advances in low cycle fatigue probabilistic modeling

New advances in the probabilistic S-N model proposed by Castillo and Canteli are presented. The requirements for a S-N model derivation to be valid are emphasized, in particular, that of the compatibility between the statistical distributions of lifetime and stress reference variable. The definition of the generalized reference variable (GRV) in the S-N field, as GRV=ψ·σM, where ψ is a non-dimensional factor derived from the σ-ε law of the material, allows the former model to be applied to LCF data. The new model ensures the incontrovertible and unitary definition of the scatter band in the S-N field and the justification of an asymptotic lower limit of the lifetime, N0. As a result, the stress- and strain-based approaches can be envisaged as a unique probabilistic ψσM-N approach applicable in the three conventional, i.e., LCF, HCF and VHCF domains. An extension as the ψσM-R-N model that includes the stress ratio effect is presented. The utility of the model is confirmed with the assessment of LCF data from different external experimental campaigns.

Effect of stress ratio and welding residual stresses on the fatigue crack growth behaviour of Weldox-700 steel using LGDM

In this work, numerical simulations of high-cycle fatigue and fatigue crack growth have been performed using localizing gradient damage methodology (LGDM) for base and welded weldox-700 steel. LGDM models crack growth phenomenon by avoiding any non-physical widening of damage bands. The effect of stress ratio is included in the strain-based damage evolution in the present work. Accordingly, the generalized expressions of damage parameters have been derived. Experimental fatigue tests are performed on the base material and the welded joints. In order to numerically investigate the welded joints, residual stresses developed during welding are obtained through sequentially coupled thermo-mechanical finite element analysis. Subsequently, the fatigue-life and crack-propagation are simulated by applying the residual stresses as a pre-existing field in the LGDM framework, which uses full coupling between deformations and non-local equivalent strains in the finite element analysis. The simulated results and experimental fatigue data are found to be in good agreement.

Combining phase field method and critical distance theory for predicting fatigue life of notched specimens

Notch features, widely used in engineering components, have negative effect on the fatigue life of structural parts due to the stress concentration caused by their geometry. This highlights the importance of numerical methods to help assessing the adverse effect of geometrical discontinuities like notch on the fatigue properties of structural components. In this study, a new phase field fatigue formulation was proposed to predict the fatigue behavior of metallic notched specimens, suggesting a dimensionless parameter based on the critical distance theory to capture the notch effect. The slope of S-N curve was regarded as a function of the effective stress ratio obtained from different critical distances, and the fatigue damage threshold was varied with the slope of the S-N curve. Two S-N curves of smooth and notched specimens were used to calibrate the fatigue model parameters for each material. Numerical examples validated by experimental data of various configurations in terms of geometry, stress ratio and loading mode indicated the validity of the proposed model and its ability to accurately predict the fatigue life of notched specimens with different notch geometries and materials, as the predicted fatigue lives mostly fell within the ± 2 scatter band. The results indicated that compared with the traditional TCD method the proposed model eliminates the requirement to recalculate the critical distance at different fatigue lives, and the stress ratio effect can be naturally captured without recalibrating the critical distance.

Exploring the Macroscopic Behavior and Microstructure Evolution of Lightly Cemented Sand in the Post-Liquefaction Process Using DEM.

This study investigates the post-liquefaction monotonic undrained shearing behavior of cemented sand at the macro- and microscales, using the discrete element method. A series of cyclic undrained triaxial tests with different stress amplitudes and post-liquefaction monotonic undrained triaxial tests were simulated on cemented sand with diverse cement contents (CCs). For comparison, a series of monotonic undrained triaxial tests on cemented sand without liquefaction (virgin cemented sand) were also modeled. The macroscopic behavior was analyzed in conjunction with the microscopic characteristics of the assembly, such as the deviator fabric of contact normal orientation, mechanical coordination number, energy components, and bond breakage. The results show that the DEM model can capture the effect of CC and cyclic stress ratio (CSR) on the undrained shear strength, stiffness, and pore pressure observed in laboratory experiments. Referring to the virgin specimen, with an increase in CC, the mechanical coordination number and the input work increment increase, while the deviator fabric for total contacts changes irregularly, leading to a greater initial stiffness and shear strength. In the case of the liquefied specimen, the smaller initial mechanical coordination number results in a very low initial stiffness regardless of CC. Contrary to the uncemented sand, both the mechanical coordination number and the input work increment decrease with an increasing CSR for the cemented sand. The microstructure evolution governs the effect of cementation level and liquefaction history on the macroscopic post-liquefaction behavior.

Investigating the effect of stress ratio on fatigue crack growth rate behaviour in friction stir welded AA7075-T651 aluminium alloy plates

This study examines the characteristics of Fatigue Crack Growth Rate (FCGR) in AA 7075-T651 Friction Stir Welded (FSW) joints with a thickness of 16 mm. Compact tension (CT) specimens from both the base and the FSW joints were utilized to assess FCGR under various stress ratios (0.2 to 0.5). Additionally, the study involved analyzing the transverse tensile characteristics of both the based and the welded joints. The microstructures of the welds were inspected using optical and transmission electron microscopes. Findings indicate that the FSWjoint critical stress intensity factor range (ΔKcr)is lower than the unwelded base, that can be related to precipitates dissolving in the weld zone when the friction stir welding process. Consequently, in contrast to the unwelded base, the fatigue life of AA 7075-T651 aluminium alloy FSW joints is significantly reduced. A scanning electron microscope carried out microstructural analyses of the fracture surfaces of the FSW and base under various stress ratioconditions. The results showed that, in contrast to the parent material, the FSW joint has ultra-fine grains resulting in intergranular cracks in the propagation zone.

Study on fatigue parameters of high modulus asphalt pavement

High Modulus Asphalt Mixtures (HMAM) have gained widespread utilization in asphalt pavement construction. It is great critical to study the fatigue characteristics of HMAM. At present, various fatigue test methods are employed in indoor testing to assess HMAM under different mechanical states. Therefore, there is a critical problem that the value of fatigue parameters is not unique in the structural design of HMAM. In this study, three fatigue testing methods were initially used to address the above issues: direct tensile testing, indirect tensile testing, and uniaxial compression testing. These tests help to determine the strength yield surface states at different loading rates. And to reveal the effect of loading rate on the mechanical behavior of HMAM. The results show a power function fit and a good correlation between strength and loading rate. The relationship models of strength with speed for indirect tensile, direct tensile and uniaxial compression tests are SI=3.22(v)0.14, SD=3.22(v)0.15 and SU=3.22(v)0.12, respectively.The higher the loading rate for the three fatigue test results, the greater the expansion of the strength yield surface.The fatigue life (Nf) of HMAM underwent testing, yielding its fatigue effective stress ratio. The relationship between the two was and then established. It is found that the point (1, 1) appears on the backextension line, thus effectively complementing the conventional S-N equation. In addition, the fatigue equations for various fatigue test methods were unified based on effective stress strength ratio and the fatigue life. This paper introduces a novel method for the antifatigue design of HMAM.

Equivalent stress concept to account for the effect of local cyclic stress ratio on transverse cracking in tension–tension fatigue

Presented test results on transverse cracking in cross-ply laminates upon tension–tension cyclic loading show that the increase of crack density depends not only on the maximum transverse stress in the cycle but also on the local cyclic stress ratio RTloc in the analyzed layer. To include the effect of the RTloc in the model with statistical failure stress distribution for crack initiation (based on Weibull distribution) adapted for fatigue, an equivalent stress is introduced in a similar manner as the equivalent strain energy release rate has been used for delamination crack propagation. The equivalent stress in the layer is defined as a power function of the maximum stress and the stress ratio in the layer. It was found, testing laminates with two different fiber contents that higher the local stress ratio in 90-layer, higher the transverse cracking resistance. Transverse crack density simulation using the developed equivalent stress model has been validated against test results.

Long-term creep behavior of glulam member under compression and bending moment

ABSTRACT In this study, 12 glulam members were designed and tested, considering the effects of stress ratio and relative eccentricity. After the 180-day test period, the results showed that increasing the stress ratio and relative eccentricity led to large initial elastic deformation and creep deformation, and the creep coefficients at 180 days for the glulam members under higher stress ratio and relative eccentricity were lower than those for the glulam members under lower stress ratio and relative eccentricity. Typical empirical and mechanical models and a modified model were chosen to fit the creep coefficient curves. The fitting analysis indicated that the values of the R 2 for all creep models were larger than 0.90, reflecting the goodness of fit. Employing the modified model, the prediction of the creep coefficient for the compressive-bending glulam member over 50 years was conducted. The results found that the glulam members under high relative eccentricity and stress ratio exhibited low creep coefficients, of which values approached to 0.7. Compared to creep coefficients specified in current standards and literature, the creep coefficient of 1.5 at a 50-year period for the compressive-bending glulam members was recommended, aiming to provide a reference to the long-term design of the compressive-bending glulam member in practice.

Investigation of fatigue durability and influencing factors of coil springs: A case study for metro vehicles

This study investigates the fatigue failure behavior of coil compression springs and various influencing factors. The intrinsic and induced causes of fatigue failure in metro steel springs were revealed by systematic tests. Macroscopic observation and metallographic analysis of the fracture indicate that decarburization, which leads to a reduction in the fatigue limit of the material, was the essential cause of the failure. The resonance of the steel spring caused by rail corrugation leads to an increase in dynamic stress, which is the induced cause of the failure. The combined effect of the two factors promoted the failure of the springs. In addition, decarburization led to a decrease in the microhardness of the spring surface from 462 HV to 151 HV and a decrease in fatigue life from over 3.6 million kilometers to 521,000 km (with the decarburization depth of 0.3 mm). The effects of different stress ratios and decarburization depths on the equivalent shear stress (ESS) were comprehensively investigated. The ESS of steel springs with decarburization and different stress ratios were calculated according to the FKM Guideline and the EN 17149 standard. The ESS decreases from 188 MPa to 77 MPa at a stress ratio of R = 0, and from 168 MPa to 76 MPa at a stress ratio of R = 0.5. If the effects of rail corrugation are not taken into account, the ESS meets the design life requirements. Furthermore, the effects of different rail fastener types and track structures on the dynamic stress were compared. It was found that the double-layer nonlinear vibration damping fasteners can significantly improve steel spring vibration. Finally, improvement measures and recommendations are proposed based on the root causes of failure and the influencing factors.

Effect of loading frequency and cyclic stress ratio on undrained cyclic behaviors of clay-structure interface with various overconsolidation ratios

The widely used suction caissons in offshore engineering are commonly subject to cyclic loads including the wind, wave, and current. For proper design and sustainable maintenance of the suction caisson foundations, it is essential to investigate the dynamic response of the clay-structure interface. This research conducted a series of clay-structure interface cyclic shear tests under constant volume equivalent undrained state using a modified direct simple shear device to fully investigate the effects of cyclic stress ratio (CSR), loading frequency, and overconsolidation ratio (OCR) on the dynamic response of the interface. The interface shear strength, relative shear displacement, the number of cycles to failure (Nf), and interface pore water pressure were analyzed. Results show that the Nf is strongly affected by CSR and loading frequency. A model is proposed to describe the decrease in the Nf with increasing CSR under a given loading frequency and OCR. The Nf increases approximately linearly with loading frequency on a double-logarithmic scale. Additionally, the contour diagrams, defining the Nf as a function of interface average and cyclic shear stress under various OCRs, are proposed to predict the failure behaviors of clay-structure interface subjected to various loading combinations. Besides, the development models are established respectively to describe the evolutions of accumulated interface pore pressure (Uia) against the number of cycles (N) and cyclic relative shear displacement (Wcy), presenting better capability to describe the development of Uia. The findings in this study hold potential implications for determining whether the failure occurs under corresponding loading conditions and predicting interface pore pressure development.

Lifetime study of uniform and non-uniform multi-crack fusion and extension in an approximate plane

The threat of cracks is very fatal for engineering structures. Usually, the main crack is fused by several secondary microcracks, so the investigation of the fusion mechanism and life of microcracks is crucial to improve the reliability of engineering structures. In this paper, firstly, the applicability and accuracy of linear elastic fracture mechanics are verified by comparing the test results and FEA results of small-scale yielding. Secondly, the fusion mechanism and life-solution of uniform and non-uniform multi-cracks are thoroughly investigated. It is also pointed out that the homogeneity of cracks is caused by the abrupt change of crack extension path by affecting the level of stress intensity factor (SIF). Finally, the effects of maximum load and stress ratio on crack fusion are explored. The results demonstrate that the maximum load has a positive effect on the ratio of the crack fusion life to the overall crack extension process life, but the effect of the stress ratio is essentially unchanged.

Cyclic behavior of port-said soft clay in cyclic direct simple shear tests

A thick deposit of soft clay, known as “Port-Said Clay” (PSC), is commonly encountered in the northern formations close to the Mediterranean shores of Egypt. The growing level of development, including transportation corridors like highways and tunnels, in areas rich with PSC necessitated an in-depth study to characterize its dynamic behavior. This study presents a first comprehensive experimental investigation of the dynamic behavior of the soft PSC using Cyclic Direct Simple Shear Tests. The effects of plasticity index (PI), loading frequency (f), and cyclic stress ratio on the cyclic resistance, shear modulus, shear modulus reduction ratio, pore water pressure generation, and damping ratio was investigated. The results showed that all the investigated behavior parameters are primarily sensitive to PI and f. The conclusions drawn from this study on PSC open the way to further laboratory-based investigations of the dynamic behavior of PSC, in addition to numerical modelling of the seismic interaction between PSC and different types of structures.

Interrelation between compressibility and permeability of reconstituted sandy clays with different sand fractions

It has been well recognized that sand particles significantly affect the mechanical properties of reconstituted sandy clays, including the hosted clay and sand particles. However, interrelation between the permeability and compressibility of reconstituted sandy clays by considering the structural effects of sand particles is still rarely reported. For this, a series of consolidation-permeability coefficient tests were conducted on reconstituted sandy clays with different sand fractions (), initial void ratio of hosted clays () and void ratio at liquid limit of hosted clays (). The roles of in both the relationships of permeability coefficient of hosted clay () versus effective vertical stress () and void ratio of hosted clay () versus were analyzed. The results show that the permeability coefficient of reconstituted sandy clays () is dominated by hosted clay (). Both and affect the of sandy clays by changing the at any given . Due to the partial contacts and densified clay bridges between the sand particles (i.e. structure effects), the in sandy clays is higher than that in clays at the same σ′v. The relationship of sandy clays is independent of and , but is a function of . The types of hosted clays affect the of sandy clays by changing the . Based on the relationship between permeability coefficient and void ratio for the reconstituted clays, an empirical method for determining the is proposed and validated for sandy clays. The predicted values are almost consistent with the measured values with = 0.6 - 2.5.