Fracture Fatigue Life Research Articles

Fracture criteria and initiation mechanism of concrete based on material configurational mechanics

AbstractIn this study, the interaction force between an in‐plane elliptical inclusion and a crack is evaluated using the Eshelby equivalent inclusion and material configurational force method. The toughening effect of coarse aggregates on concrete is investigated. The fracture criteria for mixed‐mode cracks based on the characteristics of the crack‐tip plastic zone assessed by the principal configurational stress difference are proposed and verified by experimental results in the literature. The fracture probability is then used to improve the fracture criteria, and the dimensionless factor associated with stress intensity factors is introduced to determine the fracture probability. Additionally, the volume fraction of coarse aggregates, the age and fatigue life of concrete are considered in the present fracture criteria. Theoretical studies show that the interaction between a crack and a hard or soft inclusion exhibits mutual repulsion and attraction. The size and shape of the crack‐tip plastic zones assessed by the Mises stress and the principal configurational stress difference are essentially the same. The fracture load envelopes increase with the increase in the volume fraction of coarse aggregates and the age of concrete and shrink with the increase in the life ratio.

Influence of Prior Fatigue Damage on Tensile Flow Behaviour of Type 316L(N) Austenitic Stainless Steel

The present study aims to understand the influence of prior fatigue loading on the tensile flow behaviour of austenitic 316L(N) stainless steel. The steel specimens were subjected to prior fatigue damage up to various fatigue life fractions. i.e., 5, 10, 30 and 50% of the fatigue life at a strain amplitude of ±0.6% and a nominal strain rate of 3×10-3 s-1 and 300, 823 and 873 K. Subsequently the specimens were subjected to tensile deformation at the above temperature and strain rate and the tensile flow behaviour was evaluated in terms of Hollomon, Swift, Ludwigson and Voce equations. At 300 K, the flow curves of the specimens of as-received, and prior fatigue damaged were well described by the Ludwigson equation, whereas at 823 and 873 K, both Voce and Ludwigson equation could be used to describe the flow behaviour of the specimens. Increase of work hardening with the increase in prior fatigue damage at 823 and 873 K is attributed to the occurrence of dynamic strain ageing (DSA). At 300 K, a three-stage work hardening behaviour with a prominent stage II athermal hardening was observed for all the specimens, whereas at higher temperatures, only the as-received specimen exhibited the three-stage work hardening behaviour. At 823 and 873 K, a two-stage work hardening behaviour, comprising of a transient stage followed by stage III was observed for the specimens subjected to prior fatigue damage up to various fatigue life fractions. The inter relationship between the work hardening parameters of Ludwigson was rationalised in terms of the linearly inverse relationship between the work hardening rate and plastic strain rates.

Fatigue Crack Initiation and Propagation Relation of Notched Specimens with Welded Joint Characteristics

This study focuses on predicting the fatigue life of notched specimens with geometries and microstructure representative of welded joints. It employs 26 series of fatigue tests on welded and non-welded specimens containing notches located in different material zones, including the parent material, weld metal, and heat-affected zone. Overall, 351 test samples made of six structural steels are included in the present evaluation. For each individual specimen, the stress concentration factor, as well as the stress distribution in the notched section, was determined for subsequent fracture mechanics calculation. The latter is employed to estimate the fraction of fatigue life associated with crack propagation, starting from a small surface crack until fracture. It was shown that the total fatigue life can be realistically predicted by means of fracture mechanics calculations, whereas estimates of the fatigue life until macroscopic crack initiation are subject to numerous uncertainties. Furthermore, methods of statistical data analyses are applied to explore correlations between the S–N curves and the notch acuity characterized by the notch radius, opening angle, and the stress concentration factor. In particular, a strong correlation is observed between the notch acuity and the slope of the S–N curves.

Experimental study on fracture properties of concrete under cyclic loading using digital image correlation method

Three-point bending tests are performed on notched concrete beams under various cyclic loading regimes. Meanwhile, the digital image correlation (DIC) method is used to monitor the crack propagation. The fatigue fracture life decreases with the loading level increases for constant-amplitude cyclic loading. The residual crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) accumulates and fracture stiffness degrades with the loading process. The size of fracture process zone (FPZ) can be determined based on the full displacement field monitored by DIC method. The length of FPZ increases linearly with the increasing of effective crack length before the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) exceeds the critical value. When CTOD exceeds the critical value, a macroscopic crack formed in front of the initial crack tip. For cyclic envelope loading, the length of FPZ increases at beginning and then decreases with the increasing of effective crack length. For constant-amplitude loading, CTOD never reaches the critical value, and the macroscopic crack does not propagate forward. Finally, it is found that both the calculated effective crack lengths of concrete under constant-amplitude loading by two-parameter model (TPM) and DIC methods present three-stage feature, but the values calculated by TPM are smaller than those by DIC method.

Fatigue Fracture Life of Heavy-haul Wagon’s CouplerKnuckle Based on Reliability

Fatigue Fracture Life of Heavy-haul Wagon’s CouplerKnuckle Based on Reliability

Fatigue Crack Growth Behaviour of Precipitate-Strengthened CuNi2Si Alloy under Different Loading Modes

In this study, fatigue crack tests of CuNi2Si alloys using the replica technique under symmetrical tensile-compression loading, and rotational-bending loading were carried out with the same nominal stress amplitude. Observation and analysis results indicate that under different load types, the cracks display a trend of slow initiation growth and then rapid growth. The critical point is identified at the approximate value of 0.8 of the fatigue life fraction, and the crack growth rate of the sample under tensile-compression load is approximately an order of magnitude higher than that under rotational-bending load, resulting in the average life of the former being significantly shorter than the latter. Combining the observation results of the fractographical analysis and the surface-etched sample replica film, it can be seen that whether it is a tensile-compression load or a rotational-bending load, cracks mainly propagate in intergranular mode after initiation.

Dynamic Coercivity of Tempered Ferritic Steel Subjected to Creep-Fatigue for Nondestructive Evaluation by Reversible Permeability

This study aims to characterize nondestructively the creep-fatigue damage of tempered ferritic steel by dynamic coercivity measured by reversible permeability. The creep-fatigue test was achieved under load control with a hold time of 60 s and 600 s. The dynamic coercivity based on the reversible magnetic permeability profiles was successfully obtained on top of the test specimen. Based on these results, we attempted to evaluate the creep-fatigue of tempered ferritic steel with the support of microstructural evaluation such as dislocations and precipitates. The dynamic coercivity decreases with fatigue life fraction and closely related to the number of Cr23C6 precipitates with N0.8 and the dislocation density with ρ0.4 In addition, Vickers’s hardness continuously decreased up to the failure deducing the softening of mechanical strength. In conclusion, it can nondestructively characterize the influence of the precipitates and dislocation density on the dynamic coercivity of ferritic steel during creep-fatigue.

Initiation and Early-Stage Growth of Internal Fatigue Cracking Under Very-High-Cycle Fatigue Regime at High Temperature

The initiation and early-stage crack growth under very-high-cycle fatigue (VHCF) at room temperature, 750 °C, and 850 °C on directionally solidified Ni-base superalloy have been investigated. There was little frequency effect of 20 kHz on fatigue lives when compared with 100 Hz, nor did the deformation and fracture mechanisms. Dislocation tangles re-arranged themselves to form well-defined networks at interface of γ/γ′, accounting for the enhanced fatigue strength at 850 °C in VHCF regime when compared to that at 750 °C. In most cases, internal casting pore was the crack initiation site. Crack initiation and early-stage growth occurred on one of the {111} planes or their intersecting planes, a characteristic of Stage I cracking. With the use of optimized intermittent loading conditions, both the initiation and early-stage crack growth processes were successfully tracked on the basis of fine but visible beach marks within the Stage I cracking region. The first registered fatigue beach mark can be as close as only 86 μm to the crack initiation site and the crack length increased steadily over the whole early-stage crack growth stage. The enhanced fatigue strength at 850 °C can be rationalized with the higher threshold for propagating the early-stage crack. The fraction of fatigue life consumed for early-stage crack growth reduces with the decreasing stress, eventually leading to the initiation-controlling VHCF fatigue failure. The implications of these results are discussed with respect to the model prediction of fatigue life and fatigue strength.

Prediction of the Ultra-Low-Cycle Fatigue Damage of Q345qC Steel and its Weld Joint.

Based on the continuum damage mechanics model (CDM) for monotonic tension, a new CDM for ultra-low-cycle fatigue (ULCF) is put forward to predict ULCF damage of steel and its weld joint under strong earthquakes. The base metal, heat-affected zone and weld metal of Q345qC steel were considered as research objects, and the uniaxial plastic strain threshold of the CDM model was calibrated via tensile testing combined with finite element analysis of notched round bar specimens. ULCF tests of the base metal and weld specimens were carried out to analyse their fatigue life, fracture life and post-fracture path. Based on the calibrated uniaxial plastic strain threshold, the finite element models of base metal and weld specimens suitable for CDM model were established by ABAQUS. The calibration results of material parameters show that the weld metal has the lowest plastic strain threshold and the largest dispersion coefficient at the plastic strain threshold. Prediction results under cyclic loading with a large strain were compared with experimental values, and results showed that the predicted crack initiation and fracture lives of the base metal and weld specimens are lower than their corresponding experimental values. The predicted errors of crack initiation life and fracture life decrease with increasing strain level. The development law of the damage variable reveals exponential growth combined with a stepped pattern. The CDM model can also accurately predict the number of cycles to initial damage. Taking the results together, the CDM of the ULCF of the base metal and weld specimens could successfully predict post-fracture paths.

Fatigue–oxidation–creep damage model under axial-torsional thermo-mechanical loading

A fatigue–oxidation–creep damage model that can take into account the effect of multiaxial cyclic feature on the damage mechanism is proposed under axial-torsional thermo-mechanical fatigue loading. In the proposed model, the effects of non-proportional additional hardening on fatigue, oxidation, and creep damages are considered, and the variation of oxidation damage under different high temperature loading conditions is also described. Moreover, the intergranular creep damage needs to be equivalent to the transgranular damage before accumulating with the fatigue and oxidation damages. The fatigue, oxidation, and creep damages can be expressed as the fractions of fatigue life, critical crack length, and creep rupture time, respectively, which allows the linear accumulation of different types of damages on the basis of life fraction rule. In addition, the proposed model is validated by various fatigue experimental results, including uniaxial thermo-mechanical fatigue, axial-torsional thermo-mechanical fatigue, and isothermal axial-torsional fatigue under proportional and non-proportional loadings. The results showed that the errors are within a factor of 2.

Ultra-Low Cycle Fatigue Fracture Life of a Type of Buckling Restrained Brace

Buckling restrained braced frames (BRBFs) are considered as popular seismic-resistant structural systems. A BRB sustains large plastic deformations without brace buckling. The core of a buckling restrained brace is prone to fatigue fracture under cyclic loading. The earthquake induced fracture type of the core plate in a buckling restrained brace can be categorized as ultra-low cycle fatigue fracture. This paper investigates the ultra-low cycle fatigue fracture life of a type of composite buckling restrained brace previously tested. The newly developed cyclic void growth model was adopted to theoretically predict the fracture and crack initiation in the core. In addition, the Coffin-Manson fatigue damage model was applied to estimate the fracture life of the brace. A FEM model of the BRB developed in ABAQUS was used to evaluate the fatigue life. The analysis results showed that the cyclic void growth model is capable to nearly predict the fracture life of the core in buckling restrained brace.

Experimental Investigation of Second-Harmonic Lamb Wave Generation in Additively Manufactured Aluminum

The correlation between the nonlinear acousto-ultrasonic response and the progressive accumulation of fatigue damage is investigated for an additively manufactured aluminum alloy AlSi7Mg and compared with the behavior of a conventional wrought aluminum alloy 6060-T5. A dual transducer and wedge setup is employed to excite a 30-cycle Hann-windowed tone burst at a center frequency of 500 kHz in plate-like specimens that are 7.2 mm thick. This choice of frequency-thickness is designed to excite the symmetric Lamb mode s1, which, in turn, generates a second-harmonic s2 mode in the presence of distributed material nonlinearity. This s1-s2 mode pair satisfies the conditions for internal resonance, thereby leading to a cumulative build-up of amplitude for the second-harmonic s2 mode with increasing propagation distance. Measurements of a nonlinearity parameter β derived from the second-harmonic amplitude are plotted against propagation distance at various fractions of fatigue life under constant amplitude loading, for three different stress levels corresponding to low-cycle fatigue (LCF), high-cycle fatigue (HCF), and an intermediate case. The results show both qualitative and quantitative differences between LCF and HCF, and between the additively manufactured specimens and the wrought alloy. The potential use of this nonlinearity parameter for monitoring the early stages of fatigue damage accumulation, and hence for predicting the residual fatigue life, is discussed, as well as the potential for quality control of the additive manufacturing (AM) process.

Material Composition Design and Anticracking Performance Evaluation of Asphalt Rubber Stress‐Absorbing Membrane Interlayer (AR‐SAMI)

To promote the application of the asphalt rubber stress‐absorbing membrane interlayer (AR‐SAMI), the material composition design and the evaluation of antireflective cracking effect of AR‐SAMI need to be studied. In this paper, conventional asphalt tests, dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) test, and fatigue cracking test were conducted to evaluate the high and low temperature performance, elastic recovery property, and antifatigue performance of SK90# raw asphalt, asphalt rubber, and SBS‐modified asphalt. The AR‐SAMI’s material composition design method based on the interlaminar shear strength was put forward. The influence of the asphalt application rate and aggregate application rate on interlaminar shear strength was also discussed to determine the optimum material composition. The fatigue cracking test was designed based on the Hamburg rutting instrument, and the cracking resistance of AR‐SAMI was analyzed. The results indicate that asphalt rubber is the suitable binder for SAMI. The application rates of asphalt and aggregate have significant impact on the interlaminar shear strength of AR‐SAMI. The optimum binder application rate of asphalt rubber and aggregate application rate are 2.2 kg/m2 and 14 kg/m2, respectively, for AR‐SAMI. The fatigue cracking life and fatigue fracture life of composite specimens increase obviously after AR‐SAMI is paved. The increasing range of fatigue life because of the use of AR‐SAMI is up to 30% under the dry condition of 15°C. The decreasing range of fatigue life caused by water reaches as high as 50%. The fatigue life falls sharply when the temperature increases from 15°C–25°C to 35°C–45°C.

Statistical evolution of short fatigue crack growth rate for LZ50 axle steel

Initiation and propagation of short fatigue crack occupy most of the fatigue life of metal components with smooth surface. To characterize the statistical evolution behavior of short fatigue crack growth, totally 9 hourglass shaped specimens were fatigued under a loading frequency of 15 Hz by short fatigue crack replica test method. Afterwards, according to the “effective short fatigue crack criterion”, replica test results were observed. Growth rate of DESFC for all specimens were obtained and analyzed. Combined with metallurgical test of LZ50 axle steel, conclusions can be drawn that it is the restraints of ferrite grain boundary and rich pearlite banded structure that cause the twice decline of DESFC growth rate. DESFC growth rates of each specimen at 10 given crack lengths and fatigue life fractions were obtained using linear interpolation method. The dispersion of DESFC growth rates was large and not steady in early cycles of MSC stage. But with the increase of loading cycles, the overall dispersion come down in later cycles of PSC stage gradually. Furthermore, seven commonly used distributions, i.e., 3PWD, 2PWD, ND, LND, EMVD1, EMVD2 and ED, were compared on three aspects, i.e., total fitting effect, consistency with the relevant fatigue physics, and safety of design evaluation. The results show that the ND, instead of 3PWD and 2PWD, is a good distribution for the growth rates of DESFC.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.23.2.18108

Study of Mechanical Degradation of 9Cr-1Mo-V-Nb Steel Under Creep-Fatigue Interaction Conditions

Creep-fatigue tests of 9Cr-1Mo-V-Nb steel have been conducted under load control with further study of the steel mechanical degradation via microscopic observation, static-mechanical analysis and ultrasonic evaluation. The tempered specimens exhibited a tempered martensitic structure with a high dislocation density in the lath interior and fine precipitates on the previous austenite grain and martensite lath boundaries. However, the major microstructure changes to the 9Cr-1Mo-V-Nb steel caused by creep-fatigue were the coarsening of Cr23C6 precipitates, the recovery of dislocations due to rearrangement and annihilation, an increase in the martensite lath width, and the formation of cavities. The ultrasonic velocity was observed to increase rapidly within the initial fatigue life fraction (stage I), but the attenuation decreased during this stage. During stage II, there was a slight increase in the ultrasonic velocity and the attenuation subsequently decreased. The ultrasonic velocity decreased and the attenuation increased during the final period (stage III) of fatigue life.

Effect of Mean Stress on Small Fatigue Crack Growth Rate on Low Carbon Steel with Several Simulated HAZ Heat Treatment

In this study, to clarify the effect of microstructure of Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) and residual stress of weld on small fatigue crack growth behavior, uniaxial fatigue testing with surface small fatigue crack growth observation were carried out for low carbon steel with three simulated HAZ heat treatment under several mean stress conditions. As a results, εna type small crack growth law was also effective to HAZ microstructure under zero mean stress. Under tensile mean stress condition, fatigue fracture life and small fatigue crack growth life were decreased. In addition, it is clarified that small fatigue crack growth rate acceleration under tensile mean stress was able to be evaluated by using Smith-Watson-Topper equivalent strain εeq which is obtained from mean stress dependency of fatigue fracture life for smooth specimen and εeqna type modified small crack growth law was proposed. Furthermore, it is clarified that εeq was proportional to εeff which was evaluated by crack opening point measured with Digital Image Correlation technique. It is considered that equivalent strain εeq implicitly includes small crack growth life and effect of crack closure.

Creep-Fatigue Behavior Evaluation by Reversible Permeability of CrMo Ferritic Steel for Ultra-Supercritical Steam Power Plants

The creep-fatigue of ferritic CrMo steel has been investigated by measuring the peak interval of the reversible magnetic permeability profile. The peak interval of reversible permeability was discussed in relation to the microstructural evolution during creep-fatigue. The peak interval decreased monotonously during creep-fatigue to 0.8N f and increased thereafter. The decrease in the peak interval with increasing fatigue life fraction was related to the coarsening of fine precipitates and recovery of martensite laths. There is a strong linear relationship between the hardness and peak interval of reversible permeability.

On the Relationship Between Cyclic Deformation Behavior and Slip Mode in 316LN Stainless Steel with Varying Nitrogen Content

The relationship between cyclic deformation, slip-mode and dislocation structures is investigated in 316LN stainless steel (with 0.07–0.22 wt% Nitrogen) subjected to low cycle fatigue at temperatures in the range 300–873 K and at a 0.6 % strain amplitude. Irrespective of the nitrogen content, cyclic softening/saturation occupied a large fraction of fatigue life at temperatures <773 K. The end-of-life dislocation structures (e.g. dislocation cells, planar slip-bands) characterizing the cyclic softening/saturation belong to wavy/mixed/planar slip-modes of deformation. On the other hand at temperatures ≥773 K, similar dislocation structures are noticed to be associated with significant cyclic strengthening with limited softening. The differences in the above deformation behavior is found to be controlled not by the nature of slip-mode but by the consequences of dynamic strain aging occurrence (e.g. significant cyclic strengthening and pronounced serrations) which are noticed to vary in the temperature range 573–873 K. Maximum fatigue life is observed at 0.11–0.14 wt% N that induced mixed mode of deformation.

Microstructural mechanisms of cyclic deformation, fatigue crack initiation and early crack growth.

In this survey, the origin of fatigue crack initiation and damage evolution in different metallic materials is discussed with emphasis on the responsible microstructural mechanisms. After a historical introduction, the stages of cyclic deformation which precede the onset of fatigue damage are reviewed. Different types of cyclic slip irreversibilities in the bulk that eventually lead to the initiation of fatigue cracks are discussed. Examples of trans- and intercrystalline fatigue damage evolution in the low cycle, high cycle and ultrahigh cycle fatigue regimes in mono- and polycrystalline face-centred cubic and body-centred cubic metals and alloys and in different engineering materials are presented, and some microstructural models of fatigue crack initiation and early crack growth are discussed. The basic difficulties in defining the transition from the initiation to the growth of fatigue cracks are emphasized. In ultrahigh cycle fatigue at very low loading amplitudes, the initiation of fatigue cracks generally occupies a major fraction of fatigue life and is hence life controlling.

Fatigue damage evaluation of austenitic stainless steel using nonlinear ultrasonic waves in low cycle regime

The interrupted low cycle fatigue test of austenitic stainless steel was conducted and the dislocation structure and fatigue damage was evaluated subsequently by using both transmission electron microscope and nonlinear ultrasonic wave techniques. A “mountain shape” correlation between the nonlinear acoustic parameter and the fatigue life fraction was achieved. This was ascribed to the generation and evolution of planar dislocation structure and nonplanar dislocation structure such as veins, walls, and cells. The “mountain shape” correlation was interpreted successfully by the combined contribution of dislocation monopole and dipole with an internal-stress dependent term of acoustic nonlinearity.