Tensile Fatigue Research Articles

Standard specimen geometries do not always lead to consistent fatigue results for epoxy adhesives

This paper questions the recommendation regarding the use of standard specimen geometries, (Type I, Type II, and Type IV), for estimating the tensile quasi-static and fatigue properties of structural epoxy adhesives. The work presents results from an experimental program investigating the performance of structural epoxy adhesives indicating a significant effect of the specimen geometry, especially when referring to fatigue loading. Simple finite element models are also developed to facilitate the comparison of the stress distribution along the three specimen geometries. The fatigue experimental results allowed the derivation of probabilistic S-N curves, showing higher fatigue sensitivity of Type I specimens compared to Type II and IV. Furthermore, probability distribution function (PDF) curves of the equivalent static strength estimated by using Sendeckyj’s wear-out model attributed lower mean strength and higher variance for Type I specimens validating the fatigue data.

Study on surface integrity and fatigue performance of FeCoCrNiAl₀.₆ high-entropy alloy based on thermo-mechanical coordinated control

This study investigates the effects of various lubrication techniques on the surface integrity and fatigue life of FeCoCrNiAl0.6 high-entropy alloy during machining. By combining cutting experiments, fatigue tensile tests, and Abaqus/Fe-safe simulations, the research offers a comparative analysis of surface morphology, roughness, and fatigue life across different lubrication scenarios.The findings show a marked improvement in surface quality as cutting speed increases under all lubrication conditions. However, increased cutting depth generally leads to a decline in surface flatness. Specifically, surface roughness decreases with higher cutting speeds. For example, at 1200 m/min in dry cutting, the surface roughness is around 0.77 μm, which drops to 0.40 μm at 3000 m/min, representing a 48 % reduction. Under cryogenic minimum quantity lubrication (CMQL) at 1200 m/min, the roughness is 0.49 μm, decreasing to 0.25 μm at higher speeds, reflecting a 48.9 % reduction.However, increased cutting depth significantly deteriorates surface quality, with a notable rise in surface roughness values. Among the tested lubrication techniques, surface quality ranks as follows: CMQL > MQL > Dry.Regarding fatigue life, higher cutting speeds substantially enhance tensile cycle counts under all lubrication conditions. Specimens under CMQL achieved 2,000,042 cycles, compared to 1,238,520 cycles with minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and 702,245 cycles in dry cutting—equating to 61.9 % and 35.1 % of the tensile cycle count for CMQL, respectively.Fatigue life decreases with greater cutting depth. For example, compared to a 0.2 mm cutting depth, tensile fatigue cycles decrease by 87.9 % for CMQL, 86 % for MQL, and 91.8 % for dry cutting at a depth of 0.5 mm.

Strong, tough and environment-tolerant organohydrogels for flaw-insensitive strain sensing.

Conductive organohydrogels are promising for strain sensing, while their weak mechanical properties, poor crack propagation resistance and unstable sensing signals during long-term use have seriously limited their applications as high-performance strain sensors. Here, we propose a facile method, i.e., solvent exchange assisted hot-pressing, to prepare strong yet tough, transparent and anti-fatigue ionically conductive organohydrogels (ICOHs). The densified polymeric network and improved crystallinity endow ICOHs with excellent mechanical properties. The tensile strength, toughness, fracture energy and fatigue threshold of ICOHs can reach 36.12 ± 4.15 MPa, 54.57 ± 2.89 MJ m-3, 43.44 ± 8.54 kJ m-2 and 1212.86 ± 57.20 J m-2, respectively, with a satisfactory fracture strain of 266 ± 33%. In addition, ICOH strain sensors with freezing and drying resistance exhibit excellent cycling stability (10 000 cycles). More importantly, the fatigue resistance allows the notched strain sensor to work normally with no crack propagation and output stable and reliable sensing signals. Overall, the unique flaw-insensitive strain sensing makes ICOHs promising in the field of wearable and durable electronics.

DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROGENATED SBR-BASED VULCANIZATE WITH SUPERIOR TIRE TREAD PERFORMANCE

ABSTRACT Currently, the tire industry is exploring eco-friendly tires with improved rolling resistance, traction, abrasion resistance, and fatigue properties. The present study investigates the potentiality of the hydrogenated styrene butadiene rubber (HSBR), a special and modified grade of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) as a tyre tread material. The rheological, mechanical, dynamic mechanical, abrasion resistance, fatigue resistance, aging resistance and ozone resistance properties of the developed HSBR-based composites were critically evaluated and compared with those of conventional rubbers such as natural rubber (NR), emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (ESBR) and solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) based composites. Interestingly, the HSBR-based vulcanizates exhibited superior modulus, tensile strength, abrasion resistance, fatigue crack growth resistance, resistance to thermo-oxidative aging, and ozone resistance as compared to the conventional SBR–based vulcanizates. The modulus at 300% elongation of the HSBR-based vulcanizate was approximately 74% and 11% higher than that of the ESBR- and SSBR-based composites, respectively, whereas the improvements in tensile strength were approximately 88% and 64% and the improvements in abrasion resistance were approximately 250% and 200% than that of the ESBR and SSBR vulcanizates, respectively. The tensile strength and fatigue resistance characteristics of the HSBR vulcanizate were also nearly similar to those of the NR vulcanizate. The findings demonstrate that HSBR can be a potential tire tread material with robust physico-mechanical properties and durability.

Study on the effects of bilateral laser-assisted cutting on surface integrity and fatigue life of FeCoCrNiAl0.6 alloy

This study investigates the impact of various cutting parameters in both unilateral and bilateral laser-assisted cutting processes on the surface integrity and fatigue life of FeCoCrNiAl0.6 high-entropy alloy. By utilizing ABAQUS/FE-SAFE simulations and conducting laser-assisted cutting and fatigue tensile tests, differences in surface quality and fatigue life cycles of FeCoCrNiAl0.6 alloy samples under different cutting scenarios were evaluated. The results indicate that in high-speed laser-assisted cutting, an increase in laser speed leads to a progressive decline in surface quality for both unilateral and bilateral methods. Nevertheless, at a laser speed of 4000 mm/s, optimal surface quality is achieved in both approaches, with the bilateral method consistently providing superior results across varying speeds. Regarding residual stress, unilateral laser-assisted cutting at 4000 mm/s produces a surface residual compressive stress of 532 MPa, which is twice as high as that observed at 10000 mm/s. The bilateral method shows a symmetric distribution of residual compressive stress, with peak values of 567 MPa and 528 MPa on the front and back surfaces, respectively. In terms of fatigue life, bilateral laser-assisted cutting demonstrates enhanced performance at 4000 mm/s, achieving a fatigue life cycle that is 4.72 times longer than that of the unilateral method. Overall, bilateral laser-assisted cutting improves the fatigue life of the material through symmetric thermal effects and higher residual compressive stress, particularly at lower laser speeds and optimal cutting depths.

A comparative study of self pierceing riveting and mechanical clinch of DP590-Al5754 high-strength steel and aluminum alloys

This paper presents a comparative study of two joining processes, self piercing riveting (SPR) and mechanical clinch, used to join DP590 high-strength steel and Al5754 aluminum alloy. A comparative study of microhardness, tensile shear properties, fatigue properties, and economics of joints from both processes was conducted. The findings indicate that the highest hardness levels are observed in the rivet leg region for SPR joints and in the neck region for mechanical clinch joints. The maximum failure load and energy absorption values of SPR joints were found to be 1.46 and 9.07 times higher, respectively, than those of mechanical clinch joints. The static tensile test results demonstrate that the strength and hardness of SPR joints in aluminum sheets subjected to cold work hardening are significantly lower than those of steel sheets. Therefore, the failure of SPR joints is primarily attributed to the deformation and fracture of the lower aluminum sheet. Mechanical clinch joints fail by neck fracture because the steel sheet neck becomes brittle by cold work hardening and the neck thickness is small. The fatigue behavior of SPR joints was observed to be superior to that of mechanical clinch joints. The findings of the scanning electron microscopy and energy spectrum analysis suggest that fretting wear between the upper and lower sheets results in fatigue fracture of the lower sheet in the joints. When joining the same material on a large scale, the selection of mechanical clinch over SPR can prove an effective method of reducing costs. Furthermore, the selection of a set of dies with an extended life can contribute to the reduction of joining costs.

Low-Cycle Fatigue Damage Mechanism and Life Prediction of High-Strength Compacted Graphite Cast Iron at Different Temperatures.

Tensile and low-cycle fatigue tests of high-strength compacted graphite cast iron (CGI, RuT450) were carried out at 25 °C, 400 °C, and 500 °C, respectively. The results show that with the increase in temperature, the tensile strength decreases slowly and then decreases rapidly. The fatigue life decreases, and the life reduction increases at high temperature and high strain amplitude. The oxide layer appears around the graphite and cracks at high temperature, and the dependence of crack propagation on ferrite gradually decreases. With the increase in strain amplitude, the initial cyclic stress of compacted graphite cast iron increases at three temperatures, and the cyclic hardening phenomenon is obvious. The fatigue life prediction method based on the energy method and damage mechanism for compacted graphite cast iron is summarized and proposed after comparing and analyzing a large amount of fatigue data.

Rotating bending fatigue behavior of high-pressure diecast AlSi10MgMn alloy based on T5 heat treatment parameters

Abstract The study investigates fatigue failure, a common phenomenon in machine elements subjected to cyclic stresses. The analysis emphasizes that the actual stress experienced by materials often falls below their tensile and yield strengths due to repetitive variable stresses, leading to fatigue damage. Fatigue life is measured by the number of cycles endured before failure. This paper focuses on the aluminum alloy of AlSi10MgMn, extensively used in manufacturing due to its strength, low density, and corrosion resistance. Experimental procedures encompassed tensile testing, microstructural examination, SEM analysis, and fatigue testing. Tensile tests provided initial stress values for fatigue testing. Microstructure analyses verified that heat-treated samples exhibited precipitates. SEM analysis disclosed microstructural characteristics, while fracture surface examinations demonstrated higher fatigue resistance in heat-treated specimens. Hardness measurements were conducted, with heat-treated samples showing higher values. Theoretical calculations based on stress and cycle numbers were compared to experimental fatigue results. The derived equations aligned well with the tests. Ultimately, the study underlines the importance of heat treatment on material behavior and fatigue resistance, shedding light on alloy performance and durability enhancement.

Mechanical performance of an asphalt stabilized base with natural asphalt, hydrated lime and Portland cement

This study aimed to evaluate the mechanical performance of an asphalt stabilized base with natural asphalt mix (ASB-NA) with added contents of 1.0 %, 2.0 %, and 3.0 % of Hydrated Lime (HL) and Portland Cement (PC). Tests were employed under dry and wet conditions to analyze the response to monotonic loading in compression and indirect traction and evaluate the susceptibility to water. Additional tests were conducted to analyze the resistance to cyclic dynamic loading, employing resilient modulus, permanent deformation, and fatigue resistance testing. The results reported that adding HL and PC in ASB-NA significantly increased the mechanical performance under monotonic and dynamic loading. These increases were evidenced by higher compressive strength, indirect tensile strength, resilient modulus, fatigue resistance and permanent deformation. Regarding water susceptibility (durability), higher resistance values to moisture damage were presented for the samples with 2 % HL and PC contents. This paper presents new materials for pavement asphalt base courses, which would reduce asphalt consumption, save energy, cut costs, and protect the environment.

Tensile and low-cycle fatigue failure of carbon fiber reinforced aluminium laminates

Fiber metal laminates (FMLs) have emerged as advanced materials for engineering applications due to their high strength-to-weight ratio. This study aims to understand the mechanical response and failure mechanisms of carbon-fiber reinforced aluminium laminates (CARALL) under monotonic and cyclic loading, specifically uniaxial tensile and low-cycle fatigue (LCF) conditions. CARALL, fabricated with alternating (3/2) layers of AA2024-T3 and unidirectional carbon fiber composite, exhibits superior ultimate tensile strength (UTS) compared to AA2024-T3 sheets, with a distinctive three-zone stress-strain curve. The first zone shows elastic strain in both the aluminium alloy and laminate. The second zone features elastic strain in the laminate and plastic strain in the aluminium alloy. In the third zone, surface modifications enhance adhesion, leading to a sudden load drop due to fiber fracture or delamination. Fractographic analysis indicates no significant necking in the laminate, contrasting with the ductile failure of AA2024-T3. The carbon fiber layer exhibits a pure brittle fracture with visible delamination at the interphase of carbon fiber layer and aluminium alloy sheet. Under LCF conditions, the laminate’s cyclic stress response remains stable, with fatigue cracks initiating in the aluminium layers but mitigated by the carbon fibers, leading to cyclic softening. High-magnification images reveal striation marks and transverse micro-cracks in the aluminium, highlighting the complex interaction between aluminium and carbon fiber layers during fatigue.

Microstructure and fatigue properties of laser-MIG hybrid welding of medium-thickness 6005A aluminum alloy

Light alloys represented by aluminum alloys have a wide range of applications in railway transportation, the key load-bearing parts of high-speed train bodies are welded with a large number of medium-thickness plates, so the study of the welding performance of medium-thickness aluminum alloy plates is significant. In this study, laser-MIG hybrid welding technology is used to realize the single-layer, single-pass welding of 6005A aluminum alloy plate with a thickness of 10 mm. The grains in the weld zone (WZ) are coarsened by welding heat, and the average diameter is about 1.6 times that of the base metal (BM), while the average grain diameter in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) is similar to that of the BM. A softening phenomenon is observed in the welded joint, with a minimum hardness of 72.6 HV in the HAZ. TEM analysis shows that the softening phenomenon is caused by the coarsening of precipitate phases in the HAZ. In terms of tensile properties, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the welded joint is approximately 237 MPa, which is 70.1 % of the BM. The fatigue strength (Nf = 2 × 106 cycles) of the welded joints is predicted to be 83 MPa, which is 64 % of the yield strength (YS), from the S-N curve obtained by fitting the tension–compression fatigue test data. Different morphologies of secondary phase particles are observed in the fatigue crack propagation zone, and their formation and effects on secondary crack are described. The fracture location indicates that softening behavior in the HAZ is the main factor influencing tensile performance, while defects in the WZ are the primary factors affecting fatigue fracture. The experimental results can enrich the tensile and compressive fatigue data of 6005A aluminum alloy.

The concentration influence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes coating on fatigue edge crack growth and other mechanical properties of Al 7075-T6 thin plates

In the current study, the incline edge crack growth behavior in an aluminum alloy 7075-T6 specimens (which were coated using nickel-carbon nanotubes electroless coating) has been investigated undergoes uniaxial tensile fatigue loading. High purity multi walled carbon nanotubes have been used in nano-coating solutions with various concentrations (1 g/l, 2 g/l and 3 g/l) to examine the improvement extent of fatigue crack growth resistance and other mechanical properties. Water jet technique was used to cutting aluminum plates to the required dimensions before the nano-coating procedure. Multi-purpose fatigue apparatus has been adopted to apply tensile fatigue loading with zero stress ratios. High magnification camera with image j software has been utilized to measure the propagated crack lengths with the number of fatigue cycles. To inspection the quality, thickness uniformity and homogeneity of the nano-coating layer over specimen surfaces, EDXRF and FESEM techniques have been adopted in this study. Numerical simulation using ABAQUS 2021 programming was performed for the purpose of the results validation. The measured results offered a 25.9 %, 44.5 % and 47.9 % increasing in the hardness of the coated specimens using 1 g/l, 2 g/l and 3 g/l MWCNTs respectively. The modulus of elasticity produced an increasing of 26.7 %, 44.4 % and 46.3 % for the coated specimens using 1 g/l, 2 g/l and 3 g/l MWCNTs respectively. The nano-coating with 2 g/l MWCNTs produced more homogeneous, uniform thickness coating layer and fatigue crack growth resistance than that of the coated specimens using other concentrations of MWCNTs. The similarity in the crack growth behavior was the major outcome of the results validation from the fatigue tests and numerical simulation.

An Investigation of Tensile, Fatigue, and Fracture Behavior of 3D-Printed Polymers

Abstract The progression of manufacturing technology has significantly benefited from the adoption of 3D printing techniques, which enable the production of parts with intricate geometries. However, it is important to acknowledge that components fabricated through this additive manufacturing method frequently manifest defects and are prone to failure under severe conditions. Therefore, a thorough examination of the mechanical properties of these parts is essential to effectively reduce the failure. This study aimed to explore the mechanical properties of two prevalently used 3D-printed polymers, specifically Onyx and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), by integrating computational and experimental analyses. The experimental study utilized a material testing system and digital image correlation (DIC) technology, while the computational analysis covered the finite element (FE) modeling of the 3D-printed samples. The research focused on evaluating the tensile strength and fatigue resistance of the specimens printed in various orientations, alongside a detailed investigation of their fracture behavior. The crack propagation analysis was carried out using the DIC system and the separating morphing and adaptive re-meshing technology (SMART) scheme in ansys. It was observed that upright build orientation produced the weakest samples for axial loading and specimens with notches failed earlier than those without. Moreover, Onyx was found to have a higher resistance to fracture or failure compared to ABS. The FE modeling results demonstrated strong agreement with the experimental results, validating their accuracy and reliability in characterizing the critical mechanical response of 3D-printed parts rapidly and cost effectively.

Comparative study on tensile and high cycle fatigue behaviour of 316L(N) SS hardfaced with Ni-Cr-B-Si alloy by GTA and laser cladding processes

In sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFR), 316L(N) SS grid plate is hardfaced with Ni-Cr-B-Si alloy to achieve higher wear resistance. Tensile and fatigue forces are acting at the interface between substrate and deposit due to different thermal expansion coefficients of those two materials, which can cause cracking of deposit and fracture during operation. Thus, it is very important to consider appropriate hardfacing method which can provide higher tensile and fatigue strength to avoid cracking/debonding at the interface. To find a solution to this problem, two hardfacing techniques, namely Gas Tungsten Arc (GTA) and Laser cladding (LC), are taken into consideration. Hardfaced specimens are prepared using each process on which tensile and high cycle fatigue tests are conducted. From the experimental testing, stress-strain and S-N curves are generated to predict the tensile and fatigue behaviour of specimens. Fractographic studies are conducted at fractured surfaces to understand the fatigue crack nucleation and propagation characteristics. The experimental results for both processes are compared. Tensile and fatigue strength of LC specimens are ∼11 % and ∼17 % less than those of GTA specimens due to its higher brittleness. Thus, GTA process is recommended as the efficient hardfacing process for grid plate of SFR.

Precursor Damage Quantification in Composite Structures Using Coda Wave Interferometry and Nonlinear Ultrasonics

Abstract Methods to quantification of precursor damage in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite structures are reported herein. These techniques include coda wave interferometry (CWI) and nonlinear ultrasonics (NLU). Since low-frequency Lamb wave propagation is insensitive to the early-stage material degradation, it is shown that decoding the information in coda wave can overcome this well-known limitation. To conclude this possibility, CWI technique is cross verified with a traditional high-frequency ultrasound method. To achieve this goal, a tensile–tensile fatigue experiment was designed for CFRP composite specimens. By inducing controlled fatigue damage in these structures, material states are assessed using low-frequency (<500 kHz) ultrasonic guided wave and high-frequency (>10 MHz) P-wave. Stretching guided coda wave is utilized to quantify the precursor damage as a unique approach in this article. However, such method could be illuded by the changes in the signals due to bonds and contacts. To verify if the CWI is successful, and to evaluate the precursor damage in composite structures, additional nonlinear analysis of ultrasonic signals from both guided waves and P-waves is performed. Higher order nonlinearities in both low-frequency guided wave and high-frequency P-wave propagation demonstrate the growth of precursor damage in CFRP composite structures. So does the CWI of low-frequency guided wave data. Accuracy of these ultrasonic techniques is validated with experimentally obtained remaining strengths of the fatigue specimens. With this verification it is envisioned that both CWI and NLU together could quantify the precursor damage in composite structures.

Tannic acid based multifunctional hydrogels with mechanical stability for wound healing

Conventional wound dressings have poor tissue adhesion and mechanical stability, restricting their applications in dynamic motion environments. Tannic acid (TA) was ideal candidates for current dressing materials due to their well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the inevitable polymerization problem of TA limited the one-step synthesis of dressings. Herein, we reported a simple one-pot method to prepare double-network hydrogels containing N-acryloyl glycinamide (NAGA), N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide (HEAA) and TA. The resulting NHT hydrogel exhibited excellent tensile properties, fatigue resistance, and notch insensitivity to ensure mechanical stability under large deformation and stress in vitro. The NHT hydrogel also demonstrated room-temperature self-healing, broad adhesion to various substrates, synergistic swelling ability. In addition, catechol and benzene rings from TA helped shield against UV radiation and acted as free radical scavengers to relieve oxidative stress in wound damage. As a result, full-layer wounds in mice treated with NHT patches showed a higher healing rate, in which epithelialization was completed within 14 days. The integrated function enables hydrogel to maintain mechanical stability in dynamic motion environments with high strain and defects, with great potential for future clinical translation.

A super-stretchable and anti-fatigue silicone gel by regulating chain entanglement and cross-link density

Applications of silicone gel in flexible devices and soft machines require it to maintain excellent stretchability and antifatigue. However, the reported fatigue threshold of traditional silicone gels is in the range of 1–100 J m−2 and the stretchability below 2000 %. Herein, we report a simple strategy for constructing soft polydimethylsiloxane gels, which possesses high stretchability up to 8300 %, and high fatigue resistance (321 J m−2). This is achieved by controlling the ratio of chemical crosslinking and physical entanglement in the polydimethylsiloxane gels. The symbiotic relationship of this combination includes: extending the polymer chains helps them unfold to increase softness and intrinsic toughness; controlling the physical entanglement and chemical cross-linking helps to further increase the tensile rate and fatigue threshold, and adding small-molecule dimethyl PDMS as a solvent further increases fatigue resistance and tensile properties. This work provides a facile approach for developing super-stretchable and anti-fatigue silicone gel, which promises wide range of applicant in flexible devices and soft machines.

Effect of Laser Heat Input on the Microstructures and Low-Cycle Fatigue Properties of Ti60 Laser Welded Joints

In this paper, the effects of laser heat input on the microstructures, tensile strength, and fatigue properties of Ti60 laser welded joints were investigated. The results show that with the increase in laser heat input, the macro morphology of the weld zone (WZ) changes from the Y-type to X-type. In the Y-type WZ, the porosity defects are almost eliminated. In contrast, there are a lot of porosity defects in the lower part of the X-type WZ. The microstructure of the base metal (BM) comprises equiaxed α phases, and β phases are mainly distributed at the boundaries of α phases. The heat-affected zone (HAZ) is comprised of α phases and acicular α′ phases, while the WZ mainly contains acicular α′ phases. With the increase in laser heat input, the quantity of the α phase gradually decreases and the acicular α′ phase gradually increases in the HAZ, and the size of the acicular α′ phase in the WZ gradually decreases. Due to the different microstructures, the hardness of BM is lower than the HAZ and WZ under different laser heat input conditions. In the tensile tests and low-cycle fatigue tests, the welded joints are fractured in BM. The porosity defects do not have decisive effects on the tensile and low-cycle fatigue properties of Ti60 laser welded joints.

Tensile and Low Cycle Fatigue Response of SS321 at Room Temperature

Tensile and Low Cycle Fatigue Response of SS321 at Room Temperature

Hygrothermal aging effect on static and fatigue behavior of three-dimensional five-directional hybrid braided composites under tension

This paper attempts to study the hygrothermal aging effect on static and fatigue behavior of carbon/glass fiber three-dimensional five-directional (3D5D) hybrid braided composites under tension. Firstly, moisture absorption tests and micro-CT scanning analysis were conducted on the composite specimens. The results show that the moisture absorption behavior follows the Fickian diffusion law well and the aging damage is dominated by matrix cracks/pores and interfacial debonding which is more severe in the braiding glass fiber yarn and surrounding regions than the axial carbon fiber yarn and surrounding regions. Then tensile tests and fatigue tests were performed on the unaged and aged composite specimens. It was found that hygrothermal aging has significant detrimental influence on the static tensile and tension-tension fatigue behavior of the composites. From experimental observations and failure analysis, it was also concluded that hygrothermal aging has impact on the failure mechanisms of the composites under both static tensile and fatigue loading owing to the extensively existed aging damage and deteriorated material properties in the aged composites.