Stress redistribution during bending fatigue

One of the effects of the application of cyclic stress, in most metals, is a change in stiffness. Some materials become harder while others initially soften as increasing numbers of cyclic stress are imposed. The effect of this changing stiffness on the distribution of stress during bending fatigue is examined. In general, the maximum stress, strain and bending moment are all observed to vary throughout the fatigue life. The manner of variation is dependent on the type of material as well as the loading conditions imposed. Experimental results are compared with calculated values based on cyclic stress-strain curves obtained in axial stress tests.     

Apparatus for studying cyclic stress-strain and fatigue at elevated temperatures

An apparatus is described which permits tubular specimens to be heated to a uniform temperature, while being cyclically strained with a constant amplitude of alternating strain about a fixed mean strain. Under these conditions, tests were performed in which the mean stress was measured as a function of the number of cycles of repeated strain for the alloys Udimet 700 and Rene 41 at 1300°F. These data along with fatigue fracture data are reported.     

Strength of damaged polycarbonate after fatigue

A fatigue damage model is proposed to establish a predictive formula for the fatigue service life of polycarbonate (PC) materials. A damage variable is introduced in terms of remaining fracture strain, and a new fatigue damage evolution relation is derived to characterize the extent of fatigue damage after a certain number of loading cycles. Fatigue tests were conducted to construct the stress amplitude versus the fatigue life curve. After different numbers of cycles of fatigue, the new damage variable for PC materials was measured by pulling damaged specimens to fracture under monotonic loading. Experimental results on damage evolution and fatigue life have a good agreement with those predicted by the proposed damage model.     

The evolution of crystalline stresses of a polycrystalline metal during cyclic loading

The presence of a positive average applied stress during cyclic uniaxial loading leads to a reduction in fatigue life of metallic parts. The metals are typically polycrystalline, with stresses varying from crystal to crystal due to differences in lattice orientation and slip system strength. Simulations enable us to better understand how polycrystals behave under cyclic loading and how the changing stress over many cycles influences fatigue life. Specifically, uniaxial cyclic simulations of pre-strained HY100 steel were conducted using an elastic viscoplastic continuum slip model employing a Taylor hypothesis. Stress-controlled loading conditions were employed to mimic fatigue tests on cold-bent bar specimens for three different load levels. The macroscopic axial strains and the crystal axial stresses were monitored during the cycles. The stress–strain response for the first cycle was used to determine the load input for the material point simulations. The peak values of crystal axial stress were found to evolve continuously with the number of loading cycles. It was found that the stress change in a crystal is influenced not only by its own orientation but also by the orientations of the other crystals in the aggregate. Furthermore, the distribution of crystal stresses after thousands of cycles at a lower stress amplitude closely resembled the distribution after tens of cycles at a larger stress amplitude.     

Cyclic viscoelastoplasticity and low-cycle fatigue of polymer composites

Observations are reported on a polymer composite (polyamide-6 reinforced with short glass fibers) in tensile relaxation tests with various strains, tensile creep tests with various stresses, and cyclic tests with a stress-controlled program (ratcheting with a fixed maximum stress and various minimum stresses). Constitutive equations are developed in cyclic viscoelastoplasticity of polymer composites. Adjustable parameters in the stress–strain relations are found by fitting observations in relaxation tests and cyclic tests (16 cycles of loading–unloading). It is demonstrated that the model correctly predicts experimental data in creep tests and dependencies of maximum and minimum strains per cycle on number of cycles up to fatigue fracture of specimens. The influence of strain rate and minimum stress on number of cycles to failure is studied numerically.     

Real-time Detection and Analysis of Damage in High-performance Concrete under Cyclic Bending

In order to quantitatively evaluate the damage level in high-performance concrete (HPC) with pozzolanic minerals under constant amplitude cyclic loads, three methods for real-time damage detection are employed in the present work, i.e., dynamic modulus instrument, real-time strain collector, and digital speckle correlative method (DSCM). Six mechanical parameters at different numbers of loading cycles are real-time captured by these three methods. For a maximum applied fatigue stress equal to 70% of the static flexural strength, a cohesive crack is detected on the specimen surface by the DSCM system from 10% of concrete fatigue life. The nucleation and propagation of the cohesive crack is reflected by the change of the strain concentration zone in 2-dimensional strain fields. The experimental results show that the admixtures of Class F Fly Ash (FA) and S95 Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBS) in high proportions increase the strain and cohesive-crack opening displacement as well as remarkably improve the fatigue performance of HPC.     

Low-endurance fatigue behavior under combined bending and torsion

Specimens made of thin-walled low-carbon steel tubes are subjected to combined bending and twisting moments of such magnitudes as to lead to fatigue failure within some one-thousand loading cycles. Tests are run, at room temperature, under conditions of controlled angle of twist and constant rate of loading. Experimental results show that the fatigue life is best expressed in terms of the amplitude of equivalent stress and ultimate strength of the material in potential form. For same maximum stress amplitude, test results show, within the scope of present investigations, that conditions of combined bending and torsion lead to lower fatigue life than those of reversed torsion.     

Hysteresis cycles and fatigue criteria using anelastic models based on fractional derivatives

The constitutive equation and the fatigue of anelastic media are described by using fractional order derivatives. The stress–strain relation, based on a generalization of the Kelvin–Voigt model, describes typical hysteresis cycles with the stress increasing as the number of cycles increases, a phenomenon known as cyclic hardening and observed in many materials such as, for instance, steel. Criteria are established to find the number of cycles which may cause fatigue for a strain with a given amplitude and frequency. They are based on the yield and fatigue stresses, on the melting temperature through the dissipated energy, and on the strain energy. In all the cases, it is seen that the number of cycles to failure is inversely proportional to the amplitude and to the frequency of the applied strain. Comparison to experimental data indicates that the model satisfies, at least qualitatively, the behavior of real materials under cyclic loading.     

Rapid Determination of Fretting Fatigue Limit by Infrared Thermography

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of infrared thermography to determine the so-called fretting fatigue limit. Fretting fatigue tests are performed on aluminum and steel specimens. The coupled fatigue and tangential loads are sequentially increased (block loading) whilst the normal load is kept constant for all blocks. The temperature data is processed and analyzed using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm implemented in the commercial software Matlab. It is demonstrated that the second harmonic of the temperature signal can be linked to the specific loading block below which no or negligible damage is generated in the specimen. The stress amplitude of this block is considered to be a best estimate of the fretting fatigue limit. A constant amplitude fretting fatigue test with this stress amplitude confirmed that the specimen remains intact at 10⁷ cycles.     

Strain strengthening effects in Witwatersrand quartzite

A series of uniaxial compression specimens were tested over a range of applied ram displacement rates of 8.9 × 10⁻⁴ to 8.9 mm/sec to elucidate the effects of loading rate on the uniaxial compressive fracture stress of Witwatersrand quartzite. It was demonstrated that even within standard loading rate ranges, considerable scatter in the fracture strength (under uniaxial compression) existed in this particular quartzite rock. Nevertheless, a definite trend of increasing fracture resistance with increasing monotonic loading rate was evident inasmuch that increasing the loading rate (strain rate) by four orders of magnitude increase the fracture strength by almost 2.8 times. Prior fatigue loading also produced a significant strain strengthening as the uniaxial compressive fracture stress tended to increase in a sigmoidal fashion with increasing number of fatigue cycles prior to testing. Indeed, the fracture strength of quartzite was almost doubled in value after 10⁻ cycles. Plane strain fracture toughness tests utilising three point bend specimens were conducted and an average of K_lc = 1.7 MPa√m was realized. In both the uniaxial compression tests and the fracture toughness tests, failure occurred by crack extension predominantly by a transgranular flat cleavage-like mode through pure quartzite (silica) regions. However, crack extension was also observed to occur in an intergranular “ductile-like” mode through areas associated with inclusions prevalent in the quartzite.     

Fatigue-life prediction by an order statistics treatment of acoustic-emission signals

In fatigue, both the crack-propagation rates and the cumulative acoustic-emission activity are known to be related to the applied stress-intensity range. By considering the energy balance during crack propagation and the relation of strain energy release to the acoustic-emission characteristics, a formal relation between acoustic emission amplitudes and initial fatigue-crack-propagation rates has been derived. Continuous monitoring of acoustic emission during low cycle (tension-tension) fatigue tests has been conducted on aluminum 2024-T3 and 7075-T6 alloys, until fracture. Initial crack sizes and orientations in the fatigue specimens were randomly distributed. Every few hundred cycles, the acoustic signal having the highest peak amplitude was recorded as the extreme acoustic-emission event for the elapsed period. The extreme peak amplitudes, related to extreme crack-propagation rates, were shown, by an order statistics treatment, to be extremally distributed. Statistical, nondeterministic, approach to fatigue considers that only extreme crack-propagation rates are vital to fatigue lives. Knowledge of the distribution function of propagation rates is therefore essential in design for fatigue. Such knowledge can now be obtained in a nondestructive manner, during service in real time, by analyzing the distribution of amplitudes of acoustic-emission signals emitted during cyclic stressing. The statistical treatment enables the prediction of the number of cycles left until failure. Predictions performeda posteriori, based on results gained early in each fatigue test, were in good agreement with actual fatigue lives. The amplitude distribution analysis of the acoustic signals emitted during fatigue tests has been proven to be a feasible nondestructive method for predicting fatigue life.     

Fatigue of the Near-Alpha Ti-Alloy Ti6242

Ti6242 is the workhorse of high-temperature Ti-alloys in the high pressure compressor of aero engines. In this study the influence on isothermal fatigue of different load controls, i.e. stress, total strain and plastic strain control at different temperatures and environments was investigated. The alloy had a bi-modal microstructure (some 30 vol.% primary alpha), which yields a good balance between fatigue and creep properties. In addition thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) tests were also performed. Modelling lifetime on the basis of a Basquin–Coffin–Manson relationship revealed only marginal scattering in the temperature range between 350°C and 650°C. Increasing the temperature led to a decrease in lifetime. This can be attributed to increased oxidation and creep. The latter one is clearly seen in isothermal tests under stress control. Tests in vacuum resulted in longer lifetimes. In-phase TMF tests exhibited a longer lifetime than out-of-phase tests, with a factor of about 4. Lifetime and stress response of in-phase tests are similar to the corresponding lifetime of an isothermal test at the maximum temperature. This similarity can be considered as a starting point for modelling TMF behaviour on the basis of isothermal fatigue.     

扭转预应变对35CrMo钢低周疲劳性能的影响

自行设计了疲劳和扭转两用的试样,通过对试件预扭转不同的角度,系统研究35CrMo钢在不同扭转预应变下的低周疲劳性能,分析了扭转预应变后35CrMo钢的循环硬化软化特性、滞后回线、塑性应变能及循环弹性模量的变化规律,并对疲劳断口进行扫描电镜分析。结果表明:4种预扭转处理过的试件均表现出明显的循环软化行为,且循环软化规律及衰减的程度基本相同;循环应力范围及疲劳寿命随着预扭转角的增大而降低;应力应变滞后回线中加卸载曲线间的宽度随着预扭转角的增大而减小;塑性应变能都随着循环次数的增大而增加,且随着预扭转角的增大其增大速率下降;循环弹性模量都随着循环次数的增加而逐渐降低,且随着预扭转角的增大其衰减趋势减缓。     

Q235钢缺口试样拉压低循环疲劳的实验研究

以Q235钢制U型缺口板试样为研究对象,用有限元方法计算其缺口根部等效应变幅对应的试样标距段位移,以此控制试验机进行拉压循环疲劳试验。然后用局部应力应变法对试验测得的寿命结果进行分析。结果表明：无论用有限元还是修正Neuber公式计算缺口根部的应力应变,局部应力应变法的疲劳寿命评估只适用于缺口半径较大的试样;对缺口半径较小试样的估计寿命明显低于实测值,且有限元法比修正Neuber法更保守。进而又对试样缺口区域应变梯度的影响进行了探讨：参照有限元计算的应变梯度,利用Taylor模型估算了缺口根部的屈服应力和流动应力;在此基础上重新计算应变分布并估计试样的疲劳寿命,结果证实考虑应变梯度影响可改善缺口试样的疲劳寿命估计。     

The fatigue life estimation of notched specimens under random loading

The LY12-cz aluminium alloy sheet specimens with a central hole were tested under constant amplitude loading, Rayleigh narrow band random loading and a typical fighter broad band random loading. The fatigue life was estimated by means of the nominal stress and the Miner's rule. The stress cycles were distinguished by the rainflow count, range count and peak value count, respectively. The comparison between the estimated results and the test results was made. The effects of random loading sequence and small load cycles on fatigue life were also studied.     

Multi-cycle deformation of silicone elastomer: observations and constitutive modeling with finite strains

Observations are reported on a medical grade of silicone elastomer in uniaxial tensile tests up to breakage of specimens, short-term relaxation tests, and cyclic tests with monotonically increasing maximum elongation ratios. Experimental data in cyclic tests demonstrate the fading memory phenomenon: stress–strain diagrams for two specimens with different deformation histories along the first n?1 cycles and coinciding loading programs for the other cycles become identical starting from the nth cycle. A constitutive model is developed in cyclic viscoplasticity of elastomers with finite strains, and its adjustable parameters are found by fitting the experimental data. Ability of the stress–strain relations to predict the mechanical response in cyclic tests with various deformation programs is confirmed by numerical simulation.     

Unified nano-mechanics based probabilistic theory of quasibrittle and brittle structures: II. Fatigue crack growth, lifetime and scaling

This paper extends the theoretical framework presented in the preceding Part I to the lifetime distribution of quasibrittle structures failing at the fracture of one representative volume element under constant amplitude fatigue. The probability distribution of the critical stress amplitude is derived for a given number of cycles and a given minimum-to-maximum stress ratio. The physical mechanism underlying the Paris law for fatigue crack growth is explained under certain plausible assumptions about the damage accumulation in the cyclic fracture process zone at the tip of subcritical crack. This law is then used to relate the probability distribution of critical stress amplitude to the probability distribution of fatigue lifetime. The theory naturally yields a power-law relation for the stress-life curve (S-N curve), which agrees with Basquin's law. Furthermore, the theory indicates that, for quasibrittle structures, the S-N curve must be size dependent. Finally, physical explanation is provided to the experimentally observed systematic deviations of lifetime histograms of various ceramics and bones from the Weibull distribution, and their close fits by the present theory are demonstrated.