Optical measurement of the plastic zone size in a notched metal specimen subjected to low-cycle fatigue

This paper describes an optical method used for the determination of the plastic zone size generated on the surface of a notched metal specimen under conditions of low-cycle fatigue. The proposed optical method uses white-light scattering generated by plastically induced surface roughness on the specimen polished surface. By digital processing two images of the specimen surface, one recorded before and the other after the generation of the fatigue deformation, it is possible to evaluate the accumulated plastic damage. The plastic zone measured in the crack initiation stage is compared with the results obtained by a recrystallization technique.     

Impact toughness of EK-181 ferritic-martensitic chromium (12%) steel under loading by concentrated bending

The low-temperature fracture of a high-temperature low-activated ferritic-martensitic EK-181 chromium (12%) steel (RUSFER-EK-181: Fe-12Cr-2W-V-Ta-B) is studied using impact and static concentrated bending tests as a function of the specimen dimensions (standard, small), the type of stress concentrator (V-shaped notch, fatigue crack), and the temperature (from −196 to +100°C). The ductile-brittle transition temperature falls in the range from −85 to +35°C. The temperature dependences of stress-intensity factor K _Ic and fracture toughness J _Ic are determined. The severest type of impact toughness tests is represented by tests of V-notched specimens with an additional fatigue crack and two lateral V-shaped notches (three-sided V-shaped notch with a central fatigue crack). The fracture energy of the steel depends on the type of stress concentrator and the specimen dimensions and is determined by the elastic energy and the plastic deformation conditions in the near-surface layers of a specimen, which are controlled by the lateral notches. At the same test temperature, the impact toughness and the fracture toughness are interrelated. Irrespective of the type of specimen (including notches and a fatigue crack), the ferritic-martensitic steel exhibits the same fracture mechanism.     

Scatter of fatigue data owing to material microscopic effects

A common phenomenon of fatigue test data reported in the open literature such as S-N curves exhibits the scatter of points for a group of same specimens under the same loading condition.The reason is well known that the microstructure is different from specimen to specimen even in the same group.Specifically,a fatigue failure process is a multi-scale problem so that a fatigue failure model should have the ability to take the microscopic effect into account.A physically-based trans-scale crack model is established and the analytical solution is obtained by coupling the micro-and macro-scale.Obtained is the trans-scale stress intensity factor as well as the trans-scale strain energy density(SED)factor.By taking this trans-scale SEDF as a key controlling parameter for the fatigue crack propagation from micro-to macro-scale,a trans-scale fatigue crack growth model is proposed in this work which can reflect the microscopic effect and scale transition in a fatigue process.The fatigue test data of aluminum alloy LY12 plate specimens is chosen to check the model.Two S-N experimental curves for cyclic stress ratio R=0.02 and R=0.6 are selected.The scattering test data points and two S-N curves for both R=0.02 and R=0.6 are exactly re-produced by application of the proposed model.It is demonstrated that the proposed model is able to reflect the multiscaling effect in a fatigue process.The result also shows that the microscopic effect has a pronounced influence on the fatigue life of specimens.     

The effects of substructure on fatigue crack propagation

The correlation between the initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks and the substructure formation was examined using aluminium specimens. The effects of substructures introduced by static and alternating stresses and those of the recovery of the substructure on the propagation rates of fatigue cracks were also studied. Observations of the substructures were made by means of the X-ray micro-beam technique. The principal results obtained are as follows:

1. At the time of fatigue crack initiation a definite substructure develops at the root of a notch made on the specimen edge.
2. The rate of fatigue crack propagation has a relation to the characteristics of the substructures at the tip of the fatigue cracks.
3. While the rates of propagation are retarded by static pre-strains, they increase in proportion to the degree of substructure formation due to alternating stresses.
4. The rates are usually reduced by the recovery after alternating deformation.

On the basis of the above results, the significance of substructures for fatigue fracture is discussed.     

Use of dynamic speckle interferometry for contactless diagnostics of fatigue crack initiation and determining its growth rate

Steel 09G2S specimens are subjected to cyclic tests, and real-time monitoring of the initiation of a fatigue crack and its growth kinetics is performed by dynamic speckle interferometry. The time averaging of speckles are used to reveal a relation between the parameters that characterize random and deterministic changes in the relief height and speckle images of the surface near the notch during crack initiation.     

Phase contrast stereometry: fatigue crack mapping in three dimensions

The work reported below describes development of a novel method, termed X-ray phase contrast stereometry, for reconstructing the three-dimensional (3D) positions of features within a specimen. The approach takes measured positions of a given feature in phase microradiographs recorded at different viewing angles and refines that feature's position numerically. The approach is designed to address limitations in conventional laboratory or synchrotron X-ray absorption micro computed tomography (microCT), particularly those inherent in studying plate-like samples. The phase stereometric reconstruction technique was applied to a small compact tension sample of aluminium alloy AA 2090 (20.3?mm wide from notch tip to back face and 2.7?mm thick) containing a fatigue crack and was used to map the 3D crack surface non-invasively. Up to ten viewing angles were used for each of 2269 points mapped on the approximately 2.7?mm?×?6.0?mm surface. The 3D stereometry-derived crack surface agreed with the surface map from absorption microCT of the same sample. The phase technique was superior in terms of its crack sensitivity; the phase images allowed the crack to be followed to its tip, even with zero applied load while absorption microCT could only detect about 5?mm of the crack 6?mm long when loaded to 40?kgf. The origin of the contrast used for stereometric mapping was confirmed to be from the peaks on the crack face; phase microradiographs from a second (intact) sample showed a pattern of features identical with those revealed on the surface when the sample was split open. Crack opening as a function of in-situ load was measured for the same points on the crack surface using both phase stereometry and absorption microCT; the openings were in good agreement.     

铝合金板疲劳微裂纹超声红外成像检测的数值及实验研究

超声红外成像检测技术是一种发展迅速的新型无损检测技术,可用于检测材料表面或近表面的缺陷,由于对缺陷具有选择性加热的特点,近年来备受检测行业的关注。该文在铝合金板中制作疲劳微裂纹,在板中激励声波,裂纹表面因振动摩擦生热,用红外摄像仪记录板表面温度分布。拍摄的红外图像序列经傅里叶变换后得到的幅值和相位图能清晰显示裂纹的特征,测量到的裂纹长度误差达到4.3%。用有限元模拟超声在板中裂纹处的生热过程,研究板中超声在裂纹处的励热机制。超声激励时间、裂纹表面间摩擦系数和裂纹开口宽度直接影响裂纹处的励热效果,最高温度通常位于裂纹尖端附近。模拟和实验结果均表明超声红外成像检测技术能对板中疲劳微裂纹实现快速检测,提供有效、可信的检测结果。     

机械视觉疲劳裂纹扩展试件自动定位安装方法

针对现有疲劳裂纹扩展试验中试件的安装定位仍采用操作繁琐、效率低下的手动安装问题,本文提出了一种基于机械视觉的疲劳裂纹扩展试件安装定位方法,首先,对试件及夹具图像进行采集、处理和分析,实现夹具、试件圆心坐标及半径的自动快速识别、孔差距离的精确测量;然后利用模糊PID算法来控制直流伺服电机运动定位,从而实现试件的正确安装定位;最后采用工业数字显微镜对不同时间点的试件位置偏差进行停机测量对比,实验结果表明：所提出方法能够对试件进行精确安装定位,最大偏差为0.122 mm,具有重要的理论和应用价值,并为其它类似基于机器视觉的检测定位方法提供了有价值的参考。     

Nonlinear ultrasonic wave modulation for online fatigue crack detection

This study presents a fatigue crack detection technique using nonlinear ultrasonic wave modulation. Ultrasonic waves at two distinctive driving frequencies are generated and corresponding ultrasonic responses are measured using permanently installed lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers with a potential for continuous monitoring. Here, the input signal at the lower driving frequency is often referred to as a ‘pumping’ signal, and the higher frequency input is referred to as a ‘probing’ signal. The presence of a system nonlinearity, such as a crack formation, can provide a mechanism for nonlinear wave modulation, and create spectral sidebands around the frequency of the probing signal. A signal processing technique combining linear response subtraction (LRS) and synchronous demodulation (SD) is developed specifically to extract the crack-induced spectral sidebands. The proposed crack detection method is successfully applied to identify actual fatigue cracks grown in metallic plate and complex fitting-lug specimens. Finally, the effect of pumping and probing frequencies on the amplitude of the first spectral sideband is investigated using the first sideband spectrogram (FSS) obtained by sweeping both pumping and probing signals over specified frequency ranges.     

Application of stereo vision to the study of mixed-mode crack-tip deformations

A stereo vision is applied to evaluate crack-tip parameters for fracture specimens subjected to a mixed-mode loading (tension and shear). By using a special loading device, the applied remote loading is oriented at an angle with respect to the axis of the crack. At each loading angle, the calibrated vision system was rotated so that the axis of the crack is parallel to the horizontal or vertical axis of the image frame. At a load close to the crack initiation, the displacement field around the crack-tip region of the fracture specimen was measured relative to a specimen coordinate system located at the crack tip of the fracture specimen. During the experiment, the fracture specimen was subjected to rigid body translation and rotation. Hence, the displacement fields are affected by the rigid body translation and rotation. Using the experimentally determined displacements and the analytically determined displacements with several higher order terms being included, the stress intensity factors and the amount of rigid body translation and rotation were calculated through a least-squares fit. The effect of the rigid body motion on the measured displacements was then eliminated using the computed rigid body translation and rotation. Experimental results indicate that a K_I and K_II dominant region is observed in the corrected displacement fields.     

An ultrasonic method for dynamic monitoring of fatigue crack initiation and growth

Attached ultrasonic sensors can detect changes caused by crack initiation and growth if the wave path is directed through the area of critical crack formation. Dynamics of cracks opening and closing under load cause nonlinear modulation of received ultrasonic signals, enabling small cracks to be detected by stationary sensors. A methodology is presented based upon the behavior of ultrasonic signals versus applied load to detect and monitor formation and growth of cracks originating from fastener holes. Shear wave angle beam transducers operating in through transmission mode are mounted on either side of the hole such that the transmitted wave travels through the area of expected cracking. Time shift is linear with respect to load, and is well explained by path changes due to strain combined with wave speed changes due to acoustoelasticity. During subsequent in situ monitoring with unknown loads, the measured time of flight is used to estimate the load, and behavior of the received energy as a function of load is the basis for crack detection. Results are presented from low cycle fatigue tests of several aluminum specimens and illustrate the efficacy of the method in both determining the applied load and monitoring crack initiation and growth.     

A digital image correlation method for fatigue test experiments

In this paper, a method based on the digital image correlation (DIC) technique is proposed to monitor the crack growth process during a cyclic fatigue test. Stroboscopic illumination is used to acquire DIC speckle pattern images while the test sample is dynamically loaded. The proposed DIC algorithm uses the fact that the load is periodic to increase the accuracy of the displacement field estimates (a sinusoidal fitting method is introduced for this purpose). Using the appropriate post-processing both the crack lengths and the stress intensity factors can be estimated in function of the number of fatigue cycles. A validation test case on an aluminum U-profile will be presented in the paper.     

Three-dimensional effects of microstructures on short fatigue crack growth in an Al–Li 8090 alloy

Al–Li 8090 alloy specimens were fatigued using a self-aligning four-point bend rig at R?=?0.1 and room temperature, in air, under constant maximum stress control. The crystallographic characteristics of fatigue crack initiation and early growth were studied using EBSD. It was found that the growth behaviour of a short crack were controlled by the twist (α) and tilt (β) components of crack plane deflection across each of the first 20 grain boundaries along the crack path, and that the α angle at the first grain boundary encountered by a micro-crack was critical in determining whether the crack could become propagating or non-propagating. In addition to the orientations of the two neighbouring grains, the tilt of their boundary could also affect α across the boundary. A minimum α-map for a vertical micro-crack was calculated to evaluate the resistance to crack growth into a neighbouring grain with a random orientation. Such an α-map is of value in alloy design against fatigue damage by optimising texture components in the alloys.     

Effect of an absorbent overlay on the residual stress field induced by laser shock processing on aluminum samples

Laser shock processing (LSP) or laser shock peening is a new technique for strengthening metals. This process induces a compressive residual stress field, which increases fatigue crack initiation life and reduces fatigue crack growth rate. Specimens of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy are used in this investigation. A convergent lens is used to deliver 2.5 J, 8 ns laser pulses by a Q-switch Nd:YAG laser, operating at 10 Hz. The pulses are focused to a diameter of 1.5 mm onto aluminum samples. Density of 2500 pulses/cm² with infrared (1064 nm) radiation was used. The effect of an absorbent overlay on the residual stress field using this LSP setup and this energy level is evaluated. Residual stress distribution as a function of depth is assessed by the hole drilling method. It is observed that the overlay makes the compressive residual stress profile move to the surface. This effect is explained on the basis of the vaporization of the coat layer suppressing thermal effects on the metallic substrate. The effect of coating the specimen surface before LSP treatment may have advantages on improving wear and contact fatigue properties of this aluminum alloy.     

Cohesive zone modelling of anodic dissolution stress corrosion cracking induced by corrosion product films

Damage mechanics based on the cohesive zone model were applied to study the anodic dissolution stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in flat and U-shaped edge-notched specimens. The simulation results show that corrosion product films (CPFs) facilitate crack initiation in SCC due to the CPF-induced stress and CPF rupture. In the flat specimen, SCC susceptibility increases with the CPF thickness and CPF Young’s modulus, while it decreases with CPF fracture strength. For the U-shaped edge-notched specimen, the normalised threshold stress intensity factor K_ISCC/K_IC decreases with the CPF thickness and notch depth.     

基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法*

超声相控阵是超声检测领域常用的材料缺陷定位和成像技术,可便捷快速地对裂纹、孔洞等缺陷进行成像。但是,传统超声相控阵方法对较小缺陷如闭合裂纹不太敏感。非线性超声信号因对材料性能退化以及微小缺陷敏感而广受关注。本文针对疲劳闭合裂纹检测,提出一种基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法,通过测量物理聚焦和虚拟聚焦两种聚焦模式下超声扩散场中的声能差,并将其作为非线性参量,实现疲劳裂纹闭合部分的定位成像和定量表征。将该法应用于7075铝合金试样疲劳裂纹的实验测量,并研究了扩散场信号延迟时间对非线性超声相控阵成像结果的影响。结果表明：相较于传统超声相控阵全聚焦法,基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法能够更准确地定位和成像疲劳裂纹闭合部分;延迟时间的选择对疲劳裂纹长度的表征精度影响较大,本文研究了该延迟时间的选择方法并实现了检测结果的优化。     

Low-cycle fatigue small crack initiation and propagation behaviour of cast magnesium alloys based on in-situ SEM observations

In-situ observations on the initiation and propagation behaviour of low-cycle fatigue small cracks in cast magnesium–aluminium alloys (AM50 and AM60B) were carried out with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to elucidate the resistance to fatigue cracking and to evaluate the fatigue small crack growth rate accurately and quantitatively. The results indicate that the fatigue small cracks formed preferentially on β-phase (Mg₁₇Al₁₂) boundaries at room temperature. In addition, the effects of the parameters of stress levels in low-cycle fatigue and temperatures as well as microstructure on fatigue small crack propagation behaviour are revealed. The variation of crack open displacement (COD) with stress levels and cycles at elevated temperature shows that it is unsuitable to estimate the fatigue small crack growth rate of cast magnesium alloys using conventional measurement methods such as the plastic-replica technique due to the obvious difference between microscopic cracks in the open and closed states. Stabilized crack propagation behaviour is limited to cases where the physical crack length is less than 1?mm in low-cycle fatigue.     

金属板疲劳损伤非线性兰姆波混频检测

针对金属板结构安全运行需要,开展了金属板结构疲劳损伤非线性兰姆波混频检测方法研究.通过数值仿真,研究了两列A0兰姆波与材料损伤间的非线性相互作用.结果 表明,两列共线A0兰姆波在结构材料损伤处产生单向传播的和频S0波,且和频波幅值随传播距离具有积累增长效应.对不同疲劳程度金属板试件进行了共线混频兰姆波检测实验,结果表明...     

Effects of loading condition on very-high-cycle fatigue behaviour and dominant variable analysis

The specimens of a high carbon chromium steel were quenched and tempered at 150°C,180°C and 300°C.Such specimens were tested via rotating bending and a push-pull type of axial loading to investigate the influences of loading condition on the behaviour of very-high-cycle fatigue(VHCF).Experimental results show the different influences of inclusion size on the fatigue life for the two loading conditions.Predominant factors and mechanism for the fine-granular-area(FGA)of crack origin were discussed.In addition,a reliability analysis based on a modified Tanaka-Mura model was carried out to evaluate the sensitivity of inclusion size,stress,and KFGA to the life of VHCF crack initiation.     

Dental fiber-reinforced composite analysis using optical coherence tomography

An optical coherence tomography (OCT) system with 6 μm spatial resolution was employed to image the sites of fracture initiation and slow crack propagation in a fiber reinforced composite. Bar specimens (2 mm × 3 mm × 25 mm) of fiber reinforced composite were mechanically and thermally cycled to emulate oral conditions. The interior of the samples were analyzed prior and after the emulations. We analyzed the specimens that were intact after the loading cycling. The results demonstrated the capacity of the OCT technique to generate images of the sites fracture initiation, crack propagation, and regions surrounding the fracture, and it can be used in the future for quantitative analysis thus complementing other existing methods, with the main advantage of being non-destructive and non-invasive.