Fractographic analysis of fatigue cracking in spheroidal graphite cast irons

This paper is concerned with the influence of R-ratio on the fatigue threshold ΔK_th, in two spheroidal graphite cast irons. The microstructures, viz, ferritic and pearlitic, exhibited significant and consistent R-ratio effects on ΔK_th. Intergranular failure facets were observed and they tended to reach a maximum amount when the reversed plastic zone size approached grain size dimensions. Reasonable correlation of experimental data required the increment of crack closure effects in the analytical model. At R-ratio values approaching zero, both microstructures showed ΔK_th, values that were markedly greater than those recorded for steels even when the data was corrected or normalised to a constant yield stress and grain size for a specific microstructure. The presence of graphite nodules may cause an increase in crack closure which in turn promoted high ΔK_th values.     

The influence of tempering martensite containing microstructures on the near threshold fatigue crack propagation behaviour

Fatigue crack growth studies have been conducted in a humid air environment for various martensite containing microstructures under low and high R-ratio testing conditions.Tempering reduced the yield strength properties; the greater the amount of martensite the greater the reduction.Tempering generally (i) increased the threshold for fatigue crack growth ΔK_th, and (ii) decreased near threshold fatigue crack growth rates for both low and high R-ratio testing conditions. Also tempering inhibited the occurrence of subcritical transgranular cleavage in the high R-ratio tests of the ferrite-martensite microstructures and consequently affected Stage II fatigue crack growth behaviour.Finally the fully martensitic microstructure did not exhibit cracking and the present ΔK_th data exhibited good agreement with other data for steels in the tempered condition.     

Constitutive model for flake graphite cast iron automotive brake discs: induced anisotropic damage model under complex loadings

The present paper details an elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model for automotive brake discs made of flake graphite cast iron. In a companion paper (Augustins et al. in Contin Mech Thermodyn, 2015), the authors proposed a one-dimensional setting appropriate for representing the complex behavior of the material (i.e., asymmetry between tensile and compressive loadings) under anisothermal conditions. The generalization of this 1D model to 3D cases on a volume element and the associated challenges are addressed. A direct transposition is not possible, and an alternative solution without unilateral conditions is first proposed. Induced anisotropic damage and associated constitutive laws are then introduced. The transition from the volume element to the real structure and the numerical implementation require a specific basis change. Brake disc simulations with this constitutive model show that unilateral conditions are needed for the friction bands. A damage deactivation procedure is therefore defined.     

Effect of humidity and R-ratio on the near threshold fatigue crack growth of two granular bainitic microstructures

The present report has shown that in ferrite-martensite microstructures, the relative humidity of an air environment can affect both the near threshold fatigue crack growth behaviour and the intermediate Stage II fatigue characteristics. The magnitude of the threshold stress intensity, ΔK_th, was not affected by relative humidity and the significant effect of R-ratio on ΔK_th was suitably demonstrated.The relative humidity affected the nature of both the subcritical static failure mode and the final stage III static failure mode. A direct relationship between the degree of fatigue crack growth enhancement and the extent of transgranular cleavage was evidenced.     

Positive and negative effects of graphite flake and monolayer graphene oxide templates on protein crystallization

Heterogeneous template-induced nucleation is a promising way to regulate protein crystallization events and could be employed for purification processes and crystallographic studies. Protein crystallization process with graphite and graphene oxide, as heterogeneous templates, were investigated. More than 640 hanging drops with different concentrations of Lysozyme (30, 50, 70, 100 mg/mL) and NaCl (0.7, 0.9, 1.1, 1.3, 1.5 M) were crystallised at 4 °C with or without graphite/graphene oxide templates. The induction times and crystallization process were observed under the microscope. The lysozyme in the solutions with graphite flakes nucleated faster under all the conditions than the lysozyme with equal experimental conditions without templates. The crystals preferred to grow around the edge of graphite flakes than on the flat surfaces. In the droplets with monolayer graphene oxide, more crystals appeared around graphene oxide particles, and the faster or slower nucleation processes with templates were dependent on the lysozyme and NaCl concentrations. Graphene oxide templates strongly inhibited nucleation at high lysozyme concentrations but promoted nucleation at low lysozyme concentrations. Both heterogeneous templates changed the crystal morphology and the crystallization kinetics. More crystals were observed in the solution with graphite templatesthan with graphene oxide templates and without any template.     

The in-situ fatigue testing of a cast aluminum-silicon alloy

The study reported in this paper deals with the experimental determination of the effect of the two-phase microstructure of an aluminum-silicon alloy on the propagation of fatigue-induced fracture. The work involved the use of a computerized apparatus which applied four-point bending loads to test specimens inside the vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The use of the SEM allowed for the in-situ monitoring of the progression of the fatigue crack with respect to the microstructure of the material.A constant load amplitude fatigue test was established for the experimental system and an analytic model is proposed to predict the growth of the crack in the specimen using compliance measurements. In-situ tests were performed on a variety of test aluminum-silicon alloy specimens. Preliminary results show that a relationship exists between the silicon phase in the aluminum matrix and propagating fatigue crack. Data from these tests were used to evaluate both the model mentioned above and an analytic relation for the stress intensity factor for a beam containing a crack subjected to four-point bending.     

Improving fatigue strength of bainite/martensite dual-phase steels in very high cycle fatigue regime by refining microstructures

Very high cycle fatigue behaviors of two bainite/martensite dual-phase steels were investigated. One of the steels was cyclic rapid heat treated and its microstructures were refined. Fatigue strength of the steel is 225 MPa higher than that without refining. Observation of fracture surfaces show that the fatigue cracks initiate at bainites for non-refined steel and at non-metallic inclusions for the refined steel. The size of inclusions is much smaller than that of bainites which results in the improvement of fatigue strength.     

Static and fatigue behaviour of glass-fibre-reinforced polypropylene composites

This paper is concerned with fatigue of polypropylene/glass-fibre thermoplastic composites produced from a bi-directional woven cloth mixture of E glass fibres and polypropylene fibres. The latter becomes the matrix after the application of heat and pressure. This composite was manufactured with a fibre volume fraction V_f of 0.338. The effect of layer design on the static and fatigue performance was investigated. The S–N curves, the rise in the temperature of the specimens during the tests and the loss of stiffness, were obtained and discussed. The loss of stiffness was related to the rise of temperature and stress release observed in the material. The effect of load rate on the static properties was also studied and discussed accordingly.     

16Mn钢在不同条件下的疲劳行为研究

对截面为3 mm×3mm的16Mn钢试件在空气和3.5%NaCl溶液中分别进行疲劳试验,获得了S-N曲线,并对疲劳试样表面和断口形貌进行了观察.结果表明:与空气相比,3.5%NaCl腐蚀溶液使16Mn钢的疲劳强度显著降低;在空气中疲劳试样只有一个萌生于试样表面基体的裂纹源,而在3.5%NaCl溶液中一般有多个裂纹源,而...     

Effects of fatigue and environment on residual strengths of center-cracked graphite/epoxy buffer strip panels

Graphite/epoxy buffer strip panels were subjected to a fatigue loading spectrum, moisture conditioning, or heating and then statically tested in tension to determine their residual strengths. The specimens were made with T300/5208 graphite/epoxy in a 16-ply quasi-isotropic layup, [45/0/ - 45/90]_2s, with two different buffer strip materials: Kevlar-49 or S-glass. Each panel was cut in the center to represent damage.The panels made from each buffer strip material were divided into two test conditions: those panels tested at room temperature and those tested at 82°C. Each test condition was further divided into two groups, panels tested at ambient conditions and panels tested after moisture conditioning. Thus, there were four combinations of preconditioning and test condition: (1) ambient condition tested at room temperature, (2) moisture conditioned tested at room temperature, (3) ambient condition tested at 80°C, and (4) moisture conditioned tested at 82°C. After preconditioning and fatigue loading, all specimens were statically loaded in tension to failure to determine their residual strengths.After fatigue loading, the buffer strips arrested the crack growth and increased the residual strengths significantly over those of plain laminates without buffer strips under all conditions, with one exception. For the S-glass buffer strip panels with moisture conditioning, the buffer strip arrested the crack growth, but the residual strength was increased only slightly over the strength of a plain laminate. The stiffness of the panels was not affected by the fatigue cycling. Repeated fatigue cycling did not produce any damage growth at the crack tips.Paper was presented at the 1988 SEM Spring Conference on Experimental Mechanics held in Portland, OR on June 5–10.     

考虑孔洞影响的铸造镁合金ZM6疲劳寿命预估方法

铸造镁合金ZM6是一种应用于直升机减速器机匣制造的典型材料。然而,在铸造过程中产生的内部缺陷对材料的疲劳性能有显著影响。本文研究了含内部孔洞缺陷ZM6材料的疲劳损伤模型和寿命预估方法。首先,采用X射线断层扫描技术,对三个批次毛坯料制成的试验件进行扫描观察,获得了试验件内部孔洞的分布特征。进而,对48件试验件进行了两种应力比下多级应力水平的疲劳试验,获得了各批次试验件寿命结果,并通过观察与分析,得出了孔隙率和近表面较大孔洞为影响试验件疲劳寿命的两个关键因素。然后,基于损伤力学理论提出了通过材料初始弹性模量和等效孔洞局部应力应变场来分别反映孔隙率和近表面较大孔洞影响的疲劳损伤模型和寿命计算方法,并结合ABAQUS软件平台实现了含孔洞试验件的疲劳损伤计算和寿命计算。最后,采用所提理论模型和计算方法给出了试验件的疲劳寿命预测结果,并与试验结果进行了不同维度的对比,验证了所提模型与方法的有效性和适用性。     

A theoretical analysis on stochastic behaviour of short cracks and fatigue damage of metals

In this paper, the closed form of solution to the stochastic differential equation for a fatigue crack evolution system is derived, and the relationship between metal fatigue damage and crack stochastic behaviour is investigated. It is found that the damage extent of metals is independent of crack stochastic behaviour if the stochastic deviation of the crack growth rate is directly proportional to its mean value. The evolution of stochastic deviation of metal fatigue damage in the stage close to the transition point between short and long crack regimes is also discussed.     

Post-buckling behaviour of graphite/epoxy stiffened panels with initial imperfections subjected to eccentric biaxial compression loading

The post-buckling behaviour of anisotropic stiffened panels with initial imperfections is investigated. Since buckling of the skin between the stiffeners often occurs first, a non-linear analysis is developed for symmetric panels under biaxial compression in order to obtain the out-of-plane panel deflection in the post-buckling range. The non-linear differential equations are expressed in terms of the out-of-plane displacement and the Airy function. They are solved with the Galerkin method for various boundary conditions by imposing an edge displacement control. The theoretical and experimental results obtained by the present analysis show that the transverse load can greatly influence the buckling loads and halfwave number. Since no experimental results have been found in the literature, several tests have been carried out on graphite/epoxy blade stiffened panels 900 mm long and 620 mm wide applying simultaneously biaxial compression loads with several combined ratios. An eccentricity results between longitudinal and transverse load, because the longitudinal compression is applied along the centroidal axes of the stiffened section while the transverse compression is applied to the skin panel. The correlation between the experimental and analytical results has been quite good; the experimental results demonstrate the influence of eccentricity of the transverse load on panel deflection in the pre- and post-buckling range.     

Effect of weld size on fatigue crack growth behaviour of cruciform joints by strain energy density factor approach

The effect of weld size on fatigue crack growth behaviour of cruciform joints containing lack of penetration defect has been analysed by using the strain energy density factor concept. Load carrying cruciform joints were fabricated from ASTM 517‘F' grade steel. Fatigue crack growth experiments were carried out in a mechanical resonance vertical pulsator (SCHENCK 200 kN capacity) with a frequency of 30 Hz under constant amplitude loading (R=0). It was found that the crack growth rates were relatively lower in the larger welds fabricated by multipass welding technique than the smaller welds fabricated by the single pass welding technique.     

Effect of welding process on fatigue crack growth behaviour of austenitic stainless steel welds in a low alloy (Q & T) steel

Fatigue crack growth behaviour from a lack of penetration (LOP) defect in austenitic stainless steel weld metals of cruciform joints made of a low alloy high strength (Q & T) steel has been studied to understand the effect of two welding processes, namely, shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) and flux cored arc welding (FCAW). Fatigue crack growth studies were carried out at a stress ratio of R = 0 and a frequency of 90 to 110 Hz in a resonant testing equipment (Rumul, Model:8601). Crack growth rates were relatively lower in the weld metal obtained by flux cored arc welding process. Microstructural features observed revealed marked difference in the morphology of delta ferrite for the welded joints obtained from the above two welding processes. Long streaks of delta ferrite in austenite matrix were found in case of SMAW-weld metal which seem to have lowered the resistance to the fatigue crack propagation. A discontinuous network of delta ferrite found in austenite matrix in the case of FCAW-weld metal seems to have contributed to slower propagation of fatigue crack. Fractographic features also substantiate the observed trends in the fatigue crack growth behaviour.