On high-frequency fatigue and dynamic properties at elevated temperature

The effects of elevated temperature and high strain rate on fatigue life and tensile properties were measured for annealed 316 stainless steel and titanium alloy 6Al?2Mo?4Zr?2Sn in the solution-heat-treated and aged condition. A 14-KHz magnetostriction oscillator was used for fatigue testing. This equipment was developed for operation in excess of 2000° F. A split Hopkinson pressure bar provided dynamic tensile data up to 1300° F at strain rates on the order of 10³ in./in./sec. An attempt was made to correlate the high-frequency-fatigue data with the dynamic tensile measurements by using the Manson fatiguelife-prediction methods. This paper contains the experimental results and discusses the analysis of these experiments.     

Experimental Technique to Characterize the Plastic Behaviour of Metallic Materials in a Wide Range of Temperatures and Strain Rates: Application to a High-Carbon Steel

This paper presents high temperature quasi-static and dynamic tensile testing. Samples are heated by an induction system controlled with a pyrometer. A high-speed camera (500 fps) is used to determine displacement fields with a digital image correlation software. For such tests a specific marking procedure of the sample is applied. This method is used to characterize the mechanical behaviour of a C68 high-carbon steel at temperatures up to 720 °C. Stress-strain curves are given from room temperature up to 720 °C at strain rates ranging from 400 /s to 4 × 10² /s.     

Thermomechanical behavior of casting sands: Experiments and elastoplastic modeling

The thermomechanical behavior of casting sands is discussed from an experimental and a theoretical point of view. Uniaxial compression tests at temperatures ranging from 20°C to 950°C and at different values of strain rate (ϵ = 10⁻² s⁻¹, ϵ = 10⁻³ s⁻¹ and ϵ = 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹) have been performed. They show that casting sands exhibit no strain rate effect in the temperature range 20–600°C, and that an elastoplastic model is well suited to describe the experimental results. Three thermoelastoplastic models, derived from Cam Clay and Hujeux models have been developed. These new models take into account the cohesion of the material. The physical parameters needed for these models have been obtained in the temperature range 20–300°C by using triaxial tests, uniaxial compression tests, isotropic compression tests and die pressing tests. An original triaxial apparatus has been built allowing a temperature of 800°C and a pressure of 4 MPa to be reached. In the temperature at which the parameters have been obtained (20–300°C), two additional triaxial compression tests at different confining pressures are used to check the validity of the thermoelastoplastic models used. The best quantitative results are obtained with the revised modified Cam Clay model.     

Strain measurements in tubes during rapid transient heating

A measuring apparatus using reluctance-type displacement transducers was successfully used for measuring radial thermal strains in 1-in.-diam × 8-in.-long thin-walled tubes of molybdenum, tantalum and 304 stainless steel. Wall-temperature rates of approximately 300° F/sec were accomplished by rapid heating with a plasma jet and strains at temperatures up to 2500° F were recorded. Excellent agreement between experimental results and a theoretical solution based on temperature profiles was found for temperatures to 2000° F.     

Synchronous Full-Field Strain and Temperature Measurement in Tensile Tests at Low,Intermediate and High Strain Rates

Tensile tests with simultaneous full-field strain and temperature measurements at the nominal strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1, 200 and 3000 s^?1 are presented. Three different testing methods with specimens of the same thin and flat gage-section geometry are utilized. The full-field deformation is measured on one side of the specimen, using the DIC technique with low and high speed visible cameras, and the full-field temperature is measured on the opposite side using an IR camera. Austenitic stainless steel is used as the test material. The results show that a similar deformation pattern evolves at all strain rates with an initial uniform deformation up to the strain of 0.25–0.35, followed by necking with localized deformation with a maximum strain of 0.7–0.95. The strain rate in the necking regions can exceed three times the nominal strain rate. The duration of the tests vary from 57 s at the lowest strain rate to 197 μs at the highest strain rate. The results show temperature rise at all strain rates. The temperature rise increases with strain rate as the test duration shortens and there is less time for the heat to dissipate. At a strain rate of 0.01 s^?1 the temperature rise is small (up to 48 °C) but noticeable. At a strain rate of 0.1 the temperature rises up to 140 °C and at a strain rate of 1 s^?1 up to 260 °C. The temperature increase in the tests at strain rates of 200 s^?1 and 3000 s^?1 is nearly the same with the maximum temperature reaching 375 °C.     

Compression-impact testing of aluminum at elevated temperatures

This paper presents and experimental technique for determining compressive stress-strain curves well into the plastic range of relatively soft metals at strain rates from 300 to 2000 sec^?1 at six temperatures from 30 to 550° C. More than 100 curves were obtained on annealed 1100° F aluminum. The strain-rate dependence in these tests could be fitted quite well either by a power function (log-log plot) or by a semilogarithmic plot, but the power function gave a better correlation of the present data with that obtained at lower strain rates by Alder and Phillips.¹     

Thermo-mechanical response of nylon 101 under uniaxial and multi-axial loadings: Part I,Experimental results over wide ranges of temperatures and strain rates

A comprehensive study of the thermo-mechanical response of a thermoplastic polymer, nylon 101 is presented. Quasi-static and dynamic compression uniaxial and multi-axial experiments (stress states) were performed at a wide range of strain rates (10⁻⁵ to 5000 s⁻¹) and temperatures (−60 to 177 °C or −76 to 350 °F). The material is found to be non-linearly dependent on strain rate and temperature. The change in volume after plastic deformation is investigated and is found to be negligibly small. The relaxation and creep responses at room temperature are found to be dependent on strain rate and the stress–strain level at which these phenomena are initiated. Total deformation is decomposed into visco-elastic and visco-plastic components; these components have been determined at different levels of deformation. Results from non-proportional uniaxial to biaxial compression, and torsion experiments, are also reported for three different strain rates at room temperature. It is shown that nylon 101 has a response dependent on the hydrostatic pressure.     

A High-frequency High-temperature Optical Strain/Displacement Gage

This paper describes an optical method for measuring strain or crack-opening displacement at high frequencies (20 kHz) and high temperatures (590°C) on a near-real-time basis. Two small reflective markers are placed on a smooth specimen or across a crack. When illuminated with a laser, interference fringes are generated; their motion can be monitored with photomultiplier tubes. The data acquisition system acquires 200 points per 50 microsecond cycle. These are processed, displayed, and stored at a rate of 25 Hz. Applications are in the general area of very high cycle (10⁹ cycles or more) fatigue. Demonstration tests at 20 kHz at room temperature with a strain range of 0.45 percent and at 590°C with a range of 0.2 percent are presented along with room temperature displacements up to 0.7 μm across the center of a 1.4 mm long crack.     

Influence of Portevin-Le Chatelier Effect on Shear Strain Path Reversal in an Al-Mg Alloy at Room and High Temperatures

The main objective of this study is to characterize the mechanical behaviour of an Al-Mg alloy in conditions close to those encountered during sheet forming processes, i.e. with strain path changes and at strain rates and temperatures in the range 1.2×10^?3–1.2×10^?1 s^?1 and 25–200°C, respectively. The onset of jerky flow and the interaction of dynamic strain ageing with the work-hardening are investigated during reversed-loading in specific simple shear tests, which consist of loading up to various shear strain values followed by reloading in the opposite direction, combined with direct observations of the sample surface using a digital image correlation technique. Both strain path changes and temperature are clearly shown to influence the occurrence and onset of the Portevin-Le Chatelier (PLC) effect. Moreover, the Bauschinger effect observed in the material response shows that the PLC effect has a major influence on the kinematic contribution to work-hardening as well as its stagnation during the reloading stage, which could open up interesting lines of research to improve theoretical plasticity models for this family of aluminium alloys.     

Characterization of mechanical properties of aluminum cast alloy at elevated temperature

The tensile response, the low cycle fatigue(LCF) resistance, and the creep behavior of an aluminum(Al) cast alloy are studied at ambient and elevated temperatures.A non-contact real-time optical extensometer based on the digital image correlation(DIC)is developed to achieve strain measurements without damage to the specimen. The optical extensometer is validated and used to monitor dynamic strains during the mechanical experiments. Results show that Young's modulus of the cast alloy decreases with the increasing temperature, and the percentage elongation to fracture at 100℃ is the lowest over the temperature range evaluated from 25℃ to 300℃. In the LCF test, the fatigue strength coefficient decreases, whereas the fatigue strength exponent increases with the rising temperature. The fatigue ductility coefficient and exponent reach maximum values at 100℃. As expected, the resistance to creep decreases with the increasing temperature and changes from 200℃ to 300℃.     

An evaluation of weldable strain gages in nuclear-reactor environments

The paper presents the results of an experiment to evaluate the performance of weldable strain gages (Microdot) in nuclear-reactor environments. The technique used to study the behavior of strain gages in an experimental reactor is described. Integral-lead weldable strain gages attached to constant-strain cantilever beams were installed in the core of NRX reactor. Presurized bellows were used to induce in the cantilever beams strains which were measured with the strain gages. After more than 200 days under irradiation in air at 70 to 100° C (estimated fast neutron dose: 0.19×10²⁰ n/cm²) the strain gages were still in satisfactory operating condition. Strains up to 1000 μin./in. were measured successfully. The measurements were repeated with accuracy. Although the total gage-resistance variation during the entire experiment was approximately 7.5 percent, the strain-gage sensitivity was practically not affected by irradiation. It was demonstrated that the gage-resistance variation can be successfully compensated. The average drift rate for an active and a compensating gage coupled in a half-bridge arrangement was below 1.5 μin./in./h. There was no indication of insulation-resistance degradation due to the effects of irradiation. The lowest resistance measurement was above 100 MΩ at 80°C. The effects of nuclear radiation on other strain-gage characteristics such as linearity, hysteresis, creep and signal noise were also investigated. It is concluded that weldable strain gages are very promising for nuclear applications.     

Full-field Thermal Deformation Measurements in a Scanning Electron Microscope by 2D Digital Image Correlation

Using recently developed methods for application of a nano-scale random pattern having high contrast during SEM imaging, baseline full-field thermal deformation experiments have been performed successfully in an FEI Quanta SEM using 2D-DIC methods. Employing a specially redesigned commercial heating plate and control system, with modified specimen attachment procedures to minimize unwanted image motions, recently developed distortion correction procedures were shown to be effective in removing both drift and spatial distortion fields under thermal heating. 2D-DIC results from heating experiments up to 125°C on an aluminum specimen indicate that (a) the fully corrected displacement components have nearly random variability and a standard deviation of 0.02 pixels (≈25 nm at 200× and ≈0.5 nm at 10,000×) in each displacement component and (b) the unbiased measured strain fields have a standard deviation ≈150 × 10⁻⁶ and a mean value that is in good agreement with independent measurements, confirming that the SEM-DIC based method can be used for both micro-scale and nano-scale thermal strain measurements.

The Effect of Grain Size on Deformation and Failure of Ti<Subscript>2</Subscript>AlC MAX Phase under Thermo-Mechanical Loading

An experimental investigation was performed to analyze the effects of grain size on the quasi-static and dynamic behavior of Ti₂AlC. High-density Ti₂AlC samples of three different grain sizes were densified using Spark Plasma Sintering and Pressureless sintering. A servo-hydraulic testing machine equipped with a vertical split furnace, and SiC pushrods, was used for the quasi-static experiments. Also, a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) apparatus and an induction coil heating system were used for the dynamic experiments. A series of experiments were conducted at temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 1100 °C for strain rates of 10^?4 s^?1 and 400 s^?1. The results show that under quasi-static loading the specimens experience a brittle failure for temperatures below Brittle to Plastic Transition Temperature (BPTT) of 900–1000 °C and large deformation at temperatures above the BPTT. During dynamic experiments, the specimens exhibited brittle failure, with the failure transitioning from catastrophic failure at lower temperatures to graceful failure (softening while bearing load) at higher temperatures, and with the propensity for graceful failure increasing with increasing grain size. The compressive strengths of different grain sizes at a given temperature can be related to the grain length by a Hall-Petch type relation.     

The effect of pre-thermal history on shear and uniaxial elongational viscosity of a tetrafluoroethylene/hexafluoropropylene copolymer near the crystal melting transition

The melt rheology of a commercially available tetrafluoroethylene/hexafluoropropylene copolymer, which is known as Teflon FEP copolymer, was studied to examine the effect of pre-thermal history during sample preparation conditions on dynamic shear and uniaxial elongational measurements. The first experimental series includes the sample preparation under hot press at 320 °C followed by a rapid cooling. The master curves were successfully obtained at 300 °C from the time-temperature superposition principle. The loss modulus G″ was found to be proportional to the angular frequency in a double-logarithmic plot toward 0.01 (rad/s), while the slope of the storage modulus G′ did not become 2. The elongational viscosity as a function of time under constant strain rates showed weak strain-hardening, which was enhanced with larger strain rates. The second experimental series contain three kinds of samples with different pre-thermal history to control rheological properties. All samples were hot-pressed at 320 °C followed by a rapid cooling to room temperature for the sample A and a slow cooling for the sample B and C. The dynamic shear and elongational measurements were performed at 270 °C for all samples, which were heated from room temperature for the sample A and B, but heated up to 280 °C and cooled down to 270 °C for the sample C. The distance between G″ and G′ become narrower in the order of the sample C, B, and A. In the same order, unexpectedly, the strain-hardening in the elongational viscosity measurements became the strain-softening. These unusual properties were discussed from a residual crystallinity.     

Errors in high-temperature strain measurements

The results of a technical evaluation of the accuracy of two types of commercially available high-temperature electric-resistance strain gages, and a special high-temperature gage under development at the Liquid Metal Engineering Center (LMEC) are presented. These gages, the BLH type HT 1212-5A, Microdot type SG420, and the LMEC gage, were selected for evaluation because of the need for reliable electric-resistance strain gages for high-temperature stress or strain measurements and process instrumentation in the temperature range of 900 to 1200° F. The BLH gage is rated by the manufacturer as a 1000 to 1200° F gage; the Microdot gage is rated as a 900° F gage. The special LMEC gage was made for use up to 1200° F. Instrumentation of this type is needed to determine or ensure component structural integrity and over-all system reliability of fast breeder reactors.     

Transient responses of magnetostrictive plates by using the GDQ method

We used the generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method to compute the transient response of thermal stresses and center displacement in laminated magnetostrictive plates under thermal vibration. We obtained the GDQ solutions in a three-layer (0°^m/90°/0) and a 10-layer (0°^m/90°/0°/90°/0)_s laminated magnetostrictive plate with four simply supported edges. We presented the transient responses of thermal stress and center displacement with and without velocity feedback control, respectively. The advantage of the GDQ method used provide us with an efficient method to compute the results including shear deformation effect with a few grid points. These GDQ results had its potential that could be used and considered as basic data in the future magnetostrictive laminate studies.     

Brittle fracture of precompressed steel as affected by hydrostatic pressure,temperature and strain concentration

Highly precompressed 1020 HR steel, 0.65 prestrain at 400°F (204°C), tested in nominally uniform tension at ?80°F (?62°C) fractures at about 110,000 psi (760 MN/m²) with less than 0.02 plastic strain. Yet the addition of a hydrostatic pressure of less than 7000 psi (48 MN/m²) converts this visually brittle fracture to a ductile one with appreciable necking. The explanation of this surprising experimental result is shown to follow directly and simply from the combination of a tensile stress criterion of fracture, strain concentration and the low tangent modulus of the stress-strain curve in tension beyond the Bauschinger transition region of a few percent of plastic strain. Temperature dependence and strain-rate dependence of brittle fracture similarly are predictable in an almost trivial manner from the appropriate stress-strain curves for different amounts of precompression. So also is the amazingly high ductility or fracture toughness of the most complex of perforated or notched statically loaded structures of mild steel in an undamaged or fully annealed state.     

The viscoplastic behavior of hastelloy-X single crystal

A viscoplastic constitutive model for Hastelloy-X single crystal material is developed based on crystallographic slip theory. The constitutive model was constructed for use in a viscoplastic self-consistent model for isotropic Hastelloy-X polycrystalline material, which has been described in a recent publication. It is found that, by using the slip geometry known from the metallurgical literature, the anisotropic response can be accurately predicted. The model was verified by using tension and torsion data taken at 982°C (1800°F). The constitutive model used on each slip system is a simple unified visoplastic power law model in which weak latent interaction effects are taken into account. The drag stress evolution equations for the octahedral system are written in a hardening/recovery format in which both hardening and recovery depend on separate latent interaction effects between the octahedral crystallographic slip systems. The strain rate behavior of the single crystal material is well correlated by the constitutive model in uniaxial and torsion tests, but it is necessary to include latent information effects between the octahedral slip systems in order to obtain the best possible representation of biaxial cyclic strain rate behavior. Finally, it was observed that the single crystal exhibited dynamic strain aging at 871°C (1600°F). Similar dynamic strain aging occurs at 649°C (1200°F) in the polycrystalline version of the alloy.     

Development of high-temperature biaxial-strain transducer for use to 1033°K (1400°F)

This study involved the development and evaluation of a high-temperature biaxial-strain transducer for measurement of strains up to 5 percent at temperatures approaching 1033°K (1400°F). The design requirements for transducer were established by specifications prepared by the Pressure Vessel Research Committee (PVRC) of the Welding Research Council. These specifications reflect the needs of the national laboratories and private industry as they relate to safety and structural-behavior studies of nuclear and advanced fossil-fuel systems, including piping, piping components, heat exchangers, and other pressure equipment. It was concluded, on the basis of the results from this study, that the transducer should perform satisfactorily at temperatures to at least 866°K (1100°F), and perhaps to 1033°K (1400°F). This paper should be of particular interest to those involved in high-temperature strain measurements or structural-behavior studies of energy systems (nuclear and fossil fuel) and components (piping, pumps, valves, heat exchangers, reactor components, etc).     

Scanning-Digital Image Correlation for Moving and Temporally Deformed Surfaces in Scanning Imaging Mode

Background

Images from scanning electron microscopes, transmission electron microscopes and atomic force microscopes have been widely used in digital image correlation methods to obtain accurate full-field deformation profiles of tested objects and investigate the object’s deformation mechanism. However, because of the raster-scanning imaging mode used in microscopic observation equipment, the images obtained from these instruments can only be used for quasi-static displacement measurements; otherwise, spurious displacements and strains may be introduced into the deformation results if these scanning microscopic images are used directly in general digital image correlation calculations for moving and temporally deformed surfaces.

Objective

Realizing kinematic parameter and dynamic deformation measurements on a scanning electron microscope platform.

Methods

Establishing a scanning imaging model of moving and temporally deformed objects that contains motion and deformation equations, a scanning equation and an intensity invariance assumption for small deformations. Then proposing a scanning-digital image correlation (S-DIC) method based on combing the characteristics of the scanning imaging mode with digital image correlation.

Results

Quantitatively investigating the effects of the spurious displacements and strains introduced when using scanning images to represent moving and temporally deformed surfaces in the measurement results. Numerical simulations verify that the accuracy of the S-DIC method is 10^?2pix for the displacement, 10^?4 for the strain, 10^?4pix/s for the velocity and 10^?6s^?1 for the strain rate. Experiments also show that the proposed S-DIC method is effective. Conclusions: The results of this work demonstrate the utility of S-DIC on the field of microscopic dynamic measurement.