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.     

Structural behaviour of fibre metal laminates subjected to a low velocity impact

Structural impact tests were first presented to cover typical fibre metal laminates (FMLs) subjected a low velocity projectile impact,which produced the corresponding load-displacement traces and deformation/failure modes for the validation of numerical models.Finite element (FE) models were then developed to simulate the impact behaviour of FMLs tested.The aluminium (alloy grade 2024-0) layer was modelled as an isotropic elasto-plastic material up to the on-set of post failure stage,followed by shear failu...     

Bending-induced crack propagation in a 4% CuAl alloy with reference to acoustically propagated fatigue cracks

The growth rates of bending-induced fatigue cracks in bare and clad 4% CuAl alloy sheets typical of those used for aircraft skins are determined as a function of the crack tip stress intensity. Although the emphasis of the work is on crack growth at load reversal rates characteristic of the acoustic fatigue situation (175 reversals/second) comparison is made with crack growth rates at relatively low load reversal rates (4 reversal/ second). Data applicable to both sinusoidal and narrow band random loading is presented and the relationship between growth rates under these two forms of loading is examined.     

Quantitative assessment of fatigue damage accumulation in wavy slip metals from acoustic harmonic generation

A comprehensive, analytical treatment is presented of the microelastic–plastic nonlinearities resulting from the interaction of a stress perturbation with dislocation substructures and cracks that evolve during cyclic fatigue of wavy slip metals. The interaction is quantified by a material nonlinearity parameter β extracted from acoustic harmonic generation measurements. The contribution to β from the substructures is obtained from the Cantrell model. The contribution to β from cracks is obtained by applying the Paris law to the Nazarov–Sutin crack nonlinearity equation. The nonlinearity parameter resulting from the two contributions is predicted to increase monotonically by hundreds of percent during fatigue from the virgin state to fracture. The increase in β during the first 80–90% fatigue life is dominated by the evolution of dislocation substructures, while the last 10–20% is dominated by crack growth. Application of the model to aluminium alloy 2024-T4 in stress-controlled loading at 276?MPa yields excellent agreement between theory and experiment.     

Fracture mechanics of propagating 3-D fatigue cracks with parametric dislocations

Abstract

Propagation of 3-D fatigue cracks is analyzed using a discrete dislocation representation of the crack opening displacement. Three dimensional cracks are represented with Volterra dislocation loops in equilibrium with the applied external load. The stress intensity factor (SIF) is calculated using the Peach–Koehler (PK) force acting on the crack tip dislocation loop. Loading mode decomposition of the SIF is achieved by selection of Burgers vector components to correspond to each fracture mode in the PK force calculations. The interaction between 3-D cracks and free surfaces is taken into account through application of the superposition principle. A boundary integral solution of an elasticity problem in a finite domain is superposed onto the elastic field solution of the discrete dislocation method in an infinite medium. The numerical accuracy of the SIF is ascertained by comparison with known analytical solution of a 3-D crack problem in pure mode I, and for mixed-mode loading. Finally, fatigue crack growth simulations are performed with the Paris law, showing that 3-D cracks do not propagate in a self-similar shape, but they re-configure as a result of their interaction with external boundaries. A specific numerical example of fatigue crack growth is presented to demonstrate the utility of the developed method for studies of 3-D crack growth during fatigue.     

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.     

Integrated peak spectral intensity for in situ crack detection

This paper presents an integrated peak spectral intensity method for in situ detection of a fatigue crack in a metallic material. The method employs a laser beam to illuminate the notch root of a central slot machined on test specimens. The diffracted images are digitized, recorded and processed on a personal computer. Subsequent image processing and analysis yield information from which fatigue crack initiation on the specimen is determined. The technique is applied to aluminium alloy specimens subjected to a cyclic tensile load with a constant stress amplitude. Unlike previous techniques, the present technique enables recording of speckle images and the subsequent detection of fatigue crack initiation without the necessity of unloading the test specimen from the testing machine.     

An extensive 3D dislocation dynamics investigation of stage-I fatigue crack propagation

Stage-I fatigue crack propagation is investigated using 3D discrete dislocation dynamics (DD) simulations. Slip-based propagation mechanisms and the role of the pre-existing slip band on the crack path are emphasized. Stage-I crack growth is found to be compatible with successive decohesion of the persistent slip band/matrix interface rather than a mere effect of plastic irreversibility. Corresponding crack tip slip displacement magnitude and the associated crack growth rate are evaluated quantitatively at various tip distances from the grain boundary. This shows that grain boundaries systematically amplify slip dispersion ahead of the crack tip and consequently, slow down the stage-I crack growth rate. The results help in developing an original crack propagation model, accounting for the boundary effects relevant to polycrystals. The crack growth trend is then evaluated from calculations of the energy changes due to crack length increments. It is shown that the crack necessarily propagates by increments smaller than 10 nm.     

Very-High-Cycle-Fatigue of in-service air-engine blades, compressor and turbine

In-service Very-High-Cycle-Fatigue(VHCF)regime of compressor vane and turbine rotor blades of the Al-based alloy VD-17and superalloy GS6K,respectively,was considered.Surface crack origination occurred at the lifetime more than 1500 hours for vanes and after 550 hours for turbine blades.Performed fractographic investigations have shown that subsurface crack origination in vanes took place inspite of corrosion pittings on the blade surface.This material behavior reflected lifetime limit that was reached by the criterion VHCF.In superalloy GS6K subsurface fatigue cracking took place with the appearance of flat facet.This phenomenon was discussed and compared with specimens cracking of the same superalloy but prepared by the powder technology.In turbine blades VHCF regime appeared because of resonance of blades under the influenced gas stream.Both cases of compressor-vanes and turbine blades in-service cracking were discussed with crack growth period and stress equivalent estimations.Recommendations to continue aircrafts airworthiness were made for in-service blades.     

Three-dimensional characterization of fatigue-relevant intermetallic particles in high-strength aluminium alloys using synchrotron X-ray nanotomography

Second-phase particles and small porosities are known to favour fatigue crack initiation in high-strength aluminium alloys 2050-T8 and 7050-T7451. Using high-resolution X-ray tomography (320 nm voxel size), with Paganin reconstruction algorithms, the probability that large clusters of particles contain porosities could be measured for the first time in 3D, as well as precise 3D size distributions. Additional holotomography imaging provided improved spatial resolution (50 nm voxel size), allowing to estimate the probability of finding cracked particles in the as-received material state. The extremely precise 3D shape (including cracks) as well as local chemistry of the particles has been determined. This experiment enabled unprecedented 3D identification of detrimental stress risers relevant for fatigue in as-received aluminium alloys.     

Multiscale approach to micro/macro fatigue crack growth in 2024-T3 aluminum panel

When two contacting solid surfaces are tightly closed and invisible to the naked eye,the discontinuity is said to be microscopic regardless of whether its length is short or long.By this definition,it is not sufficient to distinguish the difference between a micro-and macro-crack by using the length parameter.Microcracks in high strength metal alloys have been known to be several centimeters or longer.Considered in this work is a dual scale fatigue crack growth model where the main crack can be micro or macro but there prevails an inherent microscopic tip region that is damaged depending on the irregularities of the microstructure.This region is referred to as the"micro-tip"and can be simulated by a sharp wedge with different angles in addition to mixed boundary conditions.The combination is sufficient to model microscopic entities in the form of voids,inclusions,precipitations,interfaces,in addition to subgrain imperfections,or cluster of dislocations.This is accomplished by using the method of"singularity representation"such that closed form asymptotic solutions can be obtained for the development of fatigue crack growth rate relations with three parameters.They include:(1)the crack surface tightness*represented by o/=0.3-0.5 for short cracks in region I,and 0.1-0.2 for long cracks in region II,(2)the micro/macro material properties reflected by the shear modulus ratio*(=micro/macro varying between 2 and 5)and(3)the most sensitive parameter d*being the micro-tip characteristic length d*(=d/do)whose magnitude decreases in the direction of region I II.The existing fatigue crack growth data for 2024-T3 and 7075-T6 aluminum sheets are used to reinterpret the two-parameter da/dN=C(K)nrelation where K has now been re-derived for a microcrack with surfaces tightly in contact.The contact force will depend on the mean stress m or mean stress ratio R as the primary parameter and on the stress amplitude a as the secondary parameter.     

High level compressive residual stresses produced in aluminum alloys by laser shock processing

Laser shock processing (LSP) has been proposed as a competitive alternative technology to classical treatments for improving fatigue and wear resistance of metals. We present a configuration and results for metal surface treatments in underwater laser irradiation at 1064 nm. A convergent lens is used to deliver 1.2 J/cm² in a 8 ns laser FWHM pulse produced by 10 Hz Q-switched Nd:YAG, two laser spot diameters were used: 0.8 and 1.5 mm.Results using pulse densities of 2500 pulses/cm² in 6061-T6 aluminum samples and 5000 pulses/cm² in 2024 aluminum samples are presented. High level of compressive residual stresses are produced −1600 MPa for 6061-T6 Al alloy, and −1400 MPa for 2024 Al alloy. It has been shown that surface residual stress level is higher than that achieved by conventional shot peening and with greater depths. This method can be applied to surface treatment of final metal products.     

Laser-shock-induced stress wave in metal and its prospects of applications

ＬａｓｅｒｓｈｏｃｋｉｎｄｕｃｅｄｓｔｒｅｓｗａｖｅｉｎｍｅｔａｌａｎｄｉｔｓｐｒｏｓｐｅｃｔｓｏｆａｐｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｓＴＡＮＧＹａｘｉｎＺＨＡＮＧＹｏｎｇｋａｎｇＺＨＡＮＧＨｏｎｇＹＵＣｈｅｎｙｅＷＵＨｏｎｇｘｉｎｇ１）ＧＵＯＤａｈａｏ１）...     

An energy-equilibrium model for complex stress effect on fatigue crack initiation

Based on Tanaka and Mura’s fatigue model and Griffith theory for fracture,an energy-equilibrium model was proposed to explain the complex stress effect on fatigue behavior.When the summation of the elastic strain energy release and the stored strain energy of accumulated dislocations reach the surface energy of a crack,the fatigue crack will initiate in materials.According to this model,for multiaxial stress condition,the orientation of the crack initiation and the initiation life can be deduced from the energy equilibrium equation.For the uniaxial fatigue loading with mean stress,the relation between the maximum stress or the minimum stress and the stress amplitude is in agreement with an ellipse equation on the constant life diagram.If the ratio of the mean stress to stress amplitude is less than a critical value-0.17,and the stress amplitude keeps constant,the fatigue crack initiation life will decrease with the increase of the compress mean stress.In this model,the mean stress does not cause damage accumulation with the fatigue cycles in crack initiation.For this reason,the loading sequence of different load levels would induce the cumulative damage to deviate from the Palmgren-Miner cumulative damage rule.The procedure of estimating the damage under random loading is also discussed.     

Three-dimensional characterisation and modelling of small fatigue corner cracks in high strength Al-alloys

The growth of fatigue cracks at small length scales is known to be influenced by a variety of factors, including local microstructure, varying stress states and crack shape. High resolution computed tomography allows for sub-micron resolution imaging of failure processes in small test coupons undergoing in situ cyclic loading, providing detailed three-dimensional (3D) assessment of propagation processes across the entire crack front (surface and depth). In this work fatigue crack growth has been examined in an advanced Direct Chill (DC) cast aluminium alloy, along with a fine grained powder-metallurgy alloy. The latter is identified as a model material, offering considerably simpler microscopic crack paths than the DC cast alloy, and hence a means of separating bulk mechanical effects (such as stress state variations across a crack front and plasticity induced closure) from microstructural effects (such as crystallographic deflection and roughness induced crack closure). Crack growth has been studied in both materials under both constant amplitude (CA) and single peak overload (OL) conditions. Experimental results are presented in the present paper, particularly in relation to micromechanical understanding of failure. A modelling approach based on those results, and some typical results, is also presented.     

Baseline-free estimation of residual fatigue life using a third order acoustic nonlinear parameter

Prediction of crack growth and fatigue life estimation of metals using linear/nonlinear acousto-ultrasound methods is an ongoing issue. It is known that by measuring nonlinear parameters, the relative accumulated fatigue damage can be evaluated. However, there is still a need to measure two crack propagation states to assess the absolute residual fatigue life. A procedure based on the measurement of a third-order acoustic nonlinear parameter is presented to assess the residual fatigue life of a metallic component without the need of a baseline. The analytical evaluation of how the cubic nonlinear-parameter evolves during crack propagation is presented by combining the Paris law to the Nazarov-Sutin crack equation. Unlike other developed models, the proposed model assumes a crack surface topology with variable geometrical parameters. Measurements of the cubic nonlinearity parameter on AA2024-T351 specimens demonstrated high sensitivity to crack propagation and excellent agreement with the predicted theoretical behavior. The advantages of using the cubic nonlinearity parameter for fatigue cracks on metals are discussed by comparing the relevant results of a quadratic nonlinear parameter. Then the methodology to estimate crack size and residual fatigue life without the need of a baseline is presented, and advantages and limitations are discussed.     

Electroelastic behaviour of an annular interfacial crack between dissimilar piezoelectric layers

An annular interfacial crack between dissimilar piezoelectric layers subjected to electroelastic loadings was investigated under an electrically impermeable boundary condition on the crack surface by using the Hankel transform technique and the Cauchy singular integral equation method. The stress intensity factors and energy release rates were determined. Numerical results reveal the effects of crack configuration, electric loads and material parameters on crack propagation and growth. The results should be useful for the design of piezoelectric composite structures and devices of high performance.     

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.     

Grain boundary cracking in fatigued bicrystals

Compact tension (CT) shaped copper bicrystals containing the 3(111), 9(221), 41(338) or random [110] tilt boundaries either perpendicular or parallel to the tensile axis (TA) were tested to examine the effect of grain boundary (GB) structure on fatigue crack initiation and propagation. With both types of bicrystals, the GB resistance to intergranular cracking increases with the decrease in the value. The effect of air on fatigue crack propagation is found to be of primary importance. It is shown that the GB is not necessarily a preferential site for crack propagation in vacuum. A crack introduced intergranularly in air may assume a stransgranular mode of growth in vacuum. The initial GB structure greatly affects the susceptibility of GBs to corrosion in air and this determines their resistance to crack growth. The relative importance of slip band cracking as compared to GB cracking in vacuum is examined. The dominant mechanism of fracture is seen to be determined by two factors: the GB structure in the non-equilibrium state and the geometry of slip with respect to GB orientation.     

Parameter Optimizing Experiment for Laser Shock-procesing on Anti-fatigue and-Fracture Property of Metal

ＰａｒａｍｅｔｅｒＯｐｔｉｍｉｚｉｎｇＥｘｐｅｒｉｍｅｎｔｆｏｒＬａｓｅｒＳｈｏｃｋ┐ｐｒｏｃｅｓｉｎｇｏｎＡｎｔｉ┐ｆａｔｉｇｕｅａｎｄ┐ＦｒａｃｔｕｒｅＰｒｏｐｅｒｔｙｏｆＭｅｔａｌＣＡＩＬａｎＹＡＮＧＪｉｃｈａｎｇＲＥＮＮａｉｆｅｉ（Ｊｉａｎｇ...