Tensile testing of microsamples

Structural analysis has advanced rapidly to the point where lack of knowledge about the local inhomogeneity and anisotropic nature of the materials prevents the accurate prediction of the behavior; models can incorporate local material properties provided they can be experimentally determined. Conventional tensile techniques are unable to test speciments from submillimeter-sized regions, and micro-hardness measurements do not reveal directional variations. A system has been developed to perform tensile tests on microsamples that are 3.1 mm long with a gage cross section that is 0.2 mm square. The volume of the test region is roughly 500,000 times smaller than a standard half-inch diameter specimen. Tensile stress-strain curves are measured, and the yield strength, ultimate strength, modulus and elongation are calculated for each sample. Samples cut from the weld metal of undermatched welds in HY-100 plate showed a large variation in properties from the center of the weld to the outer edge, as well as anisotropy at some locations. The average mechanical properties of a group of microsamples cut from the outer region of the weldment compared favorably with measurements made using full-sized specimens; the variation in the microsample measurements reflect local variations in the material that are not measured with full-sized specimens.     

Failure loads of spot weld specimens under impact opening and shear loading conditions

Failure loads of spot weld specimens are investigated under impact combined loading conditions. A set of test fixtures was designed and used to obtain failure loads of mild steel spot weld specimens under combined opening and shear loading conditions. Three different impact speeds were applied to examine the effects of separation speed on failure loads. Micrographs of the cross-sections of failed spot welds were obtained to understand the failure processes in mild steel specimens under different impact combined loads. The experimental results indicate that the failure mechanisms of spot welds are very similar for mild steel specimens at various impact speeds. These micrographs show that the sheet thickness can affect the failure mechanisms. For 1.0 mm specimens, the failure occurs near the base metal in a necking/shear failure mode. For 1.5 mm specimens, the failure occurs near the heat-affected zone in a shear failure mode. Based on the experimental results, the effects of the inertia force, the separation speed, and the loading angle on the failure loads of spot welds are investigated. Failure criteria are proposed to characterize the failure loads of spot welds under impact combined opening and shear loads for engineering applications. The failure load can be expressed as a function of the tensile strength of the base metal, the nugget size, the sheet thickness, the maximum separation speed, the loading angle, and empirical coefficients for a given welding schedule.     

Modelling of plastic flow localisation and damage development in friction stir welded 6005A aluminium alloy using physics based strain hardening law

Plastic flow localisation and ductile failure during tensile testing of friction stir welded aluminium specimens are investigated with a specific focus on modelling the local, finite strain, hardening response. In the experimental part, friction stir welds in a 6005A-T6 aluminium alloy were prepared and analysed using digital image correlation (DIC) during tensile testing as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on polished samples and on fracture surfaces. The locations of the various regions of the weld were determined based on hardness measurements, while the flow behaviour of these zones was extracted from micro-tensile specimens cut parallel to the welding direction. The measured material properties and weld topology were introduced into a 3D finite element model, fully coupled with the damage model. A Voce law hardening model involving a constant stage IV is used within an enhanced Gurson type micro-mechanical damage model, accounting for void nucleation, growth and coalescence, as well as void shape evolution. The stage IV hardening, observed in Simar et al. (2010), was found to increase the stiffness during plastic flow localisation as well as to postpone the onset of fracture as determined by the void coalescence criterion. Furthermore, the presence of a second population of voids was concluded to strongly affect the fracture strain of the high strength regions of the welds. This modelling effort links the microstructure and process parameters to macroscopic parameters relevant to the optimisation of the welds.     

Numerical study of the plastic behaviour in tension of welds in high strength steels

The influence of the mismatch between material properties and constraint on the plastic deformation behaviour of the heat affected zone of welds in high strength steels is investigated in this study, using finite element simulations. An elastoplastic implicit three-dimensional finite element code (EPIM3D) was used in the analysis. The paper presents the mechanical model of the code and the methodology used for the numerical simulation of the tensile test of welded joints. Numerical results of the tensile test of welded samples with different hypothetical widths for the Heat Affected Zone and various material mismatch levels are shown. The analysis concerns the overall strength and ductility of the joint and in relation to the plastic behaviour of the heat affected zone. The influence of the yield stress, tensile strength and constraint on the stress and plastic strain distribution in the soft heat affected zone is also discussed.     

Plastic strip model of cracked weld joint with residual stresses

The effect of residual stresses on the fracture behavior of a cracked weld joint is studied by making use of the continuous dislocation formulation. Considered are the plastic zone length of the strip model zone and the opening displacement of a crack that is normal to both weld line and base metal boundary; they depend on the character of the yield stresses for the base metal (BM), weld material (WM), and heat affected zone (HAZ). The crack driving force is found to increase with the tensile residual stress while crack initiation and growth are suppressed if the residual stress is compressive. Moreover, the plastic zone and crack opening displacement are found to decrease linearly with the HAZ yield strength as the HAZ width is increased for HAZ yield strength greater than that of BM.     

Numerical analysis of the heat and fluid flow in a weld pool with a dynamic keyhole

In keyhole plasma arc welding, the interaction between the keyhole and the weld pool occurs when the keyhole appears inside the weld pool. The change of the keyhole shape and dimensions has direct effect on the heat and fluid flow in the weld pool, and the latter will also influence the keyhole geometry. In this study, the coupled behaviors of weld pool and keyhole are treated to develop a three-dimensional model for analyzing the heat and fluid flow inside a weld pool with a dynamic keyhole. In view of the characteristics of PAW process, a combined volumetric heat source model (double-ellipsoid plus conic body source) is established, and one of its distribution parameters is adjusted dynamically with the variation of the depth of keyhole. The physical phenomena, such as the weld pool development, the keyhole formation, the evolution of fluid flow and thermal field, the full-penetration of the test plates, and the transformation from a blind keyhole to an open keyhole, are quantitatively analyzed. The numerical results reveal the regularity of fluid flow in weld pool with a keyhole. The calculated keyhole shape and the fusion zone of plasma arc welds are compared with the experimental measurements. Both agree with each other generally. It lays foundation for optimizing the welding process parameters and improving the stability of plasma arc welding process.     

Failure loads of spot welds under combined opening and shear static loading conditions

Failure loads of spot welds are investigated under combined opening and shear static loading conditions. Square-cup specimens were used to obtain the failure loads of mild steel spot welds under a range of combined opening and shear loads. Optical micrographs of the cross-sections of spot welds before and after failure were examined to understand the failure processes under different combinations of loads. The experimental results indicate that under nearly pure opening loads, shear failure occurs in the heat affected zone along the nugget circumferential boundary. Under combined opening and shear loading conditions, necking/shear failure starts near the nugget in the stretching side of the base metal sheet. According to the experimental observations, a simple lower bound limit load analysis is conducted. The results of the lower bound limit load analysis quantitatively agree with those of the experiments. A simple closed-form equation is proposed to characterize the failure loads of spot welds under combined opening and shear static loading conditions. The failure load is expressed as a function of the tensile strength of the base metal, the nugget size, the sheet thickness, the loading angle for characterization of combined loads, and an empirical coefficient for the given welding schedule.     

宽幅钢箱梁环焊缝焊接顺序优化研究

基于热弹塑性有限元法,采用ANSYS软件建立了网格疏密过渡的单箱五室钢箱梁壳单元模型;结合高效的分段移动热源,实现了对大型复杂长焊缝结构焊接全过程的数值模拟,并定性对比了宽幅钢箱梁在不同的环焊缝焊接顺序下顶板和底板的变形情况.分析结果表明:腹板焊缝的焊接顺序对竖向最大变形值(绝对值)的影响不大,其值主要取决于顶板和底板...     

Influence of seawater and residual stresses on fatigue crack growth in C---Mn steel weld joints

Results are presented on fatigue crack growth of weld joints made of C---Mn structural steel plates in both air and seawater. Tests were conducted to identify the behavior at different locations of the joints as the frequency, R-ratio and electrochemical potential are varied. Residual stresses in specimens with welds are evaluated to analyse the fatigue crack growth behavior. Satisfactory predictions are obtained by accounting for residual stresses and crack closure.     

Effect of cracked weld joint and yield strength dissimilarity on crack tip stress triaxiality

This paper is concerned with an elasto-plastic analysis of a weld joint containing a central crack in the weld material (WM) whose yield strength may differ from that of the base material (BM). Stress triaxiality along the path of expected crack extension is found to be influenced not only by the applied tensile load level and crack length relative to the specimen width but also by the degree of BM/WM mismatch in the yield strength.Three different cases are analyzed by application of a two-dimensional finite element analysis. They are referred to as under-match, even-match and over-match which correspond, respectively, to the WM yield strength being less than, equal to and greater than that of the BM. In general, the stress triaxiality along the crack front tends to increase for an under-matched weld and decrease for an over-matched weld using the even-matched case as a reference. As the crack length is reduced for a given specimen width, the stress triaxiality decreases accordingly and the BM/WM material dissimilarity becomes more obvious. Displayed graphically are also the crack front plastic zone size that increases with the applied tensile load level and suffers a discontinuity across the weld line.     

焊接接头局部塑性行为的循环压痕实验研究

基于纳米压痕技术,对转子钢焊接接头不同区域（母材、焊缝和热影响区）开展了压入位移控制的单向压痕实验和压入载荷控制的循环压痕实验研究．首先,通过压入位移控制的单向压痕实验,采用多次测试取平均值的方式获得了焊接接头各个区域的弹性模量和硬度分布特征,同时对各区域弹性模量中值点的载荷-压入深度曲线进行了分析;其次,对各个区域进行压入载荷控制的循环压痕实验,比较其压入深度随循环周次的演化特征．结果表明,焊接接头不同区域力学性能差异较大,热影响区的弹性模量、硬度、抗拉强度和抗循环变形能力最高,焊缝次之,母材最弱;三个区域在循环压痕载荷下的接触载荷-压入深度滞回环曲线均表现出类似棘轮变形的演化特征,且母材演化速度高于焊缝,高于热影响区．研究结果对汽轮机焊接转子的焊接工艺的优化、寿命预测和可靠性设计具有重要的借鉴意义．     

Study of residual stresses in linearly varying biaxial-stress fields

A theory has been developed for the calculation of relaxation strains effected by drilling a hole in a plate with a linearly varying stress field. With this theory, a technique was developed for the measurement of residual stress at the toe of tee-fillet welds. The above technique was employed for the measurement of residual stresses at the toe of tee-fillet welds in 11/2-in. HY-80 steel with the fillet in the as-welded, ground, shot peened, ground and shot peened, and mechanically peened condition. It was found that experimental data conform to the assumed theory, and that residual stresses in aswelded tee-fillet welds in both the transverse and longitudinal directions approach the yield strength of the steel. It was also found that residual stresses are reduced approximately 25 percent by grinding, 50 percent by shot peening and 50 percent by grinding and shot peening. Mechanical peening drastically affected residual stresses by converting high tension at the toe of the fillet weld to high compression of approximately the same magnitude.     

EFFECT OF SURFACE CONDITION AND PRIOR PLASTIC DEFORMATION ON X-RAY EFFECTIVE ELASTIC PARAMETERS IN A STEEL AND ITS WELD

The effective elastic parameter (EEP) was determined for three material and surface conditions of ASTM 516 grade 70 steel and found to differ by as much as 19 percent. This difference occurred between data for plate with a machined surface and that for a chemically milled surface.
In these tests, the same EEP appeared to apply for specimens both before and after exposure to yield level strains. This suggests that the X-ray calibration data may be used to determine stresses in welds exposed to yield-level residual strains as long as the appropriate EEP values are used for the weld material and surface condition.     

Predicting the failure of ultrasonic spot welds by pull-out from sheet metal

A methodology for determining the cohesive fracture parameters associated with pull-out of spot welds is presented. Since failure of a spot weld by pull-out occurs by mixed-mode fracture of the base metal, the cohesive parameters for ductile fracture of an aluminum alloy were determined and then used to predict the failure of two very different spot-welded geometries. The fracture parameters (characteristic strength and toughness) associated with the shear and normal modes of ductile fracture in thin aluminum alloy coupons were determined by comparing experimental observations to numerical simulations in which a cohesive-fracture zone was embedded within a continuum representation of the sheet metal. These parameters were then used to predict the load–displacement curves for ultrasonically spot-welded joints in T-peel and lap-shear configurations. The predictions were in excellent agreement with the experimental data. The results of the present work indicate that cohesive-zone models may be very useful for design purposes, since both the strength and the energy absorbed by plastic deformation during weld pull-out can be predicted quite accurately.     

Characterization of crack tip stresses in plane-strain fracture specimens having weld center crack

Fracture toughness of metals depends strongly on the state of stress near the crack tip. The existing standards (like R-6, SINTAP) are being modified to account for the influence of stress triaxiality in the flaw assessment procedures. These modifications are based on the ability of so-called ‘constraint parameters’ to describe near tip stresses. Crack tip stresses in homogeneous fracture specimens are successfully described in terms of two parameters like J–Q or J–T. For fracture specimens having a weld center crack, strength mismatch ratio between base and weld material and weld width are the additional variables, along with the magnitude of applied loading, type of loading, and geometry of specimen that affect the crack tip stresses. In this work, a novel three-parameter scheme was proposed to estimate the crack tip opening stress accounting for the above-mentioned variables. The first and second parameters represent the crack tip opening stress in a homogeneous fracture specimen under small-scale yielding and are well known. The third parameter accounts for the effect of constraint developed due to weld strength mismatch. It comprises of weld strength mismatch ratio (M, i.e. ratio of yield strength of weld material to that of base material), and a plastic interaction factor (I_p) that scales the size of the plastic zone with the width of the weld material. The plastic interaction factor represents the degree of influence of weld strength mismatch on crack tip constraint for a given mismatch ratio. The proposed scheme was validated with detailed FE analysis using the Modified Boundary Layer formulation.     

试样疲劳性能尺度效应的概率控制体积方法

试样尺度、缺口和加载方式通常对材料的疲劳性能具有重要影响. 因此,发展关联试样尺度、缺口和加载方式对疲劳强度影响的方法对于从材料疲劳性能到结构件疲劳性能的预测具有重要意义.首先,采用旋转弯曲加载和轴向加载方式对不同几何形状EA4T车轴钢试样进行了疲劳实验.实验结果表明, 由于试样尺度的增加,轴向加载下狗骨形试样的疲劳强度明显低于沙漏形试样; 相同寿命下,缺口显著降低试样的疲劳强度. 疲劳断口扫描电镜观测结果表明,疲劳裂纹均起源于试样表面.沙漏形试样和狗骨形试样疲劳断口大多只有一个裂纹源,而缺口试样疲劳断口均具有多裂纹源特征. 然后,采用概率控制体积方法研究了试样尺度、缺口和加载方式对疲劳强度的影响,并与临界距离和应变能密度方法进行了比较. 结果表明,概率控制体积方法能够更好地关联试样尺度、缺口和加载方式对EA4T车轴钢疲劳强度的影响.最后, 提出一种基于控制体积的结构件疲劳强度预测方法,并用于具有不连续高应力区域车轴钢试样的疲劳强度预测,预测结果与实验结果 吻合.      

Gigacycle fatigue behaviors of two SNCM439 steels with different tensile strengthes

Gigacycle fatigue behaviors of two SNCM439 steels with different tensile strengthes were experimentally studied by rotating bending tests,to investigate the effects of the tensile strength obtained by different heat treatment processes on very high cycle fatigue failure mechanisms.The material with higher tensile strength of 1 710 MPa exhibited typical gigacycle fatigue failure characteristics,whereas one with lower tensile strength of 1 010 MPa showed only traditional fatigue limit during the tests and no ...     

Thermo-mechanical response of tension panels under intense rapid heating

The temperature dependence of the fracture strength of 7075-T6 aluminum alloy was determined under rapid heating (0.02–.50 sec) conditions by exposing thin-section specimens to intense surface irradiation while under constant tensile load. When combined with a numerical thermal analysis and an appropriate limit analysis, these data enabled accurate prediction of the heating time required to produce ductile fracture in spot irradiated tension panels. The transient heat transfer model employed in the computations incorporated material removal due to melting, temperature-dependent material properties, and convection/radiation losses.     

爆炸处理消除大型柱壳结构环焊缝残余应力实验研究

为探讨大型耐压柱壳结构对接环焊缝焊接残余应力消除方法,根据耐压柱壳结构环焊缝焊接工艺,设计并制作了大型耐压柱壳结构对接环焊缝模拟焊接模型,并采用沿焊缝条状布药,分别进行了单、双面布药爆炸处理消除大型耐压柱壳结构对接环焊缝焊接残余应力模型实验。结果表明:大型耐压柱壳结构对接环焊缝存在较大的焊接残余应力;单、双面爆炸处理均能有效调整、消除焊接残余应力,残余应力分布明显均匀化;焊后残余应力越大,爆炸处理效果越明显,当焊接残余应力大于0.5s时,单面爆炸处理后残余应力m下降幅度在40%以上,双面爆炸处理后残余应力m下降幅度在60%以上;采用沿焊缝条状布药,爆炸处理能有效消除沿焊缝的纵向残余应力;双面爆炸处理效果优于单面爆炸处理效果。     

Size Effect on The Bending And Tensile Strength of Micromachined Polysilicon Films for MEMS

I. INTRODUCTION Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have achieved impressive progress and become a very area of research. But long-term durability of various MEMS devices requires a fundamental understaof the fatigue and fracture characteristics of su…