Fatigue crack growth model for assessing reliability of box-girders for cable-stayed bridge combining SHMS with strain data

Enhancement of the computer algorithm developed for the Runyang cable-stayed bridge (RYCB) in China is made by incorporating the fatigue crack growth analysis in contrast to the SN curve approach. Strain data obtained from the structural health monitoring system (SHMS) and finite element calculations are used. This provides the application of a deterministic method in addition to the probabilistic approach with the added feature of crack growth. The choice of selecting the two-parameter fatigue crack growth criterion was based on the definition of reliability index β such that the new results can be compared with those using the SN curves. A gradual drop of the reliability index β with time with an upper limit was obtained for the crack growth model in contrast to the linear time relation for the SN curve model that had no upper limit. This difference is significant and reveals the importance for selecting the fatigue failure criterion. Deterministic and probabilistic crack growth models are used to assess the differences. The results are based on the box-girder component strain history data of the Runyang Cable-stayed Bridge (RYCB) in China, stress history recorded by structural health monitoring system (SHMS) is analyzed using the monitored stress amplitude, mean stress and stress ratio. Finite element calculations are used to supplement data at locations not accessible for measurements. Additional improvement with reference to damage accumulation and the physical meaning of the reliability index will be studies in relation to the fatigue damage of box-girder of long cable-stayed bridges.     

Principle of least variance for dual scale reliability of structural systems

A R-integral is defined to account for the evolution of the root functions from Ideomechanics. They can be identified with, though not limited to, the fatigue crack length or velocity. The choice was dictated by the available validated data for relating accelerated testing to real time life expectancy. The key issue is to show that there exists a time range of high reliability for the crack length and velocity that correspond to the least variance of the time dependent R-integrals. Excluded from the high reliability time range are the initial time span where the lower scale defects are predominant and the time when the macrocrack approaches instability at relatively high velocity. What remains is the time span for micro-macro cracking. The linear sum (ls) and root mean square (rms) average are used to delineate two different types of variance. The former yields a higher reliability in comparison with that for the latter. The results support the scale range established empirically by in-service health monitoring for the crack length and velocity. The principle of least variance can be extended to multiscale reliability analysis and assessment for multi-component and multi-function systems.     

常幅载荷下结构元件断裂可靠度估算的应力强度因子模型

给出了一个估算结构元件疲劳可靠度的应力强度因子模型,系统阐述了元件在常幅载荷下疲劳可靠性的分析方法。该模型研究了常幅载荷作用下材料瞬时裂纹长度和应力强度因子的分布形式,建立了应力强度因子与断裂韧性之间的干涉关系。对7075-T7351铝合金中心裂纹试件试验数据分析的结果表明：裂纹的瞬时扩展长度和可靠度的预测结果均与试验结果符合很好,本文给出的基于应力强度因子的可靠性分析模型是合理的。     

The interaction of doubly periodic cracks

In this paper, an extremely accurate and efficient method for computing the interaction of a set of or multiple sets of general doubly periodic cracks has been presented on the basis of superposition principle, pseudo-traction method, and isolating analysis technique. A great number of typical examples are given in this paper. The stress intensity factors (SIF), the minimum strain energy density factors (SED) of crack tip and the critical stress (CRS) of crack growth are calculated with the accuracy of six significant digits for the rectangularly distributed periodic cracks and five significant digits for the general doubly periodic cracks. The relation of the interaction effect of the double periodic cracks with the periods and the ratio of crack length to crack spacing is analyzed. Also in this paper, the key technique problems for this method are discussed.     

Combined use of SHMS and finite element strain data for assessing the fatigue reliability index of girder components in long-span cable-stayed bridge

The design of long-span cable-stayed bridge involves a large number of loads, geometric and material parameters, all of which can interact in a random fashion. It is desirable to have a total measure of the operational reliability and safety of the structural components. Based on the box-girder component strain history data of the Runyang Cable-stayed Bridge (RYCB) in China, a computer algorithm is developed to evaluate the fatigue damage that is assumed to occur in increments, according to a lognormal distribution. The corresponding probability density function is then found to obtain a fatigue reliability index β for ranking the integrity of the girders. Emphases are placed on the overall scheme of structural reliability evaluation such that the different fatigue damage criteria, probability density functions, and strain measurement techniques can be made. Finite element calculations are also used to provide strain data at locations that are not conducive for installing strain gauges, while the compatibility of measured and calculated data is made empirically. Each of the subroutine in the fatigue reliability algorithm can be altered for improvement. The flexibility allows up-dating the prediction as the monitored strains are changed by the environmental conditions. Preliminary results are first obtained to test the selected damage increments in relation to the probability function and fatigue damage criterion. Particular attention has been given to test the sensitivity of the combined governing parameters. The highly non-linear behavior of numerical calculations related to fatigue failure necessitates an in-depth understanding of the physical model. The condition under which fatigue damage accumulation is needed in contrast to the linear sum of fatigue cycles will be left for the future. Justification should be given to include the more complex issues. The aim here is to seek a simple, and yet reliable index that can account for the fatigue damage of box-girder of long cable-stayed bridges.     

Intergranular strain evolution near fatigue crack tips in polycrystalline metals

The deformation field near a steady fatigue crack includes a plastic zone in front of the crack tip and a plastic wake behind it, and the magnitude, distribution, and history of the residual strain along the crack path depend on the stress multiaxiality, material properties, and history of stress intensity factor and crack growth rate. An in situ, full-field, non-destructive measurement of lattice strain (which relies on the intergranular interactions of the inhomogeneous deformation fields in neighboring grains) by neutron diffraction techniques has been performed for the fatigue test of a Ni-based superalloy compact tension specimen. These microscopic grain level measurements provided unprecedented information on the fatigue growth mechanisms. A two-scale model is developed to predict the lattice strain evolution near fatigue crack tips in polycrystalline materials. An irreversible, hysteretic cohesive interface model is adopted to simulate a steady fatigue crack, which allows us to generate the stress/strain distribution and history near the fatigue crack tip. The continuum deformation history is used as inputs for the micromechanical analysis of lattice strain evolution using the slip-based crystal plasticity model, thus making a mechanistic connection between macro- and micro-strains. Predictions from perfect grain-boundary simulations exhibit the same lattice strain distributions as in neutron diffraction measurements, except for discrepancies near the crack tip within about one-tenth of the plastic zone size. By considering the intergranular damage, which leads to vanishing intergranular strains as damage proceeds, we find a significantly improved agreement between predicted and measured lattice strains inside the fatigue process zone. Consequently, the intergranular damage near fatigue crack tip is concluded to be responsible for fatigue crack growth.     

基于非齐次复合Poisson过程的正交异性钢桥面板细节疲劳裂纹随机扩展研究

传统的正交异性钢桥面板疲劳损伤评估常采用确定性和可靠性分析方法,忽略了疲劳裂纹扩展的随机性影响,针对这一问题,提出钢桥面板细节疲劳随机扩展分析方法。本文以南溪长江大桥为工程背景,基于长期车辆荷载监测数据,建立了车辆荷载非齐次复合Poisson过程模型。建立钢桥面板有限元模型,采用瞬态分析方法将随机车辆荷载转化成细节疲劳应力,基于线弹性断裂力学理论推导U肋-顶板焊接细节疲劳裂纹扩展时变微分方程,实现宏观关系式疲劳应力幅次数-疲劳损伤至微观表达式应力时间序列-疲劳损伤转换,讨论了车载次序及超载对疲劳裂纹扩展的影响。研究结果表明,非齐次复合泊松过程模型能够较好描述随机车流运营状态,车辆荷载的次序对疲劳裂纹扩展速率的影响不可忽略,重车排序靠前时能够促使疲劳裂纹扩展增速,南溪长江大桥细节点的车辆超载迟滞效应修正系数取值0.804。     

Fatigue failure of polyethylene methacrylate in adhesive assembly under unsymmetrical bending

In this paper, a special bending fatigue experiment was firstly performed to investigate the fatigue behavior of polyethylene methacrylate in adhesive assembly. Fatigue lifetime property (S–N curve) was obtained. Finite element calculations on the whole structures also gave the same results with the testing. Based on the experimental data and finite element analysis, a local stress law of predicting bending fatigue lifetime was put forward. The predication lifetime for the polyethylene methacrylate agreed well with the experimental results. Following the strain energy density (SED) criterion was applied to predict the crack initiation and growth path of the adhesive assembly. The predicted results were in good agreement with the optical microscopy (OM) failure image of the failure specimen. SEM image of fracture further showed that there were lots of parallel fatigue lines with perpendicularity to the direction of crack, and an obvious boundary from the crack propagation failure to final brittle fracture.     

基于实测荷载的铁路钢桁梁桥疲劳可靠性评估

为了对钢桁梁桥疲劳进行评估,引入可靠性理论,提出了基于实测荷载的桥梁疲劳可靠性评估方法。根据某铁路钢桁梁桥实测车辆荷载数据,建立了随机车辆荷载模型。并在考虑车辆荷载随机性的基础上,结合Monte-Carlo法与有限元,分析了钢桁梁桥构件疲劳应力谱,计算了构件疲劳可靠性随时间的变化,并探讨了车辆荷载及荷载效应变异性对构件疲劳可靠性的影响,最后采用β约界法与静力分析法对钢桁梁桥系统疲劳可靠性进行了研究。结果表明,基于随机车辆荷载的构件疲劳应力谱呈现单峰分布;构件疲劳可靠性随运营时间的增加而减小;车辆荷载的增长及荷载效应变异性的增加对构件疲劳可靠性影响较大,当车辆荷载增长率和等效应力变异系数分别增加到5%时,构件疲劳寿命大幅减小;β约界法结合静力分析法可快速确定钢桁梁桥失效模式,桥梁系统疲劳寿命小于构件疲劳寿命。总的来看,基于实测荷载的钢桁梁桥疲劳可靠性评估方法能有效地利用监测数据,对桥梁疲劳评估具有良好的适用性。     

自紧身管临界裂纹尺寸的概率断裂力学研究

基于概率断裂力学理论和Mome Caflo模拟方法，本文进行了自紧身管临界裂纹尺寸的可靠性研究。自紧身管内表面的疲劳裂纹考虑为半椭圆形式。裂纹尖端处的应力强度因子由内压和自紧残余应力共同产生。自紧残余应力采用了符合身管材料具有强化和包辛格效应性能推导的公式计算，它产生的应力强度因子通过权函数方法得到。根据断裂准则，可计算出自紧身管的临界裂纹尺寸。实例分析表明，对数正态分布为临界裂纹尺寸的最佳分布，同时给出了在各种置信度和可靠度下自紧身管的临界裂纹尺寸。     

Edge dislocations generated from blunt crack tip in viscoelastic material under residual stress

The 2D model of edge dislocations generation from blunt crack tip in viscoelastic material under residual stress has been proposed, the solution of stress field and displacement field are solved by using complex potential method, conformal mapping and Laplace inverse transformation. The explicit expressions of stress intensity factor, strain energy density and crack tip slide displacement are obtained in closed form. The principle of compatibility of blunt crack to edge dislocations has been used to evaluate the dislocations number and dimensionless ratio α. Numerical results present that the number of edge dislocations first increases and then decreases with increase of zone size ratio of the dislocations zone and none-dislocations zone, but it can be reduced by higher configurations ratio of semi-minor axis and semi-major axis. In addition, it increases with time and tends to be a constant quickly. The normalized multiplier α first increases and then decreases with increase of zone size ratio. In addition, it decreases with time and the increase of crack configurations ratio. Both normalized micro-volume SED and normalized dislocation-volume SED decrease with increase of distance from crack tip and tend to vanish. But the dislocation-volume SED decreases more quickly than micro-volume SED does, because of its stronger singularity. Moreover, they increase with time and decrease of configurations ratio.     

Mode III fracture of an arbitrary oriented crack in two dimensional functionally graded material

In this paper, a two dimensional functionally graded material (2D-FGM) under an anti-plane load with an internal crack is considered. The crack is oriented in an arbitrary direction. The material properties are assumed to vary exponentially in two planar directions. The problem is analyzed and solved by two different methods namely Fourier integral transforms with singular integral equation technique, and then by the finite element method. The effects of crack orientation, material non-homogeneity, and other parameters on the value of stress intensity factor (SIF) are studied. Finally, the obtained results for Mode III stress intensity factor of different methods are compared.     

海洋平台K型管节点的疲劳裂纹扩展分析Ⅰ:试验测试

对承受疲劳载荷的海洋平台K型管节点首先进行了静力测试,确定了沿着焊缝的热应力区的应力分布及热应力区最大应力点的位置,从而判断裂纹产生的位置;然后通过专用测试设备提供循环疲劳载荷,用ACPD(Alternating Current Potential Drop,即交流电流势能落差法)技术检测裂纹的产生和增长过程,得到裂纹最深点,用S-N曲线估算其疲劳寿命。对已有裂纹的K型管节点,用应力强度因子估计其剩余寿命。同时用测试的结果验证了S-N的准确性和可靠性。     

Theoretical and experimental studies on the extension of cracks subjected to concentrated loading near their faces to compare the criteria for mixed mode brittle fracture

The criteria of maximum tangential stress (MTS), maximum tangential principal stress (MTPS), maximum tangential strain (MTSN) and strain energy density (SED) are applied to problems of infinite sheets with straight cracks loaded at or very near their faces by in-plane point loads. Prediction of the direction of initial crack extension, critical load and unstable crack path are made. Unlike the results reported earlier by various investigators predictions by the four criteria differ substantially. The accuracy in respect of prediction of crack path is checked experimentally for a particular loading. The results indicate that a modification of the definition of the criteria of MTSN and SED is beneficial.     

A reexamination of plasticity-induced crack closure in fatigue crack propagation

The crack closure concept is often used to consider the R-ratio and overload effects on fatigue crack growth. The presumption is that when the crack is closed, the external load produces negligible fatigue damage in the cracked component. The current investigation provides a reassessment of the frequently used concept with an emphasis on the plasticity-induced crack closure. A center cracked specimen made of 1070 steel was investigated. The specimen was subjected to plane-stress mode I loading. An elastic–plastic stress analysis was conducted for the cracked specimens using the finite element method. By applying the commonly used one-node-per-cycle debonding scheme for the crack closure simulations, it was shown that the predicted crack opening load did not stabilize when the extended crack was less than four times of the plastic zone size. The predicted opening load was strongly influenced by the plasticity model used. When the elastic–perfectly plastic (EPP) stress–strain relationship was used together with the kinematic hardening plasticity theory, the predicted crack opening load was found to be critically dependent on the element size of the finite element mesh model. For R = 0, the predicted crack opening load was greatly reduced when the finite element size became very fine. The kinematic hardening rule with the bilinear (BL) stress–strain relationship predicted crack closure with less dependence on the element size. When a recently developed cyclic plasticity model was used, the element size effect on the predicted crack opening level was insignificant. While crack closure may occur, it was demonstrated that cyclic plasticity persisted in the material near the crack tip. The cyclic plasticity was reduced but not negligible when the crack was closed. The traditional approaches may have overestimated the effect of crack closure in fatigue crack growth predictions.     

Fatigue growth prediction of elliptical cracks in welded joint structure: Hybrid and energy density approach

A hybrid weight function approach (HWFM) is presented for the fatigue life prediction of infinite body and welded joint structure containing elliptical cracks. A self-containing computer code has been developed for this purpose. Numerical computations were first conducted on cracked infinite body showing a physical fact, that the elliptical shape of the crack becomes circular during its evolution. The prediction of the fatigue crack growth shows that the present results are in perfect concordance with those reported in the literature. Then, numerical tests were carried out on two types of specimens of welded joint structure. The present results were compared to the experimental and predicted ones of other authors, demonstrating that the hybridization method is a powerful numerical technique, and that the SEDF approach (using the Sih’s law) is more valid for the critical cases of welded joints than the SIF approach (using the Paris law). A parametric study has been conducted on the stress ratio “R” showing that the fatigue life to failure decreases with the increase of “R”.     

Mode II stress intensity factors for a crack parallel to the surface of an elastic half-space subjected to a moving point load

The direction of propagation of rolling contact fatigue cracks is observed to depend upon the direction of motion of the load. In this paper approximate calculations are described of the variation of Mode II stress intensity factors at each tip of a subsurface crack, which lies parallel to the surface of an elastic half-space, due to a load moving over the surface. In particular the effect of frictional locking of the crack faces under the load is investigated. In consequence of frictional locking the range of SIF at the trailing tip ΔK_T is found to be about 30% greater than that of the leading tip ΔK_L, which is consistent with observations that subsurface cracks propagate predominantly in the direction of motion of the load over the surface. The effects on k_t and k_lof crack length, crack face friction, traction forces at the surface and residual shear stresses are also investigated.     

Stress intensity factor measurement of cracks using a piezoelectric element

We present a stress intensity factor (SIF) measurement method of cracks using a piezoelectric element and electrostatic voltmeter. In the method, an isotropic piezoelectric element is first adhered near the crack tip. Then, the surface electrodes are attached to the three different positions on the piezoelectric element. The electric potentials of the surface electrodes, which are proportional to the strain sum (ɛ_x+ɛ_y) on the structural member, are measured by an electrostatic voltmeter during load cycling. Mode I and mode II SIFs of the crack are estimated using the relationship between the SIF and (σ_x+σ_y). The applicability of the proposed method is examined through experiments and numerical analysis.     

试验确定自增强圆筒的表面裂纹K1因子和疲劳扩展规律

本文提供了一种可以进行自增强处理的圆筒试样,通过实验用柔度法确定了该试样的表面裂纹的应力强度因子,介绍了含表面裂纹试样的柔度测试技术,导出了柔度与表面裂纹尖端前缘各点的应力强度因子的关系式,该式可作为各种含表面裂纹试样柔度法测表面裂纹 K_1因子的参考,本文还测定了不同自增强程度下,自增强圆筒的表面裂纹疲劳扩展规律。