AlSi10Mg(Cu)铸铝合金的热疲劳裂纹萌生及早期扩展行为

微观观察AlSi10Mg(Cu)铸铝合金在热疲劳裂纹的萌生和早期扩展过程,重点研究共晶硅粒子对热疲劳裂纹行为的影响。结果表明:热疲劳裂纹萌生于脱粘共晶硅粒子与铝基体间的开裂界面,原因是共晶硅粒子与铝基体的热膨胀系数不同,引起热循环过程中两相热应变不协调,从而在两相界面处产生循环应力而引起疲劳破坏。热疲劳裂纹的扩展在长度和宽度上同时进行,具有良好塑性的铝枝晶对疲劳裂纹的扩展起阻碍作用。对热疲劳过程中共晶硅粒子周围应力场的模拟分析进一步解释了实验现象。     

SHORT AND LONG FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH IN A SiC REINFORCED ALUMINIUM ALLOY

Fatigue crack growth behaviour in a 15 wt% SiC particulate reinforced 6061 aluminium alloy has been examined using pre-cracked specimens. Crack initiation and early growth of fatigue cracks in smooth specimens has also been investigated using the technique of periodic replication. The composite contained a bimodal distribution of SiC particle sizes, and detailed attention was paid to interactions between the SiC particles and the growing fatigue-crack tip. At low stress intensity levels, the proportion of coarse SiC particles on the fatigue surfaces was much smaller than that on the metallographic sections, indicating that the fatigue crack tends to run through the matrix avoiding SiC particles. As the stress intensity level increases, the SiC particles ahead of the growing fatigue crack tip are fractured and the fatigue crack then links the fractured particles. The contribution of this monotonic fracture mode resulted in a higher growth rate for the composite than for the unreinforced alloy. An increase in the proportion of cracked, coarse SiC particles on the fatigue surface was observed for specimens tested at a higher stress ratio.     

Effect of particle size on fatigue behaviour in SiC particulate-reinforced aluminium alloy composites

The effect of particle size on rotary bending fatigue behaviour was studied for powder metallurgy 2024 aluminium alloy composites reinforced with 10 wt% silicon carbide particles (SiC_p ). Average particle sizes of 5, 20 and 60 μm were evaluated. Particle size had a significant influence on fatigue strength, indicating an increased fatigue strength with decreasing particle size. The composite with 5 μm SiC particles showed higher fatigue strength than the unreinforced alloy. The incorporation of 20 μm SiC particles led to an increase in fatigue strength at a high stress level, but the improvement diminished with decreasing stress level, and a slightly decreased fatigue strength was observed at low stress level, as compared with the unreinforced alloy. The composite with 60 μm SiC particles exhibited a considerable decrease in fatigue strength. Fatigue cracks initiated at several different microstructural features, e.g. surface defects, inclusions and particle–matrix interfaces, and crack initiation was considerably affected by particle size. Fatigue strength was found to depend strongly on the resistance to crack initiation, because there was no discernible difference in small crack growth between the unreinforced alloy and the composites, particularly at a low maximum stress intensity factor.     

Effects of CTE-induced residual stresses around hard alpha particles on fatigue crack growth in Ti–6Al–4V

The presence of hard alpha (HA) anomalies in titanium alloys represents a significant potential degradation to gas turbine component performance. Although HA defects in titanium alloys are rare, when they are present, they can crack and ultimately result in failure. In static fracture and fatigue test specimens, embedded HA defects had significantly higher fracture strengths than anticipated. The objective of this work was to determine if residual stresses caused by thermal expansion mismatch during material fabrication were the cause of the observed behaviour. The residual stress fields in and around surface and embedded HA particles in Ti–6Al–4V (Ti–6–4) were determined using an elasticity solution and measured coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) data. The calculated stress distributions serve as the foundation for comparisons of the local stress and the fracture strength, the stress intensity factor K and the crack growth threshold ΔK_th, with the experimentally determined fatigue lives. The analytical results indicated that CTE‐induced residual stress around HA particles can contribute to the fatigue strength of Ti–6–4 by delaying microcracking of HA anomalies and reducing the driving force (effective ΔK) of the fatigue crack. Based on the analysis results, the differences between the surface and subsurface results as well as the difference between predicted and measured fatigue lives could be largely attributed to the residual stress effects caused by the mismatch of the particle and matrix properties.     

WC_p含量对粉末冶金Cu/WC_p复合材料疲劳裂纹扩展行为的影响

通过粉末冶金热压烧结法制备高压电触头Cu/WC_p颗粒增强复合材料,研究WC_p颗粒含量(15%和3%,体积分数,下同)对Cu/WC_p复合材料的疲劳裂纹扩展行为的影响,并结合SEM进行断口分析;利用原位SEM疲劳裂纹观测系统原位观察微裂纹萌生,分析颗粒对裂纹扩展路径的影响机制。结果表明:在相同应力强度因子幅(△K)下WC_p含量为15%的Cu/WC_p的疲劳裂纹扩展速率大于WC_p含量为3%的复合材料;颗粒含量的增加并没有提高复合材料的裂纹扩展门槛值△K_(th),这主要是因为颗粒和基体的界面属于弱界面;在疲劳过程中颗粒脱粘形成裂纹源,不同脱牯微裂纹连接长大形成主裂纹是Cu/WC_p颗粒增强复合材料的疲劳损伤形式;当主裂纹尖端和颗粒WC_p相互作用时裂纹基本沿着颗粒界面往前扩展;复合材料的断裂模式从WC_p低含量3%时的颗粒脱粘-裂纹在基体里穿晶断裂,过渡为WC_p高含量15%时颗粒脱粘-基体被撕裂为主。     

FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH THROUGH ARALL-4 AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURE

Fatigue cracks were grown in the 5 layer aluminum alloy-Aramid fiber laminate composite ARALL-4 over the range of cyclic stress intensity factors (ΔK) from 3.5 to 91 MPa?m. Near the threshold, crack growth rate was about the same as for unreinforced aluminum alloys, but at high ΔK, crack growth rates were significantly lower. Crack closure was measured over this range of growth rates and found to be different than for unreinforced aluminum alloys. The magnitude of closure was also dependent on crack length. Cracks opened progressively towards the tip with increasing load in much the same way as for unreinforced aluminum alloys. Removal of the aluminum outer layer and some of the epoxy revealed that fibers were intact close to the crack tip, but heavily damaged further away. By adjusting the fatigue crack growth curve of an unreinforced aluminum alloy for the closure exhibited by the composite, it was possible to approximate the crack growth rate for the composite over the lower to mid range of ΔK, but at higher values of ΔK, this model seriously overestimated measured crack growth rates. Therefore, fiber bridging affects both closure and maximum stress intensity factor at the crack tip. Standard fracture mechanics cannot be applied to describe these effects.     

Study of the fatigue lifetimes and crack propagation behaviour of a high speed steel as a function of the R value

High speed steels, such as the alloy H‐13, when used as forging dies are subjected to both wear and cyclic loading, and both of these factors can affect the useful life of such dies. It follows that it is of some importance to determine the fatigue characteristics of such steels. However, fatigue studies of such alloys are limited, especially with respect to fatigue crack propagation (FCP) behaviour as a function of mean stress, and therefore more detailed studies are necessary. In the present study, the fatigue lifetimes and the crack propagation behaviour of a high speed steel were experimentally investigated in laboratory air under different stress ratios, R. A modified linear‐elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach was applied to analyze the experimentally‐obtained FCP behaviour. The predicted S–N curves and crack growth behaviour for a wide range of R ratios agree well with the experimental data, and the modified LEFM approach is therefore considered to be useful for evaluation of the fatigue behaviour of this class of high strength steels.     

In situ SEM studies on the effects of particulate reinforcement on fatigue crack growth mechanism of aluminium-based metal-matrix composite

The effects of particulate reinforcement on the fatigue behaviour and fatigue mechanisms of two 6061 aluminium-based metal-matrix composites (MMCs) in three different heattreatment conditions were studied in situ with a scanning electron microscope and compared to the unreinforced alloy in the as-received condition. It was observed that the fatigue properties of the MMCs were influenced by the ceramic particles in two ways: firstly the particles increased the fatigue stress intensity threshold mainly by crack-deflection and crack-closure mechanisms, and secondly, the particles raised the fatigue crack growth rates in the Paris region by providing an easy crack path. The effect of ageing was small on the fatigue stress intensity threshold of MMCs, but for the peak-aged MMCs the fatigue crack growth rates in the Paris region were faster. The mechanism of fatigue crack growth was largely associated with the matrix/particle interface and the linkage with subcracks initiated ahead of the main crack at high applied stress intensity factors.     

CRACK INITIATION AND SMALL FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH BEHAVIOUR OF SQUEEZE-CAST Al-Si ALUMINIUM ALLOYS

Abstract— Fatigue strength, crack initiation and small crack growth behaviour in two kinds of squeeze-cast aluminium alloys, AC8A-T6 and AC4C-T6 were investigated using smooth specimens subjected to rotatary-bending fatigue at room temperature. Fatigue resistance of these alloys was almost the same as that of the wrought aluminium alloys because of their fine microstructure and of the decrease in defect size due to squeeze-casting. Fatigue crack initiation sites were at the eutectic silicon particles on the surface of specimens or at internal microporosity in the specimens. Crack initiation life, defined as a crack length of 50 μm on the specimen surface, was successfully estimated from an evaluation of initiation sites using fracture mechanics and the statistics of extrema. Small fatigue crack growth in the two kinds of alloys obeys the relation proposed by Nisitani et al. , namely that d(2c)/d N = C (σ_a/σ_B)ⁿ· (2 c ), where C is a constant and σ_B is the ultimate tensile strength. It is pointed out that an improvement in fatigue strength of cast aluminium alloys can be expected by refining the eutectic silicon rather than by an increase in static strength.     

Mechanical properties of Al–Li alloys Part 2 Fatigue crack propagation

Abstract

Mechanisms influencing the ambient temperature mechanical properties of commercial Al–Li alloys 2090, 2091, 8090, and 8091 are examined, with specific emphasis on the role of microstructure. In Part 2, results on fatigue crack propagation behaviour are presented for both ‘long’ (≥ 5 mm) and ‘microstructurally small’ (~1–1000 μm) cracks and compared with behaviour in traditional high strength aluminium alloys. In general, it is found that the growth rates of long fatigue cracks in Al–Li alloys are up to two to three orders of magnitude lower than in traditional 7000 and 2000 series alloys, when compared at an equivalent stress intensity range ?K. By contrast, corresponding growth rates of microstructurally small fatigue cracks were up to two to three orders of magnitude higher than the long crack results. Such observations are attributed to the prominent role of crack tip shielding in Al–Li alloys resulting from the tortuous and deflected nature of the crack paths which results in a reduced crack tip ‘driving force’ from crack deflection and, more importantly, from the consequent crack closure induced by the wedging of fracture surface asperities. Since microstructurally small cracks are unable to develop the same level of shielding from crack closure by virtue of their limited wake, small crack growth rates are significantly accelerated. Unlike fracture toughness behaviour, artificial aging of commercial Al–Li alloys to peak strength has a mixed influence on the (long crack) resistance. Although behaviour at higher growth rates is relatively unaffected, in 2091 nominal threshold ?K_TH values are increased by 17%, whereas in 8090 and 8091 they are decreased by 16–17%. However, all alloys show reduced effective fatigue thresholds at peak strength after correcting for crack closure.

MST/926b     

Effects of solidification structure on fatigue crack growth in rheocast and thixocast Al–Si–Mg alloys

Fatigue crack growth test was performed for rheocast and thixocast Al–Si–Mg aluminum alloys. At small stress intensity factor range (ΔK), fatigue crack growth (FCG) rate of sample with coarse acicular Si particles decreased slightly compared with specimen with small acicular Si particles. However, at large ΔK, fatigue crack growth rate of specimen with coarse acicular Si particles drastically increased. This is because large acicular Si particles induce high strain hardening at small ΔK, but such particles are easily cracked with the increase in ΔK. Morphology of the Si particles strongly affects striation formation.     

Effect of stress ratio on the rate of growth of fatigue cracks in 1100 Al-alloy

Axial load fatigue crack propagation tests were conducted on notched sheet specimens made of 1100 aluminum alloy. These tests were made at stress ratios R (ratio of the minimum stress to the maximum stress) ranging from −0.5 to 0.5 in order to study the effects of stress ratio on fatigue crack growth. Experimental fatigue crack propagation data were analysed using Paris-Erdo an stress intensity analysis. The data from the tests at different stress ratios showed that two regions, namely, region I and region II were present.     

The influence of modified intermetallics and Si particles on fatigue crack paths in a cast A356 Al alloy

Mechanical fatigue tests were conducted on uniaxial specimens machined from a cast A356-T6 aluminium alloy plate at total strain amplitudes ranging from 0.1 to 0.8% ( R = − 1). The cast alloy contains strontium-modified silicon particles (vol. fract. ~6%) within an Al–Si eutectic, dispersed α intermetallic particles, Al₁₅ (Fe,Mn)₃ Si₂ (vol. fract. ~1%), and an extremely low overall volume fraction of porosity (0.01%). During the initial stages of the fatigue process, we observed that a small semicircular fatigue crack propagated almost exclusively through the Al–1% Si dendrite cells. The small crack avoided the modified silicon particles in the Al–Si eutectic and only propagated along the α intermetallics if they were directly in line with the crack plane. These growth characteristics were observed up to a maximum stress intensity factor of ~ K trmax = 7.0 MPa m^1/2 (maximum plastic zone size of 96 μm). When the fatigue crack propagated with a maximum crack tip driving force above 7.0 MPa m^1/2 the larger fatigue crack tip process zone fractured an increased number of silicon particles and α intermetallics ahead of the crack tip, and the crack subsequently propagated preferentially through the damaged regions. As the crack tip driving force further increased, the area fraction of damaged α intermetallics and silicon particles on the fatigue fracture surfaces also increased. The final stage of failure (fast fracture) was observed to occur almost exclusively through the Al–Si eutectic regions and the α intermetallics.     

Small-crack growth and fatigue life predictions for high-strength aluminium alloys. Part II: crack closure and fatigue analyses

Small-crack effects were investigated in two high-strength aluminium alloys: 7075-T6 bare and LC9cs clad aluminium alloys. Both experimental and analytical investigations were conducted to study crack initiation and growth of small cracks. In the experimental program, fatigue and small-crack tests were conducted on single-edge-notch tension (SENT) specimens and large-crack tests were conducted on middle-crack tension specimens under constant-amplitude and Mini-TWIST spectrum loading. A pronounced small-crack effect was observed in both materials, especially for the negative stress ratios. For all loading conditions, most of the fatigue life of the SENT specimens was shown to be crack propagation from initial material defects or from the cladding layer. In the analysis program, three-dimensional finite-element and weight-function methods were used to determine stress intensity factors, and to develop equations for surface and corner cracks at the notch in the SENT specimen. (Part I was on the experimental and fracture mechanics analyses and was published in Fatigue Fract. Engng Mater. Struct. 21 , 1289–1306, 1998.) This part focuses on a crack closure and fatigue analysis of the data presented in Part I. A plasticity-induced crack-closure model was used to correlate large-crack growth rate data to develop the baseline effective stress intensity factor range (Δ K _eff ) against rate relations for each material, ignoring the large-crack threshold. The model was then used with the Δ K _eff rate relation and the stress intensity factors for surface or corner cracks to make fatigue life predictions. The initial defect sizes chosen in the fatigue analyses were similar to those that initiated failure in the specimens. Predicted small-crack growth rates and fatigue lives agreed well with experiments.     

Fatigue crack growth behavior of X2095 Al–Li alloy

Microstructures and micro-textures of X2095 Al–Li alloy in as-received/superplastic state were characterized by means of SEM/BDS, X-ray diffraction and orientation imaging microscopy (OIM). It was observed that the microstructure of the alloy was typical of a particulate-reinforced composite material, consisting of aluminum matrix and homogeneously distributed T_B(Al₇Cu₄Li) particles with a volume fraction of about 10%. Brass-type texture was the dominant texture component. Both constant amplitude and near-threshold fatigue crack growth rates of the alloy in the L–T and T–L orientations were determined at different stress ratios. Particular attention was paid to the role of the T_B phase in the fatigue crack growth. When a fatigue crack approached a T_B particle, the crack basically meandered to avoid the particle. The T_B particles thus provided a strong resistance to the propagation of fatigue crack by promoting crack deflection and the related crack closure effects. The fatigue crack propagation behavior has been explained by the microstructural features, micro-textures, cracking characteristics and crack closure effects.     

Effect of stress ratio on fatigue behaviour in SiC particulate-reinforced aluminium alloy composite

Axial fatigue tests have been performed at three different stress ratios, R, of ?1, 0 and 0.4 using smooth specimens of an aluminium alloy composite reinforced with SiC particulates of 20 μm particle size. The effect of stress ratio on fatigue strength was studied on the basis of crack initiation, small crack growth and fracture surface analysis. The stress ratio dependence of fatigue strength that has been commonly observed in other materials was obtained, in which fatigue strength decreased with increasing stress ratio when characterized in terms of stress amplitude. At R=?1, the fatigue strength of the SiC_p/Al composite was the same as that of the unreinforced alloy, but at R= 0 and 0.4 decreased significantly, indicating a detrimental effect of tensile mean stress in the SiC_p/Al composite. The modified Goodman relation gave a fairly good estimation of the fatigue strength at 10⁷ cycles in the unreinforced alloy, but significantly unconservative estimation in the SiC_p/Al composite. At R= 0 and 0.4, cracks initiated at the interfaces between SiC particles and the matrix or due to particle cracking and then grew predominantly along the interfaces, because debonding between SiC particles and the matrix occurred easily under tensile mean stress. Such behaviour was different from that at R=?1. Therefore, it was concluded that the decrease in fatigue strength at high stress ratios and the observed stress ratio dependence in the SiC_p/Al composite were attributed to the different fracture mechanisms operated at high stress ratios.     

NEAR-THRESHOLD FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH IN A12O3 PARTICLE REINFORCED 6061 ALUMINIUM ALLOY

Abstract— The influence of Al₂O₃ particle reinforcement on the fatigue crack growth properties of 6061-T6 aluminium alloy in the near threshold regime has been investigated at a load ratio of R =– 1 using an alloy with 15 vol.% fine particles (6061/Al₂O₃/15p) and one with 21 vol.% coarser particles (6061/Al₂O₃/21p). The Al₂O₃ particles act as obstacles for fatigue crack growth and are especially effective at very low cyclic loads. For the reinforced alloy with fine particles the threshold of the stress intensity amplitude is higher than that for the alloy containing coarse particles, and the lowest threshold value of K _max was obtained for pure 6061-T6. Fracture of ceramic particles and interfaces between matrix and Al₂O₃ particles, both more frequent for coarser particles, may serve as an explanation for the more effective improvement of fatigue crack growth properties by fine particles. At maximum stress intensity factors above 6.5 MPa√m, fatigue crack growth in the particle reinforced alloys is faster than in the unreinforced alloy 6061-T6, which is attributed to more frequent particle and interface fracturing.     

The effect of silicon content on long crack fatigue behaviour of aluminium–silicon piston alloys at elevated temperature

The microstructure of aluminium piston alloys comprises primary and eutectic silicon together with numerous intermetallics. Previous research has shown that primary silicon strongly influences both fatigue crack initiation and subsequent propagation behaviour, however, the detailed effects of varying silicon volume fraction and morphology have not been fully addressed. Therefore, the fatigue properties of a number of candidate piston alloys with varying volume fractions of silicon have been studied. Long crack fatigue tests have been performed at room and elevated temperature typical of the gudgeon pin boss (200 °C) using a test frequency of 15 Hz (a typical engine frequency at engine idle condition).Microstructural characterisation using image analysis approaches combined with optical profilometry has been used to assess the fracture surfaces of test samples. The role of primary Si in enhancing crack growth rates at high ΔK levels, whilst affording improvements in crack growth rates at lower ΔK levels due to local crack deflections and shielding, has been confirmed. In the absence of primary Si (lower Si content alloys) the low ΔK level crack growth behaviour is dominated by matrix properties (intra-dendritic crack growth pre-dominates) whilst the high ΔK level crack growth behaviour is inter-dendritic and occurs along the weak path of the eutectic Si and/or intermetallic network.     

不同应力比下Cu/WCp复合材料疲劳裂纹扩展行为及影响机制分析

通过粉末冶金工艺制备了一种高压电触头用Cu/WCp颗粒增强复合材料。研究了不同应力比下Cu/WCp颗粒增强复合材料的疲劳裂纹扩展行为,并结合裂纹闭合模型和两参数驱动力模型分析了应力比对Cu/WCp颗粒增强复合材料疲劳裂纹扩展速率的影响机制。研究结果表明:随着应力比R的增大裂纹扩展速率增大,尤其在近门槛值附近裂纹扩展速率差别最明显。裂纹闭合模型和两参数驱动力模型均可以较好地将不同应力比R下(da/d N-ΔK)关系曲线关联起来,且两参数驱动力模型的相关性更好。这说明导致不同应力比R下Cu/WCp颗粒增强复合材料疲劳裂纹扩展速率差异的原因主要是Kmax引起裂纹尖端单调损伤,其次是裂纹闭合效应。根据SEM断口分析发现高应力比的断面较低应力比的粗糙,低应力比时断口以基体撕裂为主而高应力比时以颗粒基体脱粘为主。     

Bruchmechanische Eigenschaften von metastabilen Austeniten

Fracture Mechanical Properties of Metastable Austenites The effect of a martensitic tranformation at the crack tip on fracture mechanical properties was investigated with FeNiAl-model alloys. Transformable austenite and martensite obtained by deep-cooling showed a completely different behaviour. The martensite has high yield stress, normal dependence of fracture toughness of specimen diameter, and a low threshold for the start of fatigue crack growth. Characteristic for the metastable austenite is a high work hardening ability (at a low yield stress) by stress-induced martensitic transformation in a zone at the crack tip, which is surrounded by untransformed austenite. This leads to a compressive internal stress, which impedes crack growth. A consequence is a high fracture toughness, which even increases with specimen thickness, and a very high threshold value for fatigue crack growth. Localized stress induced martensitic transformation associated with a positiv volume change can explain the anomalous fracture mechanical properties of the alloys in the metastable austenitic state.