AN ASSESSMENT OF CRACK CLOSURE AND THE EXTENT OF THE SHORT CRACK REGIME IN Q1N (HY80) STEEL

Abstract— The paper addresses some aspects of the differences in fatigue crack growth rate behaviour and threshold values obtained for long through-cracks, short through-cracks and surface cracks. Attention is focused on plasticity induced closure in the wake behind the growing crack tip. For long cracks at high K _max, closure is found to depend in a linear manner on K _max, i.e. K _op, increases with the size of the monotonic plastic zone. Closure increases at low δ K and this is primarily a consequence of the load shedding procedure. If short through-cracks are prepared by machining specimens containing long cracks, a substantial part of the plastic wake is removed and this can produce marked effects on the closure contribution during subsequent growth. The length of crack "closed" in a long crack threshold test was found to be of the order of 1 mm. Cracks less than this length exhibited "short crack" behaviour: greater than this length, they behaved as "long cracks", with plastic wake effects apparently fully operative. Small surface cracks exhibit "long crack" behaviour at lengths as short as 0.2 mm and reasons for this are discussed.     

Foundations'' impact on policy making: results from a pilot study

Thirty-two consecutive patients with haematological disorders, in need of a permanent central venous catheter (CVC) were randomly allocated to have their CVC bandages (Tegaderm) changed once (OAW, n = 20) or twice (TAW, n = 19) a week. The two randomization arms were balanced in respect of age, sex, and underlying disease. The exit site of the CVC was inspected daily through the transparent bandage and erythema was noted. If severe erythema occurred, daily wet gauze dressings were applied. Samples for bacterial cultures were taken from the exit site of the CVC at every change of bandages. There was no difference in complications leading to removal of the CVC between the two groups (7/20 OAW vs. 7/19 TAW) or in CVC survival-time (P = 0.4). However, the OAW group had more positive CVC tip cultures (OAW 11/14 vs. TAW 2/9; P < 0.05) and a tendency to: (i) more extra dressings (P = 0.08); (ii) more cultures from the exit skin site showing high numbers of colony forming units (P = 0.07); (iii) shorter time to first exit site infection (P = 0.09); and (iv) more Gram-positive septicaemias (P = 0.08). Both clinical and bacteriological data in this study indicate that changing transparent polyurethane CVC bandages twice a week is superior to once a week.     

Microstructure-composition relationships and Ms temperatures in Fe-Cr-Mn-N alloys

Microstructure-composition relationships and M_s temperatures have been determined in high purity nitrided Fe-Cr-Mn alloys, as part of a program to develop improved corrosion-abrasion resistant steels with unstable austenitic microstructures. Compositions in the range 8 to 12 pct Cr, 0 to 10 pct Mn, and 0 to 0.6 pct N were investigated by a resistivity technique to determine M_s temperatures and by X-ray diffraction and metallography to determine constitution. Hardness measurements were also made. At the low alloy end of the range, microstructures after annealing and air cooling are fully martensitic while at the high alloy end they are fully austenitic. At intermediate compositions, mixed martensite-austenite microstructures (with epsilon present as a minor phase in some cases) and unstable austenitic microstructures are obtained. The austenitic alloys contain a high density of stacking faults and the unstable austenitic alloys transform to martensite on deformation. At low N contents (up to at least 0.25 pct N) the M_s-composition relationship is linear and described by: M_s = 555 - 9(Cr - 8) - 40Mn - 450N [1] where M_s is in °C and Cr, Mn, and N are the weight percentages of these elements. At higher N contents, the M_s generally falls more rapidly with increasing nitrogen content. Nitrogen solubility at 1050 °C exceeds about 0.3 pct in all alloys and increases with increasing Cr and Mn content. In commercial purity steels, unstable austenitic microstructures are expected to be obtained in compositions around 10 to 14 pct Cr, 8 to 12 pct Mn, and 0.1 to 0.3 pct N when the total level of these elements is selected to ensure the M_s is below room temperature.     

An investigation of crack closure and the propagation of semi-elliptical fatigue cracks in Q1N (HY80) pressure vessel steel

The results of an experimental investigation of the effect of crack closure on the propagation of semi-elliptical fatigue cracks are presented. Load-shedding fatigue threshold tests were carried out at stress ratios of 0.2, 0.35, 0.5 and 0.7. Crack closure was measured at the surface and depth positions using backface strain gauges, near-tip gauges, and a clip gauge. Differences between the surface and depth growth behaviour are explained by considerations of the effects of the transition from plane stress conditions at the surface to plane strain conditions at the depth. The effects of stress ratios are attributed largely to differences in the crack opening displacement, which result in asperities coming into contact to induce roughness-induced crack closure.     

The long string as a field probe

We show how a long string can be used to probe the incident field across the target zone of a radar cross section (RCS) test range. The string may be stretched horizontally from wall to wall, or vertically from floor to ceiling. One end of the string is fixed and the other end is moved by an actuator mounted in the wall or ceiling. The resulting motion changes the angle of the string with respect to the incident-field direction, during which time the coherent radar echo is recorded as a function of the string angle. The coherent signal-as-a-function-of-angle data are then transformed to the cross-range domain using the fast Fourier transform (FFT), whence we obtain a chart of the incident field amplitude as a function of cross-range distance. Numerical examples are presented that show how variations in the incident field influence the string echo. A sample of experimental data shows that the processed data are readily interpreted.     

INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLE OF RESIDUAL STRESSES IN THE WARM PRESTRESS (WPS) EFFECT. PART I—EXPERIMENTAL

Abstract— The role of residual stresses in the warm prestress (WPS) effect has been investigated. Three types of specimen have been tested in this investigation: smooth uniaxial tensile specimens, blunt notched single edge notched bend (SENB) specimens and sharply precracked SENB specimens. Room temperature prestraining of uniaxial tensile specimens leads to a dramatic decrease in the measured nominal fracture stress at — 196°C. Such an embrittling effect may be expected to reduce the beneficial increase in subsequent fracture toughness commonly observed in WPS sequences. The blunt-notched specimens were prestressed in tension and compression. Compressive prestressing was found to lead to a decrease in subsequent fracture load whereas tensile prestressing leads to an increase. The load decrease following a compressive WPS was greater than the load increase following a tensile WPS. Various sequences of loading, unloading and cooling have been investigated and the differences in the subsequent fracture behaviour of specimens have been explained qualitatively by superposition arguments. The theories of Chell and Curry have been supported by the general trend of results.     

Comparison of noise-measured and theoretical value of base spreading resistance for an interdigitated transistor

The base spreading resistance of a bipolar interdigitated transistor has been measured by a noise-measuring technique. The results compare favourably with calculation.     

Plates and edges

The backscattering from a rectangular plate at edge-on incidence is due essentially to the individual contributions from the front and trailing edges. The contribution of the front edge is analogous to that of a wire illuminated by a plane wave, but the rear edge excitation is almost wholly determined by current waves along the side edges of the plate.