The effect of braking energy on the fatigue crack propagation in railway brake discs

Thermal fatigue cracks can often be found on the friction surface of brake discs used in railway vehicles after a period of usage and include crackle, radial and circumferential patterns. These cracks typically exhibit different initiation and propagation behavior under different braking conditions. In this paper, the effect of braking energy on fatigue crack evolution is analyzed by using experimental testing and numerical simulations. Macro observations show that a significant number of radial cracks appear on the surface of brake discs which operate at 300 km/h, while crackles typically appear after repeated emergency braking (EB) at 200 km/h. No crack growth was observed on disc surfaces after routine braking. The cyclic load that leads to the fatigue crack propagation consists of compressive stress during braking and residual tensile stress after cooling. Simulation results show that the depth of cracks correlates well with the residual tensile stress distribution in brake discs. Breaking tests exposed that the fracture surface of fatigue cracks which were covered by oxides shows nearly elliptic-type. Higher braking energy leads to a hardened layer on the friction surface and oxide generation near the crack edges, which are also important factors that contribute to accelerating crack propagation.     

Effect of crazes on the propagation of cracks in polystyrene

A study of the fracture surfaces of polystyrene has revealed a direct connection between the fracture path and the shape and distribution of crazes. The effect is demonstrated by two examples; firstly, the propagation of a crack through initially uncrazed material and, secondly, the propagation of a crack through material containing an array of planar crazes parallel to the plane of propagation. It is shown that cracks propagate preferentially along crazes and that the formation of crazes in the stress field of a propagating crack results in the “hackle” surface normally associated with the propagation of cracks at high velocities.     

Study of the residual stress field around Vickers indentations in a 3Y-TZP

Indentation cracks are often used as initial flaws in ceramics for different mechanical tests because of their unique advantages. The residual stresses around the indent due to the elastic/plastic contact must generally be relaxed, which can be conducted by heat treatment. The stress field around Vickers indentation and conditions of annealing have been analysed on a Y-TZP material. Different heat treatments from room temperature up to 1200 °C have been conducted. The residual stress field has been characterized by different methods. First, stable crack propagation in the residual stress field has been conducted by applying a bending stress to the indented specimens. The apparent toughness has also been measured by conducting fast fracture on indented specimens. Finally the residual stress present around the indentation has been measured by making micro-indentations and by measuring the crack lengths. The results show that at intermediate temperatures up to 600 °C an apparent stress relaxation occurs due to the tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformation which induced a superimposed compressive stress. The higher temperature of 1200 °C effectively leads to a real stress relaxation without healing the crack.     

Fatigue crack propagation rates and threshold stress intensity factors for welded joints of HT80 steel at several stress ratios

Fatigue crack propagation rates and threshold stress intensity factors were measured for welded joints and base metal by using 200 mm wide centre-cracked specimens. The fatigue crack propagation properties of welded joints were similar in spite of the different zones in which the cracks propagated (ie, in the heat-affected zone and in the weld metal) and the different welding process used (submerged arc welding and gas metal arc welding). They were, however, inferior to those of the base metal. It was revealed by observation of the crack closure that the fatigue cracks were fully open during the whole range of loading, due to the tensile residual stress distribution in the middle part of the welded joints. This observation also explains the lack of a stress ratio effect on the fatigue crack propagation properties of welded joints, and their inferiority to those of the base metal.     

Observations on fatigue crack paths in the corners of cold-formed high-strength steel tubes

Fatigue crack propagation in cold-formed corners of high-strength structural steel plate-type structures has been investigated. Large- and small-scale test specimens having complex residual stress states and subject to multi-axial cyclic local stresses have been investigated using both laboratory tests and numerical simulations. The combinations of alternating bending stress, alternating shear stress and static mean stress producing complex multi-axial stress states have been found to influence the fatigue crack path behaviour. Straight, zig-zag and “S” shaped cracks were observed depending on the material strength, range of cyclic loading, residual stress field and multi-axiality of the local stresses. Numerical simulations of residual stresses and linear elastic fracture mechanics were used to help understand the alternate crack paths. Mode I cracks propagating into a static compressive stress field did not arrest, but, due to the multi-axial stresses, combinations of mixed mode I, II and III crack growth with distinct paths were observed. The crack paths depend on the type and range of cyclic loading, material properties and residual stress conditions of the specimens.     

Crack closure in friction stir weldment using non‐linear model for fatigue crack propagation

The fatigue crack propagation in a friction stir‐welded sample has been simulated herein by means of two 3‐dimensional finite element method (FEM)‐based analyses. Numerical simulations of the fatigue crack propagation have been carried out by assuming a residual stress field as a starting condition. Two initial cracks, observed in the real specimen, have been assessed experimentally by performing fatigue tests on the welded sample. Hence, the same cracks have been placed in the corresponding FE model, and then a remote load with boundary conditions has been applied on the welded specimen. The material behaviour of the welded joint has been modelled by means of the Ramberg‐Osgood equation, while the non‐linear Kujawski‐Ellyin (KE) model has been adopted for the fatigue crack propagation under small‐scale yielding (SSY) conditions. Owing to the compressive nature of the residual stress field that acts on a part of the cracked regions, the crack closure phenomenon has also been considered. Then, the original version of the KE law has been modified to fully include the closure effect in the analysis. Later, the crack closure effect has also been assessed in the simulation of fatigue propagation of three cracks. Finally, an investigation of the fracture process zone (FPZ) extension as well as the cyclic plastic zone (CPZ) and monotonic plastic zone (MPZ) extensions have been assessed.     

Stable crack growth in a surface compression-strengthened hollow cylinder

In this paper the static fatigue problem for a circumferentially cracked hollow cylinder is examined. For this particular configuration, stable crack growth, in the absense of any external forces, is determined for cylinders with axial components of residual stress which are compressive on the inner and outer radial surfaces and tensile in the cylinder wall. An initial surface crack which is deep enough to penetrate the compression strengthened surface region and enters the tensile zone may propagate in a stable manner until either sudden spontaneous failure occurs or the crack arrests. Since a portion of the crack near the cylinder surface will be closed because of the compressive residual stress field, an additional unknown in the problem is the extent of the crack surface contact. This crack surface contact length is determined by iteration on the integral equation which arises in the mathematical derivation for an embedded circumferential crack in a hollow cylinder. As an illustration of stable crack growth for this geometry with a realistic residual stress distribution, numerical results are presented for a hollow, soda-lime glass cylinder, based on crack growth rates in soda-lime glass exposed to water at 25‡ C. Using the fracture toughness and slow crack growth characteristics for soda-lime glass, the conditions for no crack propagation, crack propagation leading to crack arrest, and catastrophic failure are established.     

Stress corrosion crack growth in glass/polyester composites with surface crack

The propagation characteristics of stress corrosion surface cracks and crack growth rates in a range of unidirectional glass/polyester composites exposed to 0.6 N dilute HCl acid were examined using a fracture mechanics test. Glass/polyester composites were produced from continuous rovings using filament winding method. The shallow surface cracks with various a/c and a/t ratios were machined on the specimens and under uniaxial tension were exposed to one side stress corrosion. The stress intensity factors for glass/polyester composites with surface cracks are obtained from Newman–Raju, Nishioka, and single edge notch expressions. The material constants, such as A and n, are related to crack growth rate and the stress intensity factors were obtained for the test conditions.     

Slow crack growth and failure induced by manufacturing defects in HDPE-tubes

Medium-diameter pipelines produced from High Density Polyethylene are an economic and generally reliable solution for the transportation of potable water in large infrastructure works. However, in the present case, widespread fracture occurred after a few months of operation. Semi-elliptical cracks ran out from multiple initiation points at the inner radius of tubes, without piercing the outer surface, instead connecting sideward by absorbing other crack initiation zones. Longitudinal crack extension was followed by sudden crack propagation at the moment of catastrophic failure. Cracks were stopped or deviated at the welds between tube sections. Some information on fracture toughness was inferred from compact tensile specimens, complemented by direct observation of the crack surface. The latter indicated excessive brittleness of the tube material, accelerating the process of slow crack growth at low stress intensity. Numerous extrusion defects were found to be responsible for crack initiation; an excessive amount of recycled resin may have increased crack propagation velocity.     

Interaction of cracks between two adjacent indents in glass

Experimental observations of the interaction behaviour of cracks between two adjacent indents were made using an indentation technique in soda-lime glass. It was specifically demonstrated how one indent crack initiates and propagates in the vicinity of another indent crack. Several types of crack interactions were examined by changing the orientation and distance of one indent relative to the other. It was found that the residual stress field produced by elastic/plastic indentation has a significant influence on controlling the mode of crack interaction. The interaction of an indent crack with a free surface was also investigated for glass and ceramic specimens.NASA Resident Research Associate     

Stability of dynamically propagating cracks in brittle materials

Summary Dynamic crack propagation and bifurcation phenomena are investigated analytically by utilizing the strain energy density fracture criterion in the framework of catastrophe theory. The effect of biaxial stress, loading imperfections (mixed-mode loading), Poisson's ratio, state of stress as well as crack tip propagation speed on the crack path directional stability is analyzed. Special crack path stability charts for (un)stably propagating cracks are obtained, and their connection with the experimentally recorded crack tip stress field is addressed. It is shown that a slight change of the normal stress acting parallel to a crack at its tip (crack-parallel stress) may be able to affect the crack surface roughening and/or branching velocity considerably. It is also indicated that under small tensile crack-parallel stress, the crack propagation is stable only when the crack propagation speed is less than about 30% of the relevant shear wave speed. The crack becomes unstable, and its surfaces roughen severely at a higher speed, and the crack bifurcates at the highest propagation speed, some 45% of the shear wave speed. It is suggested that superimposing mode-II (shear) loading will enhance the dynamic crack path stability while increasing crack propagation speed will reduce the stability of crack propagation. It is expected that under compressive crack-parallel stress no crack surface roughening will occur before the crack stably bifurcates.     

Analytical and numerical modelling of plasticity-induced crack closure in cold-expanded holes

The aim of this research was the development of an analytical model for plasticity-induced fatigue crack closure for cold expanded holes. This paper extends Nowell's plane stress model of plasticity-induced crack closure for a plate with a circular hole and two radial symmetric cracks. The possibility of existence of an initial residual stress field is also taken into account. This model has potential to be applied to other cracked geometries and arbitrary residual stress fields, although the paper is focused on the study of cold-expanded holes. Hole cold-expansion is widely used in aircraft industry, for improving the fatigue performance of rivet holes by delaying fatigue crack propagation. This paper shows that the residual stress field due to cold-expansion has a strong influence on the closure behaviour and therefore on fatigue crack propagation. The analytical model developed, was compared with finite element analyses of plasticity-induced crack closure with and without residual stresses. Finally, the model was used to predict fatigue lives for some experiments recently reported in the literature for fatigue crack propagation from cold-expanded holes. Predicted fatigue lives correlate well with experimental data.     

Zum Mechanismus der Wechselfestigkeitssteigerung durch Werkstoffverfestigung und Druckeigenspannungen nach einer Oberflächenbehandlung

The Improvement of Fatigue Limit as a Result of Hardening and Macrostresses Due to a Surface Treatment Surface treatments, that increase the hardness as well as induce surface residual macrostresses, are universaly able to improve the fatigue limit. It is shown, that depending on the shape of specimens both effects together are responsible for the raise of the fatigue strength, which is in contrast to former opinions. The increase of hardness increases the stress required for crack initiation and is thus decident for unnotched specimens, whereas in this case the influence of permanent residual stresses is relatively smaller. Notched specimens of sufficient stress concentration factor k_t are determined by the crack propagation conditions, which can be controlled decisively by mean loads. The increase of hardness improves the resistance against crack initiation proportional to the 1/k_t portion of the unnotched fatigue limit, but cracks remain nonpropagating as long as a certain minimum alternative stress, which can be raised by compressive residual stresses, is not exceeded. Depending upon concentration factor, mean compressive load and hardness the transition from crack initiation to crack propagation as the criterion for fatigue fracture can be estimated by several fatigue-strength-diagrams, which are evaluated for specimens of constant hardness but are valid for surface hardened specimens as well.     

Two-phase crack propagation approach to fatigue life prediction of preloaded notched members

Experiments with preloaded notched members of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy have shown that preloads in a wide range, even including those which create overall yielding, increase the fatigue lives of the members. Evidence suggests that the extended fatigue life is primarily due to the residual compressive stress generated at the notch root which retards the propagation of small cracks. The finite-element method (FEM) was employed to evaluate the residual compressive stress at preloaded notches. Prediction of fatigue lives of preloaded notch specimens was based on the crack propagation with two phases: small-crack propagation within the notch stress field resulting from the preloads and crack propagation outside the notch field. The effective stress-intensity-factor range for small cracks was calculated using the local stress at the notch field obtained by FEM. The theoretical values based on this model are in good agreement with experimental data.     

On the effects of a crack propagating toward the interface of a bimaterial system

This paper deals with the influence of matrix cracks on the failure mode of bimaterial systems and composite materials. In order to investigate such an influence, the stress field near a crack embedded into the more yielding material and propagating perpendicularly to the interface, has been analyzed by using systematic numerical simulations. Such analysis has shown that the crack propagation give rises to transversal stresses that can damage the reinforcing materials when this has low modulus, as glass fibers, or low transversal strength, such as carbon fibers. Moreover, the longitudinal stress concentration can damage the reinforcing material only if this has high stiffness, as in the case of aramid and carbon fibers.Also, the numerical results have permitted to implement simple formulas that allows the user an accurate evaluation of the SIF as well as to predict possible debonding or fiber splitting phenomena. Finally, the SIFs evaluated numerically have been corroborated by experimental tests carried out by using an efficient procedure based on RGB digital photoelasticity.     

定向断裂控制爆破爆生裂纹扩展机理的实验研究

采用新型数字激光动态焦散线实验系统,对缺陷介质双孔定向断裂控制爆破裂纹扩展的动态行为进行了研究。结果表明,预制斜裂纹阻断了爆生主裂纹的扩展,最终两条主裂纹分别与翼裂纹形成相互勾连的形状。爆生主裂纹尖端以张拉应力场为主,其断裂为近似I型断裂。当爆生主裂纹运动到预制裂纹附近时,主裂纹端部应力场与预制裂纹尖端奇异应力场相互叠加,在预制裂纹尖端形成较强的拉剪应力场,且受已有主裂纹面的影响,预制裂纹扩展表现为弯向主裂纹面的弯曲断裂。研究结果可为含节理岩体定向断裂控制爆破提供理论依据。     

On the mechanism of crack propagation resistance of fully lamellar TiAl alloy

The study was done using notched two-colony thick tensile specimens of a directionally solidified cast fully lamellar TiAl alloy. In-situ observations of fracture processes in scanning electron microscope (SEM) were combined with section-to-section related observations of fracture surfaces to investigate the crack growth process. Finite element method (FEM) calculations are carried out to evaluate the stresses for propagating cracks. The results reveal that: (1) the reason why enhancement of applied load is required to propagate the main crack, was attributed to that the main crack observed at the surface did not extend all the way through the specimen's thickness thus the stress field was still controlled by the notch, in which a definite stress required for extending a crack tip should be kept by increasing the applied load. (2) Crack propagation resistance is enhanced at colony boundaries, only when a change occurs from an inter-lamellar propagation to a trans-lamellar propagation (3) Ligament bridging toughening phenomena can be integrated into aforementioned mechanism. As a whole the processes of new crack nucleation with bridging ligament formation decreases the crack propagation resistance rather than increasing it. (4) In case the majority of microcracks are surface cracks, the effect of microcrack shielding is not obvious.     

铁素体管线钢的分层裂纹及其对断裂的影响

通过对针状铁素体管线钢缺口根部三维应力状态的有限元分析和不同形式的断裂实验,研究了管线钢分层裂纹产生的条件及其对断裂性能的影响.结果表明裂纹或缺口根部的三维应力状态是产生分层裂纹的必要条件,材料的强度分布影响分层裂纹的形式和方向.分层裂纹均为主裂纹扩展前材料中的弱界面在垂直该弱界面的拉应力作用下产生的,其数量和方向受裂纹端部三维应力场和材料的强度分布状态控制.分层裂纹面上的应力为零,分层裂纹有一定的间距.在断裂过程中产生的分层裂纹使裂纹或缺口根部的构形发生改变,从而对裂尖的应力状态和材料的断裂性能产生巨大的影响.穿透裂纹体的分层裂纹使其有效厚度减小,表面裂纹体的分层裂纹与裂纹扩展方向垂直.在断裂过程中产生分层裂纹需要消耗更多的能量、降低裂端三维应力约束、有效厚度降低或裂尖钝化.这些因素均使断裂扩展更加困难,而使材料韧性得到提高.     

Analyzing the mechanisms of fatigue crack initiation and propagation in CRH EMU brake discs

A significant number of high-speed electric multiple units’ (EMU) brake discs, manufactured from forged steel, showed thermal cracks during work and NDT. There exist three kinds of cracks on the friction surface; namely, the crackle, radial crack and circumferential crack. Macro-morphologies of the friction surface indicate that the cracks appeared in the interior and edges of the hotspots. Crack growth methods include the single crack propagation and multiple crack connectivity. A finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to determine temperature and stress distribution in the brake disc as well as to estimate stress distribution during braking. Simulation results indicate more significant residual, circumferential tensile stress on the external friction surface after emergency braking. The maximum residual circumferential tensile stress is 200 MPa after 300 km/h emergency braking. In addition, there is only the circumferential compressive stress on a section which is a certain distance from the exterior of the friction surface, and the distance depends on braking conditions. Therefore, not taking into account thickness reduction of the friction surface due to wear, it can be concluded that when the cracks run along the thickness direction to the specified distance, they will cease to run along this direction and begin propagating mainly in the direction of the radius. In addition, based on the simulation results, a measure was presented to prevent and inhibit the crack propagation.     

Behaviour of small cracks during their propagation from Vickers indentations in coarse-grain steel: An experimental investigation

In this investigation we look at the influence of the local residual stresses caused by Vickers-pyramid indenting on the initiation and early propagation of small cracks from indentations in coarse-grain martensitic steel. The size of these indentations is comparable to the grain size. Specimens with and without a local residual stress field were tested on a rotary bending machine. A focused ion beam and a scanning electron microscope were used to reveal the influence of those stresses on the location of the cracks’ initiation and the mechanism of the small-crack propagation. The existing local residual stresses assist in the initiation of two cracks at a level lower than the fatigue limit. The early small-crack propagation is gradually obstructed by the residual stress-field configuration until the cracks become non-propagating cracks. At levels higher than the fatigue limit, both cracks succeed in breaking through the compressive stressed domain and link together. From that moment the crack begins to behave as a long crack, penetrating outside the indentation into the tensile-stressed domains.