Small fatigue crack growth characteristics and fracture surface morphology of low carbon steel in hydrogen gas

Owing to energy conservation and environmental concerns, hydrogen has been suggested as a next-generation energy source. However, hydrogen known to seep into a metal, degrade its strength, and accelerate fatigue crack growth rates. We have investigated the effects of hydrogen gas on the small fatigue crack growth characteristics of low carbon steel JIS S10C by conducting bending fatigue tests on a specimen with a small blind hole and placed in a low-pressure hydrogen environment. The fatigue crack growth rate in hydrogen was higher than that in nitrogen. The fracture surface of the specimen in hydrogen showed intergranular facets in the low- growth-rate range and a quasi-cleavage fracture surface with brittle striations in the high-growth-rate range. The specimen only showed a ductile fracture surface for nitrogen. The small-fatigue-crack growth rate for nitrogen is given by ${dl/dN\propto \Delta \varepsilon_{p}^{n}l}$ , where l, N, and ${\Delta \varepsilon_{p}}$ represent the crack length, number of repetitions, and plastic strain range, respectively. This equation was also satisfied for hydrogen, but only over a short strain range from ${\Delta \varepsilon_t = 0.25}$ to 0.37?% in which the fracture surface exhibited intergranular facets and a ductile morphology, but no quasi-cleavage fracture. The exponent n of the equation was 1.22 in nitrogen and 0.66 in hydrogen environment. The small-fatigue-crack growth law can be used for safe material designs in hydrogen environments.     

Effect of microstructure on appearance of near-threshold fatigue fracture in Cr–Mo–V steel

Near-threshold fatigue crack growth behavior in 25Cr2NiMo1V steel with different microstructures was investigated by utilizing the load-shedding technique at ambient temperature. Crack surface morphology was observed by SEM with special emphases on the incidence of intergranular fracture and the influence on crack growth rates. Results show that the maximum intergranularity occurs at the ΔK corresponding to the cyclic plastic zone size being equivalent to the prior austenitic grain size. Two types of crack growth mode were observed in the near-threshold regime, i.e., the crystallographic mode of crack growth and the striation mode of crack advance. The incidence of faceted fracture was mainly rationalized by comparing the cyclic plastic zone size with the grain size. It is concluded that, in the crystallographic mode, lower crack growth rates in samples with higher heat treatment temperatures are caused by a greater degree of roughness-induced crack closure (RICC), faceted fracture induced crack closure (FFICC), and oxide-induced crack closure (OICC). The faceted fracture shows negligible influence on crack growth rates when cracks grow in a striation controlled mode.     

A new mechanism in hydrogen-enhanced fatigue crack growth behavior of a 1900-MPa-class high-strength steel

This paper presents a new mechanism controlling the acceleration of fatigue crack growth of a hydrogen-charged high-strength steel (bearing steel SAE52100, ?? _ult?>?1, 900MPa, HV =?569). Three- dimensionally complicated shape of a primary crack and secondary cracks were observed in hydrogen- charged specimens. Marked acceleration of fatigue crack growth in the presence of hydrogen was observed particularly at low test frequency, and was attributed to the initiation and successive coalescence of secondary cracks formed ahead of primary crack. These secondary cracks were produced along prior-austenite grain boundaries and carbide boundaries, or by direct cracking of carbides. Surprisingly, secondary cracks were observed outside the ordinary plastic zone ahead of the crack tip. TEM observation elucidated that the secondary cracks outside the crack tip plastic zone were produced by hydrogen-induced deformation twins impinging on grain boundaries and carbides. These results suggest a new mechanism of the acceleration of fatigue crack growth rates in high-strength steels caused by hydrogen-induced deformation twins, rather than due to hydrogen- enhanced localized plasticity. The phenomena associated with time dependent fatigue crack growth are presumed to be correlated with the initiation and coalescence of secondary cracks in the presence of hydrogen.     

ASSISTED CRACK GROWTH IN MARAGING STEEL WELDS BY GASEOUS HYDROGEN

Abstract— The effects of environmental hydrogen content on fatigue crack growth rates (FCGRs) in T-250 maraging steel plates and laser welds were investigated. The influence of ageing treatments on fatigue characteristics of the alloy was also studied. Experimental results revealed that the accelerated FCGRs in the presence of hydrogen were always associated with changes in fracture modes that appear in compact-tension specimens. Even for overaged specimens with excellent resistance to gaseous hydrogen embrittlement, such an acceleration of crack growth in hydrogen could not be avoided. The crack path of underaged specimens in hydrogen was found mainly along prior austenite boundaries for steel plates and along coarse columnar boundaries for welds. In gaseous hydrogen, peak-aged welds exhibited intergranular and quasi-cleavage mixed fracture modes, compared to mainly quasi-clevage for similar aged steel plates. Hence, the enhancement of crack growth in hydrogen was more pronounced for the welds. Overaged welds showed higher FCGRs than the same aged steel plates only in hydrogen and for Δ K values greater than 20MPa√m.     

FATIGUE AT LOW GROWTH RATES IN A MARAGING STEEL

This paper describes an experimental investigation of fatigue-crack growth in an ultra-high strength maraging steel, with particular attention to the relationship between crack growth rate and microstructural element size. The occurrence of intergranular fracture is shown to be unrelated to any grain size-plastic zone size equivalence, while inflections in the growth rate vs ΔK relationship are discussed in terms of the interaction between the plastic zone and other microstructural dimensions. The incidence of intergranular fracture and crack surface oxide is shown to decrease with decreasing test frequency.     

Effect of grain boundary microstructure on fatigue crack propagation in austenitic stainless steel

The effect of grain boundary microstructure on fatigue crack propagation in austenitic stainless steel was investigated in order to control fatigue crack propagation. The fraction of low-Σ coincidence boundaries in specimens was controlled by thermomechanical processing. The specimen with the higher fraction of low-Σ boundaries (73%) showed the lower propagation rate of fatigue crack than the specimen with the lower fraction of low-Σ boundaries (53%). The ratio of intergranular fracture segments to the total crack length was lower for the specimen with the higher fraction of low-Σ boundaries. Moreover, the roles of grain boundaries in the fatigue crack propagation were investigated in connection with grain boundary microstructure, i.e., the character distribution and geometrical configuration of grain boundaries. It is evidenced that the approach to grain boundary engineering is applicable to controlling fatigue crack propagation in austenitic stainless steel.     

Effect of low temperature on fatigue crack formation and microstructure-scale propagation in legacy and modern Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys

Temperature dependence of fatigue crack formation and microstructure-scale growth from constituent particles in 7075-T651 and 7050-T7451 is quantified via load induced fracture surface marker-bands. Larger and more abundant particles in 7075-T651 lead to increased crack formation frequency and decreased life. Crack growth rates are similar between alloys and decreased with decreasing temperature, paralleling crack formation behavior. The temperature dependence is attributed to hydrogen environment embrittlement, but is not sufficiently understood to fully model the observed behavior.     

High resolution digital image correlation measurements of strain accumulation in fatigue crack growth

Microstructure plays a key role in fatigue crack initiation and growth. Consequently, measurements of strain at the microstructural level are crucial to understanding fatigue crack behavior. The few studies that provide such measurements have relatively limited resolution or areas of observation. This paper provides quantitative, full-field measurements of plastic strain near a growing fatigue crack in Hastelloy X, a nickel-based superalloy. Unprecedented spatial resolution for the area covered was obtained through a novel experimental technique based on digital image correlation (DIC). These high resolution strain measurements were linked to electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurements of grain structure (both grain shape and orientation).Accumulated plastic strain fields associated with fatigue crack growth exhibited inhomogeneities at two length scales. At the macroscale, the plastic wake contained high strain regions in the form of asymmetric lobes associated with past crack tip plastic zones. At high magnification, high resolution DIC measurements revealed inhomogeneities at, and below, the grain scale. Effective strain not only varied from grain to grain, but also within individual grains. Furthermore, strain localizations were observed in slip bands within grains and on twin and grain boundaries. A better understanding of these multiscale heterogeneities could help explain variations in fatigue crack growth rate and crack path and could improve the understanding of fatigue crack closure and fracture in ductile metals.     

Caustic stress corrosion cracking of a spheroidal graphite cast iron: characterisation of ex-service component

Abstract

This paper discusses observations of features suggesting grain boundary embrittlement ahead of stress corrosion crack tips in ex-service cast iron components exposed to strong caustic environments during Bayers process for alumina processing. The cracks and the neighbouring areas in the ex-service specimens were examined using conventional metallography, SEM, the extraction replica technique in the TEM and Auger electron spectroscopy. In all cases, the cracking was initiated at the surface of the steel exposed to the corrosive environment and it appeared that crack nucleation may have been aided by local stress concentrations and/or zones of local residual stress concentration. The fracture mode was almost exclusively intergranular and the crack path followed ferrite grain boundaries. There was clear evidence of a local zone of grain boundary embrittlement extending ahead of the tip of the major cracks examined. The phenomenon was established by investigating the fresh fracture surfaces produced by extending pre-existing cracks under impact loading at liquid nitrogen temperature. Auger electron spectroscopy of the fresh intergranular fracture surface failed to reveal any evidence of local elemental grain boundary segregation that might account for the observed embrittlement. In the absence of evidence of any other embrittling species on the exposed intergranular facets, there arises the possibility of hydrogen being involved in the embrittlement. The paper discusses hydrogen assisted intergranular cracking, as observed in the case of similar materials, to be the possible mechanism.     

4.5Ni钢表面裂纹的低周疲劳扩展行为研究

采用悬臂弯曲加载方式，以总应变范围作为受检和控制参数，分析了高强度４．５Ｎｉ钢表面裂纹的低周疲劳扩展行为，给出了裂纹扩展速率ｄ（２ａ）／ｄＮ与总应变范围ΔεＴ的关系式及关系曲线。同时对弯曲加载条件下低周疲劳损伤断口微观形貌进行了观察分析。指出４．５Ｎｉ钢的低周疲劳裂纹扩展方式主要是穿晶，疲劳辉纹为晶体学延性辉纹，疲劳裂纹扩展属于塑性钝化模型机制。     

High temperature,high strain rate embrittlement of Al-Mg-Mn alloy: evidence of cleavage of an fcc alloy

Abstract

The fracture behaviour in tension of an Al-Mg -Mn alloy has been investigated. At high temperatures and strain rates, intergranular brittle fracture is observed along with cleavage fracture. Intergranular fracture is related to local melting at the grain boundaries. Cleavage occurs in equal proportions on the {100} and {110} crystallographic planes. The area fraction of cleavage facets on the fracture surface has been quantified. Their initiation is shown to be related both to the liquid metal embrittlement of the grain boundaries and to the presence of brittle Mn containing particles at the grain boundaries. Cleavage fracture in an aluminium alloy also requires an inhibition of plastic flow which prevents plastic blunting at the crack tip. It is proposed that this modification of the plastic behaviour is provided by the decrease in stacking fault energy at high temperatures in Al-Mg alloys.     

Zusammenwirken von Spannungsrißkorrosion und Ermüdung bei der Schwingungsrißkorrosion eines hochfesten Stahles

Conjoint Action of Stress Corrosion Cracking and Fatigue on Corrosion Fatigue of a High Strength Steel The corrosion fatigue characteristics of a high strength, martensitic steel in 0.5 n NaCl solution is investigated with regard to the fatigue and stress corrosion cracking behaviour of the material. Test parameters are stress ratio and frequency, testing is carried out with fracture mechanics methods, the crack surfaces are examined fractographically. An analysis of the results reveals that corrosion fatigue in high strength steel is caused by fatigue or by stress corrosion cracking, depending on the kinetics of the two processes. Fatigue and stress corrosion cracking do not act cumulative or additive. Instead, the kinetically faster process causes crack advance. The crack growth characteristics are interpreted with respect to the fractographic appearance of the crack surfaces. Corrosion fatigue cracks propagate either intergranular relative to the prior austenite grain boundaries as stress corrosion cracks do or transgranular like fatigue cracks, depending on the crack growth rates of the two processes. Fatigue and stress corrosion cracking do not interact, at least in a measurable degree, because of the different crack path of the two fracture processes. Results can be assessed quantitatively with the “process competition model”.     

The characteristics of fatigue under isothermal and thermo-mechanical load in Cr–Ni–Mo cast hot work die steel

ABSTRACT High temperature isothermal fatigue (IF) and in-phase thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) tests in load control were carried out in cast hot work die steel. At the same load amplitude, the fatigue lives obtained in the in-phase TMF tests are lower than those obtained in the isothermal tests. Observations of fracture surface and the response of stress–strain reveal that cyclic creep in the tensile direction occurs and the intergranular cracks dominate in TMF tests, whereas cyclic creep in the compressive direction occurs and the path of the crack growth is mainly transgranular in IF tests. A model of life prediction, based on the Chaboche law, was discussed. Damage coefficients that are functions of the maximum temperature and the variation of temperature are introduced in the model so as to evaluate TMF lives in load control. With this method, the lifetime prediction gives results corresponding well to experimental data.     

The Influence of Hydrogen on the Low Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Medium Strength 3.5NiCrMoV Steel Studied Using Notched Specimens

The influence of hydrogen on low cycle fatigue (LCF) of 3.5NiCrMoV steel electrochemically hydrogen charged in the acidified pH 2 0.1 M Na₂SO₄ solution is studied. In the presence of hydrogen, the fatigue life decreases significantly by ≈70 to ≈80% by: (i) the crack initiation period is decreased; and (ii) the crack growth rate is accelerated. SEM observation indicates that in the presence of hydrogen, the fracture surface shows flat transgranular fracture with vague striations and some intergranular fracture at lower stresses. The fatigue crack growth rate increases with increasing cyclic stress amplitude and with hydrogen fugacity. Once the fatigue crack reaches a critical length, the specimen becomes mechanical unstable and fracture due to ductile overload occurs. The hydrogen contribution to the final fracture process is not significant.

     

On mechanism of fatigue fracture in interstitial free steel sheet

Abstract

The mechanism of fatigue fracture in an interstitial free steel sheet has been studied. The process can be divided into four regimes:

(i) the fatigue crack initiates on the specimen surface, from the mesocracks along the grain boundaries in stage I

(ii) propagates mostly in an opening mode through grain boundaries in stage II

(iii) propagates through microscopic striations and transverse intergranular cracking briefly in stage III

(iv) the crack path changes from flat to slant along with through thickness necking and it propagates to failure through discrete crack jumps in stage IV. The crack jumps are associated with crack progression marks (CPMs), the spacing of which increases exponentially from few micrometres to few hundred micrometres with crack length.     

Reduction of hydrogen embrittlement in an ultra-high-strength steel by laser surface annealing

This paper shows that laser beam irradiation improves the resistance to hydrogen embrittlement (HE) in an ultra-high-strength maraging steel. Localized laser irradiation of a peak-aged steel plate resulted in the formation of a soft surface layer called the laser-annealed zone (LAZ). A composite region (CR) was formed when both the top and bottom surfaces of a peak-aged specimen were laser-annealed (LA) to leave an interior layer of untransformed base metal (BM) sandwiched between the two LAZs. Slow strain rate tensile tests showed that LA specimens had lower strength and ductility than the peak-aged specimens when tested in air, but in a H₂ S solution, the soft LAZs showed less susceptibility to HE than the BM. The fatigue crack growth rates (FCGRs) in the CR were lower than those in the BM regardless of testing environment and stress ratio ( R ). The retarded crack growth in the CR was attributed to the combination of residual compressive stresses and the soft microstructures in the LAZs. The tensile fracture appearance of LA specimens tested in a H₂ S solution exhibited intergranular fracture in the BM. Fractographs of the fatigue specimens tested in gaseous hydrogen revealed transgranular fracture in the LAZs and mainly quasi-cleavage fracture in the BM.     

Microscale characterization of granular deformation near a crack tip

This paper presents a study of microscale plastic deformation at the crack tip and the effect of microstructure feature on the local deformation of aluminum specimen during fracture test. Three-point bending test of aluminum specimen was conducted inside a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging system. The crack tip deformation was measured in situ utilizing SEM imaging capabilities and the digital image correlation (DIC) full-field deformation measurement technique. The microstructure feature at the crack tip was examined to understand its effect on the local deformation fields. Microscale pattern that was suitable for the DIC technique was generated on the specimen surface using sputter coating through a copper mesh before the fracture test. A series of SEM images of the specimen surface were acquired using in situ backscattered electronic imaging (BEI) mode during the test. The DIC technique was then applied to these SEM images to calculate the full-field deformation around the crack tip. The grain orientation map at the same location was obtained from electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), which was superimposed on a DIC strain map to study the relationship between the microstructure feature and the evolution of plastic deformation at the crack tip. This approach enables to track the initiation and evolution of plastic deformation in grains adjacent to the crack tip. Furthermore, bifurcation of the crack due to intragranular and intergranular crack growth was observed. There was also localization of strain along a grain boundary ahead of and parallel to the crack after the maximum load was reached, which was a characteristic of Dugdale–Barenblatt strip-yield zone. Thus, it appears that there is a mixture of effects in the fracture process zone at the crack tip where the weaker aspects of the grain boundary controls the growth of the crack and the more ductile aspects of the grains themselves dissipate the energy and the corresponding strain level available for these processes through plastic work.     

氢蚀温度对20G和15CrMo钢疲劳行为的影响

研究了氢蚀温度对２０Ｇ和１５ＣｒＭｏ钢常规力学性能与疲劳性能和机制的影响以及应力比对氢蚀后２０Ｇ钢疲劳性能的影响结果表明，氢蚀后２０Ｇ钢的疲劳行为受氢蚀对材料损伤程度和氢蚀导致粗糙的裂纹途径造成闭合效应增加两因素联合作用；氢蚀后１５ＣｒＭｏ钢脱碳严重，其疲劳行为仅受脱碳对材料损伤作用的影响；应力比对２０Ｇ疲劳性能也有很大影响     

Hydrogen and temper embrittlement interactions in fatigue of 2·25Cr–1Mo steel

Abstract

The influence of strength, precipitate microstructure, temper embrittlement, and environment on fatigue crack growth in 2·25Cr–1 Mo steel has been investigated. Particular attention was paid to the interaction between hydrogen embrittlement and temper embrittlement in fatigue. A range of tempered and aged conditions was examined in air, vacuum, and gaseous hydrogen environments at growth rates between 10^?10 and 10^?5 m/cycle. In this paper, discussion focuses on effects observed in hydrogen. Gaseous hydrogen was found to encourage crack growth by promoting intergranular fracture, which peaked at intermediate growth rates, and by reducing the general plasticity associated with transgranular fracture at high growth rates. Mechanisms underlying these effects, which involve stress-driven hydrogen segregation and the facilitation of crack-tip dislocation emission, are considered in detail. Reversible temper embrittlement encouraged crack growth at near-threshold and intermediate rates in hydrogen by increasing susceptibility to intergranular fracture. The magnitude of this effect was directly related to the degree of intergranular phosphorus enrichment, thus clearly demonstrating synergy between hydrogen embrittlement and temper embrittlement in fatigue. In contrast, one-step temper embrittlement encouraged transgranular crack growth in hydrogen only at high growth rates. This is considered to result from a concentration of slip on glide planes intersecting the crack tip under the combined influences of hydrogen and an increasingly dense precipitate microstructure.

MST/583     

Effects of grain boundary- and triple junction-character on intergranular fatigue crack nucleation in polycrystalline aluminum

The effects of grain boundary- and triple junction-character on intergranular fatigue crack nucleation were studied in coarse-grained polycrystalline aluminum specimens whose grain boundary microstructures were analyzed by SEM-EBSD/OIM technique. Fatigue crack nucleation occurred mainly along grain boundaries and depended strongly on both the grain boundary character and grain boundary configuration with respect to the persistent slip bands. However, it was little dependent on the geometrical arrangements between the grain boundary plane and the stress axis. Particularly, random boundaries become preferential sites for fatigue crack nucleation. The fatigue cracks were also observed at CSL boundaries when the grain-boundary trace on the specimen surface was parallel to persistent slip bands. On the other hand, no intergranular fatigue cracks were observed at low-angle boundaries. The fatigue cracks were observed at triple junctions as well as grain boundaries. Their nucleation considerably occurred at triple junctions where random boundaries were interconnected. The grain boundary engineering for improvement in fatigue property was discussed on the basis of the results of the structure-dependent intergranular and triple junction fatigue crack nucleation.