Ductile-Brittle Transition in Cold-Brittle Metals under High-Cycle Loading

On the basis of the experimental data accumulated under high-cycle loading for cold-brittle steels, we determine the critical characteristics of the ductile-brittle transition. With the help of the criterion of invariance of the effective kinetic diagram of fatigue fracture [bounded current values of the effective range of the stress intensity factor (K_{{fcl.th,T_2}}K_eff K _{eff T1} ^f.inv ), these characteristics determine the limits of existence of the so-called ductile-brittle transition as well as the first T_c1 and second T_c2 critical temperatures of brittleness. It is shown that the effective range of the stress intensity factor K_eff determined by measuring current values of the crack-tip opening displacement is a local characteristic of the crack resistance of the material in the linear elastic fracture mechanics.     

An investigation of the micromechanisms of fatigue crack growth in structural gas turbine engine alloys

This paper presents an overview of fatigue fracture modes in selected structural alloys employed in gas turbine engines. These include the mechanisms of fatigue crack growth in the near-threshold, Paris and high-K regimes obtained from Ti-6Al-4V, Inconel 718 and PWA 1472 (a single crystal nickel-based superalloy of similar chemical composition to Inconel 718). Fatigue fracture modes in these materials are shown to be strong functions of the stress intensity factor range, K, and the maximum stress intensity factor, K _max. Fatigue mechanism maps are also presented to show the parametric ranges of K and K _max corresponding to the different fatigue fracture modes.     

A correlation of ΔK th-value with the exponent,m, in the equation of fatigue crack growth for various steels

Literature (mainly in Japan) relating to fatigue-crack-growth-data at R=0 in an air environment for a wide range of steels is reviewed with particular attention to the threshold stress intensity, K _th. The collected data are analyzed in terms of the exponent, m(the slope of the linear portion of the log(da/dN)-logD relationship) by taking account of microstructure, material strength, fracture toughness and specimen thickness. The mean rate of fatigue crack growth for ductile steels in the range from the intermediate growth rate to threshold level and the relevant threshold values at R=0, K _th0, can be represented asda/dN = 1.700 × 10^-4(K103.6)^m - 10^-6andK _th0 = 103.6(5.88 × 10^-3)^1/m,where (da/dN) and K are measured by the units of mm/cycle and kgf/mm^3/2, respectively. Contrary to this, in the case of extremely brittle steels with K _IC-value below 200 kgf/mm^3/2 (the fracture occurs by the intergranular separation), the relationships are given byda/dN = 2.893 × 10^-5(K/49.94)^m - 2.5 × 10^-7andK _th0 = 49.94(8.64 × 10^-3)^1/m.

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Résumé La littérature, principalement japonaise, relative aux données sur la propagation des fissures de fatigue pour R=0 dans un environnement d'air et pour une large catégorie d'aciers fait l'objet d'une revue avec une attention particulière pour l'intensité de contrainte de seuil, K _th. Les données collectées sont analysées en terme de l'éxposant m (qui représente la pente de la portion linéaire de la relation log(da/dN)-log K, en tenant compte de la microstructure, de la résistance du matériau, de la ténacité à la rupture et de l'épaisseur de l'éprouvette. La vitesse moyenne de propagation d'une fissure de fatigue dans le cas des aciers ductiles dans la fourchette entre la vitesse intermédiaire de fissuration et le niveau critique, et les valeurs correspondantes de seuil à R=0, K _th0 peuvent être représentées par la relation:da/dN = 1.700 × 10^-4(K103.6)^m - 10^-6etK _th0 = 103.6(5.88 × 10^-3)^1/m,où (da/dN) et K sont mesurés en unités de mm/cycle et en kgf/mm^3/2 respectivement. En contraste, dans le cas d'aciers extrèmement fragiles avec des valeurs K _IC en dessous de 200 kgf/mm^3/2 (la rupture se produit par une séparation intergranulaire), ces relations sont données par:da/dN = 2.893 × 10^-5(K/49.94)^m - 2.5 × 10^-7etK _th0 = 49.94(8.64 × 10^-3)^1/m.

     

The unzipping model of fatigue crack growth and its application to a two-phase steel

The unzipping analysis, based on the alternate shear deformation process of two intersecting shear planes at a crack tip, is extended to study fatigue crack growth in a two-phase martensitic-ferritic steel. The unzipping crack increment a _uz is directly related to K and J in the case of small scale yielding. It is preferrable to use a _uz is directly related to K and J in the case of small scale yielding. It is preferable to use a _uz as a physical parameter to correlate with the growth rates of micro-cracks and fatigue cracks in a multi-phase material. In the case of micro-cracks, K is often not applicable because of extensive plastic deformation; and in the case of multi-phase material, neither K nor J is applicable because of material inhomogeneity. The effective K, K _eff, is defined in terms of a _uz. The relations between the endurance limit of a two-phase steel and crack nucleus size, ferrite layer thickness, the constraint by the strong martensite on crack tip deformation in the ferrite domain, and K _th's of the martensite and ferrite are analyzed.

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Résumé Une analyse de rupture progressive et continue des liaisons, basée sur un processus de déformation de cisaillement alterné de deux plants de cisaillement s'intersectant à l'extrémité d'une fissure, a été étendue à l'analyse de la propagation des fissures de fatigue dans un acier martensito-ferritique à deux phases. L'accroissement de la fissure a est directement en relation avec K et J dans le cas de déformation plastique de faible étendue. II est préférable d'utiliser a comme paramètre physique en corrélation avec les vitesses de croissance de microfissures et des fissures de fatigue dans un matériau à phases multiples. Dans le cas de microfissures, K n'est souvent pas applicable en raison de la déformation plastique importante. Dans le cas de matériau multiphase ni K ni J ne sont applicables en raison de l'inhomogénéité du matériau. La valeur effective K _eff est définie en terme de a. Les relations entre la limite d'endurance d'un acier à deux phases et la taille du nodule de fissuration, l'épaisseur de la couche de ferrite, la contrainte qu'exerce une zone martensitique dure sur le domaine ferritique, sur la déformation à l'extrémité de la fissure en domaine ferritique, et les valeurs de K de la martensite et de la ferrite sont analysées.

     

The significance of RPG load for fatigue crack propagation and the development of a compliance measuring system

In can be postulated that fatigue crack does not grow if no damage occurs in the vicinity of the crack tip. Damage may occur beyond the Re-tensile Plastic zone's Generated load (RPG load) in the vicinity of a crack tip under loading process. We propose an effective stress intensity factor range ( K _RP) corresponding to the period in which the re-tensile plastic zone appears, in place of K _eff proposed by Elber [1], for a fatigue crack propagation parameter.We then consider the small change of compliance for a cracked body under cyclic loading, for the purpose of measuring RPG load as well as crack opening load and crack closing load. Moreover a subtraction circuit which can measure the small change of compliance during fatigue test is developed and an automatic controlled system which can control the adequate values of resistance in the circuit and the output voltage range from strain amplifiers for minimizing relative noise level is also developed. Then fatigue crack propagation tests of CT specimens were carried out with various stress ratios of constant amplitude loadings. Moreover K _th tests with the conditions of constant stress ratio and constant maximum load with increasing stepwise minimum load were also carried out. It becomes clear that the logarithmic curve of K _RP—crack propagation rate appears to be linear in a wide range from the region of very slow growth rate to the region of stable growth rate. On the other hand, threshold phenomenon appears only circumstantially due to the particular loading pattern on K _eff based on the crack opening load and K _eff ^cl based on the crack closing load. Moreover K _RP gives the quantitative effect of stress ratio on fatigue crack propagation rate.     

On the driving force for fatigue crack formation from inclusions and voids in a cast A356 aluminum alloy

Monotonic and cyclic finite element simulations are conducted on linear-elastic inclusions and voids embedded in an elasto-plastic matrix material. The elasto-plastic material is modeled with both kinematic and isotropic hardening laws cast in a hardening minus recovery format. Three loading amplitudes (/2=0.10%, 0.15, 0.20%) and three load ratios (R=–1, 0, 0.5) are considered. From a continuum standpoint, the primary driving force for fatigue crack formation is assumed to be the local maximum plastic shear strain range, _max, with respect to all possible shear strain planes. For certain inhomogeneities, the _max was as high as ten times the far field strains. Bonded inclusions have _max values two orders of magnitude smaller than voids, cracked, or debonded inclusions. A cracked inclusion facilitates extremely large local stresses in the broken particle halves, which will invariably facilitate the debonding of a cracked particle. Based on these two observations, debonded inclusions and voids are asserted to be the critical inhomogeneities for fatigue crack formation. Furthermore, for voids and debonded inclusions, shape has a negligible effect on fatigue crack formation compared to other significant effects such as inhomogeneity size and reversed loading conditions (R ratio). Increasing the size of an inclusion by a factor of four increases _max by about a factor of two. At low R ratios (–1) equivalent sized voids and debonded inclusions have comparable _max values. At higher R ratios (0, 0.5) debonded inclusions have _max values twice that of voids.     

Localized single-particle excitations and the density of states for superconducting composites

The problem of localized single-particle excitations and the density of states (DOS) for an inhomogeneous system consisting of a spherical superconductor (with radius a and order parameter ₁) embedded in another superconductor (order parameter ₂) of infinite size is considered. With the assumption of constant values of ₁ and ₂, the Bogoliubov equations are solved for general values of l (the orbital angular momentum quantum number). For a fixed value of ₁/₂ and different values of ₂/E _F, the dependence of the excitation energy (l=0)/₂ on the particle sizek _F a is shown (k _F is the Fermi wave vector andE _F is the Fermi energy). Fork _F a=300, 450, and 800 and a fixed value of ₂/E _F, the variations in the DOS by changing ₁/₂ are also shown.     

Regularities in the Main-Crack Propagation and Dislocation Structure Evolution in the Fracture Zone of VT22 Alloy at Various Frequencies of Cyclic Loading

We have studied the relationship between the dislocation structure in the fracture zone and fractographic features of the main-crack propagation in a Ti–5%Al–5%V alloy tested for cyclic crack growth resistance in symmetrical tension–compression at frequencies of 140, 600, 3000, and 10000 Hz. It is demonstrated that the prevailing Types of dislocation structure are cellular over the near-threshold K range and of band-Type structure for the remaining values of the stress intensity factor range. For these Types of structure of the alloy studied at all loading frequencies, the characteristic micromechanism of fracture is the formation of fatigue striations. In the region of low K values, the above-mentioned Types of substructure, and thus fatigue striations, are most commonly formed along certain crystallographic planes and directions. As the K values grow, the crack sensitivity to crystallographic orientation decreases. The effect of the loading frequency on the regularities and mechanisms of fatigue crack growth is governed by two main factors: the processes of plastic deformation at the crack tip during the pre-fracture period and the interaction between the crack front and the initial and formed structural and substructural elements. The appearance of the brittle-fracture elements with increasing loading frequency is due to a rather high sensitivity of the -phase to the loading rate.     

A dilatometric method to measure the thermal diffusivity of nonmetallic liquids

A new method to measure the thermal diffusivity of liquids is presented. It requires determination of the time dependence of the thermal expansion of the liquid when it is subjected to a heat source at the top of the cell containing the liquid. The high accuracy of the method (about 3%) is due to an essential reduction of convective currents and also to the absence of temperature detectors, which generally introduce unwanted perturbations on the thermal Field.Nomenclature Thermal conductivity - c Specific heat - Density - c = specific heat x density - h Newton coefficient - Thermal diffusivity - T, 0 Temperature - tV Electric signal - Calibration coefficient - _exp, _th Volume change of the liquid     

Low endurance fatigue in metals and polymers

The fatigue behaviour of commercially pure aluminium and of nylon under sequentially varying strain amplitudes is compared with a damage law of the type suggested by Miner. Aluminium obeys such a law for both cyclic and uniaxial prestrains but the behaviour of nylon is significantly affected by microcracking, which produces a marked effect of loading sequence.Appendix N Number of strain cycles at a given time - N _f Value of N at failure - True tensile stress - True stress range for a strain cycled specimen - _h Value of at half the life of the specimen - True tensile strain - Total true strain range - _p True plastic strain range (= the breadth of the hysteresis loop at = 0) - _d True diametral strain range - E Young's modulus - Linear strain hardening rate when tested at a particular value of _p - D Damage due to cycling - D _p Damage due to prestrain - _p Prestrain. C, K, K₁, , are constants     

About endurance limit of ductile inhomogeneous materials

The theory describing the fatigue mechanism in elasto-plastic material containing pores or inclusions has been developed. An attempt at quantitative determination of the effect of endurance limit reduction by analysis of sizes of plastic zones formed near the inclusions, and their cracking has been done. The geometrical configuration, consisting of a round inclusion from which a nucleating crack emerged, was considered, and the stress intensity factor of such configuration was analysed. Based on a threshold value of K below which crack propagation ceases, the critical value of loading stress was determined. Theoretical results were compared with results from experiments, showing quite good agreement.Glossary of Symbols a rack length (mm) - A plastic zone range (mm) - B width of specimen (mm) - D pore diameter (mm) - H materials hardening coefficient - K stress intensity coefficient (N mm^–3/2) - K _I,K _II stress intensity coefficient for first and second mode of fracture - KIZ equivalentK _I coefficient for zigzag crack. (N mm^–3/2) - KTH threshold value ofK (N mm^–3/2) - KTHM KTH in microscale (N mm^–3/2) - L length of flat crack (mm) - Na real length of zigzag (mm) - N _f fatigue life in cycles - P loading force variation (N) - RA reduction of area of sample - S loading stress (MPa) - W height of specimen (mm) - Y yield stress of matrix material (MPa) - , , coefficients inA/D=f(S/Y) formula - K stress concentration coefficient - , , coefficients inK=f(S, A/D) formula - _f, ₁ coefficients - _p plastic strain components - , parallel and perpendicular to crack front surface development correction coefficients - surface development coefficient     

Fatigue behaviour of precipitation-hardening medium C steels containing Cu

The presence of Cu precipitates counteracts the cyclic softening present in ordinary quenched and tempered steels. This is expected to result in an increase in fatigue limit. The fatigue crack propagation rate (dc/dN) at constant K in the Cu-C steels was shown to depend on heat-treatment and carbon content. To maximize yield strength and minimize ¦da/dN¦_K for tempering at 500° C, one must choose a low C content and temper for a short time; ¦da/dN¦_K in 0.28 wt % C-1.45 wt % Cu tempered for 13 min was one-third that for 0.45 wt % C-1.45 wt% Cu tempered for 200 min. There is also an advantage in adding Cu while simultaneously lowering the Ccontent. The dc/dN data are discussed in terms of the yield strength and the energy to form a unit area of fatigue crack, U, which was measured using foil strain gauges. The quantity (¦dc/dN ¦_{K y} ² U) where _y is the cyclic yield stress, was found to be nearly constant. In the 0.28 wt % C-1.45wt % Cu alloy, short ageing times at 500° C resulted in greater resistance to initiation of cracks at notches for low Ks than long ageing times.     

ΔK ol level effects on fatigue crack propagation

In order to determine the effects of K _ol level on fatigue life, a single peak load was applied at distinct K levels of 7.8×10.3 and 9.8×10³ p.s.i. in^1/2. Here the K _ol level was defined to be a K level at which overload was applied. Three different overload ratios of 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 were used to determine the overload ratio effect on the recovery factor. The result showed that the recovery factor, Z, was linearly related to K as Z = qK+Z _o, where q was a function of overload ratio. The value of q decreased as the overload ratio increased in a given K _ol level and seemed to be an important factor as well as retardation cycles in determining the fatigue life. For the same overload ratio, specimens that underwent overload at a smaller K _ol level showed more improved fatigue life.Nomenclature a Crack length - a ^* Overload affected zone size - B Specimen thickness - (da/dN)_ca Crack growth rate due to constant amplitude fatigue load - (da/dN)_ol Crack growth rate after overload is applied - E Young's modulus - K Stress intensity factor - K _min Minimum stress intensity factor - K _max Maximum stress intensity factor - K _ol K level at which overload is applied - N Number of cycles - N _D Number of delayed cycles - N _f Number of cycles needed for a specimen to be completely fractured - r _p Assumed plastic zone size - S Load - _ys Yield stress - W Width - Z Recovery factor     

Interfacial debonding and fibre pull-out stresses

Based on a theoretical model developed previously by the authors in Part II of this series for a single fibre pull-out test, a methodology for the evaluation of interfacial properties of fibre-matrix composites is presented to determine the interfacial fracture toughness G _c, the friction coefficient , the radial residual clamping stress q _o and the critical bonded fibre length z _max. An important parameter, the stress drop , which is defined as the difference between the maximum debond stress _d ^* and the initial frictional pull-out stress _fr, is introduced to characterize the interfacial debonding and fibre pull-out behaviour. The maximum logarithmic stress drop, In(), is obtained when the embedded fibre length L is equal to the critical bonded fibre length z _max. The slope of the In()-L curve for L bigger than z _max is found to be a constant that is related to the interfacial friction coefficient . The effect of fibre anisotropy on fibre debonding and fibre pull-out is also included in this analysis. Published experimental data for several fibre-matrix composites are chosen to evaluate their interfacial properties by using the present methodology.On leave at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong.     

On the Method of Determination of Strain Energy Release Rate During Fatigue Delamination in Composite Materials

In this paper, the problem of calculation of the energy release rate for a fatigue test on composite material has been investigated. The application of the Linear Elastic Failure Mechanics (LEFM) leads to the use of varation of the energy release rate ( G). As the energy release rate is a function of the load squared, the variation of G becomes either a function of variation of the load squared ( G = f((P²))) or a function of the square of the load variation ( G = f(( P)²)).In this paper, we determine, by different fatigue tests, which of the two theoretical results is the best to describe the experiments. These fatigue tests have been made on DCB test-specimen in mode I with different R ratios (R = P_max / P_min) and different maximum loads. The material was a unidirectionnal glass-epoxy.The results show that considering G as a function of ( P)² seems more appropriated to describe a cracking test in fatigue.     

Fracture stress difference of notched polycarbonate between atmospheric pressure and a hydrostatic pressure

Experimental data on fracture stress of polycarbonate (PC) with and without various artificial notches have been obtained at atmospheric pressure and a high hydrostatic pressure (400 MPa). The difference in fracture stress, _F, between both pressures was directly proportional to the intensity of pressure,P, and was inversely proportional to the stress concentration factor of the notch,K _n such that _F following the form of the Kaieda-Oguchi formula, _F. By using the combined stress concentration factor,K _nc, of superposed notch and craze, and by considering the change in elastic modulus due to pressure, the experimental data agreed with the modified Kaieda-Oguchi formula. The stress concentration factor of the craze was calculated by using the Dugdale model.     

Third sound in a restricted geometry

Bergman's general treatment of third sound waves has been extended to a (restricted) parallel plate geometry. In a parallel plate geometry two independent third sound modes can propagate: a symmetric and an antisymmetric one. Calculations show that at temperatures below 1 K the antisymmetric mode carries the most important part of the temperature amplitude. Because of the relatively strong substrate influence the temperature amplitude of the symmetric mode is suppressed. The T/h versus T measurements by Laheurteet al. ¹ and of the T/h versus measurements by Elliset al. ² are explained.     

On mode I and mode II energy release rates of an interface crack

The opening (mode I) and sliding (mode II) components of the energy that is released during an incremental extension of an interface crack between two different elastic materials are evaluated by the Irwin's crack closure method. Each component of the energies (G _I and G _II ) is expressed in terms of the functions of the length of the incremental crack extension (a) and the real and imaginary part of the complex stress intensity factor defined by Malyshev and Salganik. It is found that values of G _I /a and G _II /a oscillate violently when a approaches zero and that, hence, in contrast with the case for homogeneous materials, each energy release rate should be defined as G _I /a and G _II /a for an actual crack growth step size.     

Flow-Equation Method for a Superconductor with Magnetic Correlations

The flow equation method has been used to calculate the energy of single impurity in a superconductor for the Anderson model with U0. We showed that the energy of the impurity depends only on the _R ² (renormalized order parameter), which depends on the renormalized Hubbard repulsion U ^R. For a strong Hubbard repulsion U ^R = U and ^R = ^I the effect of the s–d interactions are nonrelevant, a result that is expected for this model.     

Influence of nonmetallic inclusions on fatigue crack growth in a structural steel

A study of the fatigue behaviour of a hardened and tempered steel, at two inclusion levels, has been carried out according to the linear elastic fracture mechanics criteria. The influence of inclusions on the fatigue crack growth rate has turned out to be a function of the local stress intensity factor range,K _I, at which fracture propagates. At lowK _I values, to which are related crack growth rates less than 10^–5 mm cycle^–1, the crack growth rate in the steel with higher inclusion content is lower than in the steel with lower inclusion content. AsK _I increases, an inversion in the difference between the two rates occurs. In the dirtier steel, the higherK _I, the higher the growth rate than in the other steel. The difference between the two rates becomes nil just below the fast propagationK _Ic level. By fractographic analysis, it has been possible to find out how inclusions affect fatigue behaviour.