Low‐cycle fatigue/high‐cycle fatigue interactions in notched Ti‐6Al‐4V*

Combined low‐cycle fatigue/high‐cycle fatigue (LCF/HCF) loadings were investigated for smooth and circumferentially V‐notched cylindrical Ti–6Al–4V fatigue specimens. Smooth specimens were first cycled under LCF loading conditions for a fraction of the previously established fatigue life. The HCF 10⁷ cycle fatigue limit stress after LCF cycling was established using a step loading technique. Specimens with two notch sizes, both having elastic stress concentration factors of K_t = 2.7, were cycled under LCF loading conditions at a nominal stress ratio of R = 0.1. The subsequent 10⁶ cycle HCF fatigue limit stress at both R = 0.1 and 0.8 was determined. The combined loading LCF/HCF fatigue limit stresses for all specimens were compared to the baseline HCF fatigue limit stresses. After LCF cycling and prior to HCF cycling, the notched specimens were heat tinted, and final fracture surfaces examined for cracks formed during the initial LCF loading. Fatigue test results indicate that the LCF loading, applied for 75% of total LCF life for the smooth specimens and 25% for the notched specimens, resulted in only small reductions in the subsequent HCF fatigue limit stress. Under certain loading conditions, plasticity‐induced stress redistribution at the notch root during LCF cycling appears responsible for an observed increase in HCF fatigue limit stress, in terms of net section stress.     

Effect of predamage from low cycle fatigue on high cycle fatigue strength of Ti-6Al-4V

Effects of prior low cycle fatigue (LCF) cycling on the subsequent high cycle fatigue (HCF) limit stress corresponding to a life of 10⁷ cycles are investigated for Ti-6Al-4V at room temperature. Tests are conducted at 420 Hz on an electrodynamic shaker-based system at several different LCF maximum loads and under subsequent HCF at R=0.1, 0.5 and 0.8 using a step loading procedure. Under these load combinations, which include the possibility of overload or underload effects if cracks form, there is no statistically significant effect of the prior LCF on the subsequent HCF limit stress. While LCF loading at a high stress of 900 MPa is seen to result in strain ratcheting, no distinct features on the fracture surface and different mechanisms of crack propagation from those obtained at lower maximum loads were observed. LCF loading up to 50% of expected life did not produce any indications of crack formation from either the stress limit data or the fracture surfaces.     

FATIGUE DAMAGE IN 1045 STEEL UNDER VARIABLE AMPLITUDE BIAXIAL LOADING

Abstract— During constant amplitude loading, two different types of crack systems have been reported In the high cycle fatigue (HCF) region, cracks nucleate on a small number of maxium shear strain amplitude planes One of these cracks becomes a dominant crack and leads to failure of the specimen In the low cycle fatigue (LCF) region, equally developed microcracks are observed over the entire gage section and grow during the majority of the life. The failure is due to a linking in which the microcracks join up during the last few cycles of the fatigue life.
To investigate the interaction of these two types of crack systems in biaxial fatigue, experiments were performed on thin-wall tubular specimens in tension, torsion and combined tension-torsion loading The test program included step loading and block loading in which two equivalent strain amplitudes were employed. One of the equivalent strain amplitudes is in the HCF region and the other was in the LCF region
Fatigue lives were predicted from constant amplitude damage curves when a single crack system dominated the fatigue process Two competitive crack systems were sometimes developed on the maximum shear strain amplitude planes in a single specimen under block loading This resulted in a conservative prediction of the fatigue life.     

Low cycle fatigue behaviour of low carbon microalloyed steel: microstructural evolution and life assessment

Abstract

In this paper the cyclic stress–strain response, low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour, and evolution of dislocation structures under LCF loading in the case of a low carbon microalloyed steel are discussed. The cyclic stress response revealed cyclic softening resulting from the propagation of Lüders bands. The experimental LCF life was compared with the life predicted using Tomkins' model and the modified universal slopes (MUS) equation. While the life predicted by Tomkins' model showed good correlation with the experimental results, the life predicted using the MUS equation grossly overestimated the life. Inclusion induced delaminations under cyclic loading were thought to be responsible for the overestimation by the MUS equation. Low energy dislocation structures, i.e. cells, were observed near the fracture surfaces. Interrupted tests revealed cell formation after 10 cycles at a total strain amplitude of 0·3%.     

Low and high‐cycle fatigue properties of an ultrahigh‐strength TRIP bainitic steel

The scope of this study is to characterize the mechanical properties of a novel Transformation‐Induced Plasticity bainitic steel grade TBC700Y980T. For this purpose, tensile tests are carried out with loading direction 0, 45 and 90° with respect to the L rolling direction. Yield stress is found to be higher than 700 MPa, ultimate tensile strength larger than 1050 MPa and total elongation higher than 15%. Low‐cycle fatigue (LCF) tests are carried out under fully reverse axial strain exploring fatigue lives comprised between 10² and 10⁵ fatigue cycles. The data are used to determine the parameters of the Coffin–Manson as well as the cyclic stress–strain curve. No significant stress‐induced austenite transformation is detected. The high‐cycle fatigue (HCF) behaviour is investigated through load controlled axial tests exploring fatigue tests up to 5 × 10⁶ fatigue cycles at two loading ratios, namely R = ?1 and R = 0. At fatigue lives longer than 2 × 10⁵ cycles, the strain life curve determined from LCF tests tends to greatly underestimate the HCF resistance of the material. Apparently, the HCF behaviour of this material cannot be extrapolated from LCF tests, as different damage, cyclic hardening mechanisms and microstructural conditions are involved. In particular, in the HCF regime, the predominant damage mechanism is nucleation of fatigue cracks in the vicinity of oxide inclusions, whereby mean value and scatter in fatigue limit are directly correlated to the dimension of these inclusions.     

Low Cycle Fatigue Life Threshold for Titanium Aluminides

Although there exists a good understanding of dislocation glide mechanisms during fatigue of titanium aluminides, 1 fatigue life prediction remains a crucial issue because of the low amount of macroscopic plastic strain and the existence of microstructural inhomogeneities. The concept proposed here aims at a threshold value, allowing a reasonable low cycle fatigue life for isothermal and thermomechanical fatigue conditions. It can be stated that under isothermal testing conditions a maximum strain amplitude of Δε/2 = 0.35% (corresponding to a stress amplitude of about Δσ/2 = 500 MPa) for temperatures up to 750 °C is feasible for TNB‐V2 in order to reliably reach a sufficient LCF life. Concerning satisfactory thermomechanical fatigue life the proposed concept suggests that the acting combination of mean stress and strain amplitude needs to be located below the Goodman line. It can be concluded that with increase in maximum cyclic temperature and temperature range, the tolerable strain amplitude decreases. Because of the well‐documented unfavorable combination of tensile mean stresses and environmental attack during OP‐TMF, an acceptable strain amplitude for TMF conditions is significantly lower than under isothermal conditions.     

Prediction of Fatigue Lives of MAR‐M247 LC Based on the Crack Closure Concept

Low cycle fatigue (LCF), high cycle fatigue (HCF), and combined LCF and HCF tests are carried out on MAR‐M247 LC at 650 °C in air environment. Under combined LCF and HCF loading, block striations form on the fracture surface which are used to complete an effective crack growth curve by using the linear summation model. Crack growth lives starting from equivalent initial flaw sizes are calculated by the crack closure code FASTRAN and compared with experimental fatigue lives. Under HCF loading, predicted and experimental fatigue lives agree well for lifetimes above 10⁵ cycles. Lower lifetimes are overestimated indicating that the linear summation model is not valid for MAR‐M247 LC in this loading range. Interactions between the non‐crystallographic HCF crack growth and striated crack growth that is caused by the LCF loading are probably responsible for this behavior.     

The effect of stress transients on the HCF endurance limit

Constant amplitude fatigue of a material at a fixed stress ratio, R, and at some limiting stress level, may produce high cycle fatigue (HCF) lives in excess of some large number, typically 10⁷ or higher, which can be treated as an endurance limit. Under vibratory loading, stress transients can exceed this endurance limit amplitude and cause damage that accumulates with repeated transient loading. These HCF transients normally occur at lower stress amplitudes than those needed to cause low cycle fatigue (LCF) where lives, N, are typically in the range N < 10⁴–10⁵. Therefore, the HCF transient stresses produce cycles to failure beyond the normal LCF regime but correspond to amplitudes that are above the fatigue limit stress. In this investigation, a titanium alloy, Ti-6Al-4V, is subjected to HCF stress transients while being cycled under constant amplitude HCF. The HCF transients correspond to blocks of loading above the fatigue limit stress applied for a specified fraction of their expected life. A step-loading procedure is used to determine the fatigue limit stress at a frequency of 420 Hz. Stress transients applied at stresses up to 40% above the endurance limit for cycle counts up to 25% of expected life are found to have little or no effect on the fatigue limit stress. Simple calculations of the propagation life in a test specimen show that most of the life at these transient stress levels is spent in the nucleation phase. Fractography, aided by heat tinting, was unable to detect any prior cracks due to the HCF stress transients on the fractured specimens.     

Total Fatigue Life Estimation of Notched Structural Components Using Low‐Cycle Fatigue Properties

Abstract: In this investigation, an efficient fatigue life computation method under variable amplitude loading of structural components has been proposed. Attention in this study is focused on total fatigue life estimation of aircraft structural components. Flat specimens with central hole made of quenched and tempered steel 13H11N2V2MF were tested as representatives of different structural components. Total fatigue life of these specimens, defined as sum of fatigue crack initiation and crack growth life, was experimentally determined. Specimens were tested by blocks of positive variable amplitude loading. Crack initiation life was computed using theory of low‐cycle fatigue (LCF) properties. Cyclic stress–strain curve, Masing’s curve and approximate Sonsino’s curve were used for determining stress–strain response at critical point of considered specimens. Computation of crack initiation life was realised using Palmgren–Miner’s linear rule of damage accumulation, applied on Morrow’s curves of LCF properties. Crack growth life was predicted using strain energy density method. In this method, the same LCF properties were used for crack initiation life and for crack growth life computations also. Computation results are compared with own experimentally obtained results.     

Influence of foreign object damage on fatigue crack growth of gas turbine aerofoils under complex loading conditions

Foreign object damage (FOD) has been identified as one of the main life limiting factors for aeroengine blades, with the leading edge of aerofoils particularly susceptible. In this work, a generic edge ‘aerofoil’ geometry was utilized in a study of early fatigue crack growth behaviour due to FOD under low cycle fatigue (LCF), high cycle fatigue (HCF) and combined LCF and HCF loading conditions. Residual stresses due to FOD were analyzed using the finite element method. The longitudinal residual stress component along the crack path was introduced as a nodal temperature distribution, and used in the correction of the stress intensity factor range. The crack growth was monitored using a nanodirect current potential drop (DCPD) system and crack growth rates were correlated with the corrected stress intensity factor considering the residual stresses. The results were discussed with regard to the role of residual stresses in the characterization of fatigue crack growth. Small crack growth behaviour in FODed specimens was revealed only after the residual stresses were taken into account in the calculation of the stress intensity factor, a feature common to LCF, HCF and combined LCF + HCF loading conditions.     

Cumulative fatigue damage of stress below the fatigue limit in weldment steel under block loading

To investigate the cumulative fatigue damage below the fatigue limit of multipass weldment martensitic stainless steel, and to clarify the effect of cycle ratios and high‐stress level in the statement, fatigue tests were conducted under constant and combined high‐ and low‐stress amplitude relative to stress above and below the fatigue limit. The outcomes indicate that neither modified Miner's nor Haibach's approach provided accurate evaluation under repeated two‐step amplitude loading. Moreover, effect of cycle ratios has been determined. Additionally, the cumulative fatigue damage saturated model is established and validated. Cumulative fatigue damage contributed by low‐stress below the fatigue limit in high stress of 700 MPa is higher than that with 650 MPa at identical conditions (fatigue limit 575 MPa). Thus, high stress affects fatigue damage behaviour below the fatigue limit. A new predicted approach has been proposed based on Corten‐Dolan law, whose accuracy and applicability have been proven.     

Fatigue life prediction based on crack closure for 6156 Al-alloy laser welded joints under variable amplitude loading

A fatigue prediction approach is proposed using fracture mechanics for laser beam welded Al-alloy joints under stationary variable amplitude loading. The proposed approach was based on the constant crack open stress intensity factor in each loading block for stationary variable amplitude loading. The influence of welding residual stress on fatigue life under stationary variable amplitude was taken into account by the change of crack open stress intensity factor in each loading block. The residual stress relaxation coefficient β = 0.5 was proposed to consider the residual stress relaxation for the laser beam welded Al-alloy joints during the fatigue crack growth process. Fatigue life prediction results showed that a very good agreement between experimental and estimated results was obtained.     

Low‐cycle fatigue life prediction of various metallic materials under multiaxial loading

This paper proposed a simple life prediction model for assessing fatigue lives of metallic materials subjected to multiaxial low‐cycle fatigue (LCF) loading. This proposed model consists of the maximum shear strain range, the normal strain range and the maximum normal stress on the maximum shear strain range plane. Additional cyclic hardening developed during non‐proportional loading is included in the normal stress and strain terms. A computer‐based procedure for multiaxial fatigue life prediction incorporating critical plane damage parameters is presented as well. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed model are systematically checked by using about 300 test data through testing nine kinds of material under both zero and non‐zero mean stress multiaxial loading paths.     

Low cycle thermo‐mechanical fatigue: damage operator approach

The strain‐life approach is standardized and widely accepted for determining fatigue damage under strain‐controlled low cycle fatigue (LCF) loading. It was first extended to non‐isothermal cases by introducing an equivalent temperature approach (ETA). The paper presents its extension that is the damage operator approach (DOA) enabling online continuous damage calculation for isothermal and non‐isothermal loading with mean stress correction. The cycle closure point, cycle equivalent temperature, threshold temperature and separate rainflow counting obligatory for the ETA are not necessary for the DOA any more. Both approaches are equivalent for the second and subsequent runs of block loading if temperature is constant. However, for non‐isothermal cases, the DOA is within the worst and the best case scenarios of the ETA. The approaches are compared to the simple stress histories and several thermo‐mechanical fatigue (TMF) cycle types.     

Low-cycle fatigue of unidirectional composites:: Bi-linear S–N curves

Low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of polymer matrix composites (PMCs) is investigated in an experimental study of unidirectional glass/epoxy composites subjected to axial tensile loading along longitudinal 0° orientation of fibers. Under high LCF loads, fatigue life of PMCs is found to be less than 10⁴ loading cycles due to the high property degradation rates that are noticeably higher than those seen during high-cycle fatigue (HCF). In PMC response, unique LCF features have been identified and linked with damage accumulation patterns in unidirectional composites. At high loads near the ultimate strength of specimens, large strains and finite strain rates are found to be significant under semi-rectangular loading so the LCF behavior is affected. Lower and upper limits for the LCF life impose some restrictions on the S–N curves that are obtained for the LCF life assessment. A bi-linear S–N curve is used to approximate the data in the LCF and HCF regions. The bi-linear S–N relationship and the associated fatigue model are described by a proposed analytical formula. The concept of pre-LCF damage state is introduced.     

Beitrag niedriger Lastamplituden zur Ermüdungsschädigung von 0,15 %C Stahl

Contribution of low load cycles to fatigue damage in 0.15 %C steel The S‐N curve of 0.15 %C steel shows an endurance limit. Two‐step variable amplitude loading experiments serve to investigate the influence of numerous cycles below the endurance limit on fatigue damage. If high stress amplitudes of the loading sequences are more than approx. 15 % above the endurance limit, low load cycles contribute significantly to fatigue damage. Investigations of fatigue crack propagation under two‐step variable amplitude loading show accelerated crack growth caused by low load cycles. If high stress amplitudes of the two‐step sequences are less than 15 % above the endurance limit, beneficial influences of numerous low load cycles are found. Under these conditions, the material can sustain far greater numbers of load cycles than predicted by Miner damage accumulation calculation. Fatigue crack growth studies show that under these conditions for the high load numerous low load cycles lead to stop of the crack propagation.     

Low cycle fatigue and creep–fatigue interaction behaviour of 2.25Cr1MoV steel at elevated temperature

This study reports the fatigue behaviour of 2.25Cr1MoV steel under low cycle fatigue (LCF) loading and creep-fatigue interaction (CFI) loading at 355, 455 and 555 °C. Various hold durations up to 600 s were introduced in the CFI tests at the peak/valley strain under strain or stress control. In LCF tests, the steel exhibited remarkable strengthening at 455 °C, which can be ascribed to the effect of dynamic strain aging. In CFI tests, tensile holds were found more damaging than compressive holds but considerably less harmful than the combined tensile-compressive holds. A modified plastic strain energy approach based on the damage mechanisms was proposed to predict fatigue life under LCF and CFI conditions. The predictions obtained compared very favourably with the experimental results.     

The influence of stress-controlled tensile fatigue loading on the stress–strain characteristics of AISI 1045 steel

This study analyses the influence of fatigue loading on the residual tensile properties of AISI 1045 steel. The fatigue tests were carried out under stress-controlled tensile loadings at a stress ratio equal to 0. The maximum applied stresses were within the range from 550 MPa to 790 MPa. An analysis of ratcheting strain and plastic strain amplitude evolution due to fatigue loading was performed on the experimental data. In the next stage of this study, the initial fatigue loadings were introduced. Two maximum stresses, 550 MPa and 750 MPa, and three cycle lengths, 25%, 50% and 75% of the total number of cycles required to fracture the material at a given stress, were used. The pre-fatigued specimens were subjected to tensile testing at strain rates from 10⁻⁴ to 10⁰ s⁻¹. A large number of fatigue cycles, equal to 75% of the fatigue life, induces material softening as well as a drop in elongation and a reduction of area. Pre-fatigue at maximum stress equal to 550 MPa results in the increase of the elastic limit and offset yield point as well. Both parameters reach almost constant value after number of cycles equal to 25 % of the fatigue life. The further increase in the number of cycles does not affect elastic limit and offset yield point in a clearly visible way. The increase of maximum stress of the initial fatigue loadings up to 750 MPa induces similar but stronger effect i.e. increase and stabilization of elastic limit and offset yield point values, however decrease of both parameters value is observed at large number of pre-fatigue cycles corresponding to 75% of the fatigue life.