Prediction on fatigue life of U‐notched PMMA plate

In this paper, fatigue life prediction of U‐notched polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plate is numerically investigated based on the combination of fatigue damage mechanism and fatigue crack propagation mechanism. First, strength and stiffness degeneration criterions during the fatigue process are established on the basis of nonlinear progressive damage evolution, and the fatigue crack initiation life is estimated. Second, fatigue crack propagation phase is analysed through virtual crack closure technique. The fatigue crack propagation life before totally fracture is also predicted. Finally, finite element models of PMMA plate weakened by lateral symmetric U‐notch are built up using ABAQUS, and the total fatigue life of notched plate is calculated by combining the crack initiation life with the crack propagation life. These results will play an important role for evaluating the fatigue life of U‐notched PMMA plate.     

Numerical analysis of low cycle fatigue for welded joints considering welding residual stress and plastic damage under combined bending and local compressive loads

The numerical analysis of low cycle fatigue of HTS‐A steel welded joints under combined bending and local compressive loads are implemented using the damage mechanics approach. First, a finite element numerical simulation of the welding process is employed to extract the welding residual stresses, which are then imported as initial stresses in the subsequent fatigue analysis. Second, a multiaxial fatigue damage model including damage coupled elasto‐plastic constitutive equations and plastic damage evolution formulation is applied to evaluate the mechanical degradation of the material under biaxial fatigue loads. Further, the fatigue lives of the HTS‐A steel welded joints are computed and compared with the experimental results from literature. A series of predicted load‐life curves clearly illustrates the variation of fatigue lives along with the combined loadings. Finally, the effects of local compression on accumulated plastic strain and fatigue damage are studied in detail. It is revealed that the local compression induces a damage competition between two critical zones.     

Fatigue life prediction for butt‐welded joints considering weld‐induced residual stresses and initial damage,relaxation of residual stress,and elasto‐plastic fatigue damage

Fatigue damage of butt‐welded joints is investigated by a damage mechanics method. First, the weld‐induced residual stresses are determined by using a sequentially coupled thermo‐mechanical finite element analysis. The plastic damage of material is then calculated with the use of Lemaitre's plastic damage model. Second, during the subsequent fatigue damage analysis, the residual stresses are superimposed on the fatigue loading, and the weld‐induced plastic damage is considered as the initial damage via an elasto‐plastic fatigue damage model. Finally, the fatigue damage evolution, the relaxation of residual stress, and the fatigue lives of the joints are evaluated using a numerical implementation. The predicted results agree well with the experimental data.     

Experimental and numerical study on effect of forming process on low‐cycle fatigue behaviour of high‐strength steel

Application of high‐strength steel on different structural components is becoming more attractive. In spite of their great advantages of high yield strength, the use of these steel grades faces some important challenges as well. There are many formed steel components of different structures that are subjected to fatigue loading conditions. The main objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of pre‐bending process of high‐strength steel subjected to low‐cycle fatigue loading conditions. For this purpose, a new test set‐up has been designed to take into consideration the effect of pre‐bending process when the fatigue load is applied. To detect fatigue crack initiation onset, lock‐in thermography technique is used to monitor the incremental temperature variation during fatigue cycling. Furthermore, to estimate fatigue lifetime of the formed fatigue sample, continuum damage mechanics approach is applied by means of numerical modelling.     

基于神经网络的材料非稳态疲劳损伤可靠性研究

疲劳累积损伤是一个非稳态能耗过程，可以用遗传算法优化后的3层2—7-1BP神经网络来描述疲劳损伤的非线关系，经仿真验证表明，该神经网络具有较高的精度和泛化能力。通过对材料疲劳损伤临界值和栽荷的分散性的分析研究，建立了疲劳失效动态准则，并运用蒙特卡罗随机抽样法对材料疲劳寿命的可靠性进行了仿真验证；对调质45号钢在随机栽荷和2级栽荷作用下，进行了疲劳寿命可靠性仿真计算，仿真结果与实验结果和理论分析比较吻合。     

A new continuum damage mechanics–based two‐scale model for high‐cycle fatigue life prediction considering the two‐segment characteristic in S‐N curves

In this study, we propose a new two‐scale fatigue model based on continuum damage mechanics. A representative volume element (RVE) consisting of microinclusions and a matrix is constructed. Further, damage‐coupled constitutive equations are derived. The degradation in the mechanical properties of the RVE is determined by the damaged inclusions and matrix using the Mori‐Tanaka scheme. A numerical calculation of the fatigue lives of notched specimens is executed. This new model predicts high‐cycle fatigue (HCF) life more effectively, considering the two‐segment characteristic of S‐N curves of smooth specimens. This study provides novel insights into the evolution mechanism of HCF damage.     

High‐temperature low cycle fatigue damage assessment in near alpha IMI‐834 titanium alloy

In the present work, evolution of damage under high‐temperature (823 K) low cycle fatigue loading condition in near α IMI‐834 titanium alloy has been studied. The in situ damage has been experimentally measured during cyclic deformation using the alternating current potential drop (ACPD) technique. The measured damage curve has been compared with the damage curves calculated through mechanical variables such as cyclic modulus and stress amplitude. The ACPD damage curve has been found most sensitive towards high‐temperature low cycle fatigue damage evolution.     

Low‐cycle fatigue delamination initiation and propagation in fibre metal laminates

The aim of this paper is to develop an elastic–plastic‐damage constitutive law and a tool for simulation of delamination initiation and propagation in fibre metal laminates (FMLs) under low‐cycle fatigue loading regime. In the previous studies, the significance of plasticity in delamination growth and modelling of FMLs was not considered. Hence, cohesive zone law that combines the damage evolution with plasticity is developed. The new fatigue damage model is implemented as user‐written subroutines that links with ansys based on the cohesive finite element method. The cohesive zone model constitutive law has been verified by modelling of the delaminated adhesively bonded aluminium joint under normal and shear loadings and compared with the available results in the literature. The developed procedure and tool have been used for the analyses of DCB and ENF specimens under uniform and variable loadings. The obtained results for progressive damage and delamination and stress–strain curves are discussed in this paper.     

循环荷载作用下钢桥面铺装疲劳损伤失效行为研究

针对钢桥面铺装工程中普遍采用的改性沥青(Stone Matrix Asphalt,SMA)、浇筑式沥青(Guss asphalt,GA)、环氧沥青(Epoxy asphalt,EP)混合料双层铺装结构,进行了循环车载作用下钢桥面与沥青混凝土铺装疲劳损伤特性理论分析与试验研究。基于疲劳损伤度,研究了钢桥面铺装疲劳损伤失效行为和疲劳开裂过程中损伤场、应力和应变场动态演变机制,推导出疲劳失效时的损伤场、应力和应变场计算表达式,并给出钢桥面铺装疲劳寿命理论公式。以三座钢箱梁桥桥面铺装(润扬长江大桥2005,南京长江三桥2005,苏通大桥2008)为例,对不同铺装结构组合方案下的复合梁进行疲劳试验分析和使用寿命理论预测。实例研究结果表明,钢桥面铺装疲劳损伤失效行为预估模型合理可行;相较于改性沥青、浇筑式沥青,环氧沥青混合料具有较强高的强度低变形能力,更适合于大跨径钢桥面铺装抗疲劳的设计要求;由环氧沥青混合料组合而成的“双层环氧沥青混凝土”和“浇注式沥青混凝土(下层)+环氧沥青混凝土(上层)”的抗疲劳性能优于其它沥青混合料铺装结构组合方案,同等厚度组合情况下疲劳使用寿命可延长1倍~2倍以上;“双层环氧沥青混凝土”已应用于润扬长江大桥、南京长江三桥和苏通长江大桥钢桥面工程,并已成功运行10年以上,其跟踪观测结果良好。     

Study on the accumulative fatigue damage rules under multiaxial two‐stage step spectra constructed by loadings with similar lives

In this paper, the influence on the multiaxial fatigue damage accumulation caused by loading path variation was studied. For 2024‐T4 aluminium alloy, the damage evolution during the entire life was first observed. On the basis of the observation, the stage I of fatigue damage evolution was further divided into two sub‐stages, and the dominant stress parameters of these two sub‐stages were proposed. Taking the dominant stress parameters into account, a phased accumulative fatigue damage model was proposed. Then, 12 multiaxial two‐stage step spectra constructed by loadings with approximately identical fatigue lives were carried out on 2024‐T4 aluminium alloy. The accumulative fatigue damage was calculated by the proposed model, and another five commonly used models and the calculated results were compared. According to the comparison, the newly proposed model had the most accurate results with the smallest scatter.     

Taguchi sensitivity analysis of damage parameters for predicting the damage Mechanism of 9Cr steel under low‐cycle fatigue test

Numerical investigations of low‐cycle fatigue damage parameters of a 9Cr steel have been studied and compared with the previous results in order to understand the effect of the damage parameters on predicting the damage development of the material. Using the nonlinear kinematic softening criterion, the Chaboche constitutive equation is combined with the hysteresis total stress–strain energy concept to implement damage initiation and evolution; the remaining life of the specimen can be predicted. In this paper, the cyclic softening model in conjunction with the progressive damage evolution model successfully predicted the failure times of the experimental tests. By using a novel sensitivity analysis of the damage parameters c₁, c₂, c₃ and c₄ based on the Taguchi method, the highest parameter effect has been determined.     

A fatigue damage indicator parameter for P91 chromium‐molybdenum alloy steel and fatigue pre‐damaged P54T carbon steel

Two grades of structural steel were subjected to fully reversible, constant stress amplitude cyclic loading. The local strain response of the material was measured and recorded during the test, with the applied testing technique enabling the monitoring of hysteresis loop variation for the narrowest cross‐section of the hourglass specimen. Changes in hysteresis loop width, representing the local inelastic response of the material, were recorded in order to monitor the density of structural imperfections. Material ratcheting behaviour was observed as changes in the mean strain for selected load cycles. Ratcheting was attributed to local deformation of the material in the vicinity of imperfections such as voids or inclusions, as well as deformation induced by the propagation of microcracks. Definitions of a damage indicator parameter and damage parameter were proposed. The fatigue behaviour of the two investigated grades of steel was finally illustrated in the form of damage curves for different stress amplitudes and for undamaged and fatigue pre‐damaged material.     

Concurrent ratcheting–fatigue damage analysis of uniaxially loaded A‐516 Gr.70 and 42CrMo Steels

This study intends to investigate the concurrent interaction of fatigue damage and ratcheting strain in two commonly used steel alloys of (American Society for Testing and Materials) ASTM A‐516 Gr.70 and 42CrMo, respectively for pressure vessels and high grade machinery parts over uniaxial stress cycles. Ratcheting extension and fatigue damage progress were both characterized cycle‐by‐cycle over life cycles of tested materials. The interaction of ratcheting and fatigue damage was defined based on mechanistic parameters involving the effects of mean stress, stress amplitude and cyclic softening/hardening response of materials. The extent of ratcheting effect was defined by product of average ratcheting strain per cycle, and maximum stress value during a cycle, while fatigue damage was analysed based on earlier developed energy‐based models of Xia–Ellyin, and Smith–Watson–Topper. Overall damage due to ratcheting and fatigue was calibrated through a weighting factor at various mean/ cyclic amplitude stresses. An algorithm was developed to evaluate overall damage due to ratcheting and fatigue stress cycles of materials subjected to various mean and amplitude stresses. The estimated lives at different mean stresses and stress amplitudes for ASTM A‐516 Gr.70 and 42CrMo samples showed good agreements as compared with those of reported experimental data.     

An efficient fatigue and creep‐fatigue life prediction method by using the hysteresis energy density rate concept

Fatigue damage, time‐dependent creep damage and their interaction are considered as the main failure mechanisms for many high temperature structural components. A generalized methodology for predicting both the high temperature low cycle fatigue (HTLCF) and creep‐fatigue lives by using the hysteresis energy density rate (HEDR) and fatigue damage stress concepts was proposed. Experimental data for HTLCF and creep‐fatigue in Alloy 617, Haynes 230 and P92 steel were respectively collected to validate the method. A better prediction capacity and most of the data points that fall within a 1.5 scatter band were obtained compared with the traditional energy‐based method, time fraction rule and ductility exhaustion model. Moreover, a creep‐fatigue damage diagram was also constructed by using the proposed approach.     

A method for assessing critical plane‐based multiaxial fatigue damage models

Fatigue failure is a complex phenomenon. Therefore, development of a fatigue damage model that considers all associated complexities resulting from the application of different cyclic loading types, geometries, materials, and environmental conditions is a challenging task. Nevertheless, fatigue damage models such as critical plane‐based models are popular because of their capability to estimate life mostly within ±2 and ±3 factors of life for smooth specimens. In this study, a method is proposed for assessing the fatigue life estimation capability of different critical plane‐based models. In this method, a subroutine was developed and used to search for best estimated life regardless of critical plane assumption. Therefore, different fatigue damage models were evaluated at all possible planes to search for the best life. Smith‐Watson‐Topper (normal strain‐based), Fatemi‐Socie (shear strain‐based), and Jahed‐Varvani (total strain energy density‐based) models are compared by using the proposed assessment method. The assessment is done on smooth specimen level by using the experimental multiaxial fatigue data of 3 alloys, namely, AZ31B and AZ61A extruded magnesium alloys and S460N structural steel alloy. Using the proposed assessment method, it was found that the examined models may not be able to reproduce the experimental lives even if they were evaluated at all physical planes.     

Simulation of elevated temperature fatigue damage evolution using the finite element method for near alpha titanium alloy

The numerical estimation of evolving damage under low cycle fatigue loading condition has been performed in the near‐α titanium alloy IMI‐834 at 823 K temperature. By using the experimentally determined parameters as input, numerical simulation of fatigue damage has been performed on round specimens using finite element analysis. Coupled deformation‐damage model has been established for this alloy for simulation of damage evolution in a three‐dimensional cylindrical low cycle fatigue test specimen. The fatigue damage estimates from numerical simulation are observed to be in close agreement with the experimental results.     

Modeling impact‐induced damage and debonding using level sets in a sharp interface Eulerian framework

This work presents a level‐set–based sharp interface technique to simulate the evolution of damage in ductile materials under high velocity impact conditions. The level‐set method is adopted to track all interfaces including damage zones within the materials. Two types of damage are considered, ie, the creation of spall zones due to damage accumulation in homogeneous ductile materials and interfacial debonding in heterogeneous materials. Spall is simulated using continuum damage models and a level‐set–based crack generation and evolution algorithm. Three continuum damage models are tested for metal targets subjected to flyer impact; the results from the current code (SCIMITAR3D) are compared with the two widely used computer codes EPIC and CTH, and to experimental data; it is found that the computer codes are in good agreement among each other, but agreement of all methods with experimental data is not uniform. At material interfaces, damage is handled using a cohesive zone model and evolving level sets to create void spaces because of material separation due to debonding. Finally, ductile damage combined with debonding is simulated in an Al‐Ni laminate impacted by a projectile. The results demonstrate the ability of the present approach to simulate various types of damage in materials with heterogeneities and inclusions.     

Methodology for assessing embryonic cracks development in structures under high‐cycle multiaxial random vibrations

The myriad applicability of the frequency‐domain critical plane criterion is outlined in order to evaluate and track the progression of fatigue damage in metallic structures subjected to high‐cycle multiaxial random vibrations. The fatigue assessment using the given criterion is performed according to the following stages: (i) critical plane definition, (ii) power spectral density evaluation of an equivalent normal stress and (iii) computation of the damage precursor and fatigue life. The frequency‐domain critical plane criterion is validated using experimental results related to (a) AISI 1095 steel cantilever beams under nonlinear base vibration, (b) 18G2A steel and (c) 10HNAP steel round specimens under random non‐proportional combined flexural and torsional loads.