High‐temperature low‐cycle fatigue behaviour of a cast Al–12Si–CuNiMg alloy

The low‐cycle fatigue behaviour of a cast Al–12Si–CuNiMg alloy, with a high content of Si, is investigated at 200, 350 and 400 °C. The fatigue test results show that the alloy exhibits symmetrical hysteresis loops, moderate cyclic softening and higher fatigue resistance at higher temperature. The fracture surface analysis reveals that more tear ridges are formed at higher temperature, which strongly affect the fatigue resistance. Furthermore, evaluation of the material fatigue resistance using an energy‐based Halford–Marrow model indicates that the material's ability to absorb and dissipate plastic strain energy is enhanced as temperature increases.     

Prediction of short fatigue crack growth of Ti‐6Al‐4V

It is observed that the short fatigue cracks grow faster than long fatigue cracks at the same nominal driving force and even grow at stress intensity factor range below the threshold value for long cracks in titanium alloy materials. The anomalous behaviours of short cracks have a great influence on the accurate fatigue life prediction of submersible pressure hulls. Based on the unified fatigue life prediction method developed in the authors' group, a modified model for short crack propagation is proposed in this paper. The elastic–plastic behaviour of short cracks in the vicinity of crack tips is considered in the modified model. The model shows that the rate of crack propagation for very short cracks is determined by the range of cyclic stress rather than the range of the stress intensity factor controlling the long crack propagation and the threshold stress intensity factor range of short fatigue cracks is a function of crack length. The proposed model is used to calculate short crack propagation rate of different titanium alloys. The short crack propagation rates of Ti‐6Al‐4V and its corresponding fatigue lives are predicted under different stress ratios and different stress levels. The model is validated by comparing model prediction results with the experimental data.     

Experimental and computational study on thermo‐mechanical fatigue life of aluminium alloy piston

To assess the life of a new diesel aluminium alloy piston under thermal shock loads, thermo‐mechanical fatigue (TMF) testing was conducted to characterise the TMF properties of the piston alloy, and an empirical model based on the constraint ratio concept was proposed to predict the TMF life of the piston. Considering that the empirical model required expensive experimental support, a platform with high‐frequency induction heating was established to simulate the force on the piston under thermal shock loads to calculate the piston life using the thermal shock test. Additionally, a finite element method was developed to compute the distributions of temperature, strain, and stress during this process. The characteristics of crack initiation and propagation in TMF test rods and piston mock‐ups were also investigated. The results showed that the TMF test rod suffered brittle fracture with brittle quasi‐cleavage features. The microcracks mainly occurred in primary Si particles due to stress concentration around the primary Si particles induced by the difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of Si and Al. From a macro perspective, the piston initially cracked at the rim above the pinhole, where the stress is larger than that along other directions. From a micro perspective, the protrusions of various sizes on the piston rim were induced by the compression stresses at high temperature. The piston cracks usually initiate around primary Si particles, propagate along the edge of primary Si in a straight line, bifurcate and then stop at a certain depth. If the piston was only heated, cracks or plastic deformations were not produced. The piston life can be assessed using the proposed empirical model based on the constraint ratio concept or thermal shock testing based on the developed platform. The difference between the predicted and experimental life was not greater than 7%.     

The influence of modified intermetallics and Si particles on fatigue crack paths in a cast A356 Al alloy

Mechanical fatigue tests were conducted on uniaxial specimens machined from a cast A356-T6 aluminium alloy plate at total strain amplitudes ranging from 0.1 to 0.8% ( R = − 1). The cast alloy contains strontium-modified silicon particles (vol. fract. ~6%) within an Al–Si eutectic, dispersed α intermetallic particles, Al₁₅ (Fe,Mn)₃ Si₂ (vol. fract. ~1%), and an extremely low overall volume fraction of porosity (0.01%). During the initial stages of the fatigue process, we observed that a small semicircular fatigue crack propagated almost exclusively through the Al–1% Si dendrite cells. The small crack avoided the modified silicon particles in the Al–Si eutectic and only propagated along the α intermetallics if they were directly in line with the crack plane. These growth characteristics were observed up to a maximum stress intensity factor of ~ K trmax = 7.0 MPa m^1/2 (maximum plastic zone size of 96 μm). When the fatigue crack propagated with a maximum crack tip driving force above 7.0 MPa m^1/2 the larger fatigue crack tip process zone fractured an increased number of silicon particles and α intermetallics ahead of the crack tip, and the crack subsequently propagated preferentially through the damaged regions. As the crack tip driving force further increased, the area fraction of damaged α intermetallics and silicon particles on the fatigue fracture surfaces also increased. The final stage of failure (fast fracture) was observed to occur almost exclusively through the Al–Si eutectic regions and the α intermetallics.     

Macromechanics study of stable fatigue crack growth in Al–Cu–Li–Mg–Ag alloy

This study was made on a fresh variety of Al–Li base alloy to investigate the role of ageing precipitates and microstructure dimensions in the fatigue crack growth resistance. The fatigue crack growth rate was measured in three different states of the material (i.e. base metal in T8 condition, friction stir weld and laser beam weld in full‐aged condition). Metallurgical analysis showed that the base metal in T8 temper is precipitation hardened by an equivalent amount of δ′ (AL₃Li), T₁ (AI₂CuLi) and θ′ (AI₂Cu) precipitates. The friction stir weld retained the morphology of strengthening precipitate; however, coarsening of Cu containing precipitates has occurred. On the other hand, laser beam weld showed a different type of CuAl phase morphology, which is characteristic of cast metal. The results of fatigue tests confirmed that fatigue crack growth resistance largely depends on microstructural features, specifically the strengthening phases. The fatigue crack resistance was in the order of base metal > laser beam weldment > friction stir weldment. The CuAl phase played a vital role in the crack closure of the laser beam weldment, thus enhancing the fatigue life as compared with the friction stir weldment, which was evident from the plot between log of da/dN (crack growth in each cycle) and log of ΔK (stress intensity range).     

Microstructural effects on the short crack behaviour of a stainless steel weld metal during low-cycle fatigue

An experimental study into microstructural effects on short fatigue crack behaviour of 19 stainless steel weld metal smooth specimens during low-cycle fatigue is performed by a so-called ‘effective short fatigue crack criterion’. This material has a mixed microstructure in which it is difficult to distinguish the grains and measure the grain diameter. The columnar grain structure is made up of matrix-rich δ ferrite bands, and the distance between the neighbouring rich δ ferrite bands is an appropriate measurement for characterizing this structure. Particularly, the effective short fatigue cracks (ESFCs) always initiate from the bands of δ ferrite in the matrix in the weakest zone on one of the specimen surface zones which is orientated in accordance with the inner or outer surface of welded pipe from which the specimens were machined. These cracks exhibit characteristics of the microstructural short crack (MSC) and the physically small crack (PSC) stages. The average length of the ESFCs at the transition between MSC and PSC behaviour is ≈40 μm, while the corresponding fatigue life fraction is ≈0.3 at this transition. Different from previous test observations, the growth rate of the dominant effective short fatigue crack in the MSC stage still shows a decrease with fatigue cycling under the present low-cycle fatigue loading levels. A statistical evolution analysis of the growth rates reveals that the short fatigue crack growth is a damage process that gradually evolves from a non-ordered (chaotic) to a perfectly independent stochastic process, and then to an ordered (history-dependent) stochastic state. Correspondingly, the microstructural effects gradually evolve from a weak effect to a strong one in the MSC stage, which maximizes at the transition point. In the PSC stage, the effects gradually evolve from a strong to weak state. This improves our understanding that the short crack behaviour in the PSC stage is mainly related to the loading levels rather than microstructural effects.     

Effect of microarc oxidised layer thickness on plain fatigue and fretting fatigue behaviour of Al–Mg–Si alloy

The objective of this work was to investigate the performance of microarc oxide coatings of two different thicknesses (40 and 100 μm) on Al–Mg–Si alloy samples under plain fatigue and fretting fatigue loadings. Tensile residual stress present in the substrate of 40 μm thick coated samples induced early crack initiation in the substrate and so their plain fatigue lives were shorter than those of untreated specimens. Presence of more pores and tensile surface residual stress in 100 μm thick coated samples caused early crack initiation at the surface leading to their inferior plain fatigue lives compared with 40 μm thick coated samples. While the differences between the lives of coated and uncoated specimens were significant under plain fatigue loading, this was not the case under fretting fatigue loading. This may be attributed to relatively higher surface hardness of coated specimens. The performance of 40 μm thick coated samples was better than that of 100 μm thick coated specimens under both plain fatigue and fretting fatigue loadings.     

Effect of environment on fatigue crack growth in ultrafine grain Al–Mg

The fatigue crack growth rates, obtained in high vacuum and in ambient air, of ultrafine grain (UFG) Al–7.5Mg (grain size  250 nm) at various load ratios were compared to those of powder-metallurgy (P/M) Al–7Mg (grain size  2 μm) and ingot-metallurgy (I/M) Al–7Mg (grain size  100 μm). In both vacuum and ambient air, fatigue crack growth rates at all stress ratios decrease with increasing grain size. The fatigue crack growth threshold (ΔK_th) follows the reverse order, increasing with increasing grain size. These trends are interpreted in terms of fracture surface roughness effects that are correlated with grain size. In vacuum, the thresholds of all three materials exhibit no load ratio dependency at load ratios from 0.1 to 0.5. In air, the threshold of UFG Al–7.5Mg exhibits weak load ratio dependency, while P/M and I/M Al–7Mg exhibit modest load ratio dependency. The environmental effect on the fatigue crack growth rates is assessed by determining the difference in crack growth driving force (ΔK) between air and vacuum. It was found that the environmental contribution to the driving force of all three materials is similar, nearly independent of grain size.     

Corrosion fatigue short crack growth behaviour in a high strength steel

The influence of an aggressive environment (0.6 M, aerated NaCl solution) on short fatigue crack initiation and growth behaviour has been studied. The study involved three major test series, namely: air fatigue, corrosion fatigue, and intermittent air fatigue/corrosion fatigue. The above tests carried out under fully reversed torsional loading conditions at a frequency of 5 Hz, showed that it was the non-metallic inclusions which took part in crack initiation resulting from debonding at metal matrix/inclusion interface and pitting of inclusions in both air and corrosove environments, respectively. Short fatigue crack growth results in these two environments obtained by using plastic replication technique, indicated a large effect of microstructure i.e. prior austenite grain boundaries. The stage/stages at which the environmental contribution was dominant has been discussed by considering the results achieved from intermittent tests. However, the mechanisms involved in corrosion fatigue short crack growth have also been described in the light of results obtained from futher investigations carried out by conducting corrosion fatigue tests under applied cathodic potential conditions and tests on hydrogen pre-charged specimens under air fatigue and uniaxial tension conditions.     

Comparative analysis of fatigue life predictions in central notched specimens of Al–Mg–Si alloys

The fatigue behaviour of an Al–Mg–Si alloy was studied using notched specimens. Fatigue tests were conducted at two stress ratios R= 0 and R= 0.4 on thin plates with a central hole. Constant and block variable loading amplitudes were applied to the specimens using a servo‐hydraulic machine. The applicability of the local strain approach method to the prediction of the fatigue life was investigated for this type of discontinuity. Two methods, the equivalent strain energy density approach and a modified stress–strain intensity field approach, were used to predict the fatigue strength. For the second one an elastic–plastic finite element analysis was carried out in order to obtain the local strain and stress distributions near the notch root. Based on Miner's rule an equivalent stress was used to correlate the fatigue lives for the variable amplitude histories. The experimental results were compared with the predicted results obtained by the two methods investigated and better agreement was found with the stress–strain field intensity approach, while the strain energy approach gave more conservative results. Miner's rule gives a good correlation between the variable amplitude and constant amplitude results.     

Effect of various surface conditions on fretting fatigue behavior of Ti–6Al–4V

An experimental investigation was conducted to explore the fretting fatigue behavior of Ti–6Al–4V specimens in contact with varying pad surface conditions. Four conditions were selected: bare Ti–6Al–4V with a highly polished finish, bare Ti–6Al–4V that was low-stress ground and polished to RMS #8 (designated as ‘as-received’), bare Ti–6Al–4V that was grit blasted to RMS #64 (designated as ‘roughened’) and stress relieved, and Cu–Ni plasma spray coated Ti–6Al–4V. Behavior against the Cu–Ni coated and as-received pads were characterized through determination of a fretting fatigue limit stress for a 10⁷ cycle fatigue life. In addition, the behavior against all four-pad conditions was evaluated with S-N fatigue testing, and the integrity of the Cu–Ni coating over repeated testing was assessed and compared with behavior of specimens tested against the as-received and roughened pads. The coefficient of friction, μ, was evaluated to help identify possible crack nucleation mechanisms and the contact pad surfaces were characterized through hardness and surface profile measurements.

An increase in fretting fatigue strength of 20–25% was observed for specimens tested against Cu–Ni coated pads as compared to those tested against as-received pads. The experimental results from the S-N tests indicate that surface roughness of the coated pad was primarily responsible for the increased fretting fatigue capability. Another factor was determined to be the coefficient of friction, μ, which was identified as ˜0.3 for the Cu–Ni coated pad against an as-received specimen and ˜0.7 for the bare as-received Ti–6Al–4V. Specimens tested against the polished Ti–6Al–4V pads also performed better than the specimens tested against as-received pads. Fretting wear was minimal for all cases, and the Cu–Ni coating remained intact throughout repeated tests. The rougher surfaces got smoother during cycling, while the smoother surfaces got rougher.     

Microstructure and creep properties of a cast intermetallic Ti–46Al–2W–0.5Si alloy for gas turbine applications

The microstructure and creep properties including minimum creep rate, time to 1% creep deformation and creep fracture time of a cast TiAl-based alloy with nominal chemical composition Ti–46Al–2W–0.5Si (at.%) were investigated. The creep specimens were prepared from investment-cast plate and two large turbine blades. Constant load creep tests were performed in air at applied stresses ranging from 150 to 400 MPa in the temperature range 973–1073 K. The microstructure of the specimens is characterised by optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy before and after creep deformation. The minimum creep rate is found to depend strongly on the applied stress and temperature. The power law stress exponent of minimum creep rate is n = 7.3 and the apparent activation energy for creep is Q_a = 427 ± 14 kJ/mol. The initial microstructure of the creep specimen is unstable. The ₂(Ti₃Al)-phase transforms to γ(TiAl)-phase and needle-like B2-precipitates during long-term creep testing at all testing temperatures. At lower applied stresses, the creep specimens fail by the growth and coalescence of cavities and small cracks formed along the γ/₂ interfaces. At the highest applied stresses, the specimens fail by nucleation and propagation of cracks.     

The fatigue crack growth behaviour of 2524‐T3 aluminium alloy in an Al2O3 particle environment

The effect of the Al₂O₃ dust environment on the crack propagation behaviour of 2524‐T3 Al alloy was investigated. The results show that the Al₂O₃ dust environment reduces the fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) of alloy especially at low ΔK. Many Al₂O₃ particles are deposited and stuck in the crack during fatigue loading which promotes crack closure, while this effect is gradually weakened with the increase of ΔK. The deposited Al₂O₃ particles induce the disorderly arranged slip bands (SBs) ahead of the crack tip which deflects the crack path making it more tortuous in the Al₂O₃ dust.     

Effects of CTE-induced residual stresses around hard alpha particles on fatigue crack growth in Ti–6Al–4V

The presence of hard alpha (HA) anomalies in titanium alloys represents a significant potential degradation to gas turbine component performance. Although HA defects in titanium alloys are rare, when they are present, they can crack and ultimately result in failure. In static fracture and fatigue test specimens, embedded HA defects had significantly higher fracture strengths than anticipated. The objective of this work was to determine if residual stresses caused by thermal expansion mismatch during material fabrication were the cause of the observed behaviour. The residual stress fields in and around surface and embedded HA particles in Ti–6Al–4V (Ti–6–4) were determined using an elasticity solution and measured coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) data. The calculated stress distributions serve as the foundation for comparisons of the local stress and the fracture strength, the stress intensity factor K and the crack growth threshold ΔK_th, with the experimentally determined fatigue lives. The analytical results indicated that CTE‐induced residual stress around HA particles can contribute to the fatigue strength of Ti–6–4 by delaying microcracking of HA anomalies and reducing the driving force (effective ΔK) of the fatigue crack. Based on the analysis results, the differences between the surface and subsurface results as well as the difference between predicted and measured fatigue lives could be largely attributed to the residual stress effects caused by the mismatch of the particle and matrix properties.     

The effect of frequency on the giga‐cycle fatigue properties of a Ti–6Al–4V alloy

The effect of frequency on giga‐cycle fatigue properties was investigated in smooth and 0.3 mm‐hole‐notched specimens at three heats (Heats A, B, and C) for a 900 MPa‐class Ti‐6Al‐4V alloy. Fatigue tests were performed at frequencies of 120 Hz, 600 Hz, and 20 kHz using electromagnetic resonance, high‐speed servohydraulic, and ultrasonic fatigue testing machines, respectively. Heats A and B developed internal fractures, and in these cases, frequency effects were negligible. On the other hand, Heat C developed only surface fractures. In this case, high‐frequency tests showed a higher fatigue strength, indicating frequency effects were not negligible. The tests using the notched specimens showed almost no frequency effects regardless of the heat. The frequency effects observed in the cases of surface fracture were believed to be related to a delay in local plastic deformation in response to high‐frequency loading, since temperature increases in these specimens were successfully suppressed. The delay in the plastic deformation was observed to be reduced in the notched specimens because of stress concentration and limitation in the plastic deformation zone. In turn, the significant conclusion of this research is that high‐frequency tests can be applied not only to internal fractures but also to notch problems, but are not applicable to surface fractures of smooth specimens.     

Improved test method and analytical modelling for fatigue crack growth in coarse‐grain titanium alloy with rough fatigue surfaces

Fatigue crack growth rate properties are typically determined by experimental methods in accordance with ASTM Standard E647. These traditional methods use standard notched specimens that are precracked under cyclic tensile loads before the main test. The data that are produced using this approach have been demonstrated elsewhere to be potentially adversely affected by the test method, particularly in the threshold region where load reduction (LR) methods are also required. Coarse‐grained materials that exhibit rough and tortuous fatigue surfaces have been observed to be strongly affected by the tensile precracking and LR, in part because the anomalies caused by crack closure and roughness‐induced closure become more important. The focus of the work reported in this paper was to further develop methods to determine more accurate fatigue crack growth rate properties from threshold through to fracture for coarse‐grained, β‐annealed, titanium alloy Ti‐6Al‐4V extra low interstitial thick plate material. A particular emphasis was put upon the threshold and near threshold region, which is of strong importance in the overall fatigue life of components. New approaches that differ from the ASTM Standard included compression precracking, LR starting from a lower load level and continuing the test beyond rates where crack growth would otherwise be considered below threshold. For the threshold regime, two LR methods were also investigated: the ASTM method and a method where the load is reduced with crack growth such that the crack mouth opening displacement is held constant, in an attempt to avoid remote closure. Constant amplitude fatigue crack growth rate data were produced from threshold to fracture for the titanium alloy at a variety of stress ratios. Spike overload tests were also conducted These data were then used to develop an improved analytical model to predict crack growth under spectrum loading and the predictions were found to correlate well with test results.     

Effect of temperature on the fracture behaviour of heat‐treated Al–Cu–Li alloy laser welds under low‐cycle fatigue loading

The paper presents the results of the studies of the effect of temperature on the fracture behaviour of Al–Cu–Li alloy laser welds under low‐cycle fatigue loading. The mechanical properties and the microstructure of the welded joints without and after postweld heat treatment (PWHT) were investigated. The tensile strength and the low‐cycle fatigue resistance of the welded joints were studied at various test temperatures (20°C, 85°C and ? 60°C). It was been found that heating up to 85°C and cooling down to ?60°C reduced the maximum number of loading cycles of the welded joints after PWHT by 1.5–2.0 times compared with that at a test temperature of 20°C.     

Effects of stress ratio and temperature on fatigue crack growth in a Ti–6Al–4V alloy

Fatigue thresholds and fatigue crack growth (FCG) rates in corner notched specimens of a forged Ti–6Al–4V aero-engine disk material were investigated at room temperature and 350 °C. The threshold stress intensity range, ΔK_th, was determined by a method involving a step change in stress ratio (the ‘jump in’ method). It was found that for three high stress ratios (R=0.7–0.9), where crack closure effects are widely accepted to be negligible, there were similar ΔK_th values at room temperature and 350 °C under the same R. For a given temperature, ΔK_th was observed to decrease from 3.1 to 2.1 MPam with R increasing from 0.7 to 0.9. The fatigue crack growth rate was influenced by increasing temperature. For high stress ratios, FCG rate at 350 °C was higher than that at room temperature under the same ΔK. For a low stress ratio (R=0.01), higher temperature led to higher FCG rates in the near-threshold regime, but showed almost no effect at higher ΔK. The influence of stress ratio and temperature on threshold and FCG rates was analysed in terms of a K_max effect and the implication of this effect, or related mechanisms, are discussed. In light of this, an equation incorporating the effects of the K_max and fatigue threshold, is proposed to describe FCG rates in the near-threshold and Paris regimes for both temperatures. The predictions compare favourably with experimental data.     

Fracture toughness and growth of short and long fatigue cracks in ductile cast iron EN‐GJS‐400‐18‐LT

Heavy components of ductile cast iron frequently exhibit metallurgical defects that behave like cracks under cyclic loading. Thus, in order to decide whether a given defect is permissible, it is important to establish the fatigue crack growth properties of the material. In this paper, results from a comprehensive study of ductile cast iron EN‐GJS‐400‐18‐LT have been reported. Growth rates of fatigue cracks ranging from a few tenths of a millimetre (‘short’ cracks) to several millimetres (‘long’ cracks) have been measured for load ratios R=?1, R= 0 and R= 0.5 using a highly sensitive potential‐drop technique. Short cracks were observed to grow faster than long cracks. The threshold stress intensity range, ΔK_th, as a function of the load ratio was fitted to a simple crack closure model. Fatigue crack growth data were compared with data from other laboratories. Single plain fatigue tests at R=?1 and R= 0 were also carried out. Fracture toughness was measured at temperatures ranging from ?40 °C to room temperature.     

Nanograin layer formation at crack initiation region for very‐high‐cycle fatigue of a Ti–6Al–4V alloy

The microstructural features and the fatigue propensities of interior crack initiation region for very‐high‐cycle fatigue (VHCF) of a Ti–6Al–4V alloy were investigated in this paper. Fatigue tests under different stress ratios of R = ?1, ?0.5, ?0.1, 0.1 and 0.5 were conducted by ultrasonic axial cycling. The observations by SEM showed that the crack initiation of VHCF presents a fish‐eye (FiE) morphology containing a rough area (RA), and the FiE and RA are regarded as the characteristic regions for crack initiation of VHCF. Further examinations by TEM revealed that a layer of nanograins exists in the RA for the case of R = ?1, while nanograins do not appear in the FiE outside RA for the case of R = ?1, and in the RA for the case of R = 0.5, which is explained by the Numerous Cyclic Pressing model. In addition, the estimations of the fatigue propensities for interior crack initiation stage of VHCF indicated that the fatigue life consumed by RA takes a dominant part of the total fatigue life and the related crack propagation rate is rather slow.