Numerical simulations of cyclic behaviors in light alloys under isothermal and thermo-mechanical fatigue loadings

In this article, numerical simulations of cyclic behaviors in light alloys are conducted under isothermal and thermo-mechanical fatigue loadings. For this purpose, an aluminum alloy (A356) which is widely used in cylinder heads and a magnesium alloy (AZ91) which can be applicable in cylinder heads are considered to study their stress–strain hysteresis loops. Two plasticity approaches including the Chaboche’s hardening model and the Nagode’s spring-slider model are applied to simulate cyclic behaviors. To validate obtained results, strain-controlled fatigue tests are performed under low cycle and thermo-mechanical fatigue loadings. Numerical results demonstrate a good agreement with experimental data at the mid-life cycle of fatigue tests in light alloys. Calibrated material constants based on low cycle fatigue tests at various temperatures are applied to models to estimate the thermo-mechanical behavior of light alloys. The reason is to reduce costs and the testing time by performing isothermal fatigue experiments at higher strain rates.     

Microstructural and mechanical response of ZK60 magnesium alloy subjected to radial forging

Radial forging(RF)is an economical manufacturing forging process,in which four dies arranged radially around the workpiece simultaneously act on the workpiece with high-frequency radial movement.In this study,a ZK60 magnesium alloy step-shaft bar was processed under different accumulated strains by RF at 350℃.The deformation behavior,microstructure evolution,and mechanical responses of this bar were systematically investigated via numerical simulations and experiments.At the early deformation stage of forging,the material undergoes pronounced grain refinement but an inhomogeneous grain structure is formed due to the strain gradient along the radial direction.The grains in different radial parts were gradually refined by increasing the RF pass,resulting in a bimodal grained structure comprising coarse(～14.1 μm)and fine(～2.3 μm)grains.With the RF pass increased,the initial micro-size β-phases were gradually crushed and dissolved into the matrix mostly,eventually evolving to form a higher area fraction of nano-sized Zn2Zr spheroidal particles uniformly distributed through the grain interior.The texture changed as the RF strain increased,with the c-axes of most of the deformed grains rotating in the RD.Additionally,excellent mechanical properties including higher values of tensile strengths and ductility were attained after the three RFed Dasses,compared to the as-received sample.     

Micromechanical finite element modelling of thermo-mechanical fatigue for P91 steels

In this paper, the cyclic plasticity and fatigue crack initiation behaviour of a tempered martensite ferritic steel under thermo-mechanical fatigue conditions is examined by means of micromechanical finite element modelling. The crystal plasticity-based model explicitly reflects the microstructure of the material, measured by electronic backscatter diffraction. The predicted cyclic thermo-mechanical response agrees well with experiments under both in-phase and out-of-phase conditions. A thermo-mechanical fatigue indicator parameter, with stress triaxiality and temperature taken into account, is developed to predict fatigue crack initiation. In the fatigue crack initiation simulation, the out-of-phase thermo-mechanical response is identified to be more dangerous than in-phase response, which is consistent with experimental failure data. It is shown that the behaviour of thermo-mechanical fatigue can be effectively predicted at the microstructural level and this can lead to a more accurate assessment procedure for power plant components.     

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

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

Temperature–stress–strain trajectory modelling during thermo-mechanical fatigue

The isothermal strain‐life approach is the most commonly used approach for determining fatigue damage, particularly when yielding occurs. Computationally it is extremely fast and generally requires elastic finite element analyses only. Therefore, it has been adapted for variable temperatures. Local temperature—stress–strain behaviour is modelled with an operator of the Prandtl type. The hysteresis loops are supposed to be stabilized and no creep is considered. The consequences of reversal point filtering are analysed. The approach is finally compared to several thermo‐mechanical fatigue tests and the Skelton model.     

Improvement of life prediction in AISI H11 tool steel by integration of thermo-mechanical fatigue and creep damage models

In hot forging operations, the die surfaces and the nearest surface layers of the die undergo mechanical and thermal cycles which significantly influence their service life. The real thermal and mechanical cycles have been previously investigated in forging plants by measurements and numerical simulation, and a reasonable variation window of process parameters has been determined. A new simulative test applied to AISI H11 hot working die steel has been used to generate failure data in conditions similar to those of the forging dies, but under a more controlled and economical method. Fracture surfaces of specimens for different tests observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicate that both thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) and creep phenomena can be considered to be main damage mechanisms and their contribution to the failure differs as testing conditions vary. As a result of the experiments, the failure is affected by both thermo-mechanical cycle and resting time at high temperature. Therefore, the authors developed a new lifetime prediction model obtained by combining the damage evolution laws, at each cycle, for pure creep and pure TMF. This combination was based on the linear accumulation rule. The damage evolution law for pure creep is obtained by modifying Rabotnov's law in order to suit the case of actual hot forging cycles, where temperature and stress vary widely. The damage evolution law for pure TMF is based on a generalization of the Wöhler–Miner law. This law is modified in order to take into account the presence of thermal cycle and thermal gradient. Comparison between the experimental cycles to failure and the predicted ones was performed using tests excluded in the determination of the coefficients. The conclusion was that the accuracy of prediction appears to be quite good and that the linear accumulation and interaction of TMF and creep is confirmed.     

一种新型非调质钢弯曲疲劳性能的试样尺寸效应

使用液压伺服疲劳试验机考察一种新型(汽车前轴用)Nb+V复合微合金非调质钢的疲劳行为,绘制出S-N曲线并分析了疲劳断日特征,研究了其三点弯曲疲劳性能的试样尺寸效应及其原因.结果表明,试样的尺寸对非调质钢的三点弯曲疲劳性能有显著的影响,其三点弯曲疲劳极限随着试样尺寸的减小而增加,但是试样尺寸对疲劳试样的断口形貌几乎没有影响;在三点弯曲疲劳试验中,试样尺寸效应源于试样内部的应力梯度,小尺寸试样的应力梯度比大尺寸试样的高.     

Analytical solution for bending of cross-ply laminated plates under thermo-mechanical loading

The static thermo-elastic response of symmetric and anti-symmetric cross-ply laminated plates has been investigated by the use of a unified shear deformation plate theory. The present plate theory enables the trial and testing of different through-the-thickness transverse shear-deformation distributions and, among them, strain distributions that do not involve the undesirable implications of the transverse shear correction factors. The validity of the present theory is demonstrated by comparison with solutions available in the literature. A wide variety of results is presented for the static response of simply supported rectangular plates under non-uniform sinusoidal mechanical and/or thermal loadings. The influence of material anisotropy, aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio, thermal expansion coefficients ratio and stacking sequence on the thermally induced response is studied.     

Deformation and microstructure evolution of a duplex stainless steel under out-of-phase thermo-mechanical fatigue

Abstract

Thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) of the duplex stainless steel SAF2205 (X2CrNiMoN22-5-3) was studied in the temperature range of 100–350°C. The tests were carried out on the duplex steel and on single-phase ferritic (X6Cr17, AISI 430) and austenitic steels (X2CrNiMo18-14-3, AISI 316L) similar to the two phases of the duplex steel for comparison. The mechanical behaviour of the three steels is analysed and discussed together with microstructural investigations by scanning electron microscopy, including electron backscatter diffraction and electron channelling contrast imaging.     

Microstructure evolution of different loading zones during TA15 alloy multi-cycle isothermal local forging

The microstructure evolution of the TA15 Ti-alloy in different loading zones under two kinds of multi-cycle isothermal local forging (multi-cycle local near-β forging and multi-cycle conventional forging combined with near-β heat treatment) was investigated and the mechanical properties predicted. Under the first processing route, a microstructure with small grain size was obtained with a significant difference in morphology and composition between the first and second loading zones. An equiaxial microstructure with larger size and more α-phase was obtained in the first loading zone. In the second loading zone when cooled by water after multiple forging cycles and a tri-modal microstructure (finely interlaced and disordered lamellar α, transformed β matrix, and a few equiaxed α) was obtained. The second loading zone possesses excellent room and high temperature mechanical properties. Under the second processing route, the relatively large bimodal microstructures in both loading zones are almost identical. When treated using a vacuum annealing furnace after forging, a coarse clustered lamellar secondary α-phase appeared, which has poor mechanical properties.     

仿生非光滑表面45#钢模具的热疲劳性能

利用动物体表仿生学原理制备45#钢模具非光滑表面试样,通过自约束冷热疲劳试验方法,对比研究了光滑与非光滑试样的热疲劳特性,观察分析了热疲劳裂纹在仿生非光滑表面上扩展的形貌和内部机理.结果表明,非光滑单元体对热疲劳裂纹有阻断作用,仿生非光滑表面使模具的热疲劳抗力显著提高,模具表面的热疲劳性能在非光滑单元体的某一密度范围内达到最佳状态.在细晶强化、合金强化等强化机制下,由仿生非光滑单元体构筑的"桩钉"效应是导致模具抗热疲劳性提高的主要原因.     

Effect of forging conditions and annealing temperature on fatigue strength of two-phase titanium alloys

This paper reports on the results of studies on the influence of deformation degree and temperature in the die forging process and annealing temperature on fatigue strength of forgings made of two-phase, martensitic titanium alloys (Ti–6Al–4V and Ti–6Al–2Mo–2Cr). Dilatometric and metallographic studies have been carried out along with fatigue tests. The influence of phase composition and microstructure obtained after cooling at different rates on fatigue strength has been determined.     

The fatigue threshold, surface condition and fatigue limit of steel wire

To test the hypothesis that fatigue cracks in drawn, pearlitic steel wire propagate from pre-existing surface defects which can be treated as cracks, the fatigue limits of five different wires have been statistically determined. The fatigue thresholds were measured using a new AC potential drop method and the initial defect depths then calculated using the equation a_o=1π(ΔK_th/2σ_e)² and compared with observed values.

For higher strength steel wires (σ_u>1800 MPa) the agreement was very good; for the lower strength steel wire (σ_u=1469 MPa), however, the observed values were smaller than the calculated ones. The reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. A quantitative model is developed from the hypothesis and the influence of residual tensile stresses, decarburization and polishing on the fatigue limit of drawn steel wire is assessed.     

Crack growth behavior at thermal fatigue of H13 tool steel processed by laser surface melting

Biomimetic specimens with striation-shape and diamond-shape morphologies were obtained by laser surface melting on an H13 die steel surface in quenched and tempered state using Nd:YAG laser. The thermal fatigue resistance behavior of the specimens with man-made crack sources was measured. For a set of number of thermal fatigue cycles, the two biomimetic specimens demonstrated decelerated crack growth that indicated better fatigue resistance as compared to the untreated one. The microstructures of the laser melting zone were finer than those of the untreated H13 specimen, and the microhardness of the former was higher than that of the latter after same number of thermal fatigue cycles.     

Effect of microstructure on non-linear behavior of ultrasound during low cycle fatigue of pearlitic steels

Influence of microstructural changes on the second harmonics of sinusoidal ultrasonic wave during low cycle fatigue (LCF) deformation in pearlitic steel was studied. Fatigue tests were interrupted and at every interruption, non-linear ultrasonic (NLU) parameter (β) was determined. Microstructures of cyclically deformed specimens at various cycles were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The variation of β with fatigue cycles was correlated with the microstructural changes and the results were explained through the variation in dislocation morphology and carbon content of the steel.     

Microstructure degradation in high temperature fatigue of TiAl alloy

Low cycle fatigue properties of lamellar TiAl with 8 at.% Nb were studied at four temperatures: room temperature, 700, 750 and 800 °C. Up to 750 °C, stable cyclic behaviour is observed while cyclic softening is characteristic for 800 °C. The strength of the alloy is still high even at 800 °C. The TEM observation did not reveal any substantial changes in the microstructure due to the cycling at RT. At 750 °C, the lamellar structure was in some places destroyed by cyclic plastic straining and pure γ-phase islands with high density of dislocation debris were formed. At 800 °C, the domains without lamellar structure cover about 10% of volume and are almost dislocation free. The destruction of lamellar microstructure and possible annealing of dislocation debris is the reason for marked cyclic softening at 800 °C.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ31 alloy ring processed by hot forging

AZ31 alloy ring was successfully processed by hot forging. The effects of effective strain and temperature distributions on the microstructure and the relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties of the ring were investigated. The effective strain distribution at the centre region is relatively uniform, while the temperature in or near the flash region is higher than the other regions. A refined but inhomogeneous microstructure is obtained in the ring. It shows that the larger the accumulated strain and the lower the temperature are, the finer and more homogeneous the microstructure will be achieved. The mechanical responses of the ring from different tensile directions differ greatly. The radial direction sample shows the lowest yield strength and the largest fracture elongation.     

Microstructural features of Ti-6Al-4V manufactured via high power laser directed energy deposition under low-cycle fatigue

Laser additive manufacturing(LAM)technique has unique advantages in producing geometrically com-plex metallic components.However,the poor low-cycle fatigue property(LCF)of LAM parts restricts its widely used.Here,the microstructural features of a Ti-6Al-4 V alloy manufactured via high power laser directed energy deposition subjected to low-cycle fatigue loading were studied.Before fatigue loading,the microstructure of the as-deposited parts was found to exhibit a non-homogeneous distribution of columnar prior-β grains(200-4000 μm)at various scanning velocities(300-1500 mm/min)and rela-tively coarse α-laths(1.0-4.5 μm).Under cyclic loading,fatigue microcracks typically initiated within the aligned α phases in the preferred orientation(～45° to the loading direction)at the surface of the fatigue specimens.Fatigued Ti-6Al-4V exhibited a single straight dislocation character at low strain amplitudes(＜0.65％)and dislocation dipoles or even tangled dislocations at high strain amplitudes(＞1.1％).In addition,dislocation substructure features,such as dislocation walls,stacking faults,and disloca-tion networks,were also observed.These findings may provide opportunities to understand the fatigue failure mechanism of additive manufactured titanium parts.