A model of corrosion fatigue crack growth in ship and offshore steels

A model describing corrosion fatigue crack growth rate da/dN has been proposed. The crack growth rate is assumed to be proportional to current flowing through the electrolyte within the crack during a loading cycle. The Shoji formula for the crack tip strain rate has been assumed in the model. The obtained formula for the corrosion fatigue crack growth rate is formally similar to the author's empirical formulae established previously. The different effects of ΔK and the fatigue loading frequency f on da/dN, in region I as compared to region II of the corrosion fatigue crack growth rate characteristics can be described by a change of one parameter only: the crack tip repassivation rate exponent.     

Evaluation of the fatigue strength of multiphase pump components under corrosive conditions using a short crack fracture mechanics approach

Components of multiphase pumps, employed in oil and gas fields, often suffer from wear and localized corrosion, which is caused by the aggressive media to be pumped. To ensure a safe operation, analytic stress assessments are required. However common guidelines do not include a general way to take the influence of corrosion into account up to now.Hence this paper presents both a calculation and an experimental method to evaluate the actual fatigue strength considering the mechanical impact of corrosion pits for components of stainless steel. The experimental method delivers material-parameters and is used to validate the calculation method. Both of these methods are applied to a weak-notched specimen.     

Environmental effect on the fatigue performance of bare and oxide coated 7075-T6 alloy

Fatigue behaviors of bare and anodic oxide coated 7075-T6 alloy have been investigated in laboratory air and 3.5%NaCI solution environment by using smooth cylindrical specimens. Presence of corrosive attack during fatigue test drastically reduced fatigue performance of the alloy. The deleterious effect was observed to be pronounced at high-cycles fatigue region, where the fatigue strength of the bare specimen was lowered by a factor of 2.9. However, the oxide coated specimens having a thickness of 23 μm showed a modest reduction in fatigue strength. Corrosion fatigue (CF) strength of the bare specimens was predominantly controlled by pitting-induced crack nucleation. Examinations on the surfaces of the corrosion-fatigued and immersed test specimens revealed that cyclic loading stimulated corrosion pit formation during CF tests. Also, corrosion behaviors of both the coated and bare specimen shave been investigated by potentiodynamic test. Despite superior corrosion resistance of coated specimens, fatigue performance was adversely affected under the combined action of corrosion attack and cyclic loading.     

On the corrosion fatigue crack initiation model and expression of metallic notched elements

In the present study, attempts are made to extend the application of the mechanical model for the fatigue crack initiation (FCI) and the FCI life formula of metallic notched elements in laboratory air to those in the corrosive environment. The test results and analysis of the corrosion FCI (CFCI) life of aluminum alloys and Ti---6A1---4V show that the expression of the CFCI life obtained by modifying the FCI life formula in laboratory air can give a good fit to the test results of the CFCI life. The salt water (3.5% NaCl) environment has no effects on the CFCI resistant coefficient compared with the FCI resistant coefficient in laboratory air. However, 3.5% NaCl environment greatly decreases the CFCI threshold of aluminum alloy, but has little effect on the CFCI threshold of Ti---6A1---4V. The loading frequency ranging from 1 Hz to 10 Hz has no appreciable effect on the CFCI life, and thus, the CFCI threshold of aluminum alloys investigated. Hence, the expression for the CFCI life of metallic notched elements proposed in this study is a better one, which reveals a correlation between the CFCI life and the governing parameters, such as, the geometry of the notched elements, the nominal stress range, the stress ratio, the tensile properties and the CFCI threshold. However, this new expression of the CFCI life needs to be verified by more test results.     

Adopting a multipurpose inhibitor to control corrosion of ferrous alloys in cooling water systems

The heterocyclic compounds; 2,5-diphenylpyrazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine-7(6H)thione (Phenyl), 5-methoxyphenyl-2-phenylpyrazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine-7(6H)thione (Methoxy), 5-tolyl-2-phenylpyrazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine-7(6H)thione (Tolyl), 5-tolyl-2-phenylpyrazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine-7(6H)one (Inon), 2,5-diphenyl-3-iodopyrazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine-7(6H)thione (Iodo) and 2,5-diphenyl-3-bromopyrazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine-7(6H)thione (Bromo) were screened by Tafel Extrapolation and Linear Polarization Resistance techniques to detect the possibility of inhibition the uniform corrosion of carbon steel in stagnant cooling water containing 200 ppm chloride at 25 °C. The inhibition efficiencies of the studied compounds were found to decrease in the following order: Tolyl > Methoxy > Phenyl > Iodo > Bromo > Inon.     

Effect of acetic acids on the corrosion crack growth of 3.5NiCrMoV steels in high temperature water: synergistic interaction between stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue

Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) tests (pH: 3 ~ 5) and Corrosion Fatigue (CF) tests (R = 0.2, 0.1 Hz) were conducted to evaluate the effect of acetic acid on the corrosion crack growth behavior in high temperature water at 150°C. Acetic acid significantly influenced the corrosion fatigue cracking behavior of turbine disc steels in high temperature water. The CF crack growth rates of turbine disc steels increase until the organic acid concentration reaches a critical saturation value (between pH 4 and pH 3) because of the crack tip sharpening. Below the critical value of pH, the CF crack growth rates decreases because of the crack tip blunting. The corrosion fatigue crack growth rate is accelerated by the interaction of the fatigue and the stress corrosion in the test environment. The synergistic interaction should be accounted for in the realistic prediction of the corrosion fatigue life of turbine steel (3.5NiCrMoV steels) in high temperature water of acetic acid solution. With the high temperature corrosion fatigue data obtained in this study, it is possible to assess the life of turbine components in high temperature and high pressure.     

Damage of Al 2024 alloy due to sequential exposure to fatigue, corrosion and fatigue

Fatigue and corrosion are two major concerns of aging aircraft research. Metal corrosion and fatigue act synergistically in various ways. They may be present separately or simultaneously. In this study Al 2024-T3 alloy was intermittently subjected to sequential corrosion and fatigue processes. Specimens were first subjected to various degrees of fatigue damage in air, then immersed in a corrosive solution for a fixed amount of time, and subsequently further fatigued in air to failure. The results are compared with those subjected to fatigue in air, and to corrosion then fatigue in air. We find that the total fatigue life (sum of fatigue cycles before and after corrosion) exceeds that of the virgin samples, provided that the initial fatigue cycle has consumed more than half of life solely fatigued in air. It is believed that the blunting of microcracks and the removal of other surface damage, such as intrusions/extrusions created at the initial stage of fatigue, are the major reasons for this increased fatigue life.     

Detection and analysis of microbiologically influenced corrosion of 316 L stainless steel with electrochemical noise technique

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) is a specific type of corrosion caused or promoted by microorganisms usually chemoautotrophs. In recent years, there has been growing interest in the exploitation of electrochemical noise technique to investigate and monitor biocorrosion. The advantages of Electrochemical Noise (EN) technique includes the possibility to detect and study the early stages of localized corrosion; however the comprehension of EN signals still remains very limited. In the present work an attempt has been made to analyze the current and potential noise records for type 316 L stainless steel (SS) specimen immersed in Iron oxidizing bacteria inoculated medium amended with different concentrations of NaCl. All the potential and current noise data collected in the time domain were transformed in the frequency domain, using MATLAB software. Shot noise parameters like frequency of corrosion events (f_n), average charge in each event (q), true coefficient of variation and noise resistance (R_N) were analyzed. Low frequency events and high charge were observed for the specimen after the exposure of 3 weeks in microbial medium with 1% NaCl when compared to control. It indicates that microbes can influence the pitting corrosion over the specimen which was also evidenced by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). In addition to this, the probabilistic failure model for MIC on 316 L SS was predicted using Weibull distribution.     

Evaluation of temperature effect on the corrosion process of 304 stainless steel in high temperature water with electrochemical noise

The effect of temperature on corrosion process of 304 stainless steel (SS) in high temperature water was investigated by electrochemical noise (EN), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman spectrum and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The experimental results showed that the corrosion process could be divided into two stages (passivity and active dissolution) with the increasing temperature. At 100 °C, the oxide film was a single layer mainly consisting of Cr₂O₃. However, at 250 °C, it became a double layer with an inner layer of Cr–Fe spinel compound and an out precipitated layer. The related growth mechanisms of the oxide film were also discussed.     

Recent development in the fast corrosion fatigue analysis of offshore structures subject to random wave loading

In many areas of engineering, such as the offshore industry, welded steel joints are widely used as standard structural components. These joints are usually subject to long-term random wave loading and are therefore susceptible to fatigue damage. In many cases, the complex service loading is described by stress (or strain) power spectra, each representing a stationary sea state. These power spectra are obtained from hydrodynamic analysis or in situ monitoring. These will then be used in design calculations, feasibility studies or in-service assessment of fatigue damage on the structures.

Usually, the power spectra will have to be realized into real-time histories and then counted before fatigue analysis can be carried out. On many occasions where a large number of design options or joints need to be analysed, this process becomes very time consuming and expensive. The situation is further complicated by the calculations involving corrosion fatigue for joints in sea water.

The paper will start with a brief presentation of the fatigue analysis procedures for offshore welded joints and several existing models that were derived to bypass the laborious load history analysis mentioned above. More effort, however, will be concentrated on presenting the development of a new model. This model not only provides a more consistent and accurate prediction, but has also been adopted successfully for corrosion fatigue analysis.     

Electrochemical noise analysis on the pit corrosion susceptibility of biodegradable AZ31 magnesium alloy in four types of simulated body solutions

Magnesium alloys have been investigated as biodegradable implant materials since the last century. Non-uniform degradation caused by local corrosion limits their application, and no appropriate technology has been used in the research. In this study, electrochemical noise has been used to study the pit corrosion on magnesium alloy AZ31 in four types of simulated body solutions, and the data have been analyzed using wavelet analysis and stochastic theory. Combining these with the conventional polarization curves, mass loss tests and scanning electron microscopy, the electrochemical noise results implied that AZ31 alloy in normal saline has the fastest corrosion rate, a high pit initiation rate, and maximum pit growth probability. In Hanks’ balanced salt solution and phosphate-buffered saline, AZ31 alloy has a high pit initiation rate and larger pit growth probability, while in simulated body fluid, AZ31 alloy has the slowest corrosion rate, lowest pit initiation rate and smallest pit growth probability.     

Aluminium alloys exposed to borderline solutions – a methodology to evaluate the susceptibility to corrosion fatigue with respect to corrosive de‐icers

In addition to high mechanical loads certain components for the automotive industry are exposed to corrosive environments, especially during winter, when corrosion promoting de‐icers are essential to sustain road traffic. The underlying research work contributes to the evaluation of the corrosion fatigue performance of aluminium alloys relevant for automotive application generally, while the present text focuses on wrought alloys. Aluminium alloys are of special interest because of the opportunity to reduce expenses for an additional corrosion protection and to support lightweight construction of vehicles. Components exposed to simultaneous mechanical and corrosive service loads as well as corrosion tests of different scale level (immersion and cabinet testing, long term outdoor exposure of components, usage on test carriers) were analysed to evaluate typical forms of corrosion. Based upon the prevailing damaging mechanism of material conditions with known differences in susceptibility to specific forms of corrosion, like intergranular corrosion or pitting, methods were derived to evolve service relevant types of corrosion during laboratory tests.     

Numerical stress and crack initiation analysis of the compressor blades after foreign object damage subjected to high-cycle fatigue

This paper presents results of the complex stress and crack initiation analysis of the PZL-10 W turbo-engine compressor blade subjected to high cycle fatigue (HCF). A nonlinear finite element method was utilized to determine the stress state of the blade during the first mode of transverse vibration. In this analysis, the numerical models without defects and also with V-notches were defined. The quality of the numerical solution was checked by the convergence analysis. Obtained results were next used as an input data into crack initiation (ε–N) analyzes performed for the load time history equivalent to one cycle of the transverse vibration. In the fatigue analysis the different methods such as: Neuber elastic–plastic strain correction, linear damage summation and Palmgreen–Miner rule were utilized. As a result of ε–N analysis, the number of load cycles to the first fatigue crack appearing in the compressor blades was obtained. Moreover, the influence of the blade vibration amplitude on the number of cycles to the crack initiation was analyzed. Values of the fatigue properties of the blade material according to Baumel–Seeger and Muralidharan methods were calculated. The influence of both the notch radius and values of the UTS of the blade material on the fatigue behavior of the structure was also considered. In the last part of work, the finite element results were compared with the results of an experimental vibration HCF tests performed for the compressor blades.