High-cycle fatigue performance of solution-treated metastable-β titanium alloys

The effect of grain boundary misorientation on the high-cycle fatigue performance of solution-treated, metastable-β titanium alloys was investigated. Initial damage during cyclic deformation was associated with the formation of coarse, planar slip bands, these often propagating through several grains without obstruction or redirection when intersecting with a grain boundary. This “continuous” slip through several grains was associated with the presence of a significant number of “low-angle” grain boundaries. Fatigue crack initiation was associated with crack initiation at intersecting planar slip bands at the free surface. The increase in operative slip length occasioned by the presence of low-angle grain boundaries lead to enhanced crack initiation and reduced lifetime. Fatigue crack propagation was characterized by step-like features formed through the interaction of the propagating crack and the coarse slip bands present in the plastic zone ahead of the crack tip. The direction of local fatigue crack propagation was also minimally affected when crossing low-angle grain boundaries.     

GH536高温合金焊接接头疲劳裂纹萌生与扩展原位试验研究

采用原位疲劳试验方法,实时观察了GH536焊接接头疲劳裂纹的萌生和扩展行为,从而揭示了GH536焊接接头疲劳裂纹的萌生和扩展机制:疲劳加载过程中,位错沿滑移带在晶界前沿塞积,晶界阻碍位错运动,裂纹沿滑移带开裂,萌生疲劳裂纹;疲劳裂纹扩展初期,受单滑移的交替作用,裂纹呈“Z”字型向前扩展,随后裂纹的扩展逐渐以主应力控制为主,垂直于加载方向、平直向前扩展;GH536合金焊接接头组织中的晶界和碳化物会阻碍疲劳裂纹的扩展。     

Effects of deformation behavior on fatigue fracture surface morphology in a nickel-base superalloy

Fatigue crack propagation fracture surface morphologies in nickel-base superalloys vary substantially with changes in loading parameters such as temperature, ΔK, load ratio, frequency, and additionally microstructure. Quantitative fracture surface roughness can vary from sub-micron levels to a maximum value of approximately half the grain size. Atomic Force Microscope studies of surface slip traces in compression specimens revealed a clear relationship between slip homogeneity in compression testing and fracture surface roughness under similar fatigue loading conditions. It has been shown in this study that changes in ΔK, strain level, temperature, grain size, and load ratio can all affect slip heterogeneity, which in turn controls the fracture surface roughness. Finally, a model is developed that quantitatively predicts fracture surface roughness and roughness-induced crack closure stress intensity values from measurements of slip line spacing in a compression specimen.     

Cyclic deformation and fatigue behaviour of 7Mo–0.5N superaustenitic stainless steel—slip characteristics and development of dislocation structures

The present work concerns the development of dislocation structures and surface slip markings during cyclic straining of a superaustenitic stainless steel. The composition of the tested material was Fe–25Cr–22Ni–7.6Mo–3Mn–0.46N (wt%). Two total strain amplitudes, 2.7×10⁻³ and 1.0×10⁻², were employed and specimens were investigated at specific numbers of cycles corresponding to certain stages on the cyclic hardening/softening curve. For both strain amplitudes, the developed dislocation structures are strongly planar and with increasing strain amplitude, the slip mode gradually changes from single slip to multiple slip. The short range ordering between Mo and N, as indicated by an atom probe investigation, is broken down during strain cycling leading to increased slip planarity. Early stages of cycling show dislocation multiplication. With increasing number of cycles, the dislocations are gradually grouped together in planar bands with high dislocation density, surrounded by dislocation-poor areas. The evolution of such bands is associated with decreasing effective stresses, while the internal stresses are only slightly reduced. Macroscopic slip bands, similar to PSBs, are formed upon prolonged cycling at the high amplitude. The slip markings created on the specimen surface show strong similarities with the bands of localised slip observed in the dislocation structures of the bulk.     

疲劳裂纹尖端的位错结构

在双相钢物理短裂纹门槛区，观察到稳定的位错胞和墙结构；长裂纹门槛区，在铁素体／马氏体相界堆垛位错密度大，有形成位错胞的趋势．长裂纹扩展第二阶段，铁素体晶粒内具有单向滑移线（Ｒ＝０，－１）和正交网状（Ｒ＝－１）的位错结构，长裂纹扩展第三阶段，位错稀少，但单滑移、双交滑移位错线明显拉长，说明裂纹尖端位错组态是应变历史的产物．疲劳裂纹扩展门槛区形成的位错胞和墙是一亚稳态结构，与门槛循环应力应变处于动态平衡，也是一微观结构参数．     

位错和位错偶沿单─滑移系从裂纹尖端的发射

采用计算机模拟了位错和位错偶沿单一滑移系从裂纹尖端的发射,考察了滑移面取向、外加载荷、晶格摩擦力以及位错发射的临界应力强度因子对所发射的位错数量、塑性区与无位错区大小以及裂关残余应力强度因子的影响研究表明,位错从裂纹尖端发射的临界应力强度因子对无位错区的存在和其大小起决定作用,而外加载荷与晶格摩擦力主要影响位错发射的数量以及塑性区大小．在Ｉ型载荷作用下,滑移面与裂纹面的夹角越大,从裂尖发射出的位错数量越多,位错对裂纹的屏蔽效应也越大当裂纹发射位错后的残余应力强度因子仍然较大时,位错偶就有可能在裂纹尖端附近产生井沿着几个滑移面发射,但发射出的位错偶对裂纹没有明显的屏蔽作用在滑移面不垂直于裂纹面时,发射出的位错或位错偶关于裂纹面呈不对称分布     

Hydrogen-induced intergranular failure in nickel revisited

Using a combination of high-resolution scanning and transmission electron microscopy, the basic mechanisms of hydrogen-induced intergranular fracture in nickel have been revisited. Focused-ion beam machining was employed to extract samples from the fracture surface to enable the examination of the microstructure immediately beneath it. Evidence for slip on multiple slip systems was evident on the fracture surface; immediately beneath it, an extensive dislocation substructure exists. These observations raise interesting questions about the role of plasticity in establishing the conditions for hydrogen-induced crack initiation and propagation along a grain boundary. The mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement are re-examined in light of these new results.     

Discrete dislocation modeling of fatigue crack propagation

Analyses of the growth of a plane strain crack subject to remote mode I cyclic loading under small-scale yielding are carried out using discrete dislocation dynamics. Cracks along a metal–rigid substrate interface and in a single crystal are studied. The formulation is the same as that used to analyze crack growth under monotonic loading conditions, differing only in the remote stress intensity factor being a cyclic function of time. Plastic deformation is modeled through the motion of edge dislocations in an elastic solid with the lattice resistance to dislocation motion, dislocation nucleation, dislocation interaction with obstacles and dislocation annihilation being incorporated through a set of constitutive rules. An irreversible relation is specified between the opening traction and the displacement jump across a cohesive surface ahead of the initial crack tip in order to simulate cyclic loading in an oxidizing environment. The cyclic crack growth rate log(da/dN) versus applied stress intensity factor range log(ΔK_I) curve that emerges naturally from the solution of the boundary value problem shows distinct threshold and Paris law regimes. Paris law exponents in the range 4 to 8 are obtained for the parameters employed here. Furthermore, rather uniformly spaced slip bands corresponding to surface striations develop in the wakes of the propagating cracks.     

Thermal fatigue mechanism of recrystallized tungsten under cyclic heat loads via electron beam facility

Thermal fatigue resistance of plasma facing materials (PFMs) is an inevitable concern for component lifetime and plasma operations, since the temperature fluctuations will always exist in future nuclear fusion facilities and reactors. Accordingly, experiments were performed in the electron beam facility to investigate the thermal fatigue behavior under operational loading conditions. The tungsten is investigated in its stress relieved and fully recrystallized state for a better understanding of the thermal fatigue process when exposed to cyclic heat loads. The heat loads range from 24 to 48 MW/m² and the number of cycles increases from 100 to 1000 times. The results indicate that the thermal fatigue damage (surface roughening) due to plastic deformation strongly depends on the loading conditions and the cycle index. As the power density and the number of cycles increase, the density of the intragranular shear bands in each grain becomes higher and the swelling of grain boundaries becomes more pronounced. The shear bands are generally parallel to different directions for varying grains, showing strong grain orientation dependence. Additionally, extruded flake structures on shear bands were observed in these damaged areas. It found that the shear bands are generally parallel to the traces of {112} slip planes with the surface. The results suggest that slip plastic deformation represent the predominant mechanism for thermal fatigue and a set of schematic diagram is presented to explain the formation of thermal fatigue damage morphology (extrusion and intrusion structures).     

A discrete dislocation analysis of near-threshold fatigue crack growth

Analyses of cyclic loading of a plane strain mode I crack under small-scale yielding are carried out using discrete dislocation dynamics. The formulation is the same as used to analyze crack growth under monotonic loading conditions, differing only in the remote stress intensity factor being a cyclic function of time. The dislocations are all of edge character and are modeled as line singularities in an elastic solid. The lattice resistance to dislocation motion, dislocation nucleation, dislocation interaction with obstacles and dislocation annihilation are incorporated into the formulation through a set of constitutive rules. Either reversible or irreversible relations are specified between the opening traction and the displacement jump across a cohesive surface ahead of the initial crack tip in order to simulate cyclic loading as could occur in a vacuum or in an oxidizing environment, respectively. In accord with experimental data we find that the fatigue threshold ΔK_th is weakly dependent on the load ratio R when the reversible cohesive surface is employed. This intrinsic dependence of the threshold on R is an outcome of source limited plasticity at low R values and plastic shakedown at higher R values. On the other hand, ΔK_th is seen to decrease approximately linearly with increasing R followed by a plateau when the irreversible cohesive law is used. Our simulations show that in this case the fatigue threshold is dominated by crack closure at low values of R. Calculations illustrating the effects of obstacle density, tensile overloads and slip geometry on cyclic crack growth behavior are also presented.     

IN-SITU OBSERVATION OF CRACK TIP DEFORMATION IN A DUPLEX STAINLESS STEEL

The development of dislocation structures in the plastic zone ahead of a crack tip has been in-vestigated in a duplex stainless steel during in-situ deformation experiments in a scanningtransmission electron microscope.It was found that the dislocation distribution wassignificantly different in the ferrite and in the austenite.In the ferrite grains,the dislocationsemitted by the crack tip may cross-slip out of the original slip planes and form a broad plasticzone.However,in the austenite,the dislocation free zone is small and the dislocations emittedby the crack pile up in its slip plane.The selection of slip systems at the crack tip depends onthe crack tip Schmid factors in both phases.But after large deformation,the selection of thesecond slip systems at the craek tip in austenite does not depend on the Schmid factors.     

纯铜和黄铜喷丸强化的组织效应SCIEI

通过分离残余应力效应及表面滑移带和显微亚结构的观察，探讨了喷丸形变组织对纯铜及黄铜疲劳裂纹萌生的阻碍作用，指出虽无残余压应力的作用，试件表层的喷丸组织亦可阻碍心部位错滑移出表面，并使形变层的位错运动限定在胞状位错和栅栏状孪晶内，从而有效地减小滑移带在材料表面造成的挤出挤入损伤．     

Cyclic deformation behavior of non-isoaxial copper tricrystals and bicrystals

The cyclic hardening and saturation behaviors of copper tricrystals and bicrystals were investigated in strain-controlled multiple step tests. The results show that, for the inclined grain boundary (GB) bicrystal with single slip components, the cyclic stress strain (CSS) curve exhibits a plateau or quasi-plateau region, while the CSS curve of tricrystals shows no plateau. Observations of surface morphologies indicated that owing to the strain incompatibility of three grains, at lower strain amplitude the triple junction (TJ) retards obviously the primary slip in grains and makes deformation near it smaller than that near the bicrystal GB, while at higher strain amplitude slip can be distributed near the TJ homogeneously. The probability of crack initiation at the same TJ is closely related to the loading direction. The saturation dislocation structures of tricrystal specimens under the strain amplitude of the last step were explored by the electron channeling contrast technique in SEM (ECC-SEM). Loop patches with persistent slip band (PSB) ladders embedded were found even in the TJ vicinity for all grains. Dislocation-free zones (DFZ) occurred in the vicinity of TJ and GB, and the difference in shapes between them is due to the difference in internal stress field. Misoriented cell structure and dislocation wall structure were found near the crack tip, and the formation of them is associated with the cooperative action of crack tip, GB, grain orientation and the applied strain amplitude.     

基于Tanaka-Mura位错模型的疲劳裂纹萌生寿命预测

为了准确预测材料的疲劳寿命,提高结构疲劳寿命预测精度,对ABAQUS有限元数值模拟预测试样疲劳寿命的方法进行了研究. 基于Tanaka-Mura位错理论,利用python语言对ABAQUS进行二次开发,模拟预测了S960QL马氏体钢和Ti₂AlNb钛合金接头各区域疲劳裂纹萌生寿命. 利用泰森多边形法生成了晶体特征单元建立了微观子模型,考虑了体心立方结构相互垂直的两条滑移带作为潜在的裂纹萌生位置,并对具有相同取向的多条平行滑移带都进行了模拟计算. 通过计算得到的裂纹扩展速率变化,给出了裂纹萌生阶段过渡到裂纹扩展阶段的临界点处的裂纹萌生寿命. 模拟结果表明,除焊缝柱状晶组织外裂纹萌生寿命与试验数据吻合良好.     

Cu双晶的循环形变行为与疲劳裂纹萌生：Ⅱ.疲劳裂纹萌生与早期扩展

用扫描电镜观察了受应变疲劳载荷作用的Ｃｕ双晶物的表面形貌，发现晶界是疲劳形变双晶是有利的裂纺萌生地点，在滑移带撞击晶界的地方，特别是在几条粗滑移带共同撞击晶界的地方观察到许多疲劳微裂纹；并且发现与平行晶界双晶相比，垂直晶界双晶有有利于疲劳裂纹沿晶界作早期扩展。     

Fatigue Damage Mechanism of AL6XN Austenitic Stainless Steel at High Temperatures

By the combination of transmission electron microscope, neutron diffraction and small-angle neutron scattering methods, mechanical fatigue behavior of AL6XN austenitic stainless steel was investigated in the temperature range of 400–600 °C. At 400 °C, in addition to the occurrence of dynamic strain aging, the formation of short-range order was evidenced from the forbidden electron diffraction spot of 1/3 {422} in face-centered cubic(fcc) structure viewed down [111] zone axis, which facilitate the planar slip mode of dislocation and result in the work hardening during the fatigue deformation. The fatigue damage is mainly dominated by the accumulation of planar slip band and the interaction among various slip systems. With increasing temperature, precipitates of chi phase, Laves phase and sigma phase were formed during the fatigue tests at 500 and 600 °C. An increase in precipitation content at 600 °C has also been confirmed by both scanning electron microscope and small-angle neutron scattering analysis. The dislocation pileup originating from the uncoordinated deformation between precipitate and austenitic matrix is an important fatigue damage leading to crack. The continuous cycle softening behavior was also observed on the fatigue curve at 600 °C, which is considered to be caused by dynamic recovery.     

循环载荷下裂尖形变规律的实验研究

应用散斑干涉技术，在常幅载荷下对疲劳裂纹扩展过程中的一个循环周期内，不同加载阶段的裂尖应变、裂纹张开位移进行了原位测量，给出了裂纹闭合对裂纹张开位移及裂尖形变的影响规律。结果表明：由于裂纹闭合和残余压应力的存在，疲劳裂尖应变与外加载荷的平方并不成正比，在加载初期，裂纹处于闭合状态，裂尖应变无明显变化，随着载荷的增加，裂纹逐渐由远离裂尖处张开并向裂尖发展，一旦裂纹完全张开，裂尖应变迅速增加，对裂尖应力-应变状态的分析表明，裂尖材料的应力-应变关系类似于光滑试样低周拉压疲劳应力-应变滞后关系。     

湿喷丸强化对TC4疲劳性能的影响机制

利用湿喷丸技术对TC4钛合金进行表面改性处理,显著提高了材料疲劳寿命。对疲劳断口微观组织观察发现,湿喷丸强化处理使试样疲劳裂纹萌生位置由表面转移至试样内部约1 mm深度区域。通过对湿喷丸改性层微观组织分析可知,改性层内的细晶强化和位错强化是导致裂纹萌生位置发生改变的主要因素。湿喷丸引入的残余压应力对裂纹扩展起到有效的阻碍作用。细晶强化、位错强化和残余压应力共同作用提高TC4钛合金的抗疲劳性能。     

Nanoscale and submicron fatigue crack growth in nickel microbeams

This paper presents a novel edge-notched microbeam technique for the study of short fatigue crack growth. The technique is used to study submicron and nanoscale fatigue in LIGA Ni thin films with columnar microstructures. The edge-notched microbeams were fabricated within LIGA Ni thin films, using focused ion beam (FIB) techniques. The microbeams were then cyclically deformed to failure at a stress ratio of 0.1. Different slip-band structures were observed below the nanoscale notches. Cyclic deformation resulted in the formation of primary slip bands below the notch. Subsequent crack growth then occurred by the unzipping of fatigue cracks along intersecting slip bands. The effects of the primary slip bands were idealized using dislocation-based models. These were used to estimate the intrinsic fatigue threshold and the fatigue endurance limit. The estimates from the model are shown to be consistent with experimental data from prior stress-life experiments and current/prior fatigue threshold estimates.     

用原子力显微镜研究形状记忆合金中裂纹形核和扩展

运用原子力显微镜（AFM）对形状记忆合金CuNiAl中裂纹扩展行为进行了观察。观察表明、拉伸时、裂纹尖端首先产生马氏体。纳米微裂纹择优沿马氏体相界面形核。但当外力较大，且裂纹扩展距离较长使裂尖应力集中足够大时，不但能诱发马氏体相变。也可出现滑移带。一旦出现滑移带，裂纹也可沿马氏体或滑移带交替扩展。