Crack growth from naturally occurring material discontinuities under constant amplitude and operational loads

This paper discusses how cracks that grow from small naturally occurring material discontinuities under operational load spectra behave. The growth of small cracks under a representative maritime aircraft flight load spectrum is discussed first. The results of this study, when taken in conjunction with the authors previous studies into cracks growing under combat aircraft load spectra, illustrate how for cracks that grow from small naturally occurring material discontinuities under operational load spectra crack growth can often be easily and accurately computed. It is also shown that the Hartman–Schijve variant of the NASGRO crack growth equation is able to accurately represent the growth of small cracks in two different rail steels. It is further shown that the growth of both small and long cracks can be described by a family of da/dN versus ΔK curves and that, for 7050-T7451, the experimental procedures commonly used to determine a closure free da/dN versus ΔK curve produce curves that are consistent with those obtained using the Hartman–Schijve equation and allowing for small variations in the term ΔK_thr.     

ICP-MS测定钢中痕量元素Al、B

文章建立了ICP-MS测定钢中硼、铝的分析方法,优化了仪器的工作参数,讨论了基体效应等对测定元素信号的影响和消除。硼、铝元素的质量浓度在0～100 ng/mL范围内有良好的线性关系,相关系数在0.999%以上。Al元素的测定范围为0.000 5%～0.01%,B的测定范围为0.000 1%～0.01%。     

Steeling ourselves for the electric vehicle revolution

Abstract

The automotive industry is changing with ever increasing speed. The current economic and environmental pressures mean that the vehicles of tomorrow will be very different to those we drive today. As new technologies are developed to enable these changes, the materials industry must respond quickly to ensure that they are both manufacturable and cost effective, as well as deliver the performance required to drive the industry forward. This article aims to identify the key technology developments, the challenges that they face and how Tata Steel is helping to overcome them.     

Analysis of deformation induced martensitic transformation in stainless steels

Abstract

Many studies monitoring the formation of martensite during the tensile deformation of austenite report data which are, in principle, affected by both the applied stress and the resulting plastic strain. It is not clear in these circumstances whether the transformation is stress induced (i.e. the stress provides a mechanical driving force) or whether the generation of defects during deformation helps nucleate martensite in a scenario better described as strain induced transformation. The authors demonstrate in the present work that a large amount of published data relating the fraction of martensite to plastic strain can in fact be described in terms of the pure thermodynamic effect of applied stress.     

Dynamic behaviour of high strength steel parts developed through laser assisted direct metal deposition

High strength steel alloys are good candidates for many engineering applications particularly those involving high strains and impact loads. Such applications in energy absorption devices require materials that can sustain dynamic loading and remain strong under demanding conditions. But the processing cost of these alloys has been a prohibitive factor, thus re-enforcing the research on porous and cellular structures made of stainless steels. Direct metal deposition (DMD) is a process which employs the power of a CO₂ laser to melt and deposit metallic powders onto steel substrates. Such structures offer advantages of creating novel configurations only by computer control of laser “tool path”. This research investigates the mechanical behaviour of solid and porous parts with prismatic cavities under quasi-static and dynamic compressive loading. Apart from two main deficiencies of relatively large variations of properties among the test specimen and sufficiently low modulus of elasticity, the stress strain behaviour is very close to the commercial grades of stainless steel produced by rolling and forming. The energy absorption behaviour of porous specimen is also very encouraging and renders DMD as a suitable process for manufacturing of customized sandwich and graded structures that can be used as a substitution for many engineering applications such as monolithic compression plates and explosion shields.     

Post-forming monotonic and cyclic behavior in a HSLA steel sheet after large deformations by in-plane compression

The effects of large prestrains (18–40%), produced by in-plane compression, on the asymmetry and the anisotropy of the stress response and on the fatigue life are investigated under fully reversed axial strain for a 345 MPa yield strength V–N high strength low alloy steel sheet. After prestraining, the hysteresis loops are asymmetric and the stress response is anisotropic, i.e., the response differs in directions parallel and perpendicular to that of the compressive prestrain. To understand the cyclic flow stress asymmetry, monotonic tension and compression tests were conducted in these two directions after prestraining. It is shown that the loop asymmetry is related to the Bauschinger effect after prestraining. Two cyclic stress strain curves, one corresponding to the tension side of the hysteresis loops and the other to the compression side, are defined to accurately describe the post-prestraining behavior. The amount of strengthening gained by prestraining is partially retained after cycling. Prestraining increases the fatigue life at low strain amplitudes but decreases it at high strain amplitudes.