A Novel Methodology for Calculating Crack Opening Stress under Tension-Compression Cyclic Load

Crack closure model has been used in several applications on the prediction of fatigue crack growth life, with expression of crack opening stress often serving as milestones. A typical difficulty in calculating the crack opening stress is the phenomenon of crack closure caused by the compressive load effect. Compressive load effect, resulting in the change of residual stress status at the unloading stage and the decrease of crack opening stress, is a long-term challenge for predicting fatigue crack growth life. We propose the expression of crack opening stress to predict fatigue crack growth life based on the analysis of compact tensile specimen with elastoplastic element method. It combines the characteristics of material and load to deal with the phenomenon of crack closure and uses stress ratio and normalized maximum applied load variable to construct the expression of crack opening stress. In the study of tensile-compression fatigue crack growth experiments, the proposed expression is proved to improve, by comparative analysis, the predictive ability on the whole range of experiment data. The novel expression is accurate and simple. Consequently, it is conducive to calculate the crack opening stress under tension-compression load.

Set-up of a Generalized Dataset for Crack-Closure-Mechanisms of Cast Steel

In components, crack propagation is subjected to crack-closure-mechanisms which affect the build-up of the relevant threshold stress intensity factor range during cyclic loading. As structural parts are exposed to service loads incorporating a variety of load ratios, a significant change of the long-crack threshold value occurs, leading to a severe stress ratio dependency of crack-closure-mechanisms. Thus, an extensive number of crack propagation experiments is required to gain statistically proven fracture mechanical parameters describing the build-up of closure effects as crack growth resistance curves.The article presents a generalized dataset to assess the formation of crack-closure-mechanisms of cast steel G21Mn5+N. Numerous crack propagation experiments utilizing single edge notched bending (SENB) sample geometries are conducted, incorporating alternate to tumescent stress ratios. The statistically derived, generalized crack growth resistance curve features the impact of closure effects on the crack propagation rate in a uniform manner. To extend the dataset to arbitrary load ratios, the long-crack threshold approach according to Newman is invoked. The generalized dataset for the cast steel G21Mn5+N is validated by analytical fracture mechanical calculations for the utilized SENB-sample geometries. Incorporating a modified NASGRO equation, a sound correlation of analytical and experimental crack propagation rates is observed. Moreover, the derived master crack propagation resistance curve is implemented as a user-defined script into a numerical crack growth calculation tool and supports a local, node--based numerical crack propagation study as demonstrated for a representative SENB-sample. Concluding, the derived dataset facilitates the calculation of fatigue life of crack-affected cast steel components subjected to arbitrary stress ratios.

Adhesive Boundary Element Method Using Virtual Crack Closure Technique

In this study, a new adhesive contact model is built upon a boundary element method (BEM) model developed by Pohrt and Popov (2015). The strain energy release rate (SERR) on the edge of the bonding interface is evaluated using Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) which is shown to have better accuracy and weaker mesh-size dependency than the closed-form SERR formula derived by Pohrt and Popov. A composite delamination criterion is proposed for crack nucleation and propagation. Numerical results predicted by the present model are in good agreement with the analytical solutions of two classic problems, namely, the axisymmetric parabolic contact and the sinusoidal waviness contact in the plane strain condition. The model of Pohrt and Popov can achieve a similar accuracy for the axisymmetric parabolic contact where the mesh grid is non-conforming to the crack front. Once the conforming mesh grid is used, the accuracy of their model is significantly deteriorated, especially at high work of adhesion and high mesh density. In both BEM models, however, the crack nucleation is found to be mesh-dependent which may be solved by introducing an upper limit for the tensile normal traction.

MODELING AND CALCULATION OF FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH LIFE IN STEELS

In this work, we studied the kinetics of fatigue crack growth on compact steel tensile specimens (C (T)-type), in the middle section of crack growth diagram under regular and irregular loading with different asymmetries and maximum load. The crack growth kinetics was obtained by the authors experimentally on modern servo-hydraulic testing machine. Irregular loading was carried out using samples of standard loading spectra characteristic of various technical objects experiencing variable loading during operation. The values of the crack growth rate were obtained. Parameters that evaluate the character of irregular loading and crack closure, namely, irregularity factor and crack closure ratio were suggested. When calculating the effective value of the magnitude of the stress intensity factor (SIF) at the crack mouth, it is proposed to consider in addition to the closure coefficient and cracks also measure irregular loading. The fatigue crack growth life was predicted taking into account its “closure” and the nature of loading according to the approach proposed by the authors and the cyclic calculation method (cycle-by-cycle), all the data obtained are tabulated and distributed according to the type of loading. The results obtained showed good convergence of the calculated and experimental data, which confirms the high values of the correlation.

Fatigue Crack Growth Behaviour and Role of Roughness-Induced Crack Closure in CP Ti: Stress Amplitude Dependence

This paper investigated the fatigue crack propagation mechanism of CP Ti at various stress amplitudes (175, 200, 227 MPa). One single crack at 175 MPa and three main cracks via sub-crack coalescence at 227 MPa were found to be responsible for fatigue failure. Crack deflection and crack branching that cause roughness-induced crack closure (RICC) appeared at all studied stress amplitudes; hence, RICC at various stages of crack propagation (100, 300 and 500 µm) could be quantitatively calculated. Noticeably, a lower RICC at higher stress amplitudes (227 MPa) for fatigue cracks longer than 100 µm was found than for those at 175 MPa. This caused the variation in crack growth rates in the studied conditions.

Early Age Sealing Capacity of Structural Mortar with Integral Crystalline Waterproofing Admixture

Crystalline admixtures embedded in concrete may react in the presence of water and generate thin crystals able to fill pores, capillaries and micro-cracks. Once the concrete has dried, the crystalline chemicals sit dormant until another dose of water starts the crystallization again. The research aims to analyses the early age self-sealing effect of a crystalline admixture at a dosage rate of 1–3% of the cement mass. Specimens made with two types of gravel were pre-loaded with three-point bending to up to 90% of the ultimate capacity, and conditioned through wet–dry cycles. Micro-crack closure was measured with a microscope after pre-loading, and after 1 day, 4 days, 8 days, 14 days and 20 days of wet–dry exposure. The results show that an admixture content of 3% achieves the best early self-sealing performance. These results are also confirmed by probabilistic analyses, which also emphasize the self-sealing potential of lower ICW contents.