Control of fatigue failure mechanisms in multilayer coatings by varying the architectural parameters of an intermetallic interlayer

A multilayer overlay coating system containing an intermediate intermetallic layer (designated 2IML) is an architecture expected to show good fatigue resistance. Experimental characterisation and modelling simulations were carried out to classify the different crack initiation mechanisms occurring during fatigue of this coating system and to reveal how changes in the layer architecture lead to fatigue improvement. Fatigue improvement is achieved by decreasing the IML-Top layer thickness due to the increased surface crack initiation resistance. However subsurface initiation mechanisms inhibit the improvement (dominated by surface initiation mechanism) achieved by locating the IML-Top layer closer to the top surface.

Fatigue Improvement of Additive Manufactured Ti–TiB Material through Shot Peening

In this work, fatigue improvement through shot peening of an additive manufactured Ti–TiB block produced through Plasma Transferred Arc Solid Free-Form Fabrication (PTA-SFFF) was investigated. The microstructure and composition were explored through analytical microscopy techniques such as scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). To investigate the isotropic behavior within the additive manufactured Ti–TiB blocks, tensile tests were conducted in longitudinal, diagonal, and lateral directions. A consistent tensile behavior was observed for all the directions, highlighting a nearly isotropic behavior within samples. Shot peening was introduced as a postmanufacturing treatment to enhance the mechanical properties of AM specimens. Shot peening led to a localized increase in hardness at the near-surface where stress-induced twins are noted within the affected microstructure. The RBF-200 HT rotating-beam fatigue machine was utilized to conduct fatigue testing on untreated and shot-peened samples, starting at approximately 1/2 the ultimate tensile strength of the bulk material and testing within low- (<105 cycles) to high-cycle (>105 cycles) regimes. Shot-peened samples experienced significant improvement in fatigue life, increasing the fitted endurance limit from 247.8 MPa for the untreated samples to 318.3 MPa, leading to an increase in fatigue resistance of approximately 28%.

Fatigue improvement of welded elements by ultrasonic impact treatment

The ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT) is relatively new and promising process for fatigue life improvement of welded elements and structures. In most industrial applications this process is known as ultrasonic peening (UP). The beneficial effect of UIT/UP is achieved mainly by relieving of tensile residual stresses and introducing of compressive residual stresses into surface layers of a material. The secondary factors in fatigue improvement by UIT/UP are decreasing of stress concentration in weld toe zones and enhancement of mechanical properties of the surface layers of the material. Fatigue testing of welded specimens showed that UIT/UP is the most efficient improvement treatment as compared with traditional techniques such as grinding, TIG-dressing, heat treatment, hammer peening and application of LTT electrodes. The developed computerized complex for UIT/UP was successfully applied for increasing the fatigue life and corrosion resistance of welded elements, elimination of distortions caused by welding and other technological processes, residual stress relieving, increasing of the hardness of the surface of materials. The results of fatigue testing of large-scale welded specimens in as-welded condition and after application of UIT/UP are considered in this paper. It is shown that UIT/UP is the most effective and economic technique for increasing of fatigue strength of welded elements in materials of different strength. These results also show a strong tendency of increasing of fatigue strength of welded elements after application of UP with the increase in mechanical properties of the material used.

Kriging Surrogate Model based Optimisation of Welded Bogie Frame for Fatigue Improvement

The welded side frame of intercity Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) bogie frame is taken as the research objective to optimize the layout of its internal stiffeners and to improve its fatigue performance. The fatigue accumulation damage value is computed in side frame for some key welds using Master S-N curve approach and the maximal value of fatigue accumulation damage is considered as a significant constraint to construct a lightweight optimisation model. To solve the optimisation model effectively, a sequential approximate method on the basis of Kriging surrogate model is presented by combining the minimum response surface sampling with multi-island genetic algorithm. The weight of the side frame is reduced by 16% after optimisation, which realized the fatigue improvement.

Cyclic Deformation and Correspondent Crack Initiation at Low-Stress Amplitudes in Mg–Gd–Y–Zr Alloy

Cyclic deformation at low-stress amplitudes of a rare earth-containing magnesium alloy (Mg–Gd–Y–Zr) was investigated with emphasis on the responsible microstructural relationship between deformation mechanism and fatigue crack initiation. The results show that the microstructural deformation is extremely inhomogeneous at the low-stress amplitudes. Both deformation twinning and non-basal slip are barely observed, and basal slip is the predominant deformation to accommodate micro-plasticity. Fatigue crack initiation occurred at the basal slip bands, causing the morphology of facet on the fracture surface. Therefore, the basal slip is of prime importance in low-stress cyclic deformation and fatigue failure, and fatigue improvement could potentially be obtained through hindering the motion of basal dislocation by microstructural obstacles.