Fracture Surface Behavior of 34CrNiMo6 High-Strength Steel Bars with Blind Holes under Bending-Torsion Fatigue

The present study evaluates the fracture surface response of fatigued 34CrNiMo6 steel bars with transverse blind holes subjected to bending with torsion loading. The analysis of the geometric product specification was performed by means of height parameters Sx, functional volume parameters Vx, and fractal dimension Df. Surface topography measurements were carried out using an optical profilometer with focus variation technology. The experimental results show that the doubling the bending to torsion moment ratio B/T from B/T = 1 to B/T = 2, maintaining the same normal stress amplitude, greatly reduces both Sa, Vv as well as the fractal dimension Df of the analyzed specimen fractures by 32.1%, 29.8%, and 16.0%, respectively. However, as expected, a two-fold increase in the B/T ratio, maintaining the same normal stress amplitude, resulted in a larger number of cycles to fatigue crack initiation, Ni, which can be explained by the lower shear stress level. These experiments prove that parameters Sx, Vx, Df are smaller for larger Ni values, which is an important finding. In addition, it was found a high consistency of surface topography measurements for the two sides of the broken specimens. The proposed methodology is both reliable and applicable for other engineering applications involving different geometries and loading conditions.

Seawater Effect on Fatigue Behaviour of Notched Carbon/Epoxy Laminates

This paper studies the effect of seawater immersion on the fatigue behavior of notched carbon/epoxy laminates. Rectangular cross-section specimens with a central hole were immersed in natural and artificial seawater for different immersion times (0, 30 and 60 days), being the water absorption rate evaluated over time. After that, fatigue tests were performed under uniaxial cyclic loading using a stress ratio equal to 0.1. After the tests, the optical microscopy technique allowed the examination of the failure micro-mechanisms at the fracture surfaces. The results showed that saturation appeared before 30 days of immersion and that water absorption rates were similar for natural and artificial seawater. The S–N curves showed that the seawater immersion affects the fatigue strength, but there were no relevant effects associated with the type of seawater. Moreover, it was also clear that fatigue life was similar for long lives, close to 1 million cycles, regardless of the immersion time or the type of seawater. On the contrary, for short lives, near 10 thousand cycles, the stress amplitude of dry laminates was 1.2 higher than those immersed in seawater. The failure mechanisms were similar for all conditions, evidencing the fracture of axially aligned fibres and longitudinal delamination between layers.

Limited Stress Surface Model for Bending and Torsion Fatigue Loading with the Mean Load Value

In this study, a linear model of the transformation of the stress amplitude due to the mean value was used. The coefficient of the material sensitivity to cycle asymmetry with consideration of the dependence of this coefficient on the number of fatigue loading cycles is also used. A three-parameter surface model of limited stresses is proposed in this paper. The model is verified using the results of fatigue tests for cyclic bending and torsion under mean loads. The tests are performed for two types of alloy steels—S355J0 and S355J2G1W. Comparison of the allowable stress amplitudes obtained experimentally with those predicted using the proposed model shows errors of no more than 18%, with the area of the surface with the largest error being relatively small.

Study on Mechanical Properties and Damage Evolution of High-Porosity Concrete under Cyclic Loading and Unloading

Understanding the mechanical properties and energy response of high-porosity concrete under the cyclic loading and unloading is the foundation of road construction in sponge city. In this study, the concrete with the porosity of 15% was taken as the research object, and the cyclic loading and unloading tests on the high-porosity concrete were performed under the stress amplitude of 25 MPa, 30 MPa, and 35 MPa in the elastic stage. The effects of stress amplitude and cycle number on the mechanical characteristics and damage evolution law of concrete were obtained. The experimental results show the following. (1) With the increase of cycle number, the loading and unloading elastic modulus of concrete under different stress amplitudes first increases and then decreases; the greater the stress amplitude, the faster the growth and deceleration of the loading and unloading elastic modulus. (2) With the increase of the cycle number, the peak strain and residual plastic deformation increase. (3) The greater the stress amplitude, the higher the damage of concrete; with the increasing number of cyclic loading and unloading, the damage of concrete is enhanced gradually. When the damage variable value is 1, the relationship between the cycle number and the initial stress amplitude satisfies a negative exponential function.

EFFECTS OF OVERLOAD AND SUPPLYING OIL ON CRACK GROWTH BEHAVIOR IN MG ALLOYS

A single overload was applied during the crack growth process under constant stress amplitude, and retardation of crack growth was observed in the case of magnesium alloys as well as carbon steel, aluminum alloys, etc. The retardation of crack growth was related to crack closure, the fracture surface roughness, and crack tip deformation. In addition, the effects of supplying oil into the crack on crack growth behavior of an overloaded specimen were investigated in this study. The crack growth rate in the case of supplying oil became lower than in the case without supplying oil. In the case of the magnesium alloy AZ31, powder of oxide magnesium appeared from the crack after overloading. It is one of the typical behaviors of AZ31. In the case of AZ31 and AZX912, the crack growth behavior after overloading was slightly different due to the deformation of the crack tip.

Effect of Sandblasting on Static and Fatigue Strength of Flash Butt Welded 75Cr4 Bandsaw Blades

The aim of the research presented in this article is analysis of the effect of the surface treatment method on the static and fatigue strength of flash butt welded bandsaw blades. A 1-mm-thick 75Cr1 cold-work tool steel sheet used for bandsaw blades was used as the test material. Fractographic studies of the fatigue fractures and fractures formed in static tests were also carried out. The static strength tests showed sandblasting the weld surface had no significant effect on the load capacity of the joint. However, the sandblasted specimens showed a higher repeatability of the load capacity (lower standard deviation). In the case of both analyzed sample variants of specimens, sandblasted and non-sandblasted, the number of cycles at which the sample was damaged decreases with the percentage increase of the stress amplitude. When loading the samples with a stress amplitude value in the range between 400 and 690 MPa, sandblasting of the weld surface increased the average value of destructive cycles by about 10–86% (depending on the stress amplitude) compared to non-sandblasted joints. The sandblasting process introduces compressive stresses in the surface layer of the welds, therefore the variable tensile load acting on the sample requires a greater number of cycles before the fatigue cracks initiate and propagate. In the case of all specimens, a ductile fracture was observed. It was also found that, regardless of the variable stress amplitude, sandblasting has a positive effect on reducing the standard deviation of fatigue test results.

Effects of Surface Softening on the Mechanical Properties of an AISI 316L Stainless Steel under Cyclic Loading

The effects of surface softening on fatigue behavior of AISI 316L stainless steel were investigated. Using cold-rolling and electromagnetic induction heating treatment, a gradient structure was fabricated on AISI 316L stainless steel within which the grain size decreased exponentially from micrometers to nanometers to mimic the surface softening. Stress-controlled fatigue tests were applied to both the gradient and homogeneous structures. Compared with the homogeneous sample, surface softening had no evident effect on fatigue behavior when the stress amplitude was greater than 400 MPa, but significantly deteriorated the fatigue behavior at stress amplitude ≤400 MPa. At high-stress amplitude, fatigue behavior is dominated by crack propagation. When the stress amplitude is lowered, strength reduction and stress concentration caused by surface softening accelerate crack initiation and propagation, resulting in an inferior fatigue behavior.

Fatigue Life of Austenitic Steel 304 Bolts Strengthened by Surface Treatment with Graphene Oxide Layer and Surface Shot Peening

This paper presents the results of investigations of the effect of graphene oxide and surface shot peening on the mechanical properties and fatigue life of bolts made of austenitic 304 steel. An innovative method for the uniform deposition of graphene oxide on screws is presented. The process involved activating the surface using plasma and then performing graphene oxide deposition using centrifugal force and vacuum drying. The screw specimens prepared in this way were subjected to a surface peening process. Comparative studies have shown that the combination of graphene oxide deposition and shot peening processes results in an increase in fatigue life of approximately 42 ÷ 275% (depending on the stress amplitude level) compared to the as-delivered samples. The results presented are promising and may provide a basis for further research on the application of graphene and its derivatives to increase fatigue life and improve the mechanical properties of machine components.

Low cycle fatigue behavior of circumferentially notched specimens made of modified 9Cr–1Mo steel at elevated temperature

During service, notched designed components such as steam generators in the nuclear power plant usually experience fatigue damage at elevated temperatures, due to the repeated cyclic loadings during start-up and shut-down operations. Under such extreme conditions, the durability of these components is highly-affected. Besides, to assess the fatigue life of these components, a reliable determination of the local stress-strain at the notch-tips is needed. In this work, the maximum strains of circumferentially notched cylindrical specimens were calculated using the most commonly known analytical methods, namely Neuber's rule, modified Neuber's rule, Glinka's rule, and linear rule, with notch root radius of 1.25, 2.5, and 5 mm, made of modified 9Cr–1Mo steel at 550 °C, and subjected to nominal stress amplitudes of ±124.95, ±149.95, and ±174.95 MPa. The calculated local strains were compared to those obtained from Finite Element Analysis (FEA). It was found that all the analytical approximations provided unreliable local strains at the notch-tips, resulting in an overestimation or underestimation of the fatigue life. Therefore, a mathematical model that predicts the fatigue lives for 9Cr–1Mo steel at elevated temperature was proposed in terms of the applied stress amplitude and the fatigue stress concentration factor. The calculated fatigue lifetimes using the proposed model are found to be in good agreement with those obtained experimentally from the literature with relative errors, when the applied stress amplitude is ±149.95 MPa, are of 1.97%,–8.67%, and 13.54%, for notch root radii of 1.25, 2.5, and 5 mm, respectively.

Fatigue Damage Map of AZ31B-F Magnesium Alloys under Multiaxial Loading Conditions

In this work, the mechanical behavior of the AZ31B-F magnesium alloy under cyclic loading is analyzed with the goal of contributing to the advancement of its use in the design of AZ31B-F components and structures. To achieve this goal, an experimental program was implemented to evaluate the cyclic response of the AZ31B-F under specific proportional loads with different stress amplitude ratios. Afterwards, regression methods were applied to extend the experimental data to a wide range of proportional loads. As a result, the AZ31B-F damage map, a material property that stablishes the damage scale between normal and shear stresses for finite life loading regimes, was obtained. In addition, a safety factor was developed for the AZ31B-F material when subjected to proportional loading. The achieved results have a direct application in mechanical design of components/structures made of AZ31B-F contributing to its reliability.