Very High Cycle Fatigue Properties of 18CrNiMo7-6 Carburized Steel with Gradient Hardness Distribution

As research of the high cycle fatigue of carburized gear steel could not meet the status quo of longer and longer service lives, research of very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) performance has become the focus of current research. The VHCF properties of case-hardening steel 18CrNiMo7-6 after being carburized with gradient hardness distribution were investigated by means of ultrasonic fatigue tests. The results showed that the carburized specimens with a case hardness of 705 HV and core hardness of 530 HV showed VHCF phenomenon, and the fatigue lives continuously increased to even 109 cycles as the stress amplitude decreased to about 500 MPa. Observations of the fracture surfaces of the fatigue specimens showed that the fatigue crack initiation sites were located in the transition area with the hardness at about 580 HV. It was found that the transition area had low VHCF properties, since the core did not show VHCF phenomenon, and the case had a higher hardness. A fine microstructure was observed in the granular bright facet (GBF) area, and the stress intensity factor ΔKGBF was measured to be 3.04 MPam−1/2. The 109 cycles fatigue life was predicted based on the inclusion size, and the 1010 cycles fatigue life was 490 MPa based on the prediction model.

Interior crack initiation during the very-high-cycle fatigue of railway wheel steel under axial loading and rolling contact loading

In this paper, a comparative study of the very-high-cycle fatigue (VHCF) behavior of railway wheel steel under axial loading and rolling contact loading was conducted. Fatigue tests were performed with an ultrasonic fatigue test machine under axial loading, and the fracture surfaces from the fatigue tests and shattered rims taken from the failed railway wheels were observed. The wheel steel under axial loading presents a VHCF behavior with Mode I crack, and that under rolling contact loading is a VHCF behavior with mix Mode II-III crack. For the VHCF behavior with Mode I crack ,surface and interior crack initiation occurred with equal probability at both low and high stress levels and produced a dual linear S-N curve since the value of fatigue limits for the surface and interior crack initiation are close. For the VHCF behavior with mix Mode II-III crack, cracks were initiated from the interior Al O inclusion and the fatigue life was beyond 10 cycles. Fatigue bands were observed on the fracture surface under rolling contact loading. The ferrite nanograins formed due to the stress state of shear plastic strain with a large compressive stress. The formed nanograins were softer than the matrix caused by the redistribution of the carbon.

Defect induced cracking and modeling of fatigue strength for an additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy in very high cycle fatigue regime

Additively manufactured (AM) alloy usually inevitably contains defects during the manufacturing processor or service process. Defects, as a harmful factor, could significantly reduce the fatigue performance of materials. This paper shows that the location and introduced form of defects play an important role in high cycle and very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) behavior of selective laser melting Ti-6Al-4V alloy. S-N curve descends linearly for internal defects induced failure. While for artificial surface defects induced failure, S-N curve descends at first and then exhibits a plateau region feature. We also observed competition of interior crack initiation with the fine granular area feature in VHCF regime. The paper indicates that only the size or the stress intensity factor range of the defect is not an appropriate parameter describing the effect of defects on the fatigue crack initiation. Finally, the effect of artificial surface defects on high cycle and VHCF strength is modeled, i.e. the fatigue strength σ, fatigue life N and defect size area (square root of projection area of defect perpendicular to principal stress direction) is expressed as σ = CN ( area) for N and σ = CN ( area) for N≥N, where C, a and n are constants, N is the number of cycles at the knee point.

High-cycle and very-high-cycle fatigue behavior of a stainless steel for air-conditioning compressor valve plates

PurposeThe investigations could guide the structural design and fatigue life prediction of air-conditioning compressor valve plates.Design/methodology/approachThe High-Cycle Fatigue (HCF) and Very-High-Cycle Fatigue (VHCF) behaviors of stainless steel used for air-conditioning compressor valve plates were investigated. Monotonic and cyclic loading conditions were designed to explore the fatigue responses according to the load characteristics of the structure.FindingsThe crack initiation can be observed as the arc-shaped cracks at both sides of specimens and Y-shaped crack bifurcation in the specimens. Moreover, the middle section and the cracks at both ends are not connected to the surface of the specimen. The stress-life results of the materials under two directions (vertical and horizontal) were provided to examine the difference in fatigue strength.Originality/valueMonotonic and cyclic loading conditions were designed to explore the fatigue responses according to the load characteristics of the structure. Based on the experimental data, the results indicate that specimens under cyclic loading conditions could demonstrate better mechanical performance than static loadings.