Influence of Strain Gradient on Fatigue Life of Carbon Steel for Pressure Vessels in Low-Cycle and High-Cycle Fatigue Regimes

This paper discusses how the strain gradient influences the fatigue life of carbon steel in the low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue regimes. To obtain fatigue data under different strain distributions, cyclic alternating bending tests using specimens with different thicknesses and cyclic tension–compression tests were conducted on carbon steel for pressure vessels (SPV235). The crack initiation life and total failure life were evaluated via the strain-based approach. The experimental results showed that the crack initiation life became short with decreasing strain gradient from 102 to 106 cycles in fatigue life. On the other hand, the influence of the strain gradient on the total failure life was different from that on the crack initiation life: although the total failure life of the specimen subjected to cyclic tension–compression was also the shortest, the strain gradient did not affect the total failure life of the specimen subjected to cyclic bending from 102 to 106 cycles in fatigue life. This was because the crack propagation life became longer in a thicker specimen. Hence, these experimental results implied that the fatigue crack initiation life could be characterized by not only strain but also the strain gradient in the low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue regimes.

The Effect of Material Static Mechanical Properties on the Fatigue Crack Initiation Life of Rail Fastening Clips

This paper aimed to study the effect of material static mechanical properties on the fatigue crack initiation life of ω-shaped rail fastening clips, in which the Vossloh 300-1 fastener system was taken as an example. The static mechanical properties of 38Si7 steel (the material of the clip) were first investigated through a series of uniaxial tensile tests. According to the experimental outcomes, a classic assembly system was simulated afterwards using the finite element analysis (FEA) method. On the basis of the Brown–Miller criterion, an in-depth numerical study regarding the critical plane was realized, which allowed fatigue crack initiation to be successfully reproduced by FEA. Finally, a detailed parametric study was performed with the relevant sensitivity analysis. The results showed that the initiation and progression of fatigue cracks in the fastening clip occur in the plane of the maximum shear strain. The fatigue crack initiation life of the fastening clip was extremely sensitive to the elastic modulus, especially more sensitive to the tensile strength. From an engineering viewpoint, the fatigue resistance of the fastening clip could be boosted by (i) increasing the tensile strength of the material to at least 1450 MPa and (ii) rendering the elastic modulus smaller than 160 GPa.

Evaluation of Forging Process Induced Residual Stress in Aluminum Die Forgings

Aircraft structural components are being produced from forgings with increasingly complex geometries in a wide range of aerospace alloys. The forging process involves a number of steps required to attain favorable material properties (e.g., heat treatment, rapid quench, cold work stress relieving, and artificial aging). These processing steps, however, also result in the introduction of bulk residual stress. Excessive bulk residual stresses can have negative consequences including: part distortion during machining and/or during service, reduced crack initiation life, increased crack growth rates, and an overall reduction in part life. This presentation will summarize recent work related to quantifying and accounting for residual stress in aluminum die forgings. Key residual stress engineering concepts will be described. Since the artifacts studied are associated with an aircraft supply chain (multiple parts and multiple lots), the results are relevant to the aerospace community. Overall, the results show that forging residual stress is a repeatable phenomenon with approximate repeatability less than 5% of A-basis yield strength.

Architected Tunable Structure for Improved Capability in Extreme Environments

A novel patterned-void structure is developed to improve the fatigue life compared to conventional circular cooling holes typically used in gas turbine components exposed to high temperatures. The distinctive S-shape of the voids and their specific arrangement enable manipulation of the structure's macroscopic stiffness and Poisson's ratio. An investigation of the isothermal and thermomechanical fatigue properties of the proposed structure is carried out in strain-controlled conditions. The testing is performed on tubular specimens machined from a Nickel-based superalloy commonly used in gas turbine combustion systems (Haynes 230 ™). The isothermal fatigue tests, performed at 300°C, 600°C and 800°C, demonstrated an increase in crack-initiation life of the proposed structure by a factor of up to 28 compared to the standard circular holes. The thermomechanical fatigue tests, performed across temperature ranges 300°C - 750°C and 300°C - 850°C, and using in-phase and out-of-phase strain ratios, demonstrated an increase in crack-initiation life by a factor of up to 16. The life after crack initiation (crack-propagation mode) was also shown to be longer for the proposed structure, which is attributed to a crack-arresting behavior inherent to the structure.

Improvement of Stop-Hole Method on Fatigue-Cracked Steel Plates by Using High-Strength Bolts and CFRP Strips

Steel bridges are extremely damaged by fatigue subjected to cycling load. Therefore, it is often necessary to put forward effective reinforcement to strengthen steel structures during the daily maintenance. In this study, two repairing methods of high-strength bolts and high-modulus CFRP strips on the basis of stop-hole repair method were introduced, respectively, to investigate fatigue improvement of cracked steel plates. First of all, numerical analysis was conducted to predict the repair efficiency and investigate the optimal parameters of each method. Variables studied were stop-hole diameter, pretightening force of bolt, and size of CFRP patch. Subsequently, a total of 12 specimens were tested to study the repairing efficiency of cracked steel plates with various strengthening methods through cyclic loading. At the same time, the failure mode and fatigue life were analyzed to present the improvement of fatigue performance. In addition, the experimental results were compared against the S-N curves of this strengthened fatigue detail. The outcomes of this study revealed that an improvement in the influence of fatigue-crack repair with the adoption of these two strengthening methods was evident. Numerical results showed that the addition of these materials could significantly diminish stress concentration factor around hole edge and improve their fatigue performance in comparison with only stop-hole method. Fatigue test results indicated that the crack initiation life of specimens repaired by stop-hole method was more than 20 times that of the unrepaired specimens. The high-strength bolt reinforced stop hole and CFRP patched stop hole can extend the crack initiation life by 9 and 8 times, respectively, in contrast to control specimens with sole stop-hole method. Finally, it was demonstrated that repairing damaged steel plates with stop-hole method alone was not enough to satisfy the fatigue strength requirements of various countries. But the fatigue strength category of damaged steel plates after further repairing with high-strength bolts and high-elastic-modulus CFRP, respectively, was higher than category A of AASHTO.