Advanced Materials Research Vols. 891-892

Abstract: Ceramic thermal barrier coatings are used for thermal insulation in gas turbines to protect metallic components from high-temperature degradation. The ceramic coating may, due to its different coefficient of thermal expansion, crack and spall off the metallic component, thus rendering the component unprotected against high-temperature. Thermal cycling rigs of various designs are used to evaluate the durability of thermal barrier coatings. The present paper reports the result from a round robin test including three thermal cycling rigs at different locations. To better understand the influence of rig design on the thermal cyclic lives of thermal barrier coatings, some test parameters, such as the material of the specimen table and the cooling rate, were varied in one of the rigs. Furthermore, two different specimen geometries, rectangular and disc-shaped, were tested. The specimen table material was found to greatly influence the cooling rate of the specimens, more so than variations in the cooling airflow. The rectangular specimens were found to be more sensitive to test setup than the disc-shaped specimens; under certain conditions, the rectangular specimens could be made to fracture from the long side, rather than the short side of the specimen edge, which shortened the thermal cyclic life of the coatings.

Abstract: In this paper, in order to investigate the effect of the ultrasonic shot peening (USP) treatment on fatigue characteristics of the structural materials for hydroelectric facilities, plane bending fatigue tests were carried out using stainless cast steel ASTM CA6NM performed by USP treatment. The fatigue test results showed that the fatigue strength of the USP materials was approximately 60% higher than that of the untreated materials. In order to examine the reason for that, the effect of USP treatment on fatigue crack initiation behavior was evaluated based on the Haigh's diagram. This evaluation implied that increasing the crack initiation resistance associated with high hardness and high compressive residual stress at surface by USP treatment is the major cause for the improvement of fatigue strength. Furthermore, the effect of USP treatment on fatigue crack propagation behavior was also examined by simulating the crack growth rate considering the stress intensity factor at crack tip. Crack propagation simulation results suggested that compressive residual stress leads crack growth rate slow compared with untreated material.

Abstract: In order to improve both of the fatigue and tribological properties of commercially pure (CP) titanium, a low temperature nitriding process was developed. Cold rolling was introduced as pre-treatment of plasma nitriding to create fine grains which could accelerate the diffusion of nitrogen into the material. Surface microstructures of the nitrided specimens pre-treated with cold rolling were characterized using a micro-Vickers hardness tester, an optical microscope, a scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron backscatter diffraction technique (EBSD). Titanium-nitrides (TiN and Ti₂N) were formed on the surface nitrided at the temperature greater than 600 °C. Moreover, thicker compound layer was formed in the nitrided CP titanium pre-treated with cold rolling in comparison to the only nitrided one, resulting in showing higher hardness. 4-points bending fatigue tests were performed for the specimens treated with low temperature nitriding (600 °C), which could suppress the grain-coarsening, under the stress ratio R = 0.1 at room temperature. In addition, fatigue fracture mechanism of nitrided CP titanium was discussed based on the observations of microstructure and fracture surface.

Abstract: Roller burnishing (RB) and friction stir processing (FSP) were applied to a cast aluminum alloy, AC4CH-T6 (equivalent to A356-T6), to improve the fatigue properties. In roller burnished specimens, Vickers hardness was increased until the depth of 60μm compared with that of the as-cast specimens, resulting in work-hardening by RB. The compressive residual stress on the surface of the roller burnished specimens was also increased from 35MPa to 132MPa. In order to investigate the effect of RB on the fatigue properties, rotary bending fatigue tests have been performed using the roller burnished and the as-cast specimens. The roller burnished specimens exhibited higher fatigue strength than the untreated specimens. It is due to the increase in hardness and compressive residual stress by RB. In addition, plane bending fatigue tests have been performed using the friction stir processed and untreated specimens. Fatigue strengths of the friction stir processed specimens were highly improved compared with untreated specimens as the results of the elimination of casting defects by FSP. However, the crack growth rates of the friction stir processed specimens were faster than those of untreated specimens. It is due to the softening of the material by heat input during the FSP.

Abstract: This project was originated from the national aircraft industry requirements to reduce the use of coated materials with electroplated chromium or cadmium that produce waste, which is harmful to health or the environment. The selected material is a Custom 465 stainless steel used in the aeronautical field due to its high mechanical strength. Considering the load sustained by the wheel axis of the landing gear, the Custom 465 is tested in axial fatigue. The objective is to compare the behavior of the Custom 465 with plated AISI 4340 steel coated with cadmium. X-ray diffraction method was used to determine the residual stress field induced by shot peening.

Abstract: In this paper the emphasis is focused upon nitriding effect on corrosion fatigue strength of Cr-Mo low alloy steel in 1% HCl aqueous solution.Corrosion fatigue strength enhancement of Cr-Mo low alloy steel by nitriding is discussed on the basis of the corrosion fatigue testing results on gas and ion nitrided Cr-Mo low alloy steel plate specimen with 3.5mm thickness in 1%HCl aqueous solution. It can be concluded that residual compressive stress distributed on the nitrided specimen surface caused improvement of corrosion fatigue strength of Cr-Mo low alloy steel.

Abstract: Over the past 50 years, mitigating cracks from holes has been a major focus of aerospace research, design, and stress engineers. Technology and design philosophies were developed to focus on predicting and increasing fatigue life of metal aircraft structure. One of the innovations to have the biggest impact to slow or arrest crack growth was to induce beneficial residual stresses around a hole. The zone of residual compressive stresses shields the hole from the effects of cyclic loads. The split sleeve cold expansion method was pioneered in the early 1970s by Boeing and Fatigue Technology. The split sleeve cold expansion process has become the bench mark method in mitigating fatigue cracks and enhancing durability and damage tolerance of aerospace metal structures. This paper will review the history of cold expansion methods and the evolution of this technology to the controlled and widely accepted methods used by industry today.

Abstract: Using a da/dN equation to predict fatigue crack growth for a variable amplitude loading sequence, requires converting the sequence into an equivalent series of constant amplitude cycles, which is sometimes achieved using the rainflow cycle counting technique. Rainflow counting views small intermediate cycles as an interruption to a larger cycle, in effect, the crack tip remembers the state of the larger cycle. This has been shown to be an effective technique in predicting fatigue growth rates for long cracks, but has not been extensively investigated for use in predicting the growth of small cracks. An investigation was made into the applicability of rainflow cycle counting for predicting the crack growth of small and long cracks created with variable amplitude fatigue loading in AA7050-T7451 plate, a common modern aircraft material. A series of coupons were tested with a number of different variable amplitude loading sequences which had distinct marker bands inserted to separate the individual segments of loading and enable them to be identified fractographically. For the sequences examined, which covered varying numbers of interrupted cycles and a staircase of three steps, the baseline and the rainflow loading segments within each sequence showed effectively the same rate of growth for the same stress intensity range in both the small and long crack coupons, demonstrating that rainflow cycle counting was a suitable cycle counting technique for both small and long cracks.

Abstract: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program includes three aircraft variants, one of which has been designed and built according to US Air Force requirements, and the other two of which have been designed and built according to US Navy requirements. For all three variants, a system design and development (SDD) configuration aircraft is being subjected to a full-scale durability (FSD) test. In each case, the complete airframe is being subjected to two lifetimes of severe design spectrum loading, with maneuver, catapults/arrestments (carrier variant only) and buffet loads applied as separate, alternating 1000 flight hour blocks during the major test sequence. For the airframe tests, the buffet loads are applied quasi-statically; for the separate vertical tail component tests, they are applied dynamically. In addition, tests of doors and attachments (local tests) are conducted when the full airframe test is down for inspections (as required, for example, between the first and second lifetimes). In this paper, we describe the manner in which the airframe tests were designed, including fatigue spectrum development and test adequacy analyses. In addition, we provide a summary of the test findings to date, along with a description of the analytical simulation for a typical finding. The paper includes an analysis vs test correlation summary that provides an indication of the validity of the fatigue crack initiation (FCI) and fatigue crack growth (FCG) analysis methods used to design the aircraft.

Abstract: A computer program for fatigue life and crack growth analysis, entitled CGAP, has been developed at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation in support of the aircraft structural life assessment programs of the Australian Defence Force. The key objectives in developing this software platform were to provide a flexible, robust, economical, adaptable, and well verified and validated fatigue analysis tool. CGAP provides advanced capabilities for crack growth analyses, including crack growth in notch-affected plastic zones, and for probabilistic crack growth analyses. It also provides seamless interface to third-party models, such as FASTRAN and FAMS, enabling easy benchmarking against and collaborating with international partners. This paper summarises some of the recent developments in analytical and numerical fatigue damage and crack growth modelling, with emphasis on software verification and validation. Examples will be presented to illustrate its application.