Key Engineering Materials Vol. 664

Abstract: The cyclic load number of aero-engine blade during its service life is very likely beyond 107, which is regarded as the conventional fatigue limit. Moreover, surface strengthening is very often used in the manufacturing process of blade. The conventional testing method in the VHCF regime cannot exactly reflect the stress state of the blade, including the mechanism of crack initiation. To study the fatigue behavior and effects of laser shock peening, a kind of bending fatigue subcomponent specimen was designed and the laser shock peening model was established. Experiment about TC17 was accomplished by the Ulra-High Cycle bending fatigue system. It is found that the fatigue damage occurs beneath the surface and the S-N curve is continuously rather than multi-step declining in the VHCF regime. Process of surface strengthening has a significant effect on fatigue performance of TC17 titanium alloy.

Abstract: The high temperature ultra-high cycle fatigue (UHCF) behaviors of DZ125 superalloy used in aero-engine turbine blades were systematically studied. The results show that the fatigue fracture still occurs above 10⁸ at the frequency of 20kHz, R=-1 and 700°C. There is a negligible frequency effect for the DZ125 superalloy, therefore, it is proposed that the ultrasonic fatigue testing could be expected as an accelerated fatigue testing method. Fatigue cracks originate from the subsurface of the specimens, where have no metallurgy defects or “fish eye” character. The crystal orientation change of the alloy is very little after fatigue.The maximum value changed for the elastic modulus of the alloy is about 30GPa after fatigue compared with that before fatigue.

Abstract: The research focus on the material of the stainless steel thin conduit in aircraft, named 1Cr18Ni9Ti , and the TIG weld joint of which was investigated to analysis the fatigue properties. The fracture mechanics was used to analysis the crack initiation life and crack propagation life, and the fatigue surface was characterized with scanning electron microscope (SEM). The experimental and analytical results show that, the origin position of fatigue crack is the surface of the conduit. The stress concentration at the weld toe, the crystal structure is not uniform and Stress concentration in the heat affected zone (HAZ) and fusion line, so the fatigue cracks are easily generated in these locations. Delta K increases to a certain value, the HAZ has become one of the most dangerous position. The crack initiation life of HAZ in the total fatigue life is far higher than the proportion of crack propagation life.

Abstract: A study on the stress concentration of composite plates with a central circular hole subject to axial and bending loads is presented in this paper. The stress concentration of composite plates with a central circular hole subject to axial and bending loading was studied with the aid of finite element analysis. It is shown that geometry has a significant effect on stress concentration, while fibre volume fraction has little effect. The stress concentration factor decreases with increasing hole diameter to plate width ratio. Further analysis shows stress concentration is strongly dependent on anisotropy and the stress concentration factor increases with the longitudinal-transverse moduli ratio.

Abstract: Fatigue tests were carried out at the stress ratio R = -1 using a 20 kHz ultrasonic testing facility to investigate the effects of low temperature nitriding on the fatigue properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy in the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime in detail. The oscillation and fatigue behavior of the nitrided Ti-alloy were characterized by measuring parameters like the ultrasonic generator power, the displacement of the specimens and dissipated energy under ultrasonic cyclic load. Moreover, the surface microstructure of the nitrided Ti-alloy was characterized using a micro-Vickers hardness tester, an optical microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron backscatter diffraction technique (EBSD) to clarify the fatigue fracture mechanism. The Ti-alloy nitrided at the temperature of 873 K showed duplex S-N properties consisting of the respective fracture modes of the surface fracture and the subsurface fracture. The low temperature nitriding reduced the surface fatigue life of Ti-alloy in comparison to the un-nitrided one due to the formation of a brittle titanium nitride (T_i2N), whereas the subsurface fatigue life in the VHCF regime was increased by the low temperature nitriding. In addition, the fatigue fracture mechanisms of the low temperature nitrided Ti-alloy were discussed from viewpoints of fractography and fracture mechanics.

Abstract: A high-temperature ultrasonic fatigue testing system was developed to evaluate the gigacycle fatigue properties of Ti-17. Ultrasonic (20 kHz) fatigue tests were performed at room temperature, 200°C and 350°C, respectively. The dynamic Young’s modulus and fatigue endurance limit decrease with increasing temperature linearly. Rotating bending (50 Hz) tests were performed to evaluate the influence of loading frequency at room temperature, 200°C and 350°C, respectively. There is an obviously loading frequency effect at elevated temperature, although no loading frequency effect at room temperature.

Abstract: Previous fatigue tests show that the heat treatment temperature has a significant influence on high cycle fatigue behaviour of helical compression springs. In order to investigate the effect of the heat treatment temperature on the fracture behaviour and the cyclic life, fatigue tests in the very high cycle regime (VHCF) were conducted.The tested springs were manufactured from oil hardened and tempered SiCr-alloyed valve spring steel wire with a diameter of d = 1.6 mm. After winding and grinding of the spring endings, the springs were heat treated at either 360°C or 400°C for 30 minutes. In order to generate compressive residual stresses in the surface area, the springs were shot peened. After shot peening, the springs were again annealed at 240°C for 30 minutes.Fatigue tests were conducted at 40 Hz using a special spring fatigue device. Up to 900 springs were tested simultaneously at various stress levels to 5∙10⁸ or 10⁹ cycles. Fractured springs were investigated by means of a stereomicroscope as well as a scanning electron microscope to analyse the fracture behaviour and failure mechanisms. The vast majority of the springs show crack initiation at the surface at the inner side of the coil. Less frequently, crack initiation occurs at subsurface locations. Our results show that heat treatment at a temperature of 360°C leads to four times more subsurface cracks than at a temperature of 400°C and reduces the overall fatigue life time.

Abstract: In recent years, very high cycle fatigue has become a major concern in design and durability of engineering components and structures such as railway wheels, rails, offshore structures, bridges, load bearings, etc. There are some factors which have been assumed to influence the fatigue behavior for metallic materials in VHCF regime. But most factors influencing the VHCF behavior have not been studied thoroughly. In order to deeply understand the essence of material fatigue, the experimental and theoretical aspects of the factors influencing on very high cycle fatigue for metallic materials should be studied further more. This paper deals with an overview on the effect of factors on the property in very high cycle fatigue regime. Research trends and some conclusions in this field are briefly discussed and obtained.

Abstract: Ultrasonic techniques are an established means for carrying out fatigue tests at very highnumbers of cycles. These techniques are based on the formation of a standing ultrasonic wave inthe specimen and usually use frequencies around 20 kHz. Although such systems allow testing to avery high number of cycles in a relatively short time, the use of a standing wave for creating thestrains restricts them to symmetric push-pull mode. This limitation can be overcome by coupling an ultrasonic test device to a universal test rig. In this work a different approach is presented that is particularly well suited for studying environmental effects. The load train with the specimen is enclosed in a pressure vessel. An acoustic horn divides this pressure vessel into two separate chambers. Applying a pressure difference between the two chambers then leads to a static stress in the specimenon which the oscillating stress from ultrasonic excitation is superposed. The addition of both stresses allows testing at varying R ratio. The deteriorating effect of high-pressure gaseous hydrogen on the steel A-286 is investigated as function of oscillating and static stresses at room temperature. SEM analysis of the fracture surface is presented.

Abstract: With the increase of design fatigue life of many critical mechanical components and engineering structures, research on very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) has become a new topic for engineering components failure. This paper summarizes works of VHCF of high strength steel, such as the observations on fish-eye, which is one of the typical characteristics in VHCF regime; Characteristics of crack initiation and crack propagation are analyzed based on fracture surface; The present work also analyzes the fatigue mechanism and related models. Loading frequency effect on the VHCF behavior is also discussed. Some prospective aspects of future researches are proposed.