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• A strip-yield model is applied to examine the buildup of crack closure for two types of precracks are examined: open precracks which remain open even under cyclic compression, and closed precracks which may close under compression. • The effect of precrack type on fatigue thresholds are systematically examined under fully reversed loading for two types of precrcaks. • New master curve equations are proposed for the cyclic R-curve for two types of precracks with various lengths. A strip-yield model modified to leave plastically deformed stretch in the wake of the advancing crack tip is applied to simulate the buildup of plasticity-induced crack closure with crack extension from precracks with various lengths under fully reversed loading. Two types of precracks are examined: open precracks which remain open even under cyclic compression, and closed precracks which may close under compression. The effects of precrack type and length on fatigue thresholds were systematically examined. Because of a sharp increase of crack opening stress with crack extension, the effective stress intensity range Δ K eff drops initially and then turns to increase. Assuming a constant threshold value of Δ K eff for steels, new master curve equations are proposed for the cyclic R-curve. The effect of the precrack type on fatigue thresholds is successfully derived for different precrack lengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects of precrack lengths and material yield stress on crack closure development are examined. • A new master curve equation is proposed for the cyclic R-curve. • The fatigue thresholds of materials with defects are successfully derived. A strip-yield model modified to leave plastically deformed stretch in the wake of the advancing crack tip is applied to simulate the development of plasticity-induced crack closure with crack extension from precracks with various lengths under the stress ratio R = 0. The effects of precrack length and yield stress on fatigue thresholds were systematically examined. Because of a sharp increase of crack opening stress with crack extension, the effective stress intensity range Δ K eff drops initially and then turns to increase. Assuming the threshold value of Δ K eff for steels, a master curve equation is proposed for the cyclic R-curve. The effects of precrcrack length and material yield stress on fatigue thresholds are successfully derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The fatigue strength of an oil-tempered Si–Cr steel for valve springs (JIS G3561, SWOSC-V) was investigated. Smooth specimens without residual surface stresses were fatigued with two kinds of ultrasonic fatigue testing machines to clarify the fatigue properties up to very high numbers of cycles (giga cycle regime) under axial and torsional loading. The maximum inclusion size in the critical volume of a specimen predicted by the extremal statistics is 7.9μm. Although scatter is somewhat large, the S–N data could be approximated by linear lines in double logarithmic plots for both loading conditions up to the giga cycle regime. The ratio of fatigue strength under torsional and axial loading at the same number of stress cycles is about 0.68 and is almost constant even in the giga cycle regime. Cracks were initiated from the specimen surface under tension–compression as well as torsion loading. No specimen showed crack initiation from the interior. Inclusions and granular facet areas could not be observed. Under torsional loading, cracks initiated either perpendicular or parallel to the longitudinal direction of the specimens. After shear crack propagation to a crack length of about 30μm, crack branching and mode I propagation took place. The size of characteristic defects calculated on the basis of the propagation threshold of long cracks is much larger than the inclusion size calculated by the extremal statistics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Single-edge notched specimens of a unidirectional SiC long fibre reinforced titanium alloy, were fatigued under four point bending. The propagation behaviour of short fatigue cracks from a notch was observed on the basis of the effects of fibre bridging. The branched fatigue cracks were initiated from the notch root. The fatigue cracks propagated only in the matrix and without fibre breakage. The crack propagation rate decreased with crack extension due to the crack bridging by reinforced fibres. After fatigue testing the loading and residual stresses in the reinforced fibres were measured for the arrested cracks by the X-ray diffraction method. The longitudinal stresses in the reinforced fibres were measured using high spatial resolution synchrotron radiation. A stress map around the fatigue cracks was then successfully constructed. The longitudinal stress decreased linearly with increasing distance from a location adjacent to the wake of the matrix crack. This region of decreasing stress corresponded to the debonding area between the fibre and the matrix. The interfacial frictional stress between the matrix and the fibre could be determined from the fibre stresses. The bridging stress on the crack wake was also measured as a function of a distance from a notch root. The threshold stress intensity factor range, corrected on the basis of the shielding stress, was similar to the propagation behaviour of the monolithic matrix. Hence the main factor influencing the shielding effect in composites is fibre bridging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue tests of crack propagation from a precrack in thin-walled tubular specimens made of a medium-carbon steel were performed under cyclic torsion with and without superposed static or cyclic axial loading. The stress ratio of cyclic loading was−1. The fatigue crack-propagation path from a precrack was compared with the predictions based on the maximum tangential stress criterion. The direction of fatigue crack propagation follows the direction of the maximum of the range of the tangential stress,Δσ*θ max, near the crack tip determined from the stress intensity factor (SIF) which was calculated by considering the contacts of crack faces at the minimum load. The SIF calculated from the actual crack path by using the body force method (BFM) showed that the mode II SIF range quickly approached zero after a small amount of crack extension. The crack-propagation rate decreased first and then increased with crack extension. The initial dip of the crack-propagation rate was caused by the development of crack closure with crack extension. As cracks extended a long distance, the propagation rate was faster than the uniaxial data. This acceleration of crack propagation was caused by excessive plasticity near the crack tip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notched specimens of porous silicon carbide with porosity 37% were fatigued under four-point bending at frequencies of 30 and 0.3 Hz. The fatigue life expressed in terms of time was rather insensitive to the test frequency, while that expressed in terms of cycles was much shorter for the case of 0.3 Hz than for 30 Hz. A time-dependent mechanism of stress corrosion cracking was mainly responsible for crack propagation, and stress cycling enhanced the crack-propagation mechanism. The crack length was estimated from the change in compliance of the specimen. The crack-propagation curve was divided into stages I and II. In stage I, the crack-propagation rate decreased even though the applied stress intensity factor became larger with crack extension, and then turned to increase in stage II. The transition from stage I to II took place at a crack extension of around 0.8 mm. This anomalous behaviour is caused by crack-tip shielding due to microcracking and asperity contact. Fractographic observations showed that the fracture path was along the binder phase between silicon carbide particles, or more precisely along the interface between particles and binders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The crack propagation law was derived from the S–N data in the very high cycle fatigue of a bearing steel. The propagation rate, da /d N (m/cycle), of surface cracks was estimated to be a power function of the stress intensity range, Δ K (MPa√m) with the coefficient C s = 5.87 × 10 -13 and the exponent m s = 4.78. The threshold stress intensity range was 2.6 MPa√m. The crack propagation from internal inclusions was divided into Stages I and II. For Stage I, the coefficient of the power law was C 0 = 3.44 × 10 -21 and the exponent m 0 = 14.2. The transition from Stage I to II took place at Δ K = 4.0 MPa√m. For Stage II, the coefficient was C i = 2.08 × 10 -14 and the exponent m i = 4.78. The specimen size and loading mode did not influence the surface fatigue life, while the internal fatigue life was shortened in larger specimens and under tension–compression loading. For ground specimens, the surface fatigue life was raised by the compressive residual stress, while reduced by the surface roughness introduced by grinding. For shot-peened specimens, fatigue fracture did not take place from the surface because of a high surface compressive residual stress. The internal fatigue life was reduced by the tensile residual stress existing in the interior of the specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crack closure behaviour of microstructurally small fatigue cracks was numerically simulated by combining the crack-tip slip band model with the plasticity-induced crack closure model. A Stage II crack started to propagate from an initiated Stage I crack. When the plastic zone was constrained by the grain boundary or the adjacent grain with higher yield stresses, the crack opening stress increased with crack extension, and the effective component of the stress range decreased. The crack-tip opening displacement range (ΔCTOD), first decreased with crack extension due to the development of the residual stretch, then increased until the tip of the plastic zone reached the neighbouring grain boundary. When the plastic zone was blocked by the grain boundary, ΔCTOD began to decrease. The arrest condition of cracks was given by the threshold value of ΔCTOD. At the fatigue limit, the arrest of small cracks takes place just after the Stage II crack crosses the grain boundary when the grain boundary does not act as a barrier. Only when the grain boundary has a blocking strength and the yield stress of adjacent grains is not so high, the arrest of Stage II cracks takes place before the crack reaches the grain boundary. The fatigue limit decreases with the mean stress. The predicted relation between the fatigue limit and the mean stress is close to the modified Goodman relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resistance-curve ( R-curve) method was applied to the prediction of the fatigue thresholds of notched components under in-phase and out-of-phase combinations of cyclic torsion and axial loadings. The prediction was compared with the experimental data obtained from thin-walled tubular specimen of medium-carbon steel with a hole. The stress was completely reversed and the mean stress was zero. The crack was nucleated at the position of the maximum range of the circumferential stress on the periphery of a hole, and propagated almost straight for all cases examined. The experimental data of the thresholds for crack initiation and fracture agreed well with the predictions for in-phase and for out-of-phase loadings with 45° phase difference. For out-of-phase loading with 90°, the threshold for fracture was close to the crack initiation limit, because of the reduction of crack closure due to crack face rubbing by mode II shear cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resistance-curve ( R-curve) method was applied to the prediction of the fatigue thresholds of notched components under in-phase and out-of-phase combinations of cyclic torsion and axial loadings. The prediction was compared with the experimental data obtained from thin-walled tubular specimen of medium-carbon steel with a hole. The stress was completely reversed and the mean stress was zero. The crack nucleated at the position of the maximum range of the circumferential stress on the periphery of a hole, and propagated almost straight for all cases examined. The experimental data of the thresholds for crack initiation and fracture agreed well with the predictions for in-phase and for out-of-phase loadings with 45° phase difference. For out-of-phase loading with 90°, the threshold for fracture was close to the crack initiation limit, because of the reduction of crack closure due to crack face rubbing by mode II shear cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suppressing the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) by reducing the carbon content in austenitic stainless steels is apparently not effective on core shrouds used in boiling water reactors in Japan: trans-granular cracking was found in the shrouds. To clarify the mechanism of the cracking, in situ stress measurements on specimens under stretched conditions in hot water have been attempted in the present study. An in situ device for diffraction measurements at synchrotron radiation facilities has been developed, and in situ experiments have been carried out at SPring-8. The SUS316L steel specimen was solution heat-treated, surface-ground and then placed in the in situ device. Sapphire windows were used for the light path in the device. A sufficient diffracted beam intensity was obtained through two sapphire windows and water. The side-inclination method was used for measuring the stress exerted on the specimen. A 2θ–sin2ψ plot showed that a tensile stress was induced. The measured stress value is considered to be the summation of stresses owing to pre-straining, in situ loading and residual stress owing to surface grinding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]