Search

• Microstructure-sensitive framework has been extended and applied to SLM 316L. • As-built surface roughness has been considered explicitly in the finite element model. • Textured microstructure of SLM 316L has been evaluated concerning fatigue strength. • Competitive effects of surface defect and microstructure have been distinguished. This paper aims to study the individual and competitive effects of surface defects and microstructural components in an AM 316L by numerical methods. Based on the microstructure sensitive modeling framework, numerical simulations of models in different surface states with virtual quasi-realistic explicit microstructures are performed. Problems encountered during the establishment of the numerical polycrystalline aggregate model are discussed, including the grain morphology, the strongly textured microstructure with preferential crystallographic directions, roughness and surface defect. A statistical method based on generalized extreme value distribution along with a non-local method is used to describe the stochasticity of microstructural attributes. Simulations of differently configured explicit microstructure models are analyzed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Explicit virtual microstructure is introduced to the numerical models. • Different configurations of grain size and morphology are investigated. • Stress-based fatigue criteria combined with two non-local methods are applied. • Kitagawa-Takahashi effect is reproduced and explained via the proposed framework. This study aims at investigating the effect of defect on the high cycle fatigue behavior of polycrystalline aggregates. An explicit virtual microstructure finite element model is created to conduct fatigue simulations. Different stress-based criteria frequently applied in fatigue assessment are tested with a combination of the non-local methods. Two realizations of the non-local method are used and compared. Simulation results are compared to experimental results of 316L. From the parametric simulations, better qualitative understandings on the choice of non-local method as well as its parameters are obtained. The effect of Kitagawa-Takahashi can be reproduced and explained by this proposed framework of microstructure modeling-simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Experimental torsion and bending fatigue strengths of 90°, 45°, and 0° LPBF building direction were determined. • Kitagawa diagrams were provided in bending and torsion loading at different building directions. • Bending fatigue behavior is very sensitive to building direction compared to torsion. • Torsion fatigue behavior of LPBF 316L is not sensitive to lack-of-fusion defects. The present study aims to investigate the high cycle fatigue (HCF) performance of steel 316L fabricated by the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process. Bending and torsional fatigue test specimens built horizontally (0°), inclined (45°), and vertically (90°) have been prepared and tested. Stress-relieving heat treatment was carried out to reduce the residual stresses. The 90°, 45°, and 0° built near-net-shape and polished specimens have fatigue strengths between 140 and 250 MPa under bending loading and 150 and 170 MPa under torsion loading. This difference illustrates a more pronounced defect sensitivity in bending compared to torsion. Fractographical analyses revealed the fatigue failure mechanisms. As the building direction inclines from vertical to horizontal, the effective areas of inherent defects diminish contributing to improving fatigue strength under bending loading whilst the differences from building directions in torsional fatigue strengths are minor. Microstructural features are seen to compete with inherent defects to affect fatigue performance in the condition that the effective defect sizes are close to the critical fatigue crack size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Torsion fatigue limit is found higher than bending fatigue limit for LPBF 316L. • Effect of lack-of-fusion defect dominates over the effect of stress gradient. • Skipping contouring introduces clustering defects without increasing surface roughness. • Clustering surface defects act synergistically as one to initiate the fatigue crack. The mechanical performances of additive manufactured (AM) material are highly dependent on the fabrication process which inevitably results in surface imperfection as well as porosity. In the present study, the high cycle fatigue (HCF) behavior of an AM stainless steel 316L is experimentally investigated to characterize and evaluate the effect of the inherent surface defects. Profilometry and Computed Tomography are used. A series of fatigue experiments is carried out under different loading modes including tension, bending, and torsion fatigue tests. For each loading condition, different surface preparations are used to investigate the effect of surface state. Fatigue tests reveal that surface treatment can improve fatigue performances, the improvements observed being higher under tension/bending loading than under torsion loading. The fractographic analysis is performed for all the available tested specimens to reveal the mechanism of fatigue crack initiation. Lack-of-fusion (LoF) defects play the predominant role in the fatigue performance of SS 316L fabricated by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). The presence of multiple LoF defects at the surface or subsurface is detrimental to the endurance under cyclic loading. By using Murakami approach modeling the relationship between fatigue strength and defect size, it is found that the multiple clustering defects act synergistically as one large virtual crack to initiate the fatigue crack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiaxial high cycle fatigue modeling of materials is an issue that concerns many industrial domains (automotive, aerospace, nuclear, etc.) and in which many progress still remains to be achieved. Several approaches exist in the literature: invariants, energy, integral and critical plane approaches all of them having their advantages and drawbacks. These different formulations are usually based on mechanical quantities at the micro or mesoscales using localization schemes and strong assumptions to propose simple analytical forms. This study aims to revisit these formulations using a numerical approach based on crystal plasticity modeling coupled with explicit description of microstructure (morphology and texture) and proposes a statistical procedure for the analyses of numerical results in the HCF context. This work has three steps: First, 2.5D periodic digital microstructures based on a random grain sizes distribution are generated. Second, multiaxial cyclic loading conditions corresponding to the fatigue strength at 106 cycles are applied to these microstructures. Third, the mesoscopic Fatigue Indicator Parameters (FIPs), formulated from the different criteria existing in the literature, are identified using the finite element calculations of the mechanical fields. These mesoscopic FIP show the limits of the original criteria when it comes to applying them at the grain scale. A statistical method based on extreme value probability is used to redefine the thresholds of these criteria. These new thresholds contain the sensitivity of the HCF behavior to microstructure attributes. Finally, the biaxiality and phase shift effects are discussed at the grain scale and the loading paths of some critical grains are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]