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Cyclic mechanical performance and microstructure evolution of P92 under LCF and TMF conditions
(2019)
9-12% Cr ferritic-martensitic stainless steels are widely used as high temperature construction materials in fossil fueled power plants due to their excellent creep and oxidation resistance, but changes in electricity markets during the last two decades have considerably changed the typical working conditions of these facilities. The growing contribution of renewable energy sources in power generation forces most of these plants into flexible operation with frequent load shifts or shutdowns. These cyclic operation profiles constitute a major lifetime issue, raising the question which fundamental processes govern the reaction of ferritic-martensitic steels to cyclic load and temperature variations.
The present contribution reports on current findings obtained in a multidisciplinary project funded by German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) which combines cyclic mechanical and cyclic oxidation testing of different 9-12% Cr grades with detailed microstructural analyses and related micromechanical modeling.
In this contribution, an overview will be given on the results obtained in the mechanical testing programme of the project. Mechanical analyses were carried out on P91 and (mainly) P92 steel grades, particularly looking at softening phenomena and lifetimes obtained in isothermal cyclic loading (low cycle fatigue, LCF), non-isothermal cyclic loading (thermo-mechanical fatigue, TMF), and service-like combinations of fatigue and creep/relaxation periods. For this purpose, cylindrical specimens were extracted from thick-walled steam pipes, orthogonal to the pipe axis, and subjected to strain controlled cyclic loading (± 0.2 to ±0.5 % mechanical strain). Temperature intervals of TMF tests were chosen as either 300-620°C or 500-620°C, resembling so-called warm or hot start conditions of a power plant.
The test results will be presented and discussed with a focus on the impact of hold periods during testing (combined creep/relaxation-fatigue conditions) on mechanical softening, lifetime and formation of cracks. The findings will be complemented by results on the modification of the hierarchical ferritic-martensitic microstructure under different loading scenarios.
9-12% Cr ferritic-martensitic stainless steels are widely used as high temperature construction materials in fossil fueled power plants due to their excellent creep and oxidation resistance, but changes in electricity markets during the last two decades have considerably changed the typical working conditions of these facilities. The growing share of renewable energy sources in power generation forces most of these plants into flexible operation with frequent load shifts or shutdowns. These cyclic operation profiles constitute a major lifetime issue, raising the question which fundamental processes govern the reaction of ferritic-martensitic steels to cyclic load and temperature variations.
The present contribution reports on current findings obtained in a multidisciplinary project funded by German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) which combines cyclic mechanical and cyclic oxidation testing of different 9-12% Cr grades with detailed microstructural analyses and related micromechanical modeling.
In the present first part of our contribution, an overview will be given on the results obtained in the mechanical testing programme of the project. Mechanical analyses were carried out on P91 and (mainly) P92 steel grades, particularly looking at softening phenomena and lifetimes obtained in isothermal cyclic loading (low cycle fatigue, LCF), non-isothermal cyclic loading (thermo-mechanical fatigue, TMF), and service-like combinations of creep and fatigue periods. For this purpose, cylindrical specimens were extracted from thick-walled steam pipes, orthogonal to the pipe axis, and subjected to strain controlled cyclic loading (± 0.2 to ±0.5 % mechanical strain) to different degrees of softening at temperatures up to 620 °C.
The test results will be presented and discussed with a focus on the impact of hold periods (i.e. combined creep-fatigue conditions) on mechanical softening, lifetime and crack formation. Details on the microstructural evolution and their representation in a micromechanical model will be given in a second, complementary contribution to this conference.
Microstructure ageing of stainless steel AISI 316L manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM)
(2019)
Additive manufacturing (AM) processes, such as SLM, offer a variety of advantages compared to conventional manufacturing. Today AM parts are still comparatively less cost-effective if they are manufactured in large quantities. To make the AM parts more cost-efficient, the AM process has to be improved. It requires a good understanding of microstructure formation, microstructure-property-relations and ageing processes affected by different loads.
In this work the ageing behavior of SLM manufactured AISI 316L stainless steel is evaluated. The microstructure effected by mechanical, thermal and corrosive loads are investigated and compared to as-built microstructure. Tensile tests are used for mechanical ageing. For thermal and corrosive loads the typical application conditions of 316L apply. The methods of microstructure investigation include SEM, TEM, CT and EBSD. The main object of this work is the description of microstructure and ageing processes of AM parts.
An overview of the BAM funed Focus Area Materials Project "AGIL" will be presented. AGIL focussed on the stdiy of the ageing characteristics of additively manufactured austenitic stainless steel with a "powder to mechanical failure" Approach. Recent Highlights are presented and a perspective for future studies.
In this study an approach for dressing metallic bonded honing stones with hard cutting grains on the basis of electrolysis is investigated. By a combination of concepts from electrochemical machining (ECM) and electropolishing a test rig was designed and put into operation. In general, it can be stated that the Approach investigated in this paper has proved to be a suitable dressing method for honing stones. However, the dressing result is highly dependent on bond components, cutting grain size and concentration which lead to local differences in the material removal and irregular topographies. This could be overcome, for example, by setting the dressing parameters more precisely based on the best results presented in this paper.
Despite of the significant advances in AM process optimization there is still a lack of experimental results and understanding regarding the mechanical behavior and microstructural evolution of AMparts, especially in loading conditions typical for safety-relevant applications e.g. in the aerospace or power engineering. Within the scope of the presented investigations, a characterization of the fatigue behavior of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V in the low cycle fatigue regime was carried out in the range of 0.3 to 1.0 % strain amplitude at room temperature, 250°C and 400°C. The Ti-6Al-4V specimens are machined out of lean cylindrical rods, which were fabricated using powder laser metal deposition (LMD) with an improved build-up strategy. The improved strategy incorporates variable track overlap ratios to achieve a constant growth in the shell and core area. The low-cycle-fatigue behavior is described based on cyclic deformation curves and strain-based fatigue life curves. The lifetimes are fitted based on the Manson-Coffin-Basquin relationship. A characterization of the microstructure and the Lack-of-Fusion (LoF)-defect-structure in the as-built state is performed using optical light microscopy and high-resolution computed tomography (CT) respectively. The failure mechanism under loading is described in terms of LoF-defects-evolution and crack growth mechanism based on an interrupted LCF test with selected test parameters. After failure, scanning electron microscopy, digital and optical light microscopy and CT are used to describe the failure mechanisms both in the longitudinal direction and in the cross section of the specimens. The fatigue lives obtained are comparable with results from previous related studies and are shorter than those of traditionally manufactured (wrought) Ti-6Al-4V. In this study new experimental data and understanding of the mechanical behavior under application-relevant loading conditions (high temperature, cyclic plasticity) is gained. Furthermore, a better understanding of the role of LoFdefects and AM-typical microstructural features on the failure mechanism of LMD Ti-6Al-4V is achieved.
Virtual-lab-based determination of a macroscopic yield function for additively manufactured parts
(2019)
This work aims for an yield function description of additively manufactured (AM) parts of S316L steel at the continuum-mechanical macro-scale by means of so-called virtual experiments using a crystal plasticity (CP) model at meso-scale. Additively manufactured parts require the consideration of the specific process-related microstructure, which prevents this material to be macroscopically treated as isotropic, because of crystallographic as well as topological textures.
EBSD/CT-Scans from in-house additively manufactured specimen extract the unique microstructural topology which is converted to a representative volume element (RVE) with grain structure and crystal orientations.
Crystal plasticity model parameters on this RVE are calibrated and validated by means of mechanical testing under different texture angles. From virtual experiments on this RVE, yield loci under various loading conditions are simulated. The scale bridging from meso- to macro-scale is realised by the identification of the simulated yield loci as a modified anisotropic Barlat-type yield model representation.
The influence of prestraining on the aging response of an Al-Cu-Li alloy is investigated by preparation of different strain states (3 %, 4 %, 6 %) of the initial aging state. The Brinell hardness of the subsequently aged samples (up to 60 h aging time) was measured and it was found that the increasing dislocation concentration in the 3 different initial states leads to faster hardness increases and slightly higher maximum hardness.
Single crystal superalloys usually contain pores of sizes 5-10 micro-m after casting and heat treatment. These pores can be reduced under compression by combined creep and diffusion in a subsequent treatment called Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP). The paper presents a methodology to simulate pore shrinkage under HIP conditions in two dimensions (2D).
At the scale of the pores, which is also the scale of the sub-grains (<50 micro-m) the dislocation sources cannot be assumed to be homogeneously distributed. Thus, the applicability of classical crystal plasticity is questionable. In this case, the transport of dislocations under an applied stress from the location where they are nucleated must be explicitly modelled. This is done by solving the transport equations for the dislocation densities and the elasticity equations in 2D. The dislocations are assumed to be nucleated at Low Angle Boundaries. They glide or climb through the sub-grains with a stress dependent velocity.
The transport equations are solved by the Flux-Corrected Transport method, which belongs to the predictor-corrector class of algorithms. In the first step, an artificial diffusion is introduced, which suppresses spurious oscillations of the solution. In a second step, the solution is corrected in such a way that no additional extremes appear and that the extremes do not grow. The algorithm is validated by simulating the transport of simple distributions with a constant velocity field.
With the dislocation velocities and the computed dislocation densities, the inelastic shear rate at the slip system level is computed by integrating the Orowan equation. In the 2D-setting, three slip systems are considered. The contributions of these slip systems are summed up to obtain the total inelastic strain rate. Dislocation glide and climb and the coupling of climb with vacancies diffusion are considered.
The resolution of the equilibrium equations from the inelastic strains turned out to be prone to numerical instabilities. As an alternative, the stresses are directly computed from the distribution of geometrically necessary dislocations following the method presented in. The resulting boundary value problem is solved by the Least-Square Finite Element method.
Examples of simulations are presented for a representative region under creep tension and for a pore shrinking under external pressure.
A continuum damage model for concrete is developed with a focus on fatigue under compressive stresses. This includes the possibility to model stress redistributions and capture size effects. In contrast to cycle based approaches, where damage is accumulated based on the number of full stress cycles, a strain based approach is developed that can capture cyclic degradation under variable loading cycles including different amplitudes and loading frequencies. The model is designed to represent failure under static loading as a particular case of fatigue failure after a single loading cycle. As a consequence, most of the material parameters can be deduced from statictests. Only a limit set of additional constitutive parameters is required to accurately describe the evolution under fatigue loading. Another advantage of the proposed model is the possibility to directly incorporate other multi-physics effects such as creep and shrinkage or thermal loading on the constitutive level. A multiscale approach in time is presented to enable structural computations of fatigue failure with a reduced computational effort. The damage rate within the short time scale corresponding to a single cycle is computed based on a Fourier based approach. This evolution equation is then solved on the long time scale using different implicit and explicit time integration schemes. Their performance and some limitations for specific loading regimes is discussed.
A continuum damage model for concrete is developed with a focus on fatigue under compressive stresses. This includes the possibility to model stress redistributions and capture size effects. In contrast to cycle based approaches, where damage is accumulated based on the number of full stress cycles, a strain based approach is developed that can capture cyclic degradation under variable loading cycles including different amplitudes and loading frequencies. The model is designed to represent failure under static loading as a particular case of fatigue failure after a single loading cycle. As a consequence, most of the material parameters can be deduced from statictests. Only a limit set of additional constitutive parameters is required to accurately describe the evolution under fatigue loading. Another advantage of the proposed model is the possibility to directly incorporate other multi-physics effects such as creep and shrinkage or thermal loading on the constitutive level. A multiscale approach in time is presented to enable structural computations of fatigue failure with a reduced computational effort. The damage rate within the short time scale corresponding to a single cycle is computed based on a Fourier based approach. This evolution equation is then solved on the long time scale using different implicit and explicit time integration schemes. Their performance and some limitations for specific loading regimes is discussed.
Computational methods for lifetime prediction of metallic components under high-temperature fatigue
(2019)
The issue of service life prediction of hot metallic components subjected to cyclic loadings is addressed. Two classes of lifetime models are considered, namely, the incremental lifetime rules and the parametric models governed by the fracture mechanics concept. Examples of application to an austenitic cast iron are presented. In addition, computational techniques to accelerate the time integration of the incremental models throughout the fatigue loading history are discussed. They efficiently solve problems where a stabilized response of a component is not observed, for example due to the plastic strain which is no longer completely reversed and accumulates throughout the fatigue history. The performance of such an accelerated Integration technique is demonstrated for a finite element simulation of a viscoplastic solid under repeating loading–unloading cycles.
Despite of the significant advances in additive manufacturing (AM) process optimization there is still a lack of experimental results and understanding regarding the mechanical behavior and its relationship with the microstructural features of AM-parts, especially in loading conditions typical for safety-relevant applications. Within the scope of the presented ongoing investigations, a basic microstructural characterization, tensile tests at room and elevated temperature (400°C) as well as a characterization of the fatigue behavior of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V in the low cycle fatigue regime are carried out in the as-built state. After failure, different techniques are used to describe the failure mechanisms of the specimens. The AM-Specimens are provided by the Fraunhofer institute for production systems and design technology and investigated at the BAM following the philosophy of the TF-Project AGIL.
Virtual-lab-based determination of a macroscopic yield function for additively manufactured parts
(2019)
This work aims for a yield function description of additively manufactured parts of S316L steel at the continuum-mechanical macro-scale by means of so-called virtual experiments using a crystal plasticity (CP) model at meso-scale. Additively manufactured parts require the consideration of the specific process-related microstructure, which prevents this material to be macroscopically treated as isotropic, because of crystallographic as well as topological textures. From virtual experiments, yield loci under various loading conditions are simulated. The scale bridging from meso- to macro-scale is realised by the identification of the simulated yield loci as a modified anisotropic Barlat-type yield model representation.
Lifetime aspects including fatigue failure of concrete structures were traditionally only of minor importance. Because of the growing interest in maxing out the capacities of concrete, its fatigue failure under compression has become an issue. A variety of interacting phenomena such as e.g. loss of prestress, degradation due to chemical reactions or creep and shrinkage influence the fatigue resistance. Failure due to cyclic loads is generally not instantaneous, but characterized by a steady damage accumulation. Therefore, a reliable numerical model to predict the performance of concrete over its lifetime is required, which accurately captures order effects and full three-dimensional stress states.
Many constitutive models for concrete are currently available, which are applicable for specific loading regimes, different time scales and different resolution scales.
However, a key limitation of those models is that they generally do not address issues related to fatigue on a structural level. Very few models can be found in the literature that reproduce deterioration of concrete under repeated loading-unloading cycles. This is due to the computational effort necessary to explicitly resolve every cycle which exceeds the currently available computational resources. The limitation can only be overcome by the application of multiscale methods in time.
The objective of the paper is the development of numerical methods for the simulation of concrete under fatigue loading using temporal multiscale methods.
First, a continuum damage model for concrete is developed with a focus on fatigue under compressive stresses [1]. This includes the possibility to model stress redistributions and capture size effects. In contrast to cycle based approaches, where damage is accumulated based on the number of full stress cycles, a strain based approach is developed that can capture cyclic degradation under variable loading cycles including different amplitudes and loading frequencies. The model is designed to represent failure under static loading as a particular case of fatigue failure after a single loading cycle. As a consequence, most of the material parameters can be deduced from static tests. Only a limit set of additional constitutive parameters is required to accurately describe the evolution under fatigue loading. Another advantage of the proposed model is the possibility to directly incorporate other multi-physics effects such as creep and shrinkage or thermal loading on the constitutive level.
Second, a multiscale approach in time is presented to enable structural computations of fatigue failure with a reduced computational effort. The damage rate within the short time scale corresponding to a single cycle is computed based on a Fourier based approach [2]. This evolution equation is then solved on the long time scale using different implicit and explicit time integration schemes. Their performance and some limitations for specific loading regimes is discussed.
Finally, the developed methods will be validated and compared to experimental data.
[1] Vitaliy Kindrachuk, Marc Thiele, Jörg F. Unger. Constitutive modeling of creep-fatigue interaction for normal strength concrete under compression, International Journal of Fatigue, 78:81-94, 2015
[2] Vitaliy Kindrachuk, Jörg F. Unger. A Fourier transformation-based temporal integration scheme for viscoplastic solids subjected to fatigue deterioration, International Journal of Fatigue, 100:215-228, 2017
Lifetime aspects including fatigue failure of concrete structures were traditionally only of minor importance. Because of the growing interest in maxing out the capacities of concrete, its fatigue failure under compression has become an issue. A variety of interacting phenomena such as e.g. loss of prestress, degradation due to chemical reactions or creep and shrinkage influence the fatigue resistance. Failure due to cyclic loads is generally not instantaneous, but characterized by a steady damage accumulation. Therefore, a reliable numerical model to predict the performance of concrete over its lifetime is required, which accurately captures order effects and full three-dimensional stress states.
Many constitutive models for concrete are currently available, which are applicable for specific loading regimes, different time scales and different resolution scales.
However, a key limitation of those models is that they generally do not address issues related to fatigue on a structural level. Very few models can be found in the literature that reproduce deterioration of concrete under repeated loading-unloading cycles. This is due to the computational effort necessary to explicitly resolve every cycle which exceeds the currently available computational resources. The limitation can only be overcome by the application of multiscale methods in time.
The objective of the paper is the development of numerical methods for the simulation of concrete under fatigue loading using temporal multiscale methods.
First, a continuum damage model for concrete is developed with a focus on fatigue under compressive stresses. This includes the possibility to model stress redistributions and capture size effects. In contrast to cycle based approaches, where damage is accumulated based on the number of full stress cycles, a strain based approach is developed that can capture cyclic degradation under variable loading cycles including different amplitudes and loading frequencies. The model is designed to represent failure under static loading as a particular case of fatigue failure after a single loading cycle. As a consequence, most of the material parameters can be deduced from static tests. Only a limit set of additional constitutive parameters is required to accurately describe the evolution under fatigue loading. Another advantage of the proposed model is the possibility to directly incorporate other multi-physics effects such as creep and shrinkage or thermal loading on the constitutive level.
Second, a multiscale approach in time is presented to enable structural computations of fatigue failure with a reduced computational effort. The damage rate within the short time scale corresponding to a single cycle is computed based on a Fourier based approach. This evolution equation is then solved on the long time scale using different implicit and explicit time integration schemes. Their performance and some limitations for specific loading regimes is discussed.
Finally, the developed methods will be validated and compared to experimental data.
The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and the thermomechanical properties of the polymers used in superconducting magnets need to be known in order to predict their stress state under the different magnet assembly and operating conditions.
We have measured Young’s moduli of typically used polymers during in situ heat cycles with the dynamic resonancemethod. The dynamic test results are compared with Young’s moduli determined from quasi-static stress–strain measurements at room temperature, 77 K and 4.2 K. A moderate elastic anisotropy is found for the fiber reinforced polymers. CTEs are compared based on dilation experiments. TheCTEs of the fiber reinforced polymers studied are similar to those of copper or steel. In contrast, the pure resins exhibit relatively larger CTEs.
Due to their excellent creep resistance and good oxidation resistance, 9–12% Cr ferritic–martensitic stainless steels are widely used as high temperature construction materials in power plants. However, the mutual combination of different loadings (e.g., creep and fatigue), due to a “flexible” operation of power plants, may seriously reduce the lifetimes of the respective components. In the present study, low cycle fatigue (LCF) and relaxation fatigue (RF) tests performed on grade P92 helped to understand the behavior of ferritic–martensitic steels under a combined loading. The softening and lifetime behavior strongly depend on the temperature and total strain range. Especially at small strain amplitudes, the lifetime is seriously reduced when adding a hold time which indicates the importance of considering technically relevant small strains.
Modelling of environmentally assisted material degradation in the crack phase-field framework
(2019)
The simulation of crack propagation was conducted with a diffusive crack model in a variational framework. Moreover, the physically sound introduction of mass transport and coupling mechanisms due to environmentally assisted effects could be realised in this framework. The objective consists of the application of the phase-field Approach towards the simulation of environmentally assisted material degradation with the advantage of a non-required predefined crack path and a mesh-independent non-local formulation that facilitates the damage evolution with respect to material softening. The sharp crack is regularised by the introduction of a phase-field order parameter leading to a diffusive crack formulation.
Besides the equations originating from the linear momentum balance an additional evolution equation for the crack phase-field is introduced. Furthermore, mass transport is simulated by a Diffusion equation. The description delivered by the variational phase-field framework is able to simulate crack propagation according to published numerical test cases.
Additionally, the calculation of stress intensity factors is possible as well as crack resistance curves that describe stable crack propagation.
The age hardening response of a high-purity Al–4Cu–1Li–0.25Mn alloy (wt. %) during isothermal aging without and with an applied external load was investigated. Plate shaped nanometer size T1 (Al2CuLi) and θ′ (Al2Cu) hardening phases were formed. The precipitates were analyzed with respect to the development of their structure, size, number density, volume fraction and associated transformation strains by conducting transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) studies in combination with geometrical Phase analysis (GPA). Special attention was paid to the thickening of T1 phase. Two elementary types of single-layer T1 precipitate, one with a Li-rich (Type 1) and another with an Al-rich (Defect Type 1) central layer, were identified. The results show that the Defect Type 1 structure can act as a precursor for the Type 1 structure. The thickening of T1 precipitates occurs by alternative stacking of These two elementary structures. The thickening mechanism was analyzed based on the magnitude of strain associated with the precipitation transformation normal to its habit plane. Long-term aging and aging under load resulted in thicker and structurally defected T1 precipitates. Several types of defected precipitates were characterized and discussed. For θ′ precipitates, a ledge mechanism of
thickening was observed. Compared to the normal aging, an external load applied to the peak aged state leads to small variations in the average sizes and volume fractions of the precipitates.
The current competitive situation on electricity markets forces power plants into cyclic operation regimes with frequent load shifts and starts/shutdowns. In the present work, the cyclic mechanical behavior of ferritic-martensitic 9-12 % Cr steels under isothermal and thermomechanical loading was investigated for the example of grade P92 material. A continuous softening was observed under all loading conditions. The introduction of hold periods to the applied cycles reduced material lifetime, with most prominent effects at technologically relevant small strain levels. The microstructural characterization reveals a coarsening of the original “martensitic” lath-type microstructure to a structure with polygonal subgrains and reduced dislocation density. The microstructural data forms the input for a physically-based modelling approach.
9-12% Cr ferritic-martensitic stainless steels are widely used as high temperature construction materials in power plants due to their excellent creep and oxidation resistance. The growing share of renewable energy sources in power generation forces many of these plants into more flexible operation with frequent load shifts or shutdowns. These cyclic operation profiles constitute a major lifetime issue.
The present contribution reports on current findings obtained in a multidisciplinary project which combines cyclic mechanical and cyclic oxidation testing with detailed microstructural analyses. Mechanical analyses are carried out on P92 and P91 steel grades to give an overview of softening phenomena and lifetimes obtained in isothermal cyclic loading (low cycle fatigue, LCF), non-isothermal cyclic loading (thermo-mechanical fatigue, TMF), and service-like combinations of creep and fatigue periods (creep-fatigue interaction).
Oxidation testing focuses on the grades P92 and VM12 with the intention of clarifying the impact of frequent passes through intermediate temperature levels on the kinetics of steam-side oxidation and the characteristics of the evolving oxide scales. An attempt is made to evaluate their composition, strength, integrity and adhesion after up to 250 temperature cycles. Flat coupons as well as curved tube sections are tested to assess the mutual influence of geometry on oxide scale integrity.
Complementary microstructural investigations by scanning and transmission electron microscopy plus EBSD are used for phase identification and substrate/oxide interface characterisation. The evolutions of grain size and dislocation density under different test conditions are quantified.
9-12% Cr ferritic-martensitic stainless steels are widely used as high temperature construction materials in power plants due to their excellent creep and oxidation resistance. The growing share of renewable energy sources in power generation forces many of these plants into more flexible operation with frequent load shifts or shutdowns. These cyclic operation profiles constitute a major lifetime issue. The present contribution reports on current findings obtained in a multidisciplinary project which combines cyclic mechanical and cyclic oxidation testing of different 9-12% Cr grades with detailed microstructural analyses.
Mechanical analyses are carried out on P92 and P91 steel grades to give an overview of softening phenomena and lifetimes obtained in isothermal cyclic loading (low cycle fatigue, LCF), non-isothermal cyclic loading (thermo-mechanical fatigue, TMF), and service-like combinations of creep and fatigue periods.
Complementary microstructural investigations by scanning and transmission electron microscopy plus EBSD are used for phase identification, substrate/oxide interface characterization and quantification of the microstructure evolution under cyclic conditions.
The employment of renewable energy resources, which are naturally intermittent, for electricity generation has altered the working conditions of conventional power plants from continuous (baseload) to cyclic or flexible operation. For a long time, 9-12% Cr ferritic-martensitic stainless steels have been widely used in power plants due to their favorable characteristics such as high creep strength at high temperatures and oxidation and corrosion resistance. The components of power plants are subjected to long term cyclic loadings including fatigue and creep-fatigue at high temperatures. As ferritic-martensitic steels are known to exhibit cyclic softening when subjected to such loading scenarios, it is crucial to study the material response in such conditions. Since it is impossible to test the material behavior exactly as the operation conditions of power plants, due to technical difficulties and cost issues, it is necessary to develop physically-based material models that can predict the material behavior in more realistic situations.
In recent years, many material models have been proposed to describe the behavior of 9-12% Cr ferritic-martensitic stainless steels, which follow phenomenological or physically-based approaches. Phenomenological models provide a stress-strain relation based on empirical observations although they usually lack physical background. To alleviate this drawback and to allow for more flexibility and wider ranges of strain-rate and temperature, physically-based models are suggested. In this approach, microstructural evolution, dislocation movement and/or kinetics of plastic deformation processes are included. The physically-based models allow for a better extrapolation from the experiment results to other operation conditions and their material constants can be interpreted physically. Compared to the former approach, the material behavior can be described more accurately and flexibly and the number of material constants is less in general. In the presented work, the existing micromechanical models developed for P92 steel are compared and extended to allow for new dislocation-based strengthening/cyclic mechanisms. Their performance is assessed in the light of mechanical test data from creep-fatigue and thermo-mechanical fatigue experiments and detailed characterizations of the microstructure evolution in the fatigued material.
The methods of computational damage mechanics are well-established for the description of degradation of materials under monotone loading. An extension to structural damage induced by cyclic loading is however significantly limited. This is due to enormous computational costs required to resolve each load cycle by conventional temporal incremental integration schemes while a typical fatigue loading history comprises between thousands and millions of cycles. Despite the permanent increase of computational resources and algorithmic performance, a successful approach is rather based on the development of novel multiscale in time integration schemes.
A Fourier transformation-based temporal integration (FTTI) is represented, which takes advantage of temporal scale separation incorporated into the cycle jump method. The response fields are approximated by a Fourier series whose coefficients undergo the evolution on a long-time scale. This is correlated with the evolution of the history variables, including damage, by means of the adaptive cycle jump method of various orders. The necessary extrapolation rates are obtained from the underlying solution of a short-time scale problem, which results from the oscillatory boundary condition and fulfills the global equilibrium of the Fourier coefficients. In this way, a remarkable speedup is achieved because the number of cycles to be fully integrated dramatically decreases.
The key idea behind the FTTI method is that the global in space equilibrium problem is linear since it is decoupled from the evolution equations. The latter are solved in the quadrature points under response fields prescribed throughout the whole load cycle. Consequently, integration of a single load cycle is much more efficient than the conventional single scale integration where the global equilibrium iteration and the local iteration of the evolution equations are coupled. This results in an additional speedup of the FTTI method.
The performance of the FTTI technique is demonstrated for two different constitutive behaviors: a viscoplastic model with a damage variable governed by the local equivalent viscoplastic strain; a quasi-brittle response where the damage variable is driven by a non-local equivalent strain. The latter is implicitly introduced as proposed by Peerlings. Both, the explicit and implicit extrapolation schemes are validated. The FTTI solutions agree very well with the reference cycle-by -cycle solutions, while significantly reducing the computational costs. The adaptive determination of the jump length can properly recognize the particular responses throughout the fatigue loading history (stationary fatigue, acceleration of fatigue damage when approaching failure) as well as stress redistribution phenomena.
A constitutive model for the mechanical behaviour of single crystal Ni-base superalloys under high temperature conditions has been developed in the framework of a Cooretec project in cooperation with Siemens AG, MTU Aero Engines AG and University Bayreuth. In addition to the conventional material properties e.g. elastic constants, the model requires the parameters of the initial microstructure as an input. Thus, the γ’-precipitate size and the channel width of the γ-matrix were obtained from SEM micrographs. The model uses the slip system theory and describes the movement, multiplication and annihilation of dislocations in the channels. Furthermore, the cutting of precipitates is another mechanism contributing to the plastic flow. The evolution of the morphology due to rafting and its effects on the deformation have been implemented according to. The kinematic hardening is introduced as a stress tensor to realistically represent the strain hardening of arbitrary oriented single crystals.
The mechanical behaviour of single crystal specimens has been experimentally investigated in tension tests at different strain rates and in creep tests under various loads. The constitutive model has been calibrated based on the experimental data for temperatures of 950°C and 850°C and the [001] and [111] crystallographic orientations.
Finally, a micromechanical model was created to simulate the creep response of additive manufactured polycrystalline structures. An EBSD image is taken to obtain the grain geometry and their respective orientation. The grain boundaries are discretised using cohesive elements, whereas the single crystal model was applied to each grain in the representative volume. The polycrystal model is generated using Dream3D, NetGen and other software previously developed at the BAM.
Virtual-lab-based determination of a macroscopic yield function for additively manufactured parts
(2018)
This work presents a method for the yield function determination of additively manufactured parts of S316L steel. A crystal plasticity model is calibrated with test results and used afterwards to perform so-called virtual experiments, that account for the specific process-related microstructure including crystallographic and morphological textures. These simulations are undertaken on a representative volume element (RVE), that is generated from EBSD/CT-Scans on in-house additively manufactured specimen, considering grain structure and crystal orientations. The results of the virtual experiments are used to determine an anisotropic Barlat yield function, that can be used in a macroscopical continuum-sense afterwards. This scale-bridging approach enables the calculation of large-scale parts, that would be numerically too expensive to be simulated by a crystal plasticity model.
Virtual-lab-based determination of a macroscopic yield function for additively manufactured parts
(2018)
This work presents a method for the yield function determination of additively manufactured parts of S316L steel. A crystal plasticity model is calibrated with test results and used afterwards to perform so-called virtual experiments, that account for the specific process-related microstructure including crystallographic and morphological textures. These simulations are undertaken on a representative volume element (RVE), that is generated from EBSD/CT-Scans on in-house additively manufactured specimen, considering grain structure and crystal orientations. The results of the virtual experiments are used to determine an anisotropic Barlat yield function, that can be used in a macroscopical continuum-sense afterwards. This scale-bridging approach enables the calculation of large-scale parts, that would be numerically too expensive to be simulated by a crystal plasticity model.
Abstract While classically used to visualise the magnetic microstructure of functional materials (e.g., for magnetic applications), in this study, the Bitter technique was applied for the first time to visualise macroscopic deformation gradients in a polycrystalline low-carbon steel. Spherical indentation was chosen to produce a multiaxial elastic–plastic deformation state. After removing the residual imprint, the Bitter technique was applied, and macroscopic contrast differences were captured in optical microscopy. To verify this novel characterisation technique, characteristic “hemispherical” deformation zones evolving during indentation were identified using an analytical model from the field of contact mechanics. In addition, near-surface residual stresses were determined experimentally using synchrotron radiation diffraction. It is established that the magnetic domain distribution contrast provides deformation-related information: regions of different domain wall densities correspond to different “hemispherical” deformation zones (i.e., to hydrostatic core, plastic zone and elastic zone, respectively). Moreover, the transitions between these three zones correlate with characteristic features of the residual stress profiles (sign changes in the radial and local extrema in the hoop stress). These results indicate the potential of magnetic domain distribution imaging: visualising macroscopic deformation gradients in fine-grained ferromagnetic material with a significantly improved spatial resolution as compared to integral, mean value-based measurement methods.
The sound numerical prediction of welding-induced thermal stresses, residual stresses, and distortions strongly depends on the accurate description of a welded material’s thermomechanical deformation behaviour. In this work, we provide experimental data on the viscoplastic deformation behaviour of a grade-s960ql steel up to a temperature of 1000 ◦C. In addition, a multi-phase viscoplastic material model is proposed, which accounts for the experimentally observed isothermal deformation behaviour of grade-s960ql steel base and austenitised material, as well as for athermal contributions that originate from solid-state phase transformations. The multi-phase viscoplastic and a classic rateindependent isotropic hardening material model were applied in the numerical simulations of both-ends-fixed bar Satoh tests and a single-pass gas metal arc weld. The influence of material modelling choices on the agreement between numerical simulation and experimental results is discussed, and recommendations for further work are given.
With the introduction of a mass transport mechanism the entire problem is subjected to a time frame that dictates the time-dependent action of soluted species on mechanical properties. A numerical framework within the phase-field approach is presented with an embrittlement-based coupling mechanism. The underlying functionals are expressed in terms of the displacement, mass concentration and crack phase-field. Within the phase-field approach the modelling of sharp crack discontinuities is replaced by a diffusive crack model facilitating crack initiation and complex crack topologies without the requirement of a predefined crack path. The isotropic hardening of the elasto-plastic deformation model and the local fracture criterion are affected by the species concentration. This allows for embrittlement and leads to an accelerated crack propagation. An extended mass transport equation for hydrogen embrittlement, accounting for mechanical stresses and deformations, is implemented. For stabilisation purposes a staggered scheme is applied to solve the system of partial differential equations by a multi-field finite-element method. A thermodynamically consistent coupling relation that accommodates the required mechanisms is presented.
The influence of heat treatment and creep loading on the microstructure of an Al-Cu-Li alloy was investigated. Especially the formation of different precipitates (T1 and Theta') were characterized and the microstructural changes under different ageing conditions (with and without external strain) were investigated to determine the effect od stress on the ageing process.
The influence of heat treatment and creep loading on the microstructure of an Al-Cu-Li alloy was investigated. Especially the formation of different precipitates (T1 and Theta') were characterized and the microstructural changes under different ageing conditions (with and without external strain) were investigated to determine the effect od stress on the ageing process.
Materials subjected to high-temperature service conditions will change their microstructure with time. Associated with this aging process is a change of mechanical properties as well as a change of damage mechanisms. Within the scope of the FVV project Aging and Lifetime, Fraunhofer IWM in Freiburg and BAM in Berlin (both Germany) experimentally characterized the widespread high-temperature aluminum alloy EN AW-2618A in different overaging states. Based on the experimental findings, models for numerical lifetime assessment with the finite-element method were implemented.
The creep behavior of single-crystals of the nickel-base superalloy CMSX-4 was investigated at 1288°C, which is the temperature of the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment applied to this superalloy in the industry. It was found that at this super-solvus temperature, where no Gamma’-strengthening occurs, the superalloy is very soft and rapidly deforms under stresses between 4 and 16 MPa. The creep resistance was found to be very anisotropic, e.g. the creep rate of [001] crystals was about 11 times higher than that of a [111] crystal. The specimens of different orientations also showed a very different necking behavior. The reduction of the cross-section area psi of [001] crystals reached nearly 100%, while for a [111] crystal psi=62%. The EBSD analysis of deformed specimens showed that despite such a large local strain the [001] crystals didn’t not recrystallize, while a less deformed [111] crystal totally recrystallized within the necking zone. From the shape of deformed specimens and TEM investigations it was concluded that the main strain contribution resulted from <011> {111} octahedral slip.
This study examines the relationship between the magnetic mesostructure with the microstructure of low carbon steel tungsten inert gas welds. Optical microscopy revealed variation in the microstructure of the parent material, in the heat affected and fusion zones, correlating with distinctive changes in the local magnetic stray fields measured with high spatial resolution giant magneto resistance sensors. In the vicinity of the heat affected zone high residual stresses were found using neutron diffraction.
Notably, the gradients of von Mises stress and triaxial magnetic stray field modulus follow the same tendency transverse to the weld. In contrast, micro-X-ray fluorescence characterization indicated that local changes in element composition had no independent effect on magnetic stray fields.
In Germany spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive waste is stored in interim storage containers with double lid systems. Those lids are equipped with metal seals (e.g. Helicoflex®) that ensure the safe enclosure of the inventory. The used metal seals consist of three components as can be seen in the cross-sectional view in Figure 1. The innermost part is a helical spring that is surrounded by an inner jacket made of stainless steel. The outer jacket that is made of a softer material which in case of assembly in the aforementioned storage containers is silver or aluminum (i.e. Al 99.5). During application the seal is compressed and due to the restoring force of the helical spring, the outer jacket is plastically deformed and adapts to the sealing surface. Hence, leakage paths are closed and the sealing function is generated. In Germany the above-mentioned containers are licensed for up to 40 years of interim storage, which in case extended storage becomes necessary before a final repository is available will have to be extended to even longer periods. Therefore, the evaluation of the long-term behavior of the seals is necessary, taking into account storage conditions, decay heat and possible mechanical loads as well.
At Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) long-term investigations are being conducted in which seals are assembled in test flanges and aged at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 150°C for accelerated aging. The aged seals are tested semi-annually (after the first 6 months in which the seals are tested more frequently) regarding the sealing performance, the remaining seal force, and the useable resilience upon decompression. Results of these investigations have been published over the past years (e.g. Grelle, Wolff, Probst, Jaunich, & Völzke, 2017; Völzke, Wolff, Probst, Nagelschmidt, & Schulz, 2014). It was found that the seal force and the useable resilience decrease with time and temperature, which is in agreement with the result of other studies (Sassoulas et al., 2006; Wataru et al., 2016) as well. Geometry change of the outer jacket has been identified as the main reason for this seal behavior. At the prevailing operating temperatures and stresses the aluminum is subjected to creep deformation leading to a thinning of the outer jacket. Since the seal groove depth remains unchanged the helical spring expands, which in turn leads to a decrease of the generated spring and seal force.
Although the main reason for the change of seal parameters over time and temperature is known, a detailed characterization of the seal behavior and a reliable prediction of the parameter development for aging times that exceed the experimental time frame have not been possible, yet.
For deeper understanding of the aging processes, an Investigation program, which is covered in this contribution, is conducted at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) that focusses on the behavior of the aluminum jacket and its influence on the long-term sealing performance. The program investigates properties of material samples as well as the behavior of the seal as a component.
Original sheet material of the same aluminum that is used for manufacturing of the seals is investigated in compression creep tests. For this, a DMA (dynamic mechanical analysis) machine is employed (here used for static tests) that allows for a measurement of the specimens deformation under forces of up to 500 N. The advantage of this method is that the original material can be tested in the same shape as used for the seals which is 0.5 mm thick sheet material. For investigation of tensile creep standard specimens are used, that were machined from surrogate material of the same composition and annealing condition.
Furthermore, aluminum seals that are cut into smaller segments are assembled in flanges and placed in heating chambers at temperatures ranging from 23°C to 150°C. After different periods of time from 3 days to 300 days the segments are taken out of the flanges and are investigated, thus giving information on different states of aging. Measurements of the development of the seal contact width and the aluminum jacket thickness are done with an optical microscope. Further investigations on the segments will include metallography and hardness measurements.
From the detailed material and component behavior including the results of the long-term seal force and useable resilience investigations a better understanding of the overall seal behavior can be gained. The aim is to contribute to the development of material models and analytical approaches for the prediction of the sealing behavior in dependence of time and temperature.
In Germany spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high level radioactive waste (HLW) are stored in interim storage containers with double lid systems. Those lids are equipped with metal seals (e.g. Helicoflex®) that ensure the safe enclosure of the inventory. Being licensed for up to 40 years of interim storage the evaluation of the long-term behavior of the seals is necessary, taking into account storage conditions, decay heat and possible mechanical loads.
It is widely accepted that the magnetic state of a ferromagnetic material may be irreversibly altered by mechanical loading due to magnetoelastic effects. A novel standardized nondestructive testing (NDT) technique uses weak magnetic stray fields, which are assumed to arise from inhomogeneous deformation, for structural health monitoring (i.e., for detection and assessment of damage). However, the mechanical and microstructural complexity of damage has hitherto only been insufficiently considered. The aim of this study is to discuss the phenomenon of inhomogeneous “self-magnetization” of a polycrystalline ferromagnetic material under inhomogeneous deformation experimentally and with stronger material-mechanical focus. To this end, notched specimens were elastically and plastically deformed. Surface magnetic states were measured by a three-axis giant magnetoresistant (GMR) sensor and were compared with strain field (digital image correlation) and optical topography measurements. It is demonstrated that the stray fields do not solely form due to magnetoelastic effects. Instead, inhomogeneous plastic deformation causes topography, which is one of the main origins for the magnetic stray field formation. Additionally, if not considered, topography may falsify the magnetic signals due to variable lift-off values. The correlation of magnetic vector components with mechanical tensors, particularly for multiaxial stress/strain states and inhomogeneous elastic-plastic deformations remains an issue.
Giant magneto-resistive (GMR) sensor based metal magnetic memory (MMM) technique is proposed for mapping of deformation-induced self-magnetic leakage fields (SMLFs) in carbon steel. The specimens were subjected to different amounts of tensile deformation and the deformation-induced SMLFs were measured using a GMR sensor after unloading the specimens. 3D-nonlinear finite element modeling was performed to predict stress–strain state in a steel specimen under tensile load. The experimentally obtained SMLF images were correlated with the finite element model predicted stress–strain states. Studies reveal that the MMM technique can detect the plastic deformation with signal-to-noise ratio better than 20 dB. The technique enables the mapping of plastic deformation in carbon steels for the evaluation of the severity of deformation. The study also reveals that deformation-induced SMLF is influenced by the presence of initial surface residual stress, introduced by shot peening. The intensity of SMLF signal is found to increase with increase in tensile load and decrease with shot peening.