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Die neue Generation von bainitischen Schmiedestählen bietet auf der einen Seite ein erhebliches Festigkeitspotenzial, das es im Sinne des Leichtbaus auch für zyklisch belastete Sicherheitsbauteile zu heben gilt. Auf der anderen Seite geht mit dieser Festigkeitssteigerung im Vergleich zu Vergütungsstählen ein Verlust an Duktilität und Zähigkeit einher. Am Beispiel des Demonstratorbauteils Achsschenkel ging das Forschungsvorhaben der Frage nach, wie ein Freigabeprozess zu gestalten ist, damit das Festigkeitspotenzial der neuen Stähle zuverlässig ausgenutzt werden kann. Als Ergebnis wird eine Vorgehensweise dargestellt, die den Eigenschaften der neuen Generation von Schmiedestählen Rechnung trägt, um den sicheren Betrieb der Komponenten zu gewährleisten.
The process-structure-property-performance relationship is a fundamental paradigm in metal additive manufacturing (AM). The knowledge of how process parameters and post-process treatments influence the material properties and therefore the structural integrity of additively manufactured metallic components is of paramount importance. With respect to this, one of the unsolved problems related to the unique AM process is the reliability of witness samples for part qualification. Focusing on the Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB/M) process, the microstructure and therefore the mechanical performance of test coupons are not representative of parts of the same material in every case. This work summarizes part of the results of an ongoing cooperation between BAM and BASF, which aims at addressing this issue by designing dedicated specimens, representative of the fatigue properties of the real component. The considered case study consisted in the fabrication and characterization of the fatigue properties of a pressure vessel made of AISI 316L. The first phase of the project was devoted to the process monitoring to understand the relationship between process parameters and temperature distribution during the fabrication of the component. Finite element models were tuned on the experimental data from the process monitoring and simulations of the temperature field in the component were conducted. The numerical results were in good agreement with the temperature profiles measured during the fabrication of the component. The second phase dealt with the evaluation of the fatigue and fatigue crack propagation properties on specimens extracted from different regions of the pressure vessel. The experimental investigations showed significant differences in hoop and longitudinal direction. A clear dependence of the fatigue properties on heat accumulation (temperature distribution) and defect size was pointed out. The third phase encompassed the fabrication and testing of the representative specimens. Numerical simulations were used to design specimens displaying the same temperature profile as in the most critical region of the component. The fatigue testing of the representative specimens is subject of ongoing work.
The Kitagawa-Takahashi (KT) diagram is a well-established tool in the fatigue community for the prediction of the fatigue limit of metallic materials in presence of defects. Nevertheless, its determination is associated with a large number of fatigue tests carried out on specimens with artificial defects (notches) to describe the fatigue limit-defect size relationship in the short crack regime. The preparation of the specimens and the execution of the tests is time expensive. Therefore, few phenomenological models have been introduced in the past to provide a first approximation of the KT diagram based solely on the fatigue limit for smooth specimen and the fatigue crack propagation threshold for long cracks. Despite the use of such models is widely spread, these suffer from problems related to the uncertainties of the material parameters. Furthermore, the mechanics of short cracks, which is the physical mechanism behind the concept of the fatigue limit, is not considered. This work discusses the advantages and drawbacks of using short fatigue crack propagation models for predicting the fatigue limit of flawed metallic materials. The KT diagrams for a EA4T railway axle steel in as-received and full-hardened condition are approximated by means of the cyclic R-curve method.
Structural alloys are largely employed in key industrial sectors and their demand is predicted to rise rapidly for the next decades. Most of these materials require a large amount of energy for extraction and manufacturing, which causes the emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Therefore, strategies for improving the sustainability of structural metallic alloys are urgently needed.
Additive Manufacturing (AM), in particular Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB/M), aims to be a sustainable manufacturing process, as it allows the build-up of complex geometry in near net-shape from 3D models, while minimizing material waste and the energy required for the process and post-process treatments.
Nevertheless, the application of additively manufactured parts in structural safety-relevant applications is still hindered by the poor fatigue performance. The cause of this has been mainly attributed to the presence of manufacturing defects and surface roughness. Therefore, a huge effort has been made to optimize the process parameters and to introduce post-process treatments to minimize the defect content. However, material flaws cannot be fully eliminated, but these can be considered in a damage tolerance framework for the prediction of the fatigue performance of additively manufactured metallic materials, which is essential for part design and qualification.
This work aims at presenting different modelling strategies for the prediction of the fatigue limit of AM metals. Simple empirical models and more complex models based on fatigue short crack propagation are proposed. The investigated material is an AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated by PBF-LB/M and subjected to two different low-temperature heat-treatments (265°C for 1 h and 300°C for 2h). The results show that the models can provide good approximation of the fatigue limits and help in the interpretation of the scatter of fatigue data.
Welded joints show large variation of the weld toe geometry along the weld seam, which is one important reason for the comparably large scatter in fatigue life. Therefore, it is crucial to take the local geometry at the weld toe into account, to reduce the conservatism in fatigue assessment of welded joints. This study is based on the IBESS procedure for the calculation of the fatigue strength, whereby the evaluation of local geometrical parameters is carried out by means of 3D surface scans. The approach is validated against 26 fatigue test series. The fatigue life is in general overpredicted, whereas good agreement is achieved for high stress ratio (R = 0.5). A sensitivity analysis conducted with IBESS shows that weld toe radii ρ < 2 mm and flank angle α < 30° have a significant influence on the calculated fatigue strength. In contrast to this, no strong correlation between ρ and the fatigue strength was determined experimentally in this study.
Die Anwendung bruchmechanischer Methoden zur schadenstoleranten Bauteilauslegung ist für zyklische Lasten im Bereich der Paris-Geraden Stand der Technik. Technisch relevant sind jedoch häufig geringere Lasten im Schwellenwertbereich der d𝑎/d𝑁-Δ𝐾-Kurve. Aufgrund des großen Einflusses von Rissschließeffekten ist dessen Bestimmung jedoch nicht nur aufwändig, sondern auch potenziell fehlerbehaftet. Die Bauteilauslegung erfolgt zweckmäßigerweise auf der Basis effektiver, d. h. rissschließkorrigierter Rissfortschrittsdaten. Von großer Bedeutung ist auch der intrinsische Schwellenwert, unterhalb dessen keine Risserweiterung mehr eintritt. In diesem Forschungsprojekt erfolgte eine Untersuchung des Einflusses verschiedener Prüfverfahren und Umgebungsbedingungen auf die Ermittlung des Schwellenwerts gegen Ermüdungsrissausbreitung Δ𝐾th. Es wurden statistisch abgesicherte Empfehlungen zur experimentellen Ermittlung des intrinsischen Schwellenwerts Δ𝐾th,eff abgeleitet. Dieser dient auch als Eingangsparameter einer weiterentwickelten Prozedur zur Bauteilauslegung auf der Basis bei einem Lastverhältnis von 𝑅 ≈ 0,8 ermittelter, effektiver, Rissfortschrittsdaten. Es zeigte sich, dass die bei einem Lastverhältnis von 𝑅 ≈ 0,8 in Laborluft bei höherer Prüffrequenzen (≥90 Hz) ermittelten Schwellenwerte eine konservative Abschätzung des intrinsischen Schwellenwerts erlaubten. Bei Lastverhältnissen 𝑅 ≪ 0,8 wurde ein teilweise stark ausgeprägter Einfluss extrinsischer Effekte auf das Rissfortschrittsverhalten festgestellt. Eine Untersuchung der Bruchflächen ergab Oxidschichtdicken in der Größenordnung mehrerer hundert Nanometer. Bei Reduktion der Prüffrequenz auf ≈55 Hz und Prüfung in feuchter Luft (60 % r.F. und 80 % r.F.) konnte auch bei 𝑅 = 0,8 Rissschließen beobachtet werden. Die weiterentwickelte Prozedur zur Bauteilauslegung auf Basis effektiver Rissfortschrittsdaten lieferte aber stets konservative Ergebnisse in einem tolerierbaren Fehlerbereich und ist deshalb zur Anwendung geeignet. Die im Projekt gewonnenen Erkenntnisse tragen zu einer robusten Bauteilauslegung auf bruchmechanischer Basis bei. Der stark reduzierte Versuchsumfang bei Nutzung effektiver Rissfortschrittsdaten gegenüber der Ermittlung von spannungsverhältnisabhängigen Rissfortschrittskurven beschleunigt und vereinfacht die Bauteilauslegung auf Basis bruchmechanischer Methoden.
A new simplified and effective method has been formalised to estimate the Constant Amplitude Fatigue Limit (CAFL) of stress-relieved steel welded joints subjected to uniaxial push–pull loading and failing from the weld toe. Starting from the sharp V-notch assumption of the NSIF approach and the cyclic R-curve of the material in the heat affected zone, the proposed method identifies the CAFL as threshold level of the local stress field at the V-notched weld toe in the uncracked configuration. Such threshold stress field assures the crack arrest at the V-notched weld toe, according to the cyclic R-curve analysis. The method has been validated against experimental results and proved effective for a straightforward assessment of the CAFL of welded joints, as the stable crack propagation analysis of classical fracture mechanics approaches can be avoided.
The role of defects in the fatigue strength of Wire Arc Additively Manufactured (WAAMed) Ti-6Al-4V is analysed by means of the IBESS model, a fracture mechanics short crack growth approach based on the cyclic R-curve. Pores and crack-like defects are analysed. Estimations of the role of pore shape and size agree well with published fatigue data of WAAM Ti-6Al-4V with pores. The model is also used to explain the effect of fabrication defects on the scatter of experimental data. This demonstrates that short crack growth models represent a suitable engineering tool for the fatigue assessment of defective AM materials.
The microstructure has a great influence on short fatigue crack growth in metallic materials. Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion AlSi10Mg alloys exhibit in the as-built condition a fine fibrous Si structure and a supersaturated solid solution of Si in the α-Al matrix, which is significantly modified by heat treatments starting already at temperatures under 260 °C. This study focuses on the influence of post-process heat treatments on the microstructural evolution and the resulting fatigue crack growth resistance. As compared to the as-built condition, two heat treatments at 265 °C/1 h and at 300 °C/2 h are found to be beneficial to the fatigue crack growth resistance of the investigated material.
Fraucture mechanics-based probablistic structural integrity assessment for aero-engine turbine disk
(2023)
Aero-engine turbine disks are safety-relevant components which are operated under high thermal and mechanical stress conditions. The aim of this work is to present part of a fracture mechanics-based probabilistic assessment procedure under development which aims at calculating the critical rotational speed of the turbine disk based on the numerical-analytical solutions and regulations for the failure probability. In particular, the rim-peeling failure mode is considered as case study. A semi-circular surface crack is modelled at the most stressed region at the diaphragm of a turbine disk. In order to design a lab representative specimen, beside the crack driving force, expressed in terms of J-integral, also the constraint to plastic deformation e.g., stress triaxiality, at the crack-tip must be similar for the same crack in the specimen and in the disk. The analytical solutions to calculate the crack driving force for the lab representative specimen are used for the Monte Carlo simulations, the result of which has been assessed in the form of a Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD). The results of the probabilistic structural integrity assessment show good agreement between Monte Carlo simulations and certification values for the disk in terms of expected failure mode and value of the critical speed.
The fatigue assessment of welded joints requires several input data, which can be subdivided into three categories: geometry, material and loading. The number of input data depends essentially on the complexity of the models employed and on the level of accuracy of the analysis. It is common practice to use safety factors in design to account for the scatter of the input parameters. Nevertheless, overly-conservative factors lead often to unrealistic estimations of fatigue life. This work presents a fracture mechanics-based model for the structural integrity assessment of welded joints under constant amplitude fatigue loading, in which the local geometry at the weld toe and the fatigue crack growth properties are considered statistically distributed. The approach is validated against a large number of experimental data.
Aero-engine turbine disks are safety-relevant components which are operated under high thermal and mechanical stress conditions. The actual part qualification and certification procedures make use of spin-tests conducted on production-similar disks. The aim of this work is to present part of a fracture mechanics-based procedure under development which aims at replacing the tests on production-similar disks with lab tests on fracture mechanics specimens. The finite element simulation of the cracked disk considers the real thermal and mechanical loading conditions. In order to design a lab representative specimen, beside the crack driving force, expressed in terms of 𝐽-integral, also the constraint to plastic deformation e.g., stress triaxiality, at the crack-tip must be similar for the same crack in the specimen and in the disk. This has been achieved and as expected, both the highest 𝐽 -integral and constraint factor are calculated at the same location along the crack front for both disk and specimen. The results of the structural integrity assessment in the form of a Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD) show good agreement between designed specimen and disk both in terms of expected failure mode and value of the critical speed. In addition, probabilistic aspects are also considered in the calculations.
The knowledge of fatigue crack propagation data in terms of their effective values is important for a conservative and safe life assessment of components subjected to cyclic loading. To overcome issues related to the precise consideration of the crack-closure effects on experimental data obtained at small R ratios, closure-free data have been obtained at R ≈ 0.8 by different experimental procedures. The statistical analysis of the intrinsic fatigue crack propagation threshold obtained experimentally has shown a small data scatter and good agreement between procedures. When compared with effective values obtained from analytical corrections of closure-affected data, the data obtained at R ≈ 0.8 should lead to a conservative life estimation.
Aero-engine turbine disks are safety-relevant components which are operated under high thermal and mechanical stress conditions. The actual part qualification and certification procedures make use of spin-tests conducted on production-similar disks. While these tests provide, on the one hand, a reliable definition of the critical conditions for real components, on the other hand they represent a relevant cost item for engine manufacturers. The aim of this work is to present two alternative burst speed assessment methods under development based on the Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD) and a global stability criterion, respectively. In the scope of the fracture mechanics assessment, the failure modes hoop-burst and rim-peeling are investigated with semicircular surface cracks modelled at the critical regions on the turbine disk. The comparison of the predicted critical rotational speed shows good agreement between the assessment methods.
Influence of a 265 °C heat treatment on the residual stress state of a PBF-LB/M AlSi10Mg alloy
(2022)
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB/M) additive manufacturing (AM) induces
high magnitude residual stress (RS) in structures due to the extremely heterogeneous cooling and heating rates. As the RS can be deleterious to the fatigue resistance of engineering components, great efforts are focused on understanding their generation and evolution after post-process heat treatments. In this study, one of the few of its kind, the RS relaxation induced in an as-built PBF-LB/M AlSi10Mg material by a low-temperature heat treatment (265 °C for 1 h) is studied by means of X-ray and neutron diffraction. Since the specimens are manufactured using a baseplate heated up to 200 °C, low RS are found in the as-built condition. After heat treatment a redistribution of the RS is observed, while their magnitude remains constant. It is proposed that the redistribution is induced by a repartition of stresses between the a-aluminium matrix and the silicon phase, as the morphology of the silicon phase is affected by the heat treatment. A considerable scatter is observed in the neutron diffraction RS profiles, which is principally correlated to the presence (or absence) of pockets of porosity developed at the borders of the chessboard pattern.
Die sichere Auslegung von Bauteilen kommt an der Anwendung bruchmechanischer Methoden heute nicht mehr vorbei. Das vorliegende Buch bietet eine Einführung in diese Methoden mit besonderen Schwerpunkten auf dem aktuellen Stand der bruchmechanischen Kennwertermittlung und den Methoden der analytischen bruchmechanischen Bauteilbewertung. Es beschreibt die Mechanismen von Risswachstum und Bruch, die grundlegenden Konzepte der Bruchmechanik, die analytische Ermittlung der Rissspitzenbelastung in Bauteilen sowie die Anwendung der Bruchmechanik in unterschiedlichen Kontexten. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf der praktischen Anwendung u. a. anhand von Demonstrationsbeispielen, die im Detail nachvollzogen werden können.
Aero-engine turbine disks are safety-relevant components which are operated under high thermal and mechanical stress conditions. The actual part qualification and certification procedures make use of spin-tests conducted on productionsimilar disks. While these tests provide, on the one hand, a reliable definition of the critical conditions for real components, on the other hand they represent a relevant cost item for engine manufacturers. The aim of this work is to present part of a fracture mechanics-based procedure under development which aims at replacing the tests on production-similar disks with lab tests on fracture mechanics specimens. In particular, the rimpeeling failure mode is considered as case study. A semi-circular surface crack is modelled at the most stressed region at the diaphragm of a turbine disk, with the crack plane perpendicular to the radial direction. The crack is therefore subjected to a biaxial stress state and grows under increasing rotational speed until it triggers the rim-peeling failure. The finite element simulation of the cracked disk considers the real thermal and mechanical loading conditions. In order to design a lab representative specimen, beside the crack driving force, expressed in terms of -integral, also the constraint to plastic deformation e.g., stress triaxiality, at the crack-tip must be similar for the same crack in the specimen and in the disk. This has been achieved and as expected, both the highest -integral and constraint factor are calculated at the same location along the crack front for both disk and specimen. The results of the structural integrity assessment in the form of a Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD) show good agreement between designed specimen and disk both in terms of expected failure mode and value of the critical speed. Probabilistic aspects are also considered in the calculations.
Using the case study of a fail-safe design criterion for a steering knuckle of a commercial vehicle, the effect of stiffness/constraint on the crack driving force in the component is discussed. The problem arises when assessment procedures such as R6, BS 7910 or SINTAP/FITNET are applied in conjunction with substitute geometries for determining the model parameters K-factor and limit load (or a substitute for the latter), as it is common practice. In the example, the conservatism was so pronounced that this procedure was in fact unusable. A way out could be the finite element-based determination of the model parameters and their use in the analytical framework. This procedure is useful and effective if the finite element-based calculations are used in parameter sensitivity analyses.
The impact of crack closure and environmental effects on the experimental determination of the fatigue crack propagation threshold is a major problem for the assessment of cyclically loaded components, especially at low stress ratios 𝑅. In this work, the influence of the experimental procedure and air humidity on d𝑎∕d𝑁 − 𝛥𝐾 data at different 𝑅 is discussed. Unlike the results at 𝑅 = −1, the threshold values obtained at 𝑅 ≈ 0.8, i.e. under negligible crack closure levels, show a very small scatter band regardless of the variation of the test parameters and environmental conditions.
The largest percentage of component life under fatigue loading conditions is spent in the short crack regime and in the initial phase of long cracks. The use of Fracture Mechanics in the characterization of fatigue crack growth rate curves has proven to be a useful and adequate tool in the prediction of fatigue lifetimes as long as certain conditions are satisfied. All the above implies the need for a methodical and accurate procedure of assessment of the material response in order to achieve a reliable prediction of lifetime in components under safe conditions, based on the damage tolerance approach. It also highlights the need to analyse the response of increasingly reduced thicknesses, which, as time goes by, show greater differences with respect to those commonly studied and defined in standards and design guidelines, as well as to the experimental studies that can be found in the literature at present. Some examples of thin-walled components are turbine blades or certain additively manufactured parts where, additionally, variations in material properties can occur locally and should also be examined.
Se presenta una guía completa del procedimiento experimental para la determinación del valor umbral ΔKth intrínseco y caracterización de curvas FCGR sobre el acero de alta resistencia S960QL empleando probetas de pequeña escala. El análisis se realiza comparando probetas SENB de diferentes geometrías, distinguiendo entre “convencionales” y “miniatura”. Las primeras con espesor (B) de 6 mm y anchura (W) de 19, y las segundas con B = 3 y dos valores distintos de W, 4 y 6 mm. A fin de identificar el valor umbral ΔKth intrínseco, la relación de cargas (R) aplicada en todos los ensayos fue 0,8. La técnica de caída de potencial (DCPD) se utilizó para la monitorización del tamaño de grieta a lo largo de los ensayos.
La evaluación de los resultados experimentales confirma la equiparación de resultados entre las distintas geometrías y configuraciones de ensayo practicadas, así como la viabilidad de emplear probetas de pequeña escala en la determinación del valor umbral ΔKth intrínseco. Esto abre nuevas perspectivas en lo relativo al empleo de probetas de reducidas dimensiones en la caracterización de materiales a fatiga. A su vez, permite ofrecer una serie de recomendaciones para reproducir con éxito ensayos semejantes utilizando probetas de pequeñas dimensiones de acero y otros materiales metálicos.
La tecnología de fabricación aditiva (AM) continúan progresando y permitiendo alcanzar diseños cada vez más complejos y optimizados. La industria química es uno de los sectores donde componentes AM han adquirido un gran interés. La falta hasta la fecha de una directiva europea que regule la inspección, certificación y aceptación de equipos sometidos a presión hace necesario progresar en esta línea. El objetivo que se persigue en este trabajo es el de desarrollar una metodología de diseño sobre componentes fabricados aditivamente basada en la estimación de vida a fatiga de las zonas más susceptibles de sufrir dicho tipo de fallo. El estudio comprende diversas facetas de análisis, simulaciones numéricas, análisis de la microestructura del material y una extensa campaña experimental. La evaluación de la integridad estructural se realiza aplicando mecánica de fractura. La historia térmica a lo largo del proceso de fabricación determina la microestructura del componente en cada región y, por ende, influye en las propiedades mecánicas en cada una. Se presentan los resultados preliminares de un proyecto de investigación en curso dirigido a la caracterización de propiedades mecánicas en recipientes de presión producidos por fusión láser en lecho de polvo (L-PBF, por sus siglas en inglés) de acero inoxidable 316L. Se detallan los resultados preliminares en términos de velocidad de crecimiento de grietas por fatiga (FCGR), y se comparan los resultados de probetas extraídas de diferentes regiones de los depósitos.
Design methodology of vessel produced by L PBF stainless steel using representative specimens
(2022)
This work presents the preliminary results of an ongoing project with a double objective: on the one hand, the characterisation of the mechanical properties against fatigue damage of an additively manufactured 316 stainless steel produced by laser powder bed-based (L-PBF) technology; on the other hand, the implementation of numerical simulation techniques able to predict the mechanical behaviour of the material in order to optimise and reduce the design costs of vessels used in the chemical sector. The current state of the work developed in this research framework allows showing the first batch of experimental results of crack propagation rate (FCGR) and high cycle fatigue (HCF) tests. The geometry of the vessels studied presents three clearly differentiated regions, either in terms of thickness (11-15 mm) or concerning the inclination of the walls to the direction of manufacturing (0º - 45º). The experimental campaign carried out so far allows identifying the differences in behaviour when comparing different extraction locations around the vessel. This is due to the variations in thermal cycles that the deposited material undergoes during the manufacturing process. Therefore, this causes variations in the microstructure which lead to changes in the response of the material. In this work, these differences are analysed qualitatively and quantitatively from the results of FCGR and HCF, thus allowing to locate the regions with the highest risk in terms of structural integrity against fatigue. This preliminary phase together with the numerical simulation of the additive manufacturing process are key to achieving a reliable description and modelling of the material. The latter will make it possible to address the priority aim of this project, involving the manufacture of independent samples whose properties are representative of the original material extracted from the reference vessels. It is, therefore, a comprehensive methodology for the design of additively manufactured components based on the localised fatigue mechanical properties of representative specimens.
The robust determination of the threshold against fatigue crack propagation DKth is of paramount importance in fracture mechanics based fatigue assessment procedures. The standards ASTM E647 and ISO 12108 introduce operational definitions of DKth based on the crack propagation rate da/dN and suggest linear fits of logarithmic DK– da/dN test data to calculate DKth. Since these fits typically suffer from a poor representation of the actual curvature of the crack propagation curve, a method for evaluating DKth using a nonlinear function is proposed. It is shown that the proposed method reduces the artificial conservativeness induced by the evaluation method as well as the susceptibility to scatter in test data and the influence of test data density.
This plenary lecture aims at showing the progress in the experimental determination of the fatigue propagation resistance in metals and its application to fatigue assessment. In particular, different new experimental techniques are introduced, which allow a better description of the crack propagation resistance from short to long crack regime. These data can be then applied in the fatigue assessment to predict the fatigue limit and the total life of metallic components.
In the framework of the fatigue assessment of welded components, several methods are available in design standards such as the nominal stress, hot-spot stress, notch stress and linear elastic fracture mechanics approaches. The present paper aims at comparing two advanced local approaches for the fatigue strength assessment of different welded joints made of steel. The first one is IBESS which is based on short crack fracture mechanics. The second one is the PSM which instead involves the strain energy density approach. Both methods will be briefly presented, and the fatigue life prediction results discussed. The results obtained for the joint geometries considered in this work show advantages and drawbacks of the approaches, which are thoroughly analysed as well.
The damage tolerance approach is widely used in the design and estimation of inspection intervals of safety-relevant metallic components subject to fatigue loading. The approach relies on the knowledge of the fatigue crack propagation characteristics, wherein a relevant role is played by the fatigue crack propagation threshold. Nevertheless, the use of material data determined by testing on conventional specimens is not straightforward in the case of thin-walled components such as turbine blades or additively manufactured parts, in which the local variation of material properties in highly stressed regions must be considered. In these cases, the possibility of investigating the fatigue crack propagation properties on a limited portion of material is crucial. For this purpose, a new test procedure has been developed for small-scale specimens which allows the determination of the intrinsic fatigue crack propagation threshold and the near-threshold regime. The validity and limitations of the method are demonstrated on the high strength steel S960QL, along with a comparison with data determined by testing on conventional geometries.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is becoming increasingly important in engineering applications due to the possibility of producing components with a high geometrical complexity allowing for optimized forms with respect to the in-service functionality. Despite the promising potential, AM components are still far from being used in safety-relevant applications, mainly due to a lack of understanding of the feedstock-process-properties-performance relationship. This work aims at providing a full characterization of the fatigue behavior of the additively manufactured AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel and a direct comparison with the fatigue performance of the wrought steel. To this purpose, a set of specimens has been produced by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and subsequently heat treated at 900 °C for 1 hour for complete stress relief, whereas a second set of specimens has been machined out of hot-rolled plates. Low cycle fatigue (LCF) and high cycle fatigue (HCF) tests have been conducted for characterizing the fatigue behavior. The L-PBF material had a higher fatigue limit and better finite life performance compared to wrought material. Both, LCF and HCF-testing revealed an extensive cyclic softening.
Al-Si alloys produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) techniques allow the fabrication of lightweight free-shape components that find space in aerospace, automotive, biomedical and military applications. Due to the high cooling rates occurring during the building process, L-PBF AlSi10Mg alloys exhibit an ultra-fine microstructure that leads to superior mechanical properties in the as-built condition compared to conventional cast Al-Si materials. Nevertheless, L-PBF processing induces high thermal gradients, leading to deleterious residual stress levels that must be considered to avoid part distortion and unpredicted failures. In order to relax detrimental residual stress and to increase the ductility, post-processing stress relief treatments are generally performed. In as-built condition the hypoeutectic AlSi10Mg microstructure consist of fine α-Al cells containing uniformly dispersed silicon nanoparticles, which are, in addition, surrounded by a eutectic Si network. Above 260°C the silicon interconnectivity starts to breakdown into spheroidized particles and to coarsen. At the same time, the heating residual stresses are relieved.
The objective of the contribution is to investigate, under different heat treatment conditions, the evolution of microstructure and residual stresses in view of optimizing the fatigue performance of the alloy. To this purpose various heat treatments in a range of temperatures between 265°C and 300°C for a duration between 15 minutes and 2 hours are performed. The microstructure modifications are analysed using a scanning electron microscope and the residual stress state is measured by laboratory X-ray diffraction.
The Kitagawa-Takahashi (KT) diagram is a proven concept for describing the fatigue limit in presence of a defect or crack. It can be determined empirically with great experimental effort. It can also be estimated by means of the El Haddad relationship if the endurance limit and the long fatigue crack propagation threshold are available in reasonable accuracy. A third option is the determination using the cyclic R-curve, which describes the dependency of the fatigue crack propagation threshold on the crack growth at the short crack propagation stage. This can be experimentally determined using a closure-free initial pre-crack. It can then be applied to the determination of crack arrest for a given applied load and a given defect or crack size. Compared to the other two methods mentioned above, this option has considerable advantages: It can be applied to any component and any stress ratio. It allows the treatment of multiple cracks and provides estimations of the S-N curve in the finite life regime as well as at the endurance limit. Compared to the empirical determination of the KT diagram, the experimental effort is significantly lower and compared to the El Haddad approach it avoids problems such as the use of non-conservative long fatigue crack propagation thresholds (when the conventional load reduction method is applied to materials prone to corrosion) and the mathematical predetermination of the curve shape. The work introduces the method and provides a critical discussion as well as quantitative comparison between the different methods.
In order to find a resource efficient approach for the fatigue lifetime prediction of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) processed AlSi10Mg material, results of tensile and fatigue tests were compared. The specimens were manufactured with three different L-PBF machines and studied in different heat treatment conditions (as-built, annealed, T6 heat treated). The investigations showed that the high attainable tensile strength properties after the manufacturing process are not beneficial in the high cycle fatigue (HCF) regime. In contrast, the applied heat treatments, which lead typically to a decrease of ultimate tensile strength, improved dramatically the fatigue behavior. Additionally, a clear correlation between the elongation at fracture and HCF resistance has been found for individual heat treatment conditions. This empiric relationship provides an estimation of the fatigue resistance in the presence of material defects and can be implemented in part and process approvals.
The effect of the environmental conditions on the threshold against fatigue crack propagation
(2022)
The threshold against fatigue crack propagation (ΔKth) is a crucial parameter for the damage tolerance assessment of engineering components subjected to cyclic loading and it is composed by two distinct components, one intrinsic, dependent on the elastic material properties and the lattice type, and one extrinsic, related to the occurrence of crack closure effects. An important issue is that several factors can influence ΔKth and, in general, the fatigue crack propagation behavior. In this work, the influence of the experimental procedure, air humidity, stress ratio and test frequency on da/dN-ΔK data has been investigated. Results are discussed with their potential causes and consequences on the calculations of the residual lifetime.
Am Beispiel eines abgesetzten zylindrischen Bauteils (Achsschenkel) werden Probleme der analytischen bruchmechanischen Bauteilbewertung diskutiert. Als Basis-philosophie wird ein Fail Safe-Kriterium (kontrolliertes Versagen) angesetzt. Die Forderung ist, dass sich der Achsschenkel, bevor er bricht, in einem Ausmaß plastisch verformen kann, bei dem der Fahrer bemerkt, dass mit seinem Fahrzeug etwas nicht in Ordnung ist. Um das zu gewährleisten, muss der Werkstoff einen bestimmten Riss-widerstand aufweisen. Dazu werden im hier vorgestellten ersten Teil des Projektes mittels FEM Rissspitzenbeanspruchungen in Abhängigkeit von der Auslenkung des Zylinders und angenommener Rissgrößen ermittelt. Diese finden als Zielgrößen in der weiteren Analyse Anwendung. Da eine einfach umzusetzende Lösung angestrebt wird, werden zusätzlich analytische Rechnungen an Ersatzgeometrien (halbunendliche Platte und Vollzylinder), aber mit den realen Spannungen am Bauteil durchgeführt. Es zeigt sich, dass die Ergebnisse wegen des Steifigkeitsunterschieds zwischen Bauteil und Ersatzgeometrie unvertretbar konservativ sind. Alternativ wird ein hybrides Konzept vorgestellt, für das die Modellparameter mittels FEM bestimmt werden. Es liefert sehr genaue Ergebnisse. Im Rahmen der analytischen Rechenvorschrift können die Lösungen auf andere Werkstoffe übertragen werden, ohne dass zusätzliche FEM-Analysen notwendig sind.
Turbinenscheiben sind thermisch und mechanisch hochbeanspruchte, sicherheitsrelevante Komponenten in Gasturbinen. Ihre Integrität wird in Bauteiltests unter Überdrehzahlbedingungen nachgewiesen. Kontext des Aufsatzes ist die Erarbeitung einer zusätzlichen Bewertungsebene auf der Grundlage von Versuchen unter monotoner Beanspruchung, die die Beanspruchung im Bauteil realistisch wiedergeben soll. Betrachtet wird ein halbelliptischer Riss, der bei der weiteren Ausbreitung als Umfangsriss wächst (rim peeling). Die Simulation dieser Stelle im Bauteil schließt die mechanische und thermische Beanspruchung sowie sie Dehnungsbehinderung ein. Letztere wird anhand zweier Parameter, der Spannungsmehrachsigkeit ℎ und des (allerdings modifizierten) Constraint-Parameters nach Newman, der die Spannungen über den plastisch verformten Bereich mittelt, bestimmt. Erwartungsgemäß zeigt sich, dass die höchste Dehnungsbehinderung weder an den Oberflächenpunkten, noch an den tiefsten Punkten, sondern an einer Stelle zwischen beiden auf der Rissfront auftritt. Als Versuchsgeometrie für die monotonen Tests soll eine Kreuzprobe mit wanddurchdringenden Rissen ausgehend von einer Innenbohrung dienen. Durch geeignete Wahl der Risstiefe sowie der in beiden Richtungen angreifenden Kräfte gelingt es, bauteiladäquate Zustände zu erzeugen.
Determination of fatigue crack growth in the near-threshold regime using small-scale specimens
(2022)
A complete description of the experimental procedure for characterizing the intrinsic fatigue crack propagation threshold (ΔKth,eff) as well as the fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) in the near-threshold regime using small-scale specimens is presented. A comparative study is carried out on the high strength steel S960QL considering different single edge notch bend (SENB) specimen geometries. On one hand, the reference dimensions of 6 mm thickness (B) and 19 mm width (W) are analysed and referred to as conventional specimens. On the other hand, small-scale specimens with B = 3 mm and W = 4 and 6 mm are also considered. Several loading configurations (3-, 4- and 8-point bending) are used and a load ratio R = 0.8 is applied to avoid crack closure effects. The direct current potential drop (DCPD) technique is used to monitor the crack length. The reduced dimensions of the small-scale specimens imply the necessity of implementing a modified testing procedure compared to the recommendations of current standards for the generation of FCGR data. The results show a good agreement between tests conducted on different specimen sizes, which opens new perspectives in the use of small-scale specimens for characterizing the fatigue crack growth properties in metallic materials. Recommendations and limitations of the procedure are provided and discussed.
The cyclic R-curve describes the resistance of a material to fatigue crack propagation fromthe short to the long crack regimes and it is therefore an essential ingredient in any fracturemechanics-based fatigue assessment procedure. This work presents different testing proceduresemployed in the experimental determination of the cyclic R-curve, especially focusing onthe comparison with long fatigue crack propagation thresholds obtained by means of thecompression precracking load reduction (CPLR) procedure. The tests were performed on theEA4T steel considering different stress ratios. The results show a good reproducibility of thecyclic R-curves at every stress ratio and for any testing procedure. In addition, the cyclicR-curves were used in a fracture mechanics-based assessment to predict the fatigue limits ofspecimens containing micro-notches.
The Kitagawa-Takahashi (KT) diagram is a proven concept for describing the fatigue limit in presence of a defect or crack. It can be determined empirically with great experimental effort. It can also be estimated by means of the El Haddad relationship if the endurance limit and the long fatigue crack propagation threshold are available in reasonable accuracy. A third option is the determination using the cyclic R-curve, which describes the dependency of the fatigue crack propagation threshold on the crack growth at the short crack propagation stage. This can be experimentally determined using a closure-free initial pre-crack. It can then be applied to the determination of crack arrest for a given applied load and a given defect or crack size. Compared to the other two methods mentioned above, this option has considerable advantages: It can be applied to any component and any stress ratio. It allows the treatment of multiple cracks and provides estimations of the S-N curve in the finite life regime as well as at the endurance limit. Compared to the empirical determination of the KT diagram, the experimental effort is significantly lower and compared to the El Haddad approach it avoids problems such as the use of non-conservative long fatigue crack propagation thresholds (when the conventional load reduction method is applied to materials prone to corrosion) and the mathematical predetermination of the curve shape. The work introduces the method and provides a critical discussion as well as quantitative comparison between the different methods.
Determination of fatigue crack propagation thresholds for steel in presence of environmental effects
(2021)
The experimental determination of the resistance to fatigue crack propagation in steel, particularly in the socalled near-threshold regime, is a crucial issue for safety-relevant components which are designed to operate for a large number of loading cycles before undergoing periodic inspections. This work summarizes the most relevant results of extensive experimental campaigns conducted at BAM and IPM over the last years, which have been devoted to the determination of fatigue crack propagation characteristics on medium and high strength steels. The influence of environment, oxide-induced crack closure and test methodologies in the near-threshold regime are discussed.
This paper presents the application of short crack propagation models based on the cyclic R-curve for assessing the fatigue strength of additively manufactured (AM) materials containing fabrication defects. Chapetti’s and IBESS models were implemented in combination with Murakami’s √area parameter, considering recently published data on laser powder bed fusion processed AISI 316L stainless steels. Estimated S-N curves and Kitagawa-Takahashi diagrams predict fairly well the experimental data, especially the origin of the failure from internal or surface defects. These results provide an indication that the methods based on the cyclic R-curve constitute suitable tools for fatigue behavior assessment of AM materials.
The fracture mechanics-based IBESS approach is applied to the determination of FAT classes of butt welds with crack Initiation along the weld toe. The aim is an investigation of the effect of the geometrical parameters toe radius, flank angle, reinforcement and secondary notches such as roughness or undercuts. The influence of these parameters is discussed both individually and in combination; however, excluding statistical distributions of them and the material data. The results, when compared with conventional FAT classes for butt welds, are encouraging with respect to a potential contribution of IBESS to the discussion of more advanced quality criteria for welds. To that purpose, demands for further research are proposed.
If a component is cyclically loaded, its load carrying capacity is considerably lower than in the monotonic loading case. This general observation applies in particular to L-PBF parts. The causes of this are mainly material defects such as pores and unwelded regions (Chapter 8) and a pronounced surface roughness in the as-built condition (Chapter 9). In addition, effects due to the anisotropy of the microstructure (Chapter 6) and a complex residual stress pattern (Chapter 7) play an important role. A consequence is that common strategies of fatigue assessment cannot be transferred to L-PBF applications without modifications. Due to the inhomogeneity of the material, the determination of representative material properties and the transfer to the component is a problem, and this is also the case with regard to the consideration of defects, surface roughness and residual stresses. The chapter gives a brief introduction to these problem areas.
This article is an outcome of a workshop on Fatigue of Additive Manufactured Metallic Components jointly organized by the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) Berlin, Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Boulder, CO, U.S.A. The aim of the workshop was a comprehensive discussion of the specific aspects of additively manufactured (AM) components in regard to failure under cyclic loading. Undoubtedly, a better understanding and the further development of approaches for damage tolerant component design of AM parts are among the most significant challenges currently facing the use of these new technologies.
This article presents a thorough overview of the workshop discussions. It aims to provide a review of the parameters affecting the damage tolerance of AM parts with special emphasis on the process parameters intrinsic to the AM technologies, the resulting defects and residual stresses. Based on these aspects, concepts for damage tolerant component design for AM are reviewed and critically discussed.
Für die Bestimmung der Restlebensdauer zyklisch beanspruchter Bauteile kommt dem Schwellenwert für Ermüdungsrissausbreitung ∆Kth und dem sich anschließenden Schwellenwertbereich der da/dN-∆K-Kurve große Bedeutung zu. Dem stehen Unsicherheiten bei der Bestimmung und Analyse gegenüber. Der Aufsatz befasst sich mit der Ermittlung des sogenannten intrinsischen Schwellenwerts, der als robuster Eingangsparameter für eine „rissschließfreie“ Analyse der Restlebensdauer von entscheidender Bedeutung ist.
Für die Bestimmung der Restlebensdauer zyklisch beanspruchter Bauteile kommt dem Schwellenwert für Ermüdungsrissausbreitung, Δ𝐾𝑡ℎ, und dem sich anschließenden Schwellenwertbereich der 𝑑𝑎𝑑𝑁⁄−Δ𝐾-Kurve große Bedeutung zu. Dem stehen Unsicherheiten bei der Bestimmung und Analyse gegenüber. Der Aufsatz befasst sich mit der Ermittlung des sogenannten intrinsischen Schwellenwerts, der als robuster Eingangsparameter für eine „rissschließfreie“ Analyse der Restlebensdauer von entscheidender Bedeutung ist.
The safe fatigue design of metallic components fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM) is still a largely unsolved problem. This is primarily due to (a) a significant inhomogeneity of the material properties across the component; (b) defects such as porosity and lack of fusion as well as pronounced surface roughness of the asuilt components; and (c) residual stresses, which are very often present in the as‐built parts and need to be removed by post‐fabrication treatments. Such morphological and microstructural features are very different than in conventionally manufactured parts and play a much bigger role in determining the fatigue life. The above problems require specific solutions with respect to the identification of the critical (failure) sites in AM fabricated components. Moreover, the generation of representative test specimens characterized by similar temperature cycles needs to be guaranteed if one wants to reproducibly identify the critical sites and establish fatigue assessment methods taking into account the effect of defects on crack initiation and early propagation. The latter requires fracture mechanics‐based approaches which, unlike common methodologies, cover the specific characteristics of so‐called short fatigue cracks. This paper provides a discussion of all these aspects with special focus on components manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (L‐PBF). It shows how to adapt existing solutions, identifies fields where there are still gaps, and discusses proposals for potential improvement of the damage tolerance design of L‐PBF components
Damage tolerance counts as one of the most widespread approach to fatigue assessment and surely as one of the most promising in understanding the process-structure-property-performance relationships in additively manufactured metallic materials. Manufacturing defects, surface roughness, microstructural features, short and long crack fatigue propagation, residual stresses and applied loads can be taken into consideration in a fracture mechanics-based fatigue assessment. Many aspects are crucial to the reliable component life prediction. Among those a prominent role is played by an accurate measurement and modelling of the short crack fatigue behavior, and reliable statistical characterization of defects and residual stresses.
This work aims at addressing the issues related to both experimental testing, fatigue and fatigue crack propagation, and fracture mechanics-based modelling of fatigue lives. Examples will be provided on an additively manufactured AISI 316 L.
Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) fruits are capable of resisting high mechanical forces when released from trees as tall as 50 m, as well as during animal dispersal by sharp-teethed rodents. Thick mesocarp plays a crucial part in seed protection. We investigated the role of microstructure and how sclereids, fibers, and voids affect nutshell performance using compression, tensile and fracture toughness tests. Fractured specimens were analyzed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and microtomography (microCT). Mesocarp showed high deformability (strain at max. stress of ~30%) under compression loading, a critical tensile strength of ~24.9 MPa, a Weibull modulus of ~3, and an elastic modulus of ~2 GPa in the tensile test. The fracture toughness, estimated through the work of fracture of SENB tests, reached ~2 kJ/m2. The thick and strong walls of mesocarp cells, with a weaker boundary between them (compound middle lamella), promote a tortuous intercellular crack path. Several toughening mechanisms, such as crack deflection, breaking of fiber bundles, fiber pullout and bridging as well as crack branching, occur depending on how fiber bundles and voids are oriented.
As opposed to reviewing results on experimental determination of residual stress by diffraction, this paper discusses the open issues when dealing with residual stress determination in additive manufactured parts, in particular those manufactured with laser powder bed fusion techniques. Three points are addressed in detail: (a) the proper determination of the strain-free reference d0, (b) the problem of the determination of the principal axes, and (c) the use of the correct diffraction elastic constants. It is shown that all methods to determine the strain-free reference d0 suffer from caveats, and care must be taken in evaluating the most suitable for the problem being tackled. In addition, it is shown that, in some systems, the principal axes do correspond to the geometrical axes of the specimen, but this needs to be systematically checked, especially in the case of uni- or bidirectional hatching strategies. Finally, the need to experimentally determine the proper diffraction elastic constants is underlined, especially in the case of strongly textured specimens, which again depends on the deposition strategy.
Residual stresses in Laser Beam Melting (LBM) – Critical Review and outlook of activities at BAM
(2019)
Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies have experienced an exceedingly rapid growth, which is coupled with the knowledge about the resulting material properties and performance. In particular, residual stress (RS) was soon recognized as an important issue in AM parts, such that parts are usually subjected to a post build-heat-treated. Significant effort has been spent on simulations of RS in AM, especially using finite element methods. As a consequence, the experimental determination of RS has thereby become increasingly important as a validation tool for simulations, as well as a method for assessing the influence of process parameters. In particular, diffraction methods, which are fundamentally non-destructive, offer enormous possibilities to gain knowledge on the residual stress state in real components, since synchrotron radiation and neutrons can penetrate even heavy metals up to several millimeters or centimeters, respectively. Indeed, significant progress has been achieved, in the understanding of the origins of the RS fields as a function of process parameters, as well as their stability under thermal and/or mechanical exposure.
In this paper, a few success stories will be outlined. It will be shown how the determination of RS in metallic parts (with the focus on those produced by laser powder bed fusion) has even revealed that process parameters that were previously considered unimportant (e.g. the position and orientation on the base plate) play a major role in the onset of residual stress accumulation.
However, while RS characterization is starting to be considered in the component design, deposition strategy (e.g. build plate temperature), and even in the definition of the relevant metric to assess the quality of a part, much is still to be investigates about the hypotheses underlying its experimental determination. Therefore, some aspects to be aware of, or even those which to date are unclear, will also be discussed. These include the determination of the stress-free reference and of the principal axes of stress. All of these aspects will lead towards a comprehensive understanding of the process-structure-performance relationships in AM materials and parts.
Residual stresses count among the most limiting factors in the application of additively manufactured materials in safety relevant components subject to cyclic loading. The source of such stresses is inherent in the manufacturing Laser Beam Melted (LBM) process due to rapid cooling and solidification and their distribution in the specimen or component is not homogeneous, but it is usually characterized by high gradients. Moreover, the magnitude of the residual stress field depends very much on the orientation, being higher in the build direction.
Many works in the literature advise to carry out a post-LBM treatment to relieve residual stresses, even though particular attention should be paid in choosing the parameters for the thermal treatment in order to avoid microstructural/phase transformations, which would affect greatly the mechanical properties of the material.
Particularly in the case of the austenitic stainless steel 316L, it has been shown that annealing at high temperatures (above 900°C), besides relieving the residual stresses, may cause recrystallization, grain growth and even phase transformation. In contrast, if a too low annealing temperature is chosen in order to preserve the microstructure, the residual stresses cannot be completely relieved.
This work aims to address the effect of residual stresses on short and long crack propagation for SEN(B) specimens made of 316L fabricated by LBM, in which notches have been machined by electro-discharge machining (EDM) on the mid-plane, perpendicular to the build direction. The specimens underwent different annealing treatments in inert atmosphere, in which the maximum temperature has been varied up to 900°C. The amount of residual stresses and their distribution has been measured by X-ray and neutron diffraction and the specimens have been subject to cyclic loading in a resonant testing machine. The tests show a massive influence of the residual stresses in the build direction on the resistance to fatigue crack propagation of additively manufactured 316L. Finally, a comparison with conventionally manufactured 316L is presented.