It is well known that mechanical surface treatments, such as deep rolling, shot peening and laser shock peening, can significantly improve the fatigue behavior of highly-stressed metallic components. Deep rolling (DR) is particularly attractive since it is possible to generate, near the surface, deep compressive residual stresses and work hardened layers while retaining a relatively smooth surface finish. In the present investigation, the effect of DR on the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) and high-cycle fatigue (HCF) behavior of a Ti–6Al–4V alloy is examined, with particular emphasis on the thermal and mechanical stability of the residual stress states and the near-surface microstructures. Preliminary results on laser shock peened Ti–6Al–4V are also presented for comparison. Particular emphasis is devoted to the question of whether such surface treatments are effective for improving the fatigue properties at elevated temperatures up to ∼450 °C, i.e. at a homologous temperature of ∼0.4 T/T m (where T m is the melting temperature). Based on cyclic deformation and stress/life ( S / N ) fatigue behavior, together with the X-ray diffraction and in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of the microstructure, it was found that deep rolling can be quite effective in retarding the initiation and initial propagation of fatigue cracks in Ti–6Al–4V at such higher temperatures, despite the almost complete relaxation of the near-surface residual stresses. In the absence of such stresses, it is shown that the near-surface microstructures, which in Ti–6Al–4V consist of a layer of work hardened nanoscale grains, play a critical role in the enhancement of fatigue life by mechanical surface treatment.

On the influence of mechanical surface treatments—deep rolling and laser shock peening—on the fatigue behavior of Ti–6Al–4V at ambient and elevated temperatures

Generally, mechanical surface treatments induce high dislocation densities in near-surface regions. Due to the local plastic deformation, residual stresses are developed and the surface topography is changed. These changes can have contradictory influences on the fatigue strength. Results on the influence of mechanical surface treatments on magnesium are presented in relation to the relatively well-studied titanium and aluminum alloys.

Mechanical surface treatments on titanium, aluminum and magnesium alloys

Continuous, large strain, tension/compression testing of sheet material

In this study, high resolution ex situ digital image correlation (DIC) was used to measure plastic strain accumulation with sub-grain level spatial resolution in uniaxial tension of a nickel-based superalloy, Hastelloy X. In addition, the underlying microstructure was characterized with similar spatial resolution using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). With this combination of crystallographic orientation data and plastic strain measurements, the resolved shear strains on individual slip systems were spatially calculated across a substantial region of interest, i.e. , we determined the local slip system activity in an aggregate of ∼600 grains and annealing twins. The full-field DIC measurements show a high level of heterogeneity in the plastic response with large variations in strain magnitudes within grains and across grain boundaries (GBs). We used the experimental results to study these variations in strain, focusing in particular on the role of slip transmission across GBs in the development of strain heterogeneities. For every GB in the polycrystalline aggregate, we have established the most likely dislocation reaction and used that information to calculate the residual Burgers vector and plastic strain magnitudes due to slip transmission across each interface. We have also used molecular dynamics simulations (MD) to establish the energy barriers to slip transmission for selected cases yielding different magnitudes of the residual Burgers vector. From our analysis, we show an inverse relation between the magnitudes of the residual Burgers vector and the plastic strains across GBs. Also, the MD simulations reveal a higher energy barrier for slip transmission at high magnitudes of the residual Burgers vector. We therefore emphasize the importance of considering the magnitude of the residual Burgers vector to obtain a better description of the GB resistance to slip transmission, which in turn influences the local plastic strains in the vicinity of grain boundaries.

Slip transfer and plastic strain accumulation across grain boundaries in Hastelloy X

Entropy production during the fatigue process can serve as a measure of degradation. We postulate that the thermodynamic entropy of metals undergoing repeated cyclic load reaching the point of fracture is a constant, independent of geometry, load and frequency. That is, the necessary and sufficient condition for the final fracture of a metal undergoing fatigue load corresponds to a constant irreversible entropy gain. To examine validity, we present the results of an extensive set of both experimental tests and analytical predictions that involve bending, torsion and tension-compression of aluminium 6061-T6 and stainless steel 304 specimens. The concept of tallying up the entropy generation has application in determining the fatigue life of components undergoing cyclic bending, torsion and tension-compression.

On the thermodynamic entropy of fatigue fracture

The Bauschinger effect in precipitation strengthened Al-Cu-Mg, Al-Zn-Mg and Al-Cu polycrystals was measured as a function of applied strain. Alloys heat treated to contain easily shearable precipitates,i.e., GPB, GP and θ″ exhibited a small Bauschinger effect, on the order of that in pure aluminum. In contrast, alloys with nonshearable precipitates, S′, η and θ′ showed an anomolously large effect. A unique hysteresis loop shape, with a region of convex curvature between sharp inflection points, was observed in the nonshear-able precipitate alloys. The large Bauschinger effect and unusual hysteresis loop shape are due to internal elastic or back stresses exerted by the strong precipitates on the matrix. A nonlinear elastic hardening model is proposed in which the overall work harden-ing is partitioned into an elastic back stress component and a frictional dislocation forest hardening term. Plastic relaxation around the precipitates and inhomogeneous deformation in the polycrystal reduces the level of the internal stresses below that predicted theoretically by the Brown and Stobbs hardening theory.

The Bauschinger effect in precipitation strengthened aluminum alloys

Morphology and composition of second phase particles in zircaloy-2

The cyclic stress-strain curves, the low cycle and high cycle fatigue lives and the fatigue crack growth rates of annealed (1 h 820°C) and aged (3 h 480°C) maraging steel 300 were determined. Incremental step testing and stable hysteresis loop tip measurements were used to determine the cyclic σ-e curves. Both annealed and aged maraging steels were found to cyclically soften at room temperature over a plastic strain range from 0.1 to 20 pct. The S-N curves were determined from 10 to 107 cycles to failure by plastic strain controlled low cycle fatigue tests performed in air and load controlled high cycle fatigue tests performed in dry argon. The test results compared very well with the theoretical lifetime predictions derived from Tomkins’ theory. Fatigue crack growth rates were measured in air and dry argon for the annealed and aged alloys. Crack growth rates of annealed maraging steel were found to be equal to those of aged maraging steel at rates between 10-7 and 10-5 in./cycle. A significant difference in crack growth rates in the two environments was found at low stress intensity factor ranges, indicating a high susceptibility to corrosion fatigue in the presence of water vapor. The mechanisms of cyclic softening in the two alloys are discussed in terms of dislocations rearrangement in the annealed alloy and dislocation-precipitate interactions in the aged alloy.

Fatigue behavior of maraging steel 300

The Effect of shot peening on the fatigue behavior of alloy 7075-T6

The fatigue crack growth rates of three solid solution strengthened superalloys were measured at 25°C and from 538 to 871°C over a range of frequencies varying from 0.01 to 10.0 Hz. The three alloys were respectively nickel base, cobalt base and iron base alloys with approximately the same chromium content. The plots of crack growth ratevs AK, the range of the stress intensity factor, show three different regimes. At low ΔAK the crack growth rates are frequency independent and the fracture is strongly crystallographic. In the medium range of ΔK the fatigue crack growth rates are frequency and waveform dependent, indicating a strong creep-oxidation time dependent fracture mechanism. At high ΔK, nearKc, the growth rates are again frequency independent and fracture proceeds by a void coalescence mechanism. The correlations between the fractographic features as seen in the SEM and the measured crack growth rates provide a good basis for the understanding of fatigue crack growth at elevated temperatures in the elastic-plastic range.

R. M. Pelloux

Papers

The Bauschinger effect in precipitation strengthened aluminum alloys

Morphology and composition of second phase particles in zircaloy-2

Fatigue behavior of maraging steel 300

The Effect of shot peening on the fatigue behavior of alloy 7075-T6

Fatigue Crack Propagation at Elevated Temperatures in Solid Solution Strengthened Superalloys