An experimental investigation on fatigue crack growth of AL6XN stainless steel

S. Kalnaus, F. Fan, A. K. Vasudevan, Y. Jiang

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46 Scopus citations

Abstract

The crack growth behavior of AL6XN stainless steel was experimentally investigated using round compact tension (CT) specimens. The influences of the R-ratio (the ratio of the minimum load over the maximum applied load in a cycle), the tensile and compressive overloads, and the loading sequence on crack growth were studied in detail. The results from the constant-amplitude experiments show a sensitivity of the crack growth rate to the R-ratio. The application of a tensile overload has a profound effect on crack growth, resulting in a significant retardation in the crack propagation rate. A compressive overload (underload) leads to a short-lived acceleration in crack growth. Results from the two-step high-low loading reveal a period of crack growth retardation at the beginning of the lower amplitude step, an effect similar to that of a single overload. A crack driving force parameter together with a modified Wheeler model is found to correlate the crack growth experiments well.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2002-2019
Number of pages18
JournalEngineering Fracture Mechanics
Volume75
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Fatigue crack growth
  • Steel
  • Stress intensity factor

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