The change of potency to nucleate cracks in high cycle fatigue (HCF) at a primary nonmetallic inclusion in a martensitic gear steel due to the existence of a neighboring inclu sion is computationally investigated using two-and three-dimensional elastoplastic finite element (FE) analyses. Fatigue indicator parameters (FIPs) are computed in the proxim ity of the inclusion and used to compare crack nucleation potency of various scenarios. The nonlocal average value of the maximum plastic shear strain amplitude is used in computing the FIP. Idealized spherical (cylindrical in 2D) inclusions with homogeneous linear elastic isotropic material properties are considered to be partially debonded, the worst case scenario for HCF crack nucleation as experimentally observed for similar sys tems (Furuya et alInclusion-matrix interfaces are simulated using a frictionless con tact penalty algorithm. The fully martensitic steel matrix is modeled as elastic-plastic with pure nonlinear kinematic hardening expressed in a hardening minus dynamic recov ery format. FE simulations suggest significant intensification o f plastic shear deformation and hence higher FIPs when the inclusion pair is aligned perpendicular to the uniaxial stress direction. Relative to the reference case with no neighboring inclusion, FIPs decrease considerably when the inclusion pair aligns with the applied loading direction. These findings shed light on the anisotropic HCF response of alloys with primary inclu sions arranged in clusters by virtue of the fracture of a larger inclusion during deforma tion processing. Materials design methodologies may also benefit from such cost-efficient parametric studies that explore the relative influence of microstructure attributes on the HCF properties and suggest strategies for improving HCF resistance of alloys.
Nickel Titanium (NiTi) alloys are often used in biomedical devices where failure due to mechanical fatigue is common. For other alloy systems, computational models have proven an effective means of determining the relationship between microstructural features and fatigue life. This work will extend the subset of those models which were based on crystal plasticity to examine the relationship between microstructure and fatigue life in NiTi alloys. It will explore the interaction between a spherical inclusion and the material's free surface along with several NiTi microstructures reconstructed from 3D imaging. This work will determine the distance at which the free surface interacts with an inclusion and the effect of applied strain of surface-inclusion interaction. The effects of inclusion-inclusion interaction, matrix voiding, and matrix strengthening are explored and ranked with regards to their influence on fatigue life.
Using a three-dimensional crystal plasticity model for cyclic deformation of lath martensitic steel, a simplified scheme is adopted to simulate the effects of shot peening on inducing initial compressive residual stresses. The model is utilized to investigate the subsequent cyclic relaxation of compressive residual stresses in shot peened lath martensitic gear steel in the high cycle fatigue (HCF) regime. A strategy is identified to model both shot peening and cyclic loading processes for polycrystalline ensembles. The relaxation of residual stress field during cyclic bending is analyzed for strain ratios Rε=0 and −1 for multiple realizations of polycrystalline microstructure. Cyclic microplasticity in favorably oriented martensite grains is the primary driver for the relaxation of residual stresses in HCF. For the case of Rε=−1, the cyclic plasticity occurs throughout the microstructure (macroplasticity) during the first loading cycle, resulting in substantial relaxation of compressive residual stresses at the surface and certain subsurface depths. The initial magnitude of residual stress is observed to influence the degree (percentage) of relaxation. Describing the differential intergranular yielding is necessary to capture the experimentally observed residual stress relaxation trends.
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