A Finite Element Procedure to Model the Effect of Hydrostatic Testing on Subsequent Fatigue Crack Growth

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted L. Anderson ◽  
Greg V. Thorwald
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Closure ◽  
Relative Effect ◽  
Operating Pressure ◽  
Metallic Structures ◽  
Test Pressure ◽  
Finite Element Procedure

Hydrostatic testing of pipelines that are subject to pressure cycling and fatigue damage can alter the intrinsic characteristics of flaws that survive the test. The effect is generally favorable, as test pressures well above the maximum operating pressure (MOP) can significantly reduce the subsequent rate of fatigue crack growth. The phenomenon is known as fatigue retardation, which is caused by crack closure due to compressive residual stresses created by plastic deformation during the hydrotest. Fatigue retardation following an overload event is a well-known phenomenon in metallic structures, but there has been little or no effort to take advantage of this beneficial effect in pipelines. This paper presents a modeling procedure aimed at quantifying fatigue retardation following a hydrostatic test. A series of 3D elastic-plastic finite element simulations have been performed to model fatigue crack growth following a pressure test. The effect of test pressure and MOP on plasticity-induced crack closure was studied. The relative effect of fatigue retardation on remaining life was demonstrated with several examples. In some cases, the results were counter intuitive.

Fatigue Life Estimation of Welded Joints Including the Effects of Crack Closure Phenomena

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Felipe Sarzosa Burgos ◽  
Claudio Ruggieri ◽  
Leonardo Barbosa Godefroid ◽  
Gustavo H. B. Donato
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Closure ◽  
Crack Opening ◽  
Weld Strength ◽  
Operating Life ◽  
Mechanical Heterogeneity

The integrity of mechanical components, particularly when they experience considerable fatigue damage during its operating life, can be strongly influenced by the presence of residual stress fields and mechanical heterogeneity. Premature closure of crack flanks greatly influences fatigue crack growth rate. Extensive elastic-plastic finite element analyses have been carried out to investigate detailed crack closure behavior in center cracked welded compact tension (CT) specimens with one level of weld strength mismatch. The finite element results show that homogeneous, soft material has higher crack opening loads than heterogeneous material with 50% overmatch conditions. Fracture testing conducted on C(T) specimens to measure fatigue crack growth rates for an ASTM A516 Gr. 70 steel weldment provide the experimental data to support such behavior. The fatigue life can be reduced by more than 100% for a condition of 50% overmatch when compared with the evenmatch condition. It was verified that most of time spent in fatigue propagation life is consumed at the beginning of the propagation life.

Characterizing Fatigue Crack Closure by Numerical Analysis

2008 ◽  
Vol 33-37 ◽  
pp. 273-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Zhi Li ◽  
Jing He ◽  
Zi Peng Zhang ◽  
Liang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Length ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Closure ◽  
Crack Opening ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Fatigue Crack Closure

The crack closure phenomenon has attracted great attention in the prediction of fatigue crack growth. The finite element analysis of fatigue crack growth has been conducted by many researchers mainly emphasized on the technique implementation of the simulation. In this paper the behavior of plasticity induced fatigue crack closure was analyzed by the elastic-plastic finite element method for middle crack tension (MT) specimen. The material was assumed as linear-kinematic hardening. The crack growth was simulated by releasing the “bonded” node pairs ahead of crack tip in stepwise. The calculations focused on the effects of load cases and crack length on crack opening/closure levels. For constant amplitude cyclic loadings with different load ratios, the crack opening/closure levels increases for a while and then decreases continuously, with the increase of crack length. For the loadings with invariable maximum stress intensity factors (briefly the constant-K loading), however, the crack tip plastic zone sizes at different crack lengths remain unchanged and the crack opening and closing load levels normalized by the maximum load levels keep constants as well. The results indicate that the crack length does not affect the relative opening and closure levels and numerical analysis for the constant-K loading case should play a key role in characterizing the fatigue crack growth behavior.

Fatigue Crack Growth Prediction of Elliptical Corner Crack Using 3D FEM

2012 ◽  
Vol 248 ◽  
pp. 469-474
Author(s):  
M.H. Gozin ◽  
M. Aghaie-Khafri
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Closure ◽  
Crack Front ◽  
Crack Opening ◽  
3D Fem ◽  
Corner Crack ◽  
Closure Method

Plasticity induced crack closure (PICC) simulation using finite element analyses has been concerned by many researchers. In the present investigation elliptical corner fatigue crack growth from a hole was predicted using PICC method. An elastic-plastic finite element model is built with a suitably refined mesh and time-dependent remote tractions are applied to simulate cyclic loading. In a 3D geometry the crack opening value will vary along the crack front. For simplicity this shape evolution is neglected and the crack front is extended uniformly. Predicted fatigue life using crack closure method for elliptical corner crack is in good agreement with the experimental data. The results obtained highlighted the sensitivity of crack closure method to the opening stress intensity values.

Modeling of Fatigue Crack Closure by Finite Element Method

2012 ◽  
Vol 544 ◽  
pp. 145-150
Author(s):  
Zhen Yu Ding ◽  
Xiao Gui Wang ◽  
Zeng Liang Gao
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Propagation ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Closure ◽  
Fe Simulation ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Cyclic Plasticity ◽  
Stress And Strain

Crack closure concept is often used to explain the crack propagation behavior in cracked components. The effective stress intensity factor range is considered as a driving force of fatigue crack growth based on the traditional crack closure concept. The crack closure process and the plastic deformation near the crack tip were discussed in this paper. The standard compact tension specimen with the plane-stress condition was used to study the crack closure. A dynamic crack propagation method was proposed to simulate the effect of previous fatigue crack growth on the successive crack growth behavior. To obtain the accurately numerical results of stress and strain components, the Jiang and Sehitoglu cyclic plasticity model was implemented into ABAQUS as UMAT. With the detailed stress and strain response taken from the finite element (FE) simulation, the whole process of crack closure was described by the load curve. The load corresponding to maximum crack closure length is firstly proposed to describe the effect of fatigue damage. According to the results of FE simulation, the cyclic plasticity of the material near the crack tip persists during the crack closure period and should not be ignored.

Effective Modeling of Fatigue Crack Growth in Pipelines

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Polasik ◽  
Carl E. Jaske
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Fracture Mechanics ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Growth Models ◽  
Critical Parameters ◽  
Operating Pressure ◽  
Mechanics Model ◽  
Key Variables

Pipeline operators must rely on fatigue crack growth models to evaluate the effects of operating pressure acting on flaws within the longitudinal seam to set re-assessment intervals. In most cases, many of the critical parameters in these models are unknown and must be assumed. As such, estimated remaining lives can be overly conservative, potentially leading to unrealistic and short reassessment intervals. This paper describes the fatigue crack growth methodology utilized by Det Norske Veritas (USA), Inc. (DNV), which is based on established fracture mechanics principles. DNV uses the fracture mechanics model in CorLAS™ to calculate stress intensity factors using the elastic portion of the J-integral for either an elliptically or rectangularly shaped surface crack profile. Various correction factors are used to account for key variables, such as strain hardening rate and bulging. The validity of the stress intensity factor calculations utilized and the effect of modifying some key parameters are discussed and demonstrated against available data from the published literature.

Finite Element Simulation of Stable Fatigue Crack Growth Using Critical CTOD Determined by Preliminary Finite Element Analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 891-892 ◽  
pp. 1675-1680
Author(s):  
Seok Jae Chu ◽  
Cong Hao Liu
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Finite Element Simulation ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Stress Intensity Factor Range ◽  
Crack Tip Opening Displacement ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Element Simulation

Finite element simulation of stable fatigue crack growth using critical crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) was done. In the preliminary finite element simulation without crack growth, the critical CTOD was determined by monitoring the ratio between the displacement increments at the nodes above the crack tip and behind the crack tip in the neighborhood of the crack tip. The critical CTOD was determined as the vertical displacement at the node on the crack surface just behind the crack tip at the maximum ratio. In the main finite element simulation with crack growth, the crack growth rate with respect to the effective stress intensity factor range considering crack closure yielded more consistent result. The exponents m in the Paris law were determined.

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