Loading Sequence Effects on Fatigue Damage Accumulation of Offshore Structures: A Deterministic Approach

Author(s):  
Dimitrios G. Pavlou

Offshore structures are subjected to irregular loading spectra due to their exposure to waves and wind. The environmental loads cause variable amplitude stress histories on critical spots of the structures. The existing engineering methodology (adopted by most of the national standards) to estimate the accumulated fatigue damage is based on Miner’s rule for crack initiation. Paris rule and its modifications are used for crack propagation prediction. However, Miner’s rule is a linear model and does not take into account the sequence effect of loading blocks with different stress amplitude. On the other hand, the widely used Paris rule does not take into account the load interaction effects (e.g. overload-induced crack growth retardations). The prediction of the crack growth rate and the crack growth direction of mixed mode cracks is an important issue as well. Aim of the present paper is the analysis of the weaknesses of the engineering tools for fatigue analysis, and the demonstration of the advantages of non-linear damage functions and crack propagation models. A review of models for fatigue crack initiation and growth (for mode I or mixed mode loading) developed by the author is presented. Representative results are discussed and commented.

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyao Jiang ◽  
Miaolin Feng

Fatigue crack propagation was modeled by using the cyclic plasticity material properties and fatigue constants for crack initiation. The cyclic elastic-plastic stress-strain field near the crack tip was analyzed using the finite element method with the implementation of a robust cyclic plasticity theory. An incremental multiaxial fatigue criterion was employed to determine the fatigue damage. A straightforward method was developed to determine the fatigue crack growth rate. Crack propagation behavior of a material was obtained without any additional assumptions or fitting. Benchmark Mode I fatigue crack growth experiments were conducted using 1070 steel at room temperature. The approach developed was able to quantitatively capture all the important fatigue crack propagation behaviors including the overload and the R-ratio effects on crack propagation and threshold. The models provide a new perspective for the R-ratio effects. The results support the notion that the fatigue crack initiation and propagation behaviors are governed by the same fatigue damage mechanisms. Crack growth can be treated as a process of continuous crack nucleation.


2006 ◽  
Vol 306-308 ◽  
pp. 139-144
Author(s):  
Hyun Woo Lee ◽  
Se-Jong Oh

Crack growth behavior of S45C notched tubular specimen was studied to predict fatigue crack initiation and crack propagation under biaxial loading conditions. Stress-strain field near the hole was analyzed by ANSYS. The crack initiation lives and the crack initiation locations were predicted from strain based theories, and the analysis results were compared with the test results. Crack propagation behaviors were studied to understand the reason of crack branching and crack growth rates changing under biaxial loading conditions. Crack growth direction was also observed to find the governing factors of the fatigue damage under biaxial loading conditions.


Author(s):  
Koji Miyoshi ◽  
Masayuki Kamaya

Abstract Mixing flow causes fluctuations in fluid temperature near a pipe wall and may result in fatigue crack initiation. Movement of the hot spot, at which the pipe inner surface was heated by hot flow from the branch pipe, causes thermal stress fluctuations. In this study, the effect of the loading sequence on thermal fatigue in a mixing tee was investigated. In addition, the prediction method of the fatigue life for the variable thermal strain in the mixing tee was discussed. The time histories of the strain around the hot spot were estimated by finite element analysis for which the temperature condition was determined by wall temperature measured in a mock-up test. The accumulated fatigue damage around the hot spot obtained by Miner's rule was less than 1.0. Since the strain around the hot spot had waveforms with periodic overload, the loading sequence with periodic overload caused reduction of the fatigue life around the hot spot. Crack growth tests showed that a single overload decreased crack opening strain and increased the effective strain range. The increment of the effective strain range accelerated the crack growth rate after the overload. The accumulated fatigue damage for the strain in the mixing tee was calculated using Miner's rule and the strain ranges which added the maximum increment of the effective strain range. The accumulated fatigue damage was larger than 1.0 under most conditions. The proposed procedure is suitable to predict the conservative fatigue life in a mixing tee.


Author(s):  
C L Chow ◽  
J Wang

This paper presents a crack propagation model based on an anisotropic theory of continuum damage mechanics proposed earlier by the authors capable of characterizing sub-critical crack growth in mixed-mode ductile fracture. The embedded β angles of mixed-mode specimens include 75, 60, 45 and 30 degrees. The crack growth criteria chosen are essentially those developed for crack initiation and are postulated as: 1. A crack propagates in the direction of maximum effective damage equivalent stress αd. 2. The threshold condition of crack initiation is satisfied when the overall damage w in an element ahead of the crack tip at the prospective crack growth direction reaches its critical value, wc. The crack growth behaviours of the mixed-mode specimens are analysed using a finite element formulation of the non-proportional loading based on the anisotropic model, and the predicted and measured results are found to be satisfactory. The proposed model is also adapted to predict the critical loads of unstable crack propagation and the results are compared favourably with those determined experimentally. Hence the application of the above two fracture criteria can be made to address the entire history of crack development from initiation to rapid growth.


Author(s):  
Haël Mughrabi

In this survey, the origin of fatigue crack initiation and damage evolution in different metallic materials is discussed with emphasis on the responsible microstructural mechanisms. After a historical introduction, the stages of cyclic deformation which precede the onset of fatigue damage are reviewed. Different types of cyclic slip irreversibilities in the bulk that eventually lead to the initiation of fatigue cracks are discussed. Examples of trans- and intercrystalline fatigue damage evolution in the low cycle, high cycle and ultrahigh cycle fatigue regimes in mono- and polycrystalline face-centred cubic and body-centred cubic metals and alloys and in different engineering materials are presented, and some microstructural models of fatigue crack initiation and early crack growth are discussed. The basic difficulties in defining the transition from the initiation to the growth of fatigue cracks are emphasized. In ultrahigh cycle fatigue at very low loading amplitudes, the initiation of fatigue cracks generally occupies a major fraction of fatigue life and is hence life controlling.


2018 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 19007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Leidermark ◽  
Robert Eriksson ◽  
James P. Rouse ◽  
Christopher J. Hyde ◽  
Svjetlana Stekovic

A fatigue crack initiation model based on damage accumulation via a fatigue memory surface in conjunction with a plastic strain energy parameter was evaluated for thermomechanical fatigue loading in a gas turbine disc alloy. The accumulated damage in each hysteresis loop was summed up, and it was assumed that the damage at the stable state is repeated until failure occurs. Crack initiation occurs when enough fatigue damage has been obtained, and the number of cycles can thus be directly determined. The fatigue damage is highly coupled to the constitutive behaviour of the material, where the constitutive behaviour was modelled using a non-linear hardening description. Based on this, a stable state was achieved and the obtained damage could be extracted. A user-defined material subroutine was implemented, incorporating both the constitutive description and the fatigue damage accumulation. The framework was adopted in a finite element context to evaluate the thermomechanical fatigue crack initiation life of the disc alloy RR1000. From the evaluation it could be seen that a good prediction of the thermomechanical fatigue life was achieved compared to performed experiments.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 397
Author(s):  
Yahya Ali Fageehi

This paper presents computational modeling of a crack growth path under mixed-mode loadings in linear elastic materials and investigates the influence of a hole on both fatigue crack propagation and fatigue life when subjected to constant amplitude loading conditions. Though the crack propagation is inevitable, the simulation specified the crack propagation path such that the critical structure domain was not exceeded. ANSYS Mechanical APDL 19.2 was introduced with the aid of a new feature in ANSYS: Smart Crack growth technology. It predicts the propagation direction and subsequent fatigue life for structural components using the extended finite element method (XFEM). The Paris law model was used to evaluate the mixed-mode fatigue life for both a modified four-point bending beam and a cracked plate with three holes under the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) assumption. Precise estimates of the stress intensity factors (SIFs), the trajectory of crack growth, and the fatigue life by an incremental crack propagation analysis were recorded. The findings of this analysis are confirmed in published works in terms of crack propagation trajectories under mixed-mode loading conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4435
Author(s):  
Ho-Quang NGUYEN ◽  
Trieu-Nhat-Thanh NGUYEN ◽  
Thinh-Quy-Duc PHAM ◽  
Van-Dung NGUYEN ◽  
Xuan Van TRAN ◽  
...  

Understanding of fracture mechanics of the human knee structures within total knee replacement (TKR) allows a better decision support for bone fracture prevention. Numerous studies addressed these complex injuries involving the femur bones but the full macro-crack propagation from crack initiation to final failure and age-related effects on the tibia bone were not extensively studied. The present study aimed to develop a patient-specific model of the human tibia bone and the associated TKR implant, to study fatigue and fracture behaviors under physiological and pathological (i.e., age-related effect) conditions. Computed tomography (CT) data were used to develop a patient-specific computational model of the human tibia bone (cortical and cancellous) and associated implants. First, segmentation and 3D-reconstruction of the geometrical models of the tibia and implant were performed. Then, meshes were generated. The locations of crack initiation were identified using the clinical observation and the fatigue crack initiation model. Then, the propagation of the crack in the bone until final failure was investigated using the eXtended finite element method (X-FEM). Finally, the obtained outcomes were analyzed and evaluated to investigate the age-effects on the crack propagation behaviors of the bone. For fatigue crack initiation analysis, the stress amplitude–life S–N curve witnessed a decrease with increasing age. The maximal stress concentration caused by cyclic loading resulted in the weakening of the tibia bone under TKR. For fatigue crack propagation analysis, regarding simulation with the implant, the stress intensity factorand the energy release rate tended to decrease, as compared to the tibia model without the implant, from 0.152.5 to 0.111.9 (MPa) and from 10240 to 5133 (J), respectively. This led to the drop in crack propagation speed. This study provided, for the first time, a detailed view on the full crack path from crack initiation to final failure of the tibia bone within the TKR implant. The obtained outcomes also suggested that age (i.e., bone strength) also plays an important role in tibia crack and bone fracture. In perspective, patient-specific bone properties and dynamic loadings (e.g., during walking or running) are incorporated to provide objective and quantitative indicators for crack and fracture prevention, during daily activities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 891-892 ◽  
pp. 1711-1716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loic Signor ◽  
Emmanuel Lacoste ◽  
Patrick Villechaise ◽  
Thomas Ghidossi ◽  
Stephan Courtin

For conventional materials with solid solution, fatigue damage is often related to microplasticity and is largely sensitive to microstructure at different scales concerning dislocations, grains and textures. The present study focuses on slip bands activity and fatigue crack initiation with special attention on the influence of the size, the morphology and the crystal orientation of grains and their neighbours. The local configurations which favour - or prevent - crack initiation are not completely identified. In this work, the identification and the analysis of several crack initiation sites are performed using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Electron Back-Scattered Diffraction. Crystal plasticity finite elements simulation is employed to evaluate local microplasticity at the scale of the grains. One of the originality of this work is the creation of 3D meshes of polycrystalline aggregates corresponding to zones where fatigue cracks have been observed. 3D data obtained by serial-sectioning are used to reconstruct actual microstructure. The role of the plastic slip activity as a driving force for fatigue crack initiation is discussed according to the comparison between experimental observations and simulations. The approach is applied to 316L type austenitic stainless steels under low-cycle fatigue loading.


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