scholarly journals Performance Evaluation of a Carbon Nanotube Sensor for Fatigue Crack Monitoring of Metal Structures

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (16) ◽  
pp. 4383
Author(s):  
Shafique Ahmed ◽  
Thomas Schumacher ◽  
Erik T. Thostenson ◽  
Jennifer McConnell

This article describes research that investigated the ability of a carbon nanotube (CNT) sensor to detect and monitor fatigue crack initiation and propagation in metal structures. The sensor consists of a nonwoven carrier fabric with a thin film of CNT that is bonded to the surface of a structure using an epoxy adhesive. The carrier fabric enables the sensor to be easily applied over large areas with complex geometries. Furthermore, the distributed nature of the sensor improves the probability of detecting crack initiation and enables monitoring of crack propagation over time. Piezoresistivity of the sensor enables strains to be monitored in real time and the sensor, which is designed to fragment as fatigue cracks propagate, directly measures crack growth through permanent changes in resistance. The following laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the sensor: (1) continuous crack propagation monitoring, (2) potential false positive evaluation under near-threshold crack propagation conditions, and (3) crack re-initiation detection at a crack-stop hole, which is a commonly used technique to arrest fatigue cracks. Real-time sensor measurements and post-mortem fractography show that a distinguishable resistance change of the sensor occurs due to fatigue crack propagation that can be quantitatively related to crack length. The sensor does not show false positive responses when the crack does not propagate, which is a drawback of many other fatigue sensors. The sensor is also shown to be remarkably sensitive to detecting crack re-initiation.

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.


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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (01) ◽  
pp. 2050016
Author(s):  
Dong Yang ◽  
Dan Li ◽  
K. S. C. Kuang

This paper presents a novel fatigue crack monitoring method for steel specimens based on the smoothness priors method (SPM) and Tsallis entropy (TE) of strain measurements. The aim of the study is to detect initiation of a crack in steel specimens and subsequently to monitor its propagation under the fatigue load, based on real-time strain measurements. The nonlinear dynamic response of the structure was exploited since it degrades due to the initiation and subsequent propagation of the crack under the external dynamic excitation. The proposed method was experimentally validated. Here, the SPM is applied to decomposing the structural strain response into a nearly-stationary (NS) component and a low frequency aperiodic trend (LFAT) component. Features associated with crack initiation can be extracted from the NS component. The LFAT component, on the other hand, can be used to identify crack propagation. To tackle the singularity of the structural responses associated with a crack, the TE of the NS component was used in detection and monitoring of the crack in the steel specimen. Two other techniques, namely, acoustic emission (AE) sensor and crack opening displacement (COD) gauge were used for the purpose of calibration and comparison. The results show remarkable resemblance in terms of crack initiation and propagation identification exhibited by all three types of sensors, highlighting the potential of the proposed method for real-time detection and subsequent monitoring of crack propagation in steel structures.


2012 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 798-801
Author(s):  
Yu Rong Jiang ◽  
Mei Bao Chen

It is impossible to keep pipelines free from defects in the manufacturing, installation and servicing processes. In this paper, pre-tension deformation of X60 pipeline steel was employed to experimentally simulate the influence of dents and the mechanism of fatigue crack initiation of X60 pipeline steel after per-tension deformation under cyclic loading were investigated. The results indicate that the mechanism of fatigue crack initiation is the typical cleavage fracture characteristics and the cracks mainly initiates from the non-metallic inclusions which was the local brittle fracture materials such as MnS inclusion. With the pre-tension deformation increase, the yield strength of the matrix was increased and the toughness decreased due to the work-hardening effect. With the effects of the non-metallic inclusions larger, the fatigue cracks initiated from the non-metallic inclusions easier.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-298
Author(s):  
Wei Chao ◽  
Liu Guang-lei ◽  
Wan Hao ◽  
Li Yu-shan ◽  
Si Nai-chao

AbstractThe effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and thermal fatigue properties were studied by means of optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Energy dispersive X-ray detector (EDX) was used to analyze the role of phase composition in fatigue crack propagation. The results show that after heat treatment, the ultimate tensile strength increased from 285 MPa to 368 MPa and the elongation increased from 5.8 % to 6.5 %. During the initiation of fatigue crack, the crack was mainly propagated through eutectic Si area. With the long needles of eutectic Si particles spherodized after heat treatment, the split action from brittle Si particles to α-Al matrix was reduced and prolonged the fatigue crack initiation period. After aging for 6 h, the dispersed precipitation of secondary phases (Al2Cu, Mg2Si) elevated the driving force of crack propagation, blocked the spread of crack in the grain boundary, decreased the rate of fatigue crack growth and improved the fatigue resistance of alloy at the same time. In the process of crack initiation, the surplus-phase around the grain boundary fell off from α-Al matrix under thermal cycling stresses. The combination of interfaces was weaken by cycling stress and the fatigue crack was finally grown up in the weakness area between matrix and secondary phase.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 544-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.C. Qiao ◽  
G.Y. Wang ◽  
P.K. Liaw ◽  
V. Ponnambalam ◽  
S.J. Poon ◽  
...  

Four-point-bend fatigue experiments were conducted on the Fe48Cr15Mo14Er2C15B6 bulk metallic glass (BMG), amorphous steel, under load control, employing an electrohydraulic machine, at a frequency of 10 Hz (using a sinusoidal waveform) with an R ratio of 0.1, where R = σmin./σmax. (σmin. and σmax. are the applied minimum and maximum stresses, respectively). The test environment was laboratory air. Fe48Cr15Mo14Er2C15B6 exhibited a high fatigue-endurance limit (682 MPa), which is found to be greater than those of the Zr-based BMG, Al-alloy, and high-nitrogen steel. However, the stress versus number of fatigue cycles curve of Fe48Cr15Mo14Er2C15B6 has a significantly brittle fracture mode. Some fatigue cracks initiated from the inclusions or porosities, and the fatigue-crack propagation region was large. However, other cracks initiated from the outer tensile surface of the specimen, and the fatigue-crack propagation region was very small. The mechanisms of fatigue-crack initiation are suggested.


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