Evaluation of Internal Crack Growth of PPS Thrust Bearings under Rolling Contact Fatigue in Water

In this study, in order to evaluate the progress of internal cracks in PPS thrust bearings under rolling contact fatigue in water, cracks were observed by a full-cross-section observation method using a lathe machining. “Main subsurface crack” initiated at the surface toward the inside, then grew in a direction parallel to the surface. They connected with many “Semi-circular cracks” initiating at the surface from the opposite side to the inside, to from a semi-ellipsoidal flaking damage. It was found that the “Semi-circular cracks” and the “Main subsurface crack” dominated the flaking destruction.

Evaluation of the conditions of drill pipes failure during tripping operations

The experimental evaluation of the power criterion for the metal fracture of the reserve and the long operated drill pipes was carried out. The conditions under which, during tripping operations, the failure of explored drill pipes, containing external or internal transverse annular cracks are possible. An interrelation between the depth of critical external or internal transverse annular cracks in drill pipes with the weight of the drilling string is considered, taking into account the influence of dynamic loads during tripping operations. It is shown that internal transverse annular cracks in lowering operating drilling strings at depths of more than 1400 m are more dangerous than external ones, while at depths up to 1400 m, external cross-sectional circular cracks are more dangerous.

Observation of Surface and Subsurface Crack Propagation in PPS Thrust Bearings under Rolling Contact Fatigue in Water

In this study, crack propagation in PPS thrust bearings under rolling contact fatigue (RCF) in water was observed in order to investigate the relation between cracks and flakings. RCF tests in water under loads of 700 N and 900 N were performed. The semi-circular cracks propagated in a direction perpendicular to the rolling direction were observed under a load of 700 N. The line cracks propagated in a direction parallel to the rolling direction at periphery of contact area and the semi-circular cracks were observed under a load of 900 N. To study the subsurface cracks, full section of rolling contact area was observed. It is concluded that the flaking mechanism in PPS thrust bearing has three features as follows: Initiation and propagation of surface cracks depend on the load; When load is 700N, the semi-circular cracks growing from the surface and the cracks branching from the main subsurface cracks join to form the flaking; When load is 900N the line cracks and the semi-circular cracks growing from the surface join to form the flaking.

A Method for Evaluating the Impact Wear Behavior of Multilayer TiN/Ti Coating

An energy-controlled cycling impact test was applied to evaluate the impact wear behavior of hard coating. A multilayer TiN/Ti coating with a total thickness of ~10 μm, containing two TiN layers and two Ti layers, with the thickness ratio of these two kinds of the layers being 9:1, was chosen as the research object. The impact velocities were 60, 120, and 180 mm/s, and the impact cycles were 10, 102, 103, and 104, respectively. Damage morphology observation and numerical simulation were used to analyze the failure mechanisms. The results show that the contact time keeps almost constant under different impact velocities and cycles. Impact peak forces remain unchanged with increasing cycles at the same velocity, but they increase linearly with impact velocities, reaching a maximum value of 262.26 N at 180 mm/s. The energy dissipated rate (EDR) increases from 31.58% at 60 mm/s to 35.59% at 180 mm/s, indicating the degenerative toughness. Two impact-wear failure mechanisms are found in impact zones of the coating; these are peeling and circular cracks. Peelings are induced by cycling high-stress gradients in hard layers and interfaces. Circular cracks are caused by cycling tensile stresses in the form of fatigue at the edge of impacted pits.

Fracture Formation in Axisymmetrical Layered Materials

A stress-based criterion for the formation of a periodic distribution of cracks in an infinite-length cylindrical inclusion of radius R embedded in an infinite-size matrix has been established when the inclusion undergoes intrinsic strain. In agreement with previous studies, it is found that the distance separating two consecutive circular cracks of the same radius than that of inclusion does not depend on stress nor elastic coefficients of the material. This critical distance has been found to be of the order of 1.67 R.

Cracking in Brittle Coatings during Nanoindentation

The FIB/SEM investigations of the microstructure changes in the hard brittle W-C based coating deposited on softer steel substrate after nanoindentation tests revealed that a set of approximately equidistant circular cracks forms in the coating in a sink-in zone around the indent and single cracks appear under the indenter tip. Finite element modeling (FEM) indicated development and concentration of the highest principal tensile stresses in the sink-in zone and in the zone below the indenter, which are considered to be the reason for the experimentally observed cracking. The distance from the indenter tip to the first circular crack combined with the calibration curve obtained from the FEM of the location of tensile stress maxima in sink-in zone can be used as a simple method for the determination of the strength of the studied coatings.