In polycrystalline metals, local deformation heterogeneities induced by the microstructure influence fatigue crack initiation and micro-crack propagation. The localization in plastic strains associated with heterogeneous deformation has been described as a necessary condition and a precursor for the nucleation of fatigue cracks. However, a clear and quantitative assessment of the correlation be...

Although a thorough understanding of fatigue crack initiation is lacking, experiments have shown that the evolution of distinct dislocation distributions and surface roughness are key ingredients. In the present study we introduce a computational framework that ties together dislocation dynamics, the fields due to crystallographic surface steps and cohesive surfaces to model near-atomic separat...

Steel plates with open holes are commonly used in structural assemblies. The fatigue properties of such details are influenced by bolted clamp-up and hole fabrication methods. The fracture surface, stiffness degradation and fatigue life of test specimens are investigated in detail and compared with the contemporary test data. The analysis results show that the presence of draglines greatly infl...

Successful arrest and retardation of fatigue cracks is achieved with an in situ self-healing epoxy matrix composite that incorporates microencapsulated dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) healing agent and Grubbs first generation Ru catalyst. Healing agent is released into the crack plane by the propagating crack, where it polymerizes to form a polymer wedge, generating a crack tip shielding mechanism. Du...

Mechanism of fatigue crack initiation was investigated in ultrafine-grained (UFG) magnesium alloy AZ91 processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). Fatigue behaviour of UFG material was compared to the behaviour of material in an initial as-cast state. Focused ion beam technique (FIB) was applied to reveal the surface relief and early fatigue cracks. Two substantially different mechanism...

This article presents an experimental study on the fatigue behaviour of cracks emanating from cold-expanded holes utilizing thermoelastic stress analysis (TSA) and synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD) techniques with the aim of resolving the long-standing ambiguity in the literature regarding potential relaxation, or modification, of beneficial compressive residual stresses as a result of fatig...

Since the sub-axis of machine tool spindles subjected to fatigue loading, the effects of different surface heat treatments on fatigue behavior of 16MnCr5 steel have been investigated in the current work. After the test specimens were prepared from the steel, the surface heat treatments; carburizing, carbonitriding and a practical type of treatment involving the first nitriding then carburizing ...

In the short crack regime of the fatigue process, grain boundaries in steels are barriers against crack growth. In this paper, we use: (1) a method involving crack density; and (2) a method of dimensional analysis, to evaluate the effects of grain size and grain-boundary resistance on short crack behaviour and fatigue life. The results show that the fatigue life increases with a decrease in gra...

In this paper, the stress intensity factor (SIF) variations along an arbitrarily developing crack front, the non-planar fatigue-crack growth patterns, and the fatigue life of a round bar with an initially straight-fronted surface crack, are studied by employing the 3D symmetric Galerkin boundary element method-finite element method (SGBEM-FEM) alternating method. Different loading cases, involv...