14th International Conference on Fracture

Rhodes, Greece, June 2017

EFFECT OF FORCE SHEDDING ON SURFACE STRAINS

DURING FATIGUE PRE-CRACKING

Dr. David Asquith

Dr. Vasileios Pasialis

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www.shu.ac.uk
 Measurement of plastic zone ahead of crack in fatigue crack growth
using Digital Image Correlation

Fatigue pre-cracking in experimental fracture mechanics is an essential pre-testing process in

order to prepare a specimen for fracture toughness testing.

In order to minimise any effect of fatigue pre-cracking on fracture toughness parameters, the
use of force shedding is suggested in the relative latest ASTM standard [1].

In a similar standard [2], it is also implied that loading frequency does not have any effect on
fracture toughness tests, as long as it is kept below 100Hz.

A total number of eighteen (18) fatigue pre-cracking tests were performed, using Compact
Tension (CT) specimens, to investigate any possible effect of ramping load down and loading
frequency on the induced in-plane strains on the surface of the samples.

The samples' material is high strength nuclear steel SA-508-4N.

Two different fatigue modes were employed: mode A and mode B.

[1] ASTM E1820-13, Standard Test Method for Measurement of Fracture Toughness, 2014, USA.
[2] ASTM E399-12, Standard Test Method for Linear-Elastic Plane-Strain Fracture Toughness KIc of Metallic Materials, 2013, USA.
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 In mode A fatigue loading was sinusoidal with constant maximum/minimum force limits equal to
26 / 2.6kN, respectively.

In mode B the following force shedding levels were applied (Fig. 1):

Fig.1: Force shedding levels 3

 Experimental equipment

Fig. 4: ESH 250kN testing machine with Fig 5: LaVision DIC with 5M cameras and Davis
Rubicon controller. v.8.3.1 software.

Calibrated according to Calibrated according to

BS EN ISO 7500-1:2004 standard CEN/CWA 16799 standard [3]

[3] CEN/CWA 16799, 'Validation of computational solid mechanics models', 2014

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 Optical system settings

A set of two 5Mpixel cameras were used to enable digital correlation in the 3D space, in
order to increase accuracy of strain results.

The optical system was operated in 'interrupted mode'.

Due to the low recording rate of the cameras, it was not possible to continuously
acquire sharp images during a dynamic loading event with a medium loading frequency.

During the test, the optical system received synchronized force data from the testing
machine.

The recording rate of the optical system was 6fr/s while the cycle rate was 0.05Hz,
which resulted in a number of 180 images per cycle. From these images only the image
corresponding to the highest force level was used for strain calculations.

The principal correlation parameters, the facet size and step, where set down to
17x17pixels and 8 pixels, respectively, to increase local accuracy of results.

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 Experimental procedure steps

Application of speckle pattern on the specimens (Fig.2).

Acquirement of the geometry of the undeformed sample using DIC.
Fatigue loading with a frequency of 8Hz (mode A or B) until crack reaches final length (6mm).
Acquirement of DIC measurements during low-frequency (0.05Hz) fatigue loading with mode A
for a few cycles.
Selection of a region of interest (ROI) around the plastic area ahead of crack to calculate the
induced strain field along the horizontal axis (Fig.3).
Calculation of the strain fields from DIC results occurring at the peak loading level. The picture
of the undeformed sample is the reference image for the consecutive strain calculations, as all
strains were calculated relative to the first image.
Repeat of tests at frequencies of 16 and 24Hz.

Fig.2: CT specimen Fig.3: ROI ahead the crack tip

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 Residual strains-displacements

Zero load deformations can be obtained, but due to excessively small values of strains and out-of-
plane displacements in addition to the relatively low resolution of the available cameras, data fields
appear to be too noisy and results cannot be trusted.

Fig.6: Strain-x Fig.7: Out-of-plane

displacements

The effect of noise would be drastically reduced if residual deformations were obtained
as an integral part of the deformations caused at the time of loading.
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 Strain-x measurements

Stain measurements were obtained at 26kN after cycling with fatigue mode A or B.

Fatigue mode A

SA-508-4N_ 8Hz_3
SA-508-4N_ 8Hz_2
SA-508-4N_ 8Hz_1

Fatigue mode B

SA-508-4N_ 8Hz_6
SA-508-4N_ 8Hz_4

SA-508-4N_ 8Hz_5

Fig.8: Strain-x fields around the pre-crack 8

 Results from fatigue pre-cracking

Maximum strain value per sample

8Hz Mean Difference
at 6mm crack length
Mode A 0.055 0.063 0.065 0.061
0%
Mode B 0.062 0.058 0.063 0.061
16Hz
Mode A 0.059 0.056 0.067 0.066
7%
Mode B 0.072 0.060 0.072 0.062
24Hz
Mode A 0.058 0.050 0.049 0.052
6%
Mode B 0.045 0.049 0.063 0.049

Force shedding does not appear to have a notable effect on the induced strain field
in the area ahead of the crack tip.

However, there was an unexpected decrease in the maximum strain values at 24Hz
in the order of magnitude of 25%.

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 As this result was attributed to possible mechanical resonance phenomena, a series of
tests were carried out to find the natural frequencies of the vibrating system.
The vibrating system consists mainly of the CT specimen, two high strength steel pins
and a pair of clevises (Fig. 9)

Fig. 9: The vibrating system

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 Mechanical Resonance

According to principal engineering theories, the amplitude of a vibration is expected to

become maximum at loading frequencies very close to the natural frequencies of the
vibrating system.

During fatigue pre-cracking there were periods of very intense vibrations, which implies
the existence of mechanical resonance.

The natural frequencies are expected to change during the fatigue pre-cracking due to
accumulation of residual stresses and the propagation of the sample's crack.

It becomes obvious that on certain occasions, during fatigue precracking, the natural
frequency of the vibrating system coincided with the loading frequency, increasing the
amplitude of the vibration and the strains on the samples' surfaces.

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 Preliminary modal tests have revealed the existence of natural frequencies in the range
from 8 to 23Hz (Fig.9).

Fig.9: Variation of maximum displacement with loading frequency of a

sample with a 6mm pre-crack.
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 Results-discussion from fatigue tests

Force shedding does not appear to have a notable effect on the induced strain field in the
area ahead of the crack tip.

Mode A fatigue loading is advantageous to mode B as it is simpler and requires less time to
complete.

Mechanical resonance appeared in certain tests, leading to increased maximum strain

values.

Although ASTM standard implies that any level of loading frequency under 100Hz may be
chosen to cycle it is highly recommended not to cycle with frequencies close to the natural
frequencies of the vibrating system.

As the natural frequencies of the vibrating system are very likely to change with the
accumulation of residual deformations and the propagation of the sample's crack, a whole
range of loading frequencies should be avoided during fatigue pre-cracking.

A review of the relative standards should be considered to take into account new studies
performed with the use of Digital Image Correlation.

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Thank you for your attention!

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