Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Scanning electron microscope image of fatigue striations produced from constant amplitude loading. The crack is growing from left to right. Striations are marks produced on the fracture surface that show the incremental growth of a fatigue crack. A striation marks the position of the crack tip at the time it was made.
Fatigue has traditionally been associated with the failure of metal components which led to the term metal fatigue. In the nineteenth century, the sudden failing of metal railway axles was thought to be caused by the metal crystallising because of the brittle appearance of the fracture surface, but this has since been disproved. [ 1 ]
In true corrosion fatigue, the fatigue-crack-growth rate is enhanced by corrosion; this effect is seen in all three regions of the fatigue-crack growth-rate diagram. The diagram on the left is a schematic of crack-growth rate under true corrosion fatigue; the curve shifts to a lower stress-intensity-factor range in the corrosive environment.
Crack closure is a phenomenon in fatigue loading, where the opposing faces of a crack remain in contact even with an external load acting on the material. As the load is increased, a critical value will be reached at which time the crack becomes open .
mild steel cracks in the presence of alkali (e.g. boiler cracking and caustic stress corrosion cracking) and nitrates; copper alloys crack in ammoniacal solutions (season cracking); high-tensile steels have been known to crack in an unexpectedly brittle manner in a whole variety of aqueous environments, especially when chlorides are present.
Fretting decreases fatigue strength of materials operating under cycling stress. This can result in fretting fatigue, whereby fatigue cracks can initiate in the fretting zone. Afterwards, the crack propagates into the material. Lap joints, common on airframe surfaces, are a prime location for fretting corrosion.
The oil and whiting method used in the railroad industry in the early 1900s was the first recognized use of the principles of penetrants to detect cracks. The oil and whiting method used an oil solvent for cleaning followed by the application of a whiting or chalk coating, which absorbed oil from the cracks revealing their locations.
It is the result of the process of fatigue due to rolling/sliding contact. [2] [3] The RCF process begins with cyclic loading of the material, which results in fatigue damage that can be observed in crack-like flaws, like white etching cracks. [2] These flaws can grow into larger cracks under further loading, potentially leading to fractures ...