The kinetics of mesoscale damage accumulation in welded structural steel joints (structural steel of type 10Mn2Si) in high-cycle
fatigue is studied based on measurements and on analysis of displacement vector fields in near-plane-stress-state conditions. The basic
types of mesostructures formed at different stages of continuity disruption under cyclic tension are described and the quantitative
characteristics of fracture evolution are presented. Mesoscale damage accumulation is demonstrated to exhibit a common character at
different stages. The formation of a band of localized plastic deformation has been found to precede that of the main fatigue crack, no
matter what the degree of constraint is. The possibility of applying Dugdales model to estimate the current values of the crack resistance
of welded joints is discussed. It is shown that the mechanical state of a loaded welded joint can be diagnosed experimentally and its
residual lifetime can be predicted.
0.1 mm
a b
Fig. 3. Micrograph of the fatigue crack (a) and displacement vector fields corresponding to its individual parts (b); N = 58.5⋅103, ∆N = 103
100 V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108
u xΣ = u xr − u xl . (4)
are not necessarily symmetric about the normal to the applied placements u Σy (u Σy = u yr − u ly or their velocities along
force because of the heterogeneity of the heat-affected zone the crack length, v xΣ and v yΣ (Fig. 6). The non-zero trans-
being most pronounced between the domain base mate- verse displacements u Σy mean the contribution of the trans-
rial interface and the cast zone of the weld. verse shear component (mode II) to the combined mode of
The exhaustion of the accommodation capabilities of the evolution of the fatigue crack (mode I + II). It can be
the metal causes the crack to grow, branch at the internal seen from Fig. 6 that the opening velocity v xΣ is not the
boundaries of the mesostructure, and propagate deep into same at different stages of the crack growth and along the
the specimen. The maximum values of the main plastic shear crack length. Early in this stage, the opening velocity is
γ pmax ( x, y) [1013] are therewith in these local areas of minimum, being localized near the crack tips, and is equal
the material (Fig. 4). to ∼ 0.05 nm/cycle. In what follows, the crack faces start
The values of γ pmax were calculated by Eq. (3) from opening with a velocity varying from 0.5 to 3 nm/cycle over
(1), (2) [10, 13]: the crack length. The velocities of longitudinal displace-
ments v xΣ , as a rule, peak in the vicinity of the crack tips
γ pmax = ε I − ε II , (1)
and vanish gradually with distance from the latter.
The crack velocity progressively increases, reaching 20
ε I, II = (ε xx + ε yy ) 2 ± (ε xx − ε yy ) 2 4 + ε 2xy , (2) 25 nm/cycle by the end of the given stage.
Stage 4 (0.8 ÷ 0.9 N Σ ). The beginning of this stage is
γ pmax = (ε xx − ε yy ) 2 + 4ε 2xy , (3) associated with the processes preceding the incipience of
V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108 101
Fig. 5. Opening of the fatigue crack tips u xΣ ( ) and faces ( ) (a) and corresponding opening velocities v xΣ versus the number of cycles N
the main (through-the-thickness) crack. Narrow bands of by the combined mode (mode I + II). Around the vertices
localized plastic deformation are found to emerge and pro- of the hyperbolas in the displacement vector fields, in-
pagate at the surface opposite to the crack and to acquire in plane opening is therewith observed in the direction of the
a gradual manner the form of two conjugate hyperbolas applied load at both boundaries of localized plastic shears.
(Figs. 7(a), 8(a)). These bands are characterized by the The amplitude of the in-plane opening and its velocity are
maximum values of the main plastic shear (Fig. 8(b)) and lower than those of the crack and increase in the course of
the degree of fatigue damage accumulation within them is loading.
highest. The pattern of the displacement vector fields near At the forth stage of fracture, the amplitude of the crack
the tips of the propagating deformation bands is similar to tip opening increases, on average, to ∼ 24 µm. In general,
that of the appropriate fields near the crack tips and in the the velocity of the crack tip opening also increases (to
case presented in Fig. 8(c) it corresponds to the crack growth 57 nm/cycle) with individual jumps ranging to 30
102 V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108
4. Discussion of results
The results of experimental investigations attest that
throughout the processes of fatigue fracture of a welded
joint mesoscale plastic deformation in the heat-affected zone
plays a decisive part in the crack evolution. At each stage
of fracture, these processes have peculiar qualitative and
Fig. 6. Velocities of longitudinal displacements v xΣ along the crack length quantitative characteristics, which may well be used as crite-
measured at a distance of ± 0.2 mm from the crack (for curve 1 at a ria in determining the degree of damage accumulation and
distance ± 0.08 mm); N = 0.44 N Σ (1); 0.65 N Σ (2); 0.72 N Σ (3); in estimating the mechanical state of welded joints. In this
0.73 N Σ (4); 0.87 N Σ (5); 0.94 N Σ (6); N Σ = 80⋅103
context, let us analyze the foregoing experimental data, as
applied to each stage of fatigue in the heat-affected zone.
The first stage takes a short time and is associated with
70 nm/cycle. The crack evolves according to the ellipse
work hardening of the material and its accommodation to
pattern (Fig. 9). The maximum opening of the crack faces
the action of external cyclic force. The second stage is cha-
is observed at the center of the crack (see Fig. 6) and a
racterized by the formation and quasibrittle growth of sur-
domain mesostructure corresponding to a crack of mode I
face fatigue cracks in the heat-affected zone. At these stages,
is formed at the crack tips. The dependence of the fatigue
the localized plastic flow and the degree to which the mate-
crack increment ∆L to the corresponding mean value of the
rial is damaged are insignificant, being safe for the operation
crack tip opening u xΣ is jump-like, yet descending in cha-
of weld metalworks.
racter, as a whole (Fig. 10). The rapid decrease in ∆L u xΣ The third stage of fatigue is governed by the brittle-
results both from the decrease in ∆L due to tip crack blunting plastic growth of a dominant mesoscale fatigue crack. The
and from the substantial increase in u xΣ . diagram of fatigue fracture has the shape typical for S-curves
As the crack propagates deep into the specimen, the (Fig. 11). Based on experimental data, the current values of
vertices of the hyperbolas gradually converge and smear the stress intensity factor K I for the band with an off-cen-
(Fig. 7(b)). tered transverse crack under tension [14] have been calcu-
At the end of this stage, plastic deformation is localized lated by the well-known formula
mainly along the boundaries at which the bands merge.
Active in-plane opening is therewith found only in this local K I = σF πL , (5)
zone of the displacement vector fields. Later on, the fatigue where L is the fatigue crack length, F is the geometrical
crack develops within the given boundary (Fig. 7(c)). factor.
By the end of the forth stage, the crack velocity runs to It can be seen from the diagram that in the range 8 <
4550 nm/cycle that is roughly comparable with the limit < K I < 14 MPa⋅m1/2 (0.3 N Σ < N < 0.8 N Σ ) the crack tip
of its stable growth. velocities approximate each other and obey Pariss equation
Stage 5 (0.9 ÷ 1N Σ ). The beginning of the final stage of
fatigue fracture is related to the formation of triangle zones d L d N = C(K I )n , (6)
V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108 103
a b c
0.3 mm
Fig. 7. Evolution of the bands of plastic deformation at the surface opposite to the surface with crack; N = 72.5⋅103 (a); 74.6⋅103 (b); 76.4⋅103 (c)
where the exponent n is about 2.1. The crack tip velocities K I > 14 MPa⋅m1/2 ( N > 0.8 N Σ ), the S-curves also tend to
therewith increase from 8 to 30 nm/cycle. On the left-hand a vertical asymptote which corresponds to the critical value
side of the diagram in the range where K I < 8 MPa⋅m1/2 of the stress intensity factor K IC . In the given case, the
( N < 0.3 N Σ ), the S-curves tend to some vertical asymptote critical value of the stress intensity factor for the heat-
which intercepts a portion on the x-axis. This portion corres- affected zone is ~ 15.516 MPa⋅m1/2. The degree to which
ponds to K th and is called the threshold of fatigue crack the current values of K I and the critical value K IC are
growth. Actually, the threshold of fatigue crack growth is close to each other determine the fatigue strength of a welded
determined by the value of the stress intensity factor corres- joint in operation.
ponds to a very low crack velocity d L d N ~ 108 mm/cycle The pattern of irreversible displacements near the crack
[15]. For the heat-affected zone material of the welded joint tip comply with the loading pattern (cyclic tension) and with
in question, this threshold is about K th ~ 4.55 MPa⋅m1/2. an opening mode crack (mode I). For the plane stress state
On the right-hand side of the diagram in the range where in these conditions, Dugdales model, which accounts for
104 V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108
a b
plasticity ahead of the fatigue crack tip is applicable [16]. the amplitude of crack tip opening by about 5080 % and
The model make it possible to relate the current value of the current value of the stress intensity factor K I by about
the stress intensity factor K I to the cross-sectional dimen- 2035 %. As the crack length increases, the experimental
sion of the zone of plastic flow, δ, ahead of the crack tip. In and theoretical curves presented in Fig. 12 are observed to
this model, plastic flow is represented in the form of a narrow come close. Such an approach allow one to measure the
band issuing from the crack tip. The corresponding formula average value of the crack tip opening u xΣ based on the
has the form displacement vector fields and to estimate the current value
of the stress intensity factor K I and J-integral by Dugdales
δ = K I2 ( Eσ T ) , (7)
formula [11, 16]
where E is Youngs modulus; σ T is the conventional yield
limit. For the root zone material of the weld, σ T = 220 MPa K I = Eσ T u xΣ 2 , (8)
and Youngs modulus is taken to be 200 GPa [17]. Our
experiment shows that in fact two bands of plastic deforma- J = σ T u xΣ 2 . (9)
tion are formed ahead of the fatigue crack tips and the angle
between them is about 90120° (see above). The values of So, the values of the J-integral lie in the range 0.14
δ calculated for one band agree well with experimental data. 0.5 N/mm, as the stress intensity factor varies within 7.8 <
Figure 12 shows the values of opening of one of the crack < K I < 14.2 MPa⋅m1/2.
tips (experiment) and the values of δ calculated by formula In actual service conditions, it is often difficult to deter-
(7) (theory) for a varying cyclic load N. In the case where mine the stress intensity factor by formula (5) due to the
plastic deformation is weakly developed ahead of the crack unavailability of data characterizing the geometry factor.
tip (u xΣ < 1 µm), Dugdales approximation overestimates The use of displacement vector fields and Dugdales formula
V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108 105
a b c
0.2 mm
Fig. 9. Fatigue crack evolution; N = 65⋅103 (a); 72.5⋅103 (b); 76.4⋅103 (c)
106 V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108
Fig. 10. Crack increment ∆L versus the corresponding mean value of Fig. 11. Dependences of the crack tip velocities dL dN on the stress
crack tip opening u xΣ for the both tips intensity factor K I
in estimating the stress intensity factor makes it possible to notch, generates conjugate macrobands of localized plastic
overcome this problem and shows promise in diagnosing shears from its bottom toward the opposite surface B (Fig.
the mechanical state, the prefracture stage included, of cyc- 13). These shears, running through the cross section of the
lically loaded welded joints. thin specimen, bring about the extrusion of the material.
Another parameter, which characterizes the degree to This extrusion manifests itself as two conjugate hyper-
which a welded joint is damaged, is the rate of opening of bolas at the surface B (see Fig. 7). The convergence and
the fatigue crack tip (see Fig. 5(b)). The dependence v xΣ (N ) the smearing of their vertices are due to the fact that the
can be approximated by the equation crack bottom approaches the surface B and the scale of the
stress concentrator increases. At the end of the given stage,
v xΣ = v x 0 exp(αN N Σ ). (10) the vertices of the hyperbolas merge and the main band
In the given case, v x 0 = 0.19 nm/cycle, α = 11. In physical the zone of plastic flow superlocalization is formed. This
terms, this means that at the microlevel fatigue damages band is extensively expands in the direction of applied force.
occur from the outset of loading (N ~ 0) in the zones of Systematic experimental investigations have shown that the
microstress concentrator relaxation. It is interesting to note plastic deformation occurring through the entire cross sec-
that the characteristic scale of v x 0 is comparable with the tion of a specimen and the formation of the main band are
Fe lattice constant (0.29 nm [17]). The initial opening velo- necessary and the most important conditions for the incipien-
city v x 0 is likely to be a material constant which depends ce and growth of the through-the-thickness (main) fatigue
on the conditions of cyclic loading. Unlike well-known
Pariss equation (6), equation (10) describes the evolution
of a crack in the direction of applied load.
Figures 6 and 11 are indicative of alternate opening and
displacement of the crack tips with increasing crack length.
In a long period of loading at the third stage, the average
displacement velocities of the crack tips are nearly the same
and the total crack velocity progressively increases with an
acceleration of 0.6⋅103 nm/(cycle)2. The crack position, on
average, is symmetric about the specimen axis. The break
of the symmetry causes an uncompensated rotational mo-
ment which activates one of the crack tips. At the macro-
level, this moment plays, in essence, the role of one of the
parameters of negative feedback and controls the displace-
ment of the crack tips. As the crack length increases, another
parameters, such as the plasticity zone size, tip blunting,
and material work hardening, become operative. Fig. 12. Opening of the fatigue crack tip u xΣ ( experiment) and the
At the forth stage of evolution, the fatigue crack at the width of the band of plastic deformation ahead of the crack tip δ (
surface A, acting as a linear stress concentrator a sharp theory) versus the number of cycles N
V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108 107
Fig. 13. Schematic representation of the formation the zone of plastic stretching
crack within the band under cyclic tension. A similar phe- to an increase in metal volume within the heat-affected zone
nomenon was also observed in the case of the welded joint involve in microplastic deformation and to that in the veloci-
geometry corresponding to the plane deformation condition ty of opening of the crack tips and faces, lengthens the stage
[3, 4]. of brittle-plastic growth of the crack and lends a more
The final, fifth stage of fatigue is governed by the growth smooth character of the fracture pattern, thus resulting in a
of the main crack and by the fact the loaded welded joint in complex-shaped zone of plastic stretching.
the rest of its cross section reaches the yield strength. The It has been shown that the main band of plastic flow
boundaries of the zones of plastic stretching are macrobands comes before the main crack, no matter what the degree of
of localized plastic shear and are oriented in the conjugate deformation constraint is. This main band, propagating in a
directions of maximum tangential stresses. It can be seen in jump-like manner by alternate plastic shears through the
Fig. 14 that two such macrobands (shown by horizontal vec- whole specimen thickness, sets the stage for the growth of
tors) emerge near the tip of the main crack and determine the main crack and determines its trajectory.
the development of the neck as a global shear stability loss In general, the kinetics of fatigue fracture of welded
of the material in the zone of the macrostress concentrator. joints is governed by mesoscale plastic flow in the heat-
Similar patterns of displacement fields were observed in
ultrafine-grained copper under tension at the stage of neck
formation [18] where a lateral notch played the role of a
macrostress concentrator. Such a pattern of displacement
fields is testimony to the common character of plastic flow
in the neck under static and cyclic loading.
5. Conclusion
Analysis of the results obtained allows us to state that
the high-cycle fatigue of welded structural steel joints is
multistage in character and is governed by mesoscale dama-
ge accumulation in the heat-affected zone. To each stage
there corresponds its own type of strain-induced mesostruc-
tures whose quantitative characteristics can serve as criteria
in evaluating the mechanical state of loaded welded const- 0.1 mm
ructions.
The fact that the plane stress state is achieved means a Fig. 14. Displacement field ahead of the tip of the main crack (shown by
decrease in the degree of deformation constraint. This leads the arrow); N = 75.3⋅103, ∆N = 100
108 V.S. Pleshanov, V.E. Panin, V.V. Kibitkin, and N.A. Lebedeva / Physical Mesomechanics 4 6 (2001) 97–108
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