Review on Fatigue of Additive Manufactured Metallic Alloys: Microstructure, Performance, Enhancement, and Assessment Methods

Additive manufacturing (AM), which is a process of building objects in a layer-upon-layer fashion from designed models, has received unprecedented attention from research and industry because it offers outstanding merits of flexibility, customization, reduced buy-to-fly ratio, and cost-effectiveness. However, the fatigue performance of safety-critical industrial components fabricated by AM is still far below that obtained from conventional methods. This review discusses the microstructural heterogeneities, randomly dispersed defects, poor surface quality, and complex residual stress generated during the AM process that can negatively impact the fatigue performance of as-printed parts. The difference in microstructural origin of fatigue failure between conventionally manufactured and printed metals is reviewed with particular attention to the effects of the trans-scale microstructures on AM fatigue failure mechanisms. Various methods for mitigating the fatigue issue, including pre-process, inter-process, and post-process treatments, are illustrated. Empirical, semi-empirical, and microstructure-sensitive models are presented to predict fatigue strength and lifetime. Summary and outlooks for future development of the fatigue performance of AM materials are provided.

Study of Mechanics and Durability of Non-Spontaneous Combustion Coal Gangue Coarse-Aggregate High-Performance Concrete

The coal gangue coarse-aggregate content in ordinary concrete should not be too large. In order to further improve the utilization rate of coal gangue coarse aggregate, this study used the principle of "strong wrapped weak" to prepare high-performance concrete. This study considered four factors, namely, water-binder (W/B) ratios, non-spontaneous combustion coal gangue (NCCG) coarse-aggregate contents, fly ash-slag mass ratios, and silica fume coating to prepare high-performance concrete. The workability, mechanical, and durability properties were studied, and the changes in the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) of concrete before and after sulfate attack and freeze-thaw cycles were analyzed based on the SEM test. The life prediction of NCCG coarse-aggregate high-performance concrete was carried out based on the grey system GM(1,1) prediction model. The results show that the NCCG coarse-aggregate contents have the greatest effect on compressive strength, sulfate resistance, and frost resistance. The W/B ratio has the greatest effect on the anti-carbonization properties. Fly ash-slag mixing can obtain better durability. Considering the effect on the design service life of high-performance concrete, NCCG coarse aggregate is used to prepare high-performance concrete in North China, and the recommended content is 60%; in the Northwest and Northeast regions, the recommended content is 45%. This study provides a basis for the preparation of high-performance concrete with NCCG coarse aggregate.

Life Prediction of Rolling Bearing Based on Optimal Time-Frequency Spectrum and DenseNet-ALSTM

To address the challenges faced in the prediction of rolling bearing life, where temporal signals are affected by noise, making fault feature extraction difficult and resulting in low prediction accuracy, a method based on optimal time-frequency spectra and the DenseNet-ALSTM network is proposed. Firstly, a signal reconstruction method is introduced to enhance vibration signals. This involves using the CEEMDAN deconvolution method combined with the Teager energy operator for signal reconstruction, aiming to denoise the signals and highlight fault impacts. Subsequently, a method based on the snake optimizer (SO) is proposed to optimize the generalized S-transform (GST) time-frequency spectra of the enhanced signals, obtaining the optimal time-frequency spectra. Finally, all sample data are transformed into the optimal time-frequency spectrum set and input into the DenseNet-ALSTM network for life prediction. The comparison experiment and ablation experiment show that the proposed method has high prediction accuracy and ideal prediction performance. The optimization terms used in different contexts in this paper are due to different optimization methods, specifically the CEEMDAN method.

Freeze-Thaw Damage Degradation Model and Life Prediction of Air-Entrained Concrete in Multi-Year Permafrost Zone

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the main permafrost area in China. Concrete structures constructed on permafrost are affected by the early negative-temperature environment. In particular, the negative-temperature environment seriously affects the strength growth process and the frost resistance of concrete (FRC). Therefore, this study considered the influence of the gas content, water-binder ratio (w/b), age, and other factors on the strength variation law and FRC under -3 °C curing conditions. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to analyze the pore structure of concrete before and after freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs). The results showed that the compressive strength of the concrete (CSC) under -3 °C curing was only 57.8-86.4% of that cured under standard conditions. The CSC under -3 °C curing showed an obvious age-lag phenomenon. The FRC under -3 °C curing was much lower than that under standard curing. The porosity of the concrete under -3 °C curing was greater, with a higher percentage of harmful and multi-harmful pores than that under standard curing. The concrete properties deteriorated primarily because curing at -3 °C hindered the hydration reaction compared with standard methods. This hindrance resulted in diminished hydration development, weakening the concrete's structural integrity. Under both curing conditions, when the gas content was between 3.2% and 3.8%, the frost resistance was the best. This is because a gas content within this range effectively enhances the internal pore structure, therefore relieving the swelling pressure caused by FTCs. Based on the freeze-thaw damage (FTD) model proposed by previous authors, a new model for the CSC under -3 °C curing reaching that of the concrete under standard curing for 28 d was established in this study. This advanced model was capable of accurately assessing the FTD of concrete structures in permafrost regions. Finally, the life expectancy of concrete in Northwest China was predicted. The life of the concrete reached 46.9 years under standard curing, while the longest life of the concrete under -3 °C curing was only 12.9 years. Therefore, attention should be paid to constructing and curing concrete structures in cold environments.

Temperature Cycle Reliability Analysis of an FBAR Filter-Bonded Ceramic Package

On the background that the operating frequency of electronic devices tends to the radio frequency (RF) segment, a film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) filter is widely used in communication and military fields because of its advantages of high upper frequency, ample power capacity, small size, and low cost. However, the complex and harsh working environment puts higher requirements for packaging FBAR filters. Based on the Anand constitutive equation, the stress-strain response of the bonded ceramic package was studied by the finite element method for the FBAR filter-bonded ceramic package, and the thermal fatigue life of the device was predicted. We developed solder models with various spillage morphologies based on the random generation technique to examine the impact of spillage on device temperature reliability. The following are the primary conclusions: (1) Solder undergoes periodic deformation, stress, and strain changes throughout the cycle. (2) The corner of the contact surface between the chip and the solder layer has the largest stress at the end of the cycle, measuring 19.377 MPa. (3) The Engelmaier model predicts that the gadget will have a thermal fatigue life of 1928.67 h. (4) Expanding the layered solder area caused by any solder overflow mode may shorten the device's thermal fatigue life. The thermal fatigue life of a completely spilled solder is higher than that of a partially spilled solder.

The Low-Cycle Fatigue Behavior, Microstructure Evolution, and Life Prediction of SS304: Influence of Temperature

To study the fatigue failure and microstructure evolution behavior of SS304, low-cycle fatigue tests are conducted at room temperature (RT), 300 °C, and 650 °C. The results indicate that, because of the influence of the dislocation walls, carbon-containing precipitates, and deformation twins, the cyclic hardening behavior is presented at RT. However, different from the cyclic hardening behavior at RT, the cyclic softening behavior of SS304 can be observed due to the dynamic recovery and recrystallization containing dislocation rearrangement and annihilation at 300 °C and 650 °C. In addition, two fatigue crack initiation modes are observed. At RT, the single fatigue crack initiation mode is observed. At high temperatures, multiple crack initiation modes are presented, resulting from the degradation of material properties. Furthermore, a new fatigue life prediction model considering the temperature is conducted as a reference for industrial applications.

A New Strategy for Bearing Health Assessment with a Dynamic Interval Prediction Model

Bearing is the critical basic component of rotating machinery and its remaining life prediction is very important for mechanical equipment's smooth and healthy operation. However, fast and accurate bearing life prediction has always been a difficult point in industry and academia. This paper proposes a new strategy for bearing health assessment based on a model-driven dynamic interval prediction model. Firstly, the mapping proportion algorithm is used to determine whether the measured data are in the degradation stage. After finding the starting point of prediction, the improved annealing algorithm is used to determine the shortest data interval that can be used for accurate prediction. Then, based on the bearing degradation curve and the information fusion inverse health index, the health index is obtained from 36 general indexes in the time domain and frequency domain through screening, fusion, and inversion. Finally, the state space equation is constructed based on the Paris-DSSM formula and the particle filter is used to iterate the state space equation parameters with the minimum interval data to construct the life prediction model. The proposed method is verified by XJTU-SY rolling bearing life data. The results show that the prediction accuracy of the proposed strategy for the remaining life of the bearing can reach more than 90%. It is verified that the improved simulated annealing algorithm selects limited interval data, reconstructs health indicators based on bearing degradation curve and information fusion, and updates the Paris-DSSM state space equation through the particle filter algorithm. The bearing life prediction model constructed on this basis is accurate and effective.

Fatigue strength and life prediction of lower limb venous stents under three-stage loading conditions

After the implantation of lower limb artery stents, the complex loading conditions imposed on the limb can lead to fatigue failure, which may induce inflammation and restenosis. To investigate the effect of multi-axial loading conditions on the fatigue performance of stents, five stents, namely APsolute Pro (APbott Vascular, USA), Complete SE (Medtronic, USA), Protégé EverFlex (PE3, USA), Pulsar-35 (Biotronik, Germany), and E-luminexx-B (Bard, USA), were analyzed based on the finite element method (FEM). Besides, their fatigue strength was determined under three levels of loading conditions, including tension-bending-torsion and compression-bending-torsion. Based on that, the fatigue life of these stents was predicted. The results showed that based on the nominal stress method, tension-bending-torsion loading had a more significant impact on the fatigue life of stents than compression-bending-torsion loading. Besides, two different types of initial cracks were analyzed by the fracture mechanics method. The results suggested that both the initial crack and the external load were the main causes of stent fatigue fractures. Compared with the loading nature, the influence of the initial crack on stent fatigue life was more significant. Under the same loading condition, the APsolute Pro stent had the longest fatigue life, while the E-luminexx-B stent had the shortest. Moreover, the mechanism of stent fatigue failure was revealed by exploring the fatigue performance and life prediction of stents under complex loading conditions. These findings have important implications for improving the structural design of stents and their clinical selection.

The Aging Behavior and Life Prediction of CFRP Rods under a Hygrothermal Environment

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have been widely used in civil engineering structures due to their excellent mechanical and durability properties. The harsh service environment of civil engineering leads to significant degradation of the thermal and mechanical performances of CFRP, which then reduces its service reliability, service safety, and life. Research on the durability of CFRP is urgently needed to understand the long-term performance degradation mechanism. In the present study, the hygrothermal aging behavior of CFRP rods was investigated experimentally through immersion in distilled water for 360 days. The water absorption and diffusion behavior, the evolution rules of short beam shear strength (SBSS), and dynamic thermal mechanical properties were obtained to investigate the hygrothermal resistance of CFRP rods. The research results show that the water absorption behavior conforms to Fick's model. The ingression of water molecules leads to a significant decrease in SBSS and glass transition temperature (Tg). This is attributed to the plasticization effect of the resin matrix and interfacial debonding. Furthermore, the Arrhenius equation was used to predict the long-term life of SBSS in the actual service environment based on the time-temperature equivalence theory, obtaining a stable strength retention of SBSS of 72.78%, which was meaningful to provide a design guideline for the long-term durability of CFRP rods.

The Long-Term Interfacial Evolution and Prediction of Carbon- and Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Hybrid Rods under a Hygrothermal Environment

In order to promote the engineering applications of carbon- and glass-fiber-reinforced epoxy hybrid rods, it is necessary to fully understand its long-term hygrothermal durability. In the present study, the water absorption behaviors of a hybrid rod in a water immersion environment are studied experimentally, the degradation rules of the mechanical properties are obtained, and establishing a life prediction model is attempted. The water absorption of the hybrid rod confirms to the classical Fick's diffusion model, and the water absorption concentration is determined by radial position, immersion temperature, and immersion time. In addition, the radial position of water molecules diffused into the rod is positively correlated with the diffusion concentration. The short-beam shear strength of the hybrid rod decreased significantly after 360 days of exposure; this is because water molecules interact with the polymer through hydrogen bonds to produce bound water during the immersion process, leading to resin matrix hydrolysis and plasticization, as well as interfacial debonding. In addition, the ingression of water molecules caused degradation in the viscoelastic behavior of the resin matrix in hybrid rods. The glass transition temperature of hybrid rods decreased by 17.4% after exposure at 80 °C for 360 days. The Arrhenius equation was used calculate the long-term life of short-beam shear strength in the actual service temperature based on the time-temperature equivalence theory. The stable strength retention for SBSS was found to be 69.38%, which is a useful durability design parameter for hybrid rods in civil engineering structures.

Fretting Fatigue Life Prediction of Dovetail Structure Based on Plastic Effect and Sensitivity Analysis of Influencing Factors

Micro relative sliding exists on the contact surface of the main primary equipment's surface structures, resulting in serious fretting fatigue. The plastic effect causes serious fatigue to the structure under alternating loads. Existing fatigue life prediction models fail to fully consider the shortcomings of fretting and plastic effects, which causes the prediction results to be significantly different to real-lifeworld in engineering situations. Therefore, it is urgent to establish a fretting damage fatigue life prediction model of contact structures which considers plastic effects. In this study, a plastic fretting fatigue life prediction model was established according to the standard structural contact theory. The location of dangerous points was evaluated according to a finite element simulation. The cyclic load maximum stress value was compared with the fretting fatigue test data to confirm the error value, and the error between the proposed fretting fatigue life model and the test value was within 15%. Concurrently, we combined this with mass data analysis and research, as it is known that the contact zone parameters have an impact on fretting fatigue and affect the structural lifespan. With the help of ABAQUS, the fretting numerical calculation of the dovetail tenon model was carried out to analyze the sensitive factors affecting the fretting fatigue life of the dovetail tenon structure. By keeping the fretting load unchanged, the contact area parameters such as contact surface form, contact area width and friction coefficient were changed in order to calculate the fretting stress value, σ_fretting and the dovetail structure was improved to extend its fretting fatigue life. Finally, it was concluded that fretting fatigue was most sensitive to the width and contact form of the contact area. In actual engineering design, multiple factors should be considered comprehensively to determine a more accurate and suitable width and form of the contact area. For the selection of friction coefficient, on the premise of saving costs and meeting the structural strength requirements, the friction coefficient should be as small as possible, and the problem can also be solved through lubrication during processing.

Reliability Study of Magnesium Oxychloride-Coated Reinforced Concrete Based on Gumbel Distribution

The constant current accelerated corrosion test was used to study the durability of magnesium oxychloride-coated reinforced concrete (MOCRC) in order to solve the problem of MOCRC's durability. The relative dynamic elastic modulus was utilized as the failure threshold to evaluate the concrete durability, and the collected life data of concrete under different cover thickness were acquired. On the basis of the Gumbel distribution, the probability analysis can be used to study and foretell the life data. The results show that when the durability is evaluated by the relative mass and the relative dynamic modulus of elasticity, the durability of MOCRC with a larger protection layer thickness is better; the relative dynamic modulus of elasticity can better reflect the durability change in MOCRC than the relative mass. When the Gumbel distribution is used for durability analysis, the calculated value of the model and the life data have a relatively high degree of fit, which can provide a reference basis for the durability evaluation of concrete.

The Study of the Reliability of Complex Components during the Electromigration Process

With the increasing number of inputs and outputs, and the decreasing interconnection spacing, electrical interconnection failures caused by electromigration (EM) have attracted more and more attention. The electromigration reliability and failure mechanism of complex components were studied in this paper. The failure mechanism and reliability of complex components during the electromigration process were studied through the simulation and the experiment, which can overcome the limitation of experimental measurement at a micro-scale. The simulation results indicated that the solder joint has obvious current crowding at the current inlet, which will significantly enhance the electromigration effect. Based on the atomic flux divergence method, the void formation of solder joints can be effectively predicted, and life prediction can be more accurate than Black's equation. Experimental results indicated that the resistance of the daisy chain could be significantly increased with the process of void formation in the solder and corrosion of the leads. Moreover, the growth of intermetallic compounds can be obviously promoted under current stress. The main composition of the intermetallic compounds changes from almost entirely Cu₅Sn₆ to Cu₅Sn₆ and Cu₃Sn; the cracks can be detected at the Cu₃Sn layer. Specifically, the mean time to failure is 1065 h under 1.4 A current and 125 °C based on IPC-9701A guidelines.

Remaining Useful Life Prediction of Rolling Bearings Using GRU-DeepAR with Adaptive Failure Threshold

Aiming at the problem that a single neural network model has difficulty in accurately predicting trends of the remaining useful life of a rolling bearing, a method of predicting the remaining useful life of rolling bearings using a gated recurrent unit-deep autoregressive model (GRU-DeepAR) with an adaptive failure threshold was proposed. First, time domain and frequency domain features were extracted from the rolling bearing vibration signal. Second, its operation process was divided into a smooth operation stage and degradation stage according to the trend of the accumulated root mean square of maximum. Then, the failure threshold for different bearings were determined adaptively by the maximum of the smooth operation data. The degradation dataset of a rolling bearing was subsequently obtained. In the meantime, a GRU-DeepAR model was built to obtain predictions of the failure time and failure probability. Appropriate model parameters were determined after a large number of tests to assure the effectiveness and prediction accuracy. Finally, the trend of time series and failure times were predicted by inputting the degradation dataset into the GRU-DeepAR model. Experiments showed that the proposed method can effectively improve the accuracy of the remaining useful life prediction of a rolling bearing with good stability.

Study on Health Monitoring and Fatigue Life Prediction of Aircraft Structures

In this paper, some progress and achievements in aircraft integrity requirements, structural health monitoring, load spectrum measurement and life assessment research were presented. Several concepts of structural health monitoring were analyzed and compared, and the basic flow chart for health monitoring and life prediction of an aircraft structure was given. The selection of control points, construction of load/strain equations and stress calculation of control points were also described. Reliable IAT (Individual Aircraft Tracking) and life monitoring methods and software for IAT were developed for a certain type of aircraft, and fatigue life prediction of an aging aircraft was conducted based on actual measurement of load spectrum. The main features such as damage calculation, life evaluation and result output were discussed, and the future research focuses relating to intelligent structural health monitoring were finally explored.

Study on Creep-Fatigue Mechanical Behavior and Life Prediction of Ti2AlNb-Based Alloy

Low-cycle fatigue, creep and creep-fatigue tests of Ti₂AlNb-based alloy were carried out at 550 °C. Compared with low-cycle fatigue, a creep-fatigue hysteresis loop has larger area and smaller average stress. The introduction of creep damage will greatly reduce the cycle life, and change the fatigue crack initiation point and failure mechanism. Based on the linear damage accumulation rule, the fatigue damage and creep damage were described by the life fraction method and the time fraction method, respectively, and the creep-fatigue life of the Ti₂AlNb-based alloy is predicted within an error band of ±2 times.

Corrosion Damage and Life Prediction of Concrete Structure in a 41-Year-Old Steelworks

Iron and steel industry emits a large amount of CO₂ and SO₂ in the process of steelmaking, and these acid gases lead to the serious corrosion damage of concrete structures. In this paper, the environmental characteristics and corrosion degree of concrete in a 41-year-old steelworks were investigated, and the neutralization life prediction of the concrete structure was carried out. The results showed that the temperature, relative humidity, CO₂ concentration, and SO₂ concentration in the steelworks were 1.32, 0.62, 1.28, and 13.93 times higher than those of the general atmospheric environment, respectively. These environmental characteristics in various sections were significantly different. The appearance change of concrete in the ingot casting bay was more serious than that of concrete in the billet bay. Both the compressive strength of concrete in the ingot casting bay and billet bay decreased, and the strength in the billet bay was relatively low. The neutralization depth of concrete in the ingot casting bay was 2.35 times larger than that of concrete in the billet bay. The prediction model of concrete neutralization depth was established, and the remaining neutralization service life in the ingot casting bay and billet bay were 194.68 a and 202.07 a, respectively.

A Digital Twin-Driven Life Prediction Method of Lithium-Ion Batteries Based on Adaptive Model Evolution

Accurate life prediction and reliability evaluation of lithium-ion batteries are of great significance for predictive maintenance. In the whole life cycle of a battery, the accurate description of the dynamic and stochastic characteristics of life has always been a key problem. In this paper, the concept of the digital twin is introduced, and a digital twin for reliability based on remaining useful cycle life prediction is proposed for lithium-ion batteries. The capacity degradation model, stochastic degradation model, life prediction, and reliability evaluation model are established to describe the randomness of battery degradation and the dispersion of the life of multiple cells. Based on the Bayesian algorithm, an adaptive evolution method for the model of the digital twin is proposed to improve prediction accuracy, followed by experimental verification. Finally, the life prediction, reliability evaluation, and predictive maintenance of the battery based on the digital twin are implemented. The results show the digital twin for reliability has good accuracy in the whole life cycle. The error can be controlled at about 5% with the adaptive evolution algorithm. For battery L1 and L6 in this case, predictive maintenance costs are expected to decrease by 62.0% and 52.5%, respectively.

Experimental Study on Forged TC4 Titanium Alloy Fatigue Properties under Three-Point Bending and Life Prediction

Ultrasonic fatigue tests of TC4 titanium alloy equiaxed I, II and bimodal I, II obtained by different forging processes were carried out in the range from 10⁵ to 10⁹ cycles using 20 kHz three-point bending. The results showed that the S-N curves had different shapes, there was no traditional fatigue limit, and the bimodal I had the best comprehensive fatigue performance. The fracture morphology was analyzed by SEM, and it was found that the fatigue cracks originated from the surface or subsurface facets, showing a transgranular quasi-cleavage fracture mechanism. EDS analysis showed that the facets were formed by the cleavage of primary α grains, and the fatigue cracks originated from the primary α grain preferred textures, rather than the primary α grain clusters. From the microstructure perspective, the reasons for better equiaxed high-cycle-fatigue properties and better bimodal ultra-high-cycle-fatigue properties were analyzed. The bimodal I fatigue life prediction based on energy was also completed, and the prediction curve was basically consistent with the experimental data.

Numerical Failure Analysis and Fatigue Life Prediction of Shield Machine Cutterhead

This paper presents numerical failure analysis on cracking of shield machine cutterhead structure during a metro-tunnel construction. The stress intensity factors (SIFs) of surface cracks with different shapes and location angles were analyzed by a finite element simulation method based on linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) theory. The ratios of variation in stress intensity factors of cracks with different shapes were analyzed. The maximum allowable crack depth of the cutterhead panel is 50.23 mm by dynamic stress calculation, and the damage tolerance criterion of the cutterhead panel was proposed. The influence of the Paris model parameter values was analyzed based on mathematical methods. It is proven that the location of the cutterhead cracking angle is mainly determined by the mixed-mode SIF. In practice, the crack section basically expanded into the semi-elliptical shape. The cutterhead structure may directly enter the stage of crack propagation due to welding defects during tunneling. The research results provide a theoretical basis and important reference for crack detection in the key parts of the cutterhead, as well as maintenance cycle determination and life prediction of the cutterhead mileage, both of which have important engineering value.

Low-Cycle Fatigue Crack Initiation Simulation and Life Prediction of Powder Superalloy Considering Inclusion-Matrix Interface Debonding

From the perspective of damage mechanics, the damage parameters were introduced as the characterizing quantity of the decrease in the mechanical properties of powder superalloy material FGH96 under fatigue loading. By deriving a damage evolution equation, a fatigue life prediction model of powder superalloy containing inclusions was constructed based on damage mechanics. The specimens containing elliptical subsurface inclusions and semielliptical surface inclusions were considered. The CONTA172 and TARGE169 elements of finite element software (ANSYS) were used to simulate the interfacial debonding between the inclusions and matrix, and the interface crack initiation life was calculated. Through finite element modeling, the stress field evolution during the interface debonding was traced by simulation. Finally, the effect of the position and shape size of inclusions on interface debonding was explored.

Life Prediction of Battery Using a Neural Gaussian Process with Early Discharge Characteristics

The state of health (SOH) prediction of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is of crucial importance for the normal operation of the battery system. In this paper, a new method for cycle life and full life cycle capacity prediction is proposed, which combines the early discharge characteristics with the neural Gaussian process (NGP) model. The cycle data sets of commercial LiFePO₄(LFP)/graphite cells generated under different operating conditions are analyzed, and the power characteristic P is extracted from the voltage and current curves of the early cycles. A Pearson correlation analysis shows that there is a strong correlation between P and cycle life. Our model achieves 8.8% test error for predicting cycle life using degradation data for the 20th to 110th cycles. Based on the predicted cycle life, capacity degradation curves for the whole life cycle of the cells are predicted. In addition, the NGP method, combined with power characteristics, is compared with other classical methods for predicting the remaining useful life (RUL) of LIBs. The results demonstrate that the proposed prediction method of cycle life and capacity has better battery life and capacity prediction. This work highlights the use of early discharge characteristics to predict battery performance, and shows the application prospect in accelerating the development of electrode materials and optimizing battery management systems (BMS).

A novel model for low-cycle multiaxial fatigue life prediction based on the critical plane-damage parameter

Multiaxial fatigue of the components is a very complex behavior. This analyzes the multiaxial fatigue failure mechanism, reviews and compares the advantages and disadvantages of the classic model. The fatigue failure mechanism and fatigue life under multiaxial loading are derived through theoretical analysis and formulas, and finally verified with the results of multiaxial fatigue tests. The model of multiaxial fatigue life for low-cycle fatigue life prediction model not only improves the prediction accuracy of the classic model, but also considers the effects of non-proportional additional hardening phenomena and fatigue failure modes. The model is proved to be effective in low-cycle fatigue life prediction under different loading paths and types for different materials. Compared with the other three classical models, the proposed model has higher life prediction accuracy and good engineering applicability.

Study on the Elastic-Plastic Correlation of Low-Cycle Fatigue for Variable Asymmetric Loadings

The mean stress effect in fatigue life varies by material and loading conditions. Therefore, a classical low cycle fatigue (LCF) model based on mean stress correction shows limits in asymmetric loading cases in both accuracy and applicability. In this paper, the effect of strain ratio (R) on LCF life is analyzed and a strain ratio-based model is presented for asymmetric loading cases. Two correction factors are introduced to express correlations between strain ratio and fatigue strength coefficient and between strain ratio and fatigue ductility coefficient. Verifications are conducted through four materials under different strain ratios: high-pressure tubing steel (HPTS), 2124-T851 aluminum alloy, epoxy resin and AZ61A magnesium alloy. Compared with current widely used LCF models, the proposed model shows a better life prediction accuracy and higher potential in implementation in symmetric and asymmetric loading cases for different materials. It is also found that the strain ratio-based correction is able to consider the damage of ratcheting strain that the mean stress-based models cannot.

A New Multiparameter Model for Multiaxial Fatigue Life Prediction of Rubber Materials

Most of the mechanical components manufactured in rubber materials experience fluctuating loads, which cause material fatigue, significantly reducing their life. Different models have been used to approach this problem. However, most of them just provide life prediction only valid for each of the specific studied material and type of specimen used for the experimental testing. This work focuses on the development of a new generalized model of multiaxial fatigue for rubber materials, introducing a multiparameter variable to improve fatigue life prediction by considering simultaneously relevant information concerning stresses, strains, and strain energies. The model is verified through its correlation with several published fatigue tests for different rubber materials. The proposed model has been compared with more than 20 different parameters used in the specialized literature, calculating the value of the R² coefficient by comparing the predicted values of every model, with the experimental ones. The obtained results show a significant improvement in the fatigue life prediction. The proposed model does not aim to be a universal and definitive approach for elastomer fatigue, but it provides a reliable general tool that can be used for processing data obtained from experimental tests carried out under different conditions.

Fatigue Reliability Analysis of a Compressor Disk Based on Probability Cumulative Damage Criterion

The reliability of aero engine has a direct impact on the flight safety of the whole plane. With the continuous improvement of performance requirements of aero engines, the related fatigue and reliability problems also appear. For the fatigue failure characteristics of the typical component (compressor disk) in an aero engine, the fatigue reliability of its multi-site damage structure in service is analyzed by using probability cumulative damage criterion in this paper. The probability distribution definitions of life, damage and damage threshold are discussed and the relationship among them is also introduced by the new proposed criterion. Meanwhile, a method to determine the probability distribution of cumulative damage threshold and probability life prediction is carried out, based on which a hierarchical index system of statistical analysis and reliability modeling principle on the system level is further constructed for compressor disk. At the end of the paper, a certain cruise of fighter plane is analyzed to verify the validity of the new model. Emphasizing the difference between the compressor disk and traditional component, the new reliability analysis model developed in this study is basically reasonable for most of the load histories for the compressor disk, other than the traditional one, especially for the changeable and complex cruise missions.

Study on Damage Accumulation and Life Prediction with Loads below Fatigue Limit Based on a Modified Nonlinear Model

Most fatigue theories neglect the loads below fatigue limit in damage accumulation, which leads to inconsistency between the predicted and the actual fatigue lives. In this study, a novel damage model is proposed to take into account the loads below fatigue limit from two aspects: the strengthening effect and the cumulative damage. The strengthening effect is introduced by an exponential function and the cumulative damage is calculated by fuzzy method with membership functions (MFs). The proposed model is verified against the experimental data under variable amplitude loading conditions. It is found the modified model with Cauchy MF significantly reduces the relative error of predicted life from 35.18% (linear model) and 16.09% (original Chaboche model) to 8.38% (proposed model). As a case study, the proposed damage model is implemented to evaluate the service life of a compressor blade under variable amplitude loading spectrum containing small loads below the fatigue limit.

Estimation of Notched Composite Plates Fatigue Life Using Residual Strength Model Calibrated by Step-Wise Tests

The proposed new technique of fatigue life prediction for notched composite plates is based on a residual strength model calibrated with the use of step-wise fatigue tests. It was proposed to calibrate the fatigue model with fatigue tests in which load conditions are in a step-wise fashion. The adopted fatigue model takes into account the most important loading parameters such as testing frequency, stress ratio, layer orientation and maximal fatigue stress. It was demonstrated that with the use of step-wise fatigue tests, it is possible to calibrate the fatigue model for a particular material and structure with the use of fewer samples. In the experimental tensile and fatigue tests TVR 380 M12/26%/R-glass/epoxy composite plates [+45°/-45°]₄ with circular and elliptical cut-outs were used. The fatigue tests were performed under different loading conditions. The influence of testing frequency, stress ratio, maximal fatigue load and also geometry of the cut-out on damage growth rate and fatigue life were studied. The predicted fatigue life was in good agreement with the durability determined experimentally in all investigated samples.

Application of Differential Entropy in Characterizing the Deformation Inhomogeneity and Life Prediction of Low-Cycle Fatigue of Metals

The relation between deformation inhomogeneity and low-cycle-fatigue failure of T2 pure copper and the nickel-based superalloy GH4169 under symmetric tension-compression cyclic strain loading is investigated by using a polycrystal representative volume element (RVE) as the material model. The anisotropic behavior of grains and the strain fields are calculated by crystal plasticity, taking the Bauschinger effect into account to track the process of strain cycles of metals, and the Shannon's differential entropies of both distributions of the strain in the loading direction and the first principal strain are employed at the tension peak of the cycles as measuring parameters of strain inhomogeneity. Both parameters are found to increase in value with increments in the number of cycles and they have critical values for predicting the material's fatigue failure. Compared to the fatigue test data, it is verified that both parameters measured by Shannon's differential entropies can be used as fatigue indicating parameters (FIPs) to predict the low cycle fatigue life of metal.

Multiple Fatigue Failure Behaviors and Long-Life Prediction Approach of Carburized Cr-Ni Steel with Variable Stress Ratio

Axial loading tests with stress ratios R of −1, 0 and 0.3 were performed to examine the fatigue failure behavior of a carburized Cr-Ni steel in the long-life regime from 10⁴ to 10⁸ cycles. Results show that this steel represents continuously descending S-N characteristics with interior inclusion-induced failure under R = −1, whereas it shows duplex S-N characteristics with surface defect-induced failure and interior inclusion-induced failure under R = 0 and 0.3. The increasing tension eliminates the effect of compressive residual stress and promotes crack initiation from the surface or interior defects in the carburized layer. The FGA (fine granular area) formation greatly depends on the number of loading cycles, but can be inhibited by decreasing the compressive stress. Based on the evaluation of the stress intensity factor at the crack tip, the surface and interior failures in the short life regime can be characterized by the crack growth process, while the interior failure with the FGA in the long life regime can be characterized by the crack initiation process. In view of the good agreement between predicted and experimental results, the proposed approach can be well utilized to predict fatigue lives associated with interior inclusion-FGA-fisheye induced failure, interior inclusion-fisheye induced failure, and surface defect induced failure.

Multiaxial Fatigue Damage Parameter and Life Prediction without Any Additional Material Constants

Based on the critical plane approach, a simple and efficient multiaxial fatigue damage parameter with no additional material constants is proposed for life prediction under uniaxial/multiaxial proportional and/or non-proportional loadings for titanium alloy TC4 and nickel-based superalloy GH4169. Moreover, two modified Ince-Glinka fatigue damage parameters are put forward and evaluated under different load paths. Results show that the generalized strain amplitude model provides less accurate life predictions in the high cycle life regime and is better for life prediction in the low cycle life regime; however, the generalized strain energy model is relatively better for high cycle life prediction and is conservative for low cycle life prediction under multiaxial loadings. In addition, the Fatemi–Socie model is introduced for model comparison and its additional material parameter k is found to not be a constant and its usage is discussed. Finally, model comparison and prediction error analysis are used to illustrate the superiority of the proposed damage parameter in multiaxial fatigue life prediction of the two aviation alloys under various loadings.

Life prediction for a vacuum fluorescent display based on two improved models using the three-parameter Weibull right approximation method

To obtain precise life information for vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), luminance degradation data for VFDs were collected from a group of normal life tests. Instead of exponential function, the three-parameter Weibull right approximation method (TPWRAM) was applied to describe the luminance degradation path of optoelectronic products, and two improved models were established. One of these models calculated the average life by fitting average luminance degradation data, and the other model obtained VFD life by combining the approximation method with luminance degradation test data from each individual sample. The results indicated that the test design under normal working stress was appropriate, and the selection of censored test data was simple. The two models improved by TPWRAM both revealed the luminance decaying law for VFD, and the pseudo failure time was accurately extrapolated. It was further confirmed by comparing relative error that using the second model gave a more accurate prediction of VFD life. The improved models in this study can provide technical references for researchers and manufacturers in aspects of life prediction methodology for its development.

A Combined High and Low Cycle Fatigue Model for Life Prediction of Turbine Blades

Combined high and low cycle fatigue (CCF) generally induces the failure of aircraft gas turbine attachments. Based on the aero-engine load spectrum, accurate assessment of fatigue damage due to the interaction of high cycle fatigue (HCF) resulting from high frequency vibrations and low cycle fatigue (LCF) from ground-air-ground engine cycles is of critical importance for ensuring structural integrity of engine components, like turbine blades. In this paper, the influence of combined damage accumulation on the expected CCF life are investigated for turbine blades. The CCF behavior of a turbine blade is usually studied by testing with four load-controlled parameters, including high cycle stress amplitude and frequency, and low cycle stress amplitude and frequency. According to this, a new damage accumulation model is proposed based on Miner's rule to consider the coupled damage due to HCF-LCF interaction by introducing the four load parameters. Five experimental datasets of turbine blade alloys and turbine blades were introduced for model validation and comparison between the proposed Miner, Manson-Halford, and Trufyakov-Kovalchuk models. Results show that the proposed model provides more accurate predictions than others with lower mean and standard deviation values of model prediction errors.

A New Energy-Critical Plane Damage Parameter for Multiaxial Fatigue Life Prediction of Turbine Blades

As one of fracture critical components of an aircraft engine, accurate life prediction of a turbine blade to disk attachment is significant for ensuring the engine structural integrity and reliability. Fatigue failure of a turbine blade is often caused under multiaxial cyclic loadings at high temperatures. In this paper, considering different failure types, a new energy-critical plane damage parameter is proposed for multiaxial fatigue life prediction, and no extra fitted material constants will be needed for practical applications. Moreover, three multiaxial models with maximum damage parameters on the critical plane are evaluated under tension-compression and tension-torsion loadings. Experimental data of GH4169 under proportional and non-proportional fatigue loadings and a case study of a turbine disk-blade contact system are introduced for model validation. Results show that model predictions by Wang-Brown (WB) and Fatemi-Socie (FS) models with maximum damage parameters are conservative and acceptable. For the turbine disk-blade contact system, both of the proposed damage parameters and Smith-Watson-Topper (SWT) model show reasonably acceptable correlations with its field number of flight cycles. However, life estimations of the turbine blade reveal that the definition of the maximum damage parameter is not reasonable for the WB model but effective for both the FS and SWT models.

Fatigue Damage and Lifetime of SiC/SiC Ceramic-Matrix Composite under Cyclic Loading at Elevated Temperatures

In this paper, the fatigue damage and lifetime of 2D SiC/SiC ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) under cyclic fatigue loading at 750, 1000, 1100, 1200 and 1300 °C in air and in steam atmosphere have been investigated. The damage evolution versus applied cycles of 2D SiC/SiC composites were analyzed using fatigue hysteresis dissipated energy, fatigue hysteresis modulus, fatigue peak strain and interface shear stress. The presence of steam accelerated the damage development inside of SiC/SiC composites, which increased the increasing rate of the fatigue hysteresis dissipated energy and the fatigue peak strain, and the decreasing rate of the fatigue hysteresis modulus and the interface shear stress. The fatigue life stress-cycle (S-N) curves and fatigue limit stresses of 2D SiC/SiC composites at different temperatures in air and in steam condition have been predicted. The fatigue limit stresses approach 67%, 28%, 39% 17% and 28% tensile strength at 750, 1000, 1100, 1200 and 1300 °C in air, and 49%, 10%, 9% and 19% tensile strength at 750, 1000, 1200 and 1300 °C in steam conditions, respectively.

A Model of BGA Thermal Fatigue Life Prediction Considering Load Sequence Effects

Accurate testing history data is necessary for all fatigue life prediction approaches, but such data is always deficient especially for the microelectronic devices. Additionally, the sequence of the individual load cycle plays an important role in physical fatigue damage. However, most of the existing models based on the linear damage accumulation rule ignore the sequence effects. This paper proposes a thermal fatigue life prediction model for ball grid array (BGA) packages to take into consideration the load sequence effects. For the purpose of improving the availability and accessibility of testing data, a new failure criterion is discussed and verified by simulation and experimentation. The consequences for the fatigue underlying sequence load conditions are shown.

Interior Fracture Mechanism Analysis and Fatigue Life Prediction of Surface-Hardened Gear Steel under Axial Loading

The interior defect-induced fracture of surface-hardened metallic materials in the long life region has become a key issue on engineering design. In the present study, the axial loading test with fully reversed condition was performed to examine the fatigue property of a surface-carburized low alloy gear steel in the long life region. Results show that this steel represents the duplex S-N (stress-number of cycles) characteristics without conventional fatigue limit related to 10⁷ cycles. Fatigue cracks are all originated from the interior inclusions in the matrix region due to the inhabitation effect of carburized layer. The inclusion induced fracture with fisheye occurs in the short life region below 5 × 10⁵ cycles, whereas the inclusion induced fracture with fine granular area (FGA) and fisheye occurs in the long life region beyond 10⁶ cycles. The stress intensity factor range at the front of FGA can be regarded as the threshold value controlling stable growth of interior long crack. The evaluated maximum inclusion size in the effective damage volume of specimen is about 27.29 μm. Considering the size relationships between fisheye and FGA, and inclusion, the developed life prediction method involving crack growth can be acceptable on the basis of the good agreement between the predicted and experimental results.

Correlation Factor Study of Small Punch Creep Test and Its Life Prediction

A small punch test is one of the innovative methods that can be used to evaluate the properties of a material without destructive harm to the in-service component. Conventionally identifying material properties by a uniaxial test is widely applied to engineering. How the properties obtained from a small punch test can be applied with the same utility has been a goal. In 2006, European Code of Practice (CoP) of small punch tests was first released, in which the correlation factor, k_sp, was introduced to bridge the gap between the above methods. The author investigates the relationship between a uniaxial creep text and a small punch creep test by exploring the correlation factor k_sp. Various sets of experiments and a comparative study of the conventional uniaxial creep test and small punch creep test were carried out. Methods including Norton, Larson-Miller and Time versus Stress relation were employed to identify the value of k_sp. Different k_sp values were found in different materials, which indicate that k_sp values of materials need to be identified separately. In addition, the life prediction of a small punch creep test was carried out and the results of the life prediction predict a reasonable accuracy, which indicates that the small punch creep test is a reliable method for life prediction.

A Modelling Study for Predicting Life of Downhole Tubes Considering Service Environmental Parameters and Stress

A modelling effort was made to try to predict the life of downhole tubes or casings, synthetically considering the effect of service influencing factors on corrosion rate. Based on the discussed corrosion mechanism and corrosion processes of downhole tubes, a mathematic model was established. For downhole tubes, the influencing factors are environmental parameters and stress, which vary with service duration. Stress and the environmental parameters including water content, partial pressure of H₂S and CO₂, pH value, total pressure and temperature, were considered to be time-dependent. Based on the model, life-span of an L80 downhole tube in oilfield Halfaya, an oilfield in Iraq, was predicted. The results show that life-span of the L80 downhole tube in Halfaya is 247 months (approximately 20 years) under initial stress of 0.1 yield strength and 641 months (approximately 53 years) under no initial stress, which indicates that an initial stress of 0.1 yield strength will reduce the life-span by more than half.

Fatigue Life Prediction of Fiber-Reinforced Ceramic-Matrix Composites with Different Fiber Preforms at Room and Elevated Temperatures

In this paper, the fatigue life of fiber-reinforced ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) with different fiber preforms, i.e., unidirectional, cross-ply, 2D (two dimensional), 2.5D and 3D CMCs at room and elevated temperatures in air and oxidative environments, has been predicted using the micromechanics approach. An effective coefficient of the fiber volume fraction along the loading direction (ECFL) was introduced to describe the fiber architecture of preforms. The statistical matrix multicracking model and fracture mechanics interface debonding criterion were used to determine the matrix crack spacing and interface debonded length. Under cyclic fatigue loading, the fiber broken fraction was determined by combining the interface wear model and fiber statistical failure model at room temperature, and interface/fiber oxidation model, interface wear model and fiber statistical failure model at elevated temperatures, based on the assumption that the fiber strength is subjected to two-parameter Weibull distribution and the load carried by broken and intact fibers satisfies the Global Load Sharing (GLS) criterion. When the broken fiber fraction approaches the critical value, the composites fatigue fracture.

Damage Evolution and Life Prediction of Cross-Ply C/SiC Ceramic-Matrix Composite under Cyclic Fatigue Loading at Room Temperature and 800 °C in Air

The damage evolution and life prediction of cross-ply C/SiC ceramic-matrix composite (CMC) under cyclic-fatigue loading at room temperature and 800 °C in air have been investigated using damage parameters derived from fatigue hysteresis loops, i.e., fatigue hysteresis modulus and fatigue hysteresis loss energy. The experimental fatigue hysteresis modulus and fatigue hysteresis loss energy degrade with increasing applied cycles attributed to transverse cracks in the 90° plies, matrix cracks and fiber/matrix interface debonding in the 0° plies, interface wear at room temperature, and interface and carbon fibers oxidation at 800 °C in air. The relationships between fatigue hysteresis loops, fatigue hysteresis modulus and fatigue hysteresis loss energy have been established. Comparing experimental fatigue hysteresis loss energy with theoretical computational values, the fiber/matrix interface shear stress corresponding to different cycle numbers has been estimated. It was found that the degradation rate at 800 °C in air is much faster than that at room temperature due to serious oxidation in the pyrolytic carbon (PyC) interphase and carbon fibers. Combining the fiber fracture model with the interface shear stress degradation model and the fibers strength degradation model, the fraction of broken fibers versus the cycle number can be determined for different fatigue peak stresses. The fatigue life S-N curves of cross-ply C/SiC composite at room temperature and 800 °C in air have been predicted.

Very High Cycle Fatigue Failure Analysis and Life Prediction of Cr-Ni-W Gear Steel Based on Crack Initiation and Growth Behaviors

The unexpected failures of structural materials in very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime have been a critical issue in modern engineering design. In this study, the VHCF property of a Cr-Ni-W gear steel was experimentally investigated under axial loading with the stress ratio of R = −1, and a life prediction model associated with crack initiation and growth behaviors was proposed. Results show that the Cr-Ni-W gear steel exhibits the constantly decreasing S-N property without traditional fatigue limit, and the fatigue strength corresponding to 10⁹ cycles is around 485 MPa. The inclusion-fine granular area (FGA)-fisheye induced failure becomes the main failure mechanism in the VHCF regime, and the local stress around the inclusion play a key role. By using the finite element analysis of representative volume element, the local stress tends to increase with the increase of elastic modulus difference between inclusion and matrix. The predicted crack initiation life occupies the majority of total fatigue life, while the predicted crack growth life is only accounts for a tiny fraction. In view of the good agreement between the predicted and experimental results, the proposed VHCF life prediction model involving crack initiation and growth can be acceptable for inclusion-FGA-fisheye induced failure.

Fatigue Life Prediction Based on Crack Closure and Equivalent Initial Flaw Size

Failure analysis and fatigue life prediction are necessary and critical for engineering structural materials. In this paper, a general methodology is proposed to predict fatigue life of smooth and circular-hole specimens, in which the crack closure model and equivalent initial flaw size (EIFS) concept are employed. Different effects of crack closure on small crack growth region and long crack growth region are considered in the proposed method. The EIFS is determined by the fatigue limit and fatigue threshold stress intensity factor △K_th. Fatigue limit is directly obtained from experimental data, and △K_th is calculated by using a back-extrapolation method. Experimental data for smooth and circular-hole specimens in three different alloys (Al2024-T3, Al7075-T6 and Ti-6Al-4V) under multiple stress ratios are used to validate the method. In the validation section, Semi-circular surface crack and quarter-circular corner crack are assumed to be the initial crack shapes for the smooth and circular-hole specimens, respectively. A good agreement is observed between model predictions and experimental data. The detailed analysis and discussion are performed on the proposed model. Some conclusions and future work are given.

Microstructural aspects of fatigue in Ni-base superalloys

Nickel-base superalloys are primarily used as components in jet engines and land-based turbines. While compositionally complex, they are microstructurally simple, consisting of small (50-1000 nm diameter), ordered, coherent Ni(3)(Al,Ti)-type L1(2) or Ni(3)Nb-type DO(22) precipitates (called γ(') and γ(''), respectively) embedded in an FCC substitutional solid solution consisting primarily of Ni and other elements which confer desired properties depending upon the application. The grain size may vary from as small as 2 μm for powder metallurgy alloys used in discs to single crystals the actual size of the component for turbine blades. The fatigue behaviour depends upon the microstructure, deformation mode, environment and cycle time. In many cases, it can be controlled or modified through small changes in composition which may dramatically change the mechanism of damage accumulation and the fatigue life. In this paper, the fundamental microstructural, compositional, environmental and deformation mode factors which affect fatigue behaviour are critically reviewed. Connections are made across a range of studies to provide more insight. Modern approaches are pointed out in which the wealth of available microstructural, deformation and damage information is used for computerized life prediction. The paper ends with a discussion of the very important and highly practical subject of thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF). It is shown that physics-based modelling leads to significantly improved life prediction. Suggestions are made for moving forward on the critical subject of TMF life prediction in notched components.