Effect of underloads on fatigue crack growth of titanium-17

An improved understanding of fatigue crack growth phenomenon applicable to titanium engine disks was developed through complimentary experimental and analytical investigations of Ti-17. Two significant findings resulted from this study. First, it was concluded that an R = 0.1 underload accelerated the fatigue crack growth rates of subsequent high- R cycles, even when closure was negligible and the traditional Δ K_eff was identical to ΔK_applied. Second, the strains ahead of the crack were determined to be higher following the underload and remained elevated for some time.; A simplified variable-amplitude spectrum, consisting of high- R baseline cycles and periodic R = 0.1 underloads, was used to demonstrate a load-interaction effect which led to nonconservative life predictions using conventional fatigue crack growth predictive methodologies. A phenomenological model was formulated based on hypothesized changes in the propagation resistance, K_PR, and fit to the test data. The results demonstrated that periodic R = 0.1 underloads increased fatigue crack growth rates of subsequent high-R cycles. When the number of baseline cycles was 100 or more, the higher fatigue crack growth rates led to significantly lower lifetimes than predicted using methods assuming no load-interaction effect. The model also predicted an observed decrease in threshold.; A finite element model was developed to investigate what transpires in the wake and ahead of the crack tip. The results from finite element analyses compared favorably to experimental evidence acquired in the vicinity of a crack tip during a comparable test. The R = 0.1 underload cycle produced a subtle increase in the crack opening displacement profiles of the subsequent R = 0.7 cycles. More importantly, the simulations revealed an increase in the strains ahead of the crack tip after the underload, although the strain range was unchanged. It was concluded that the higher mean strains were an indication of increased damage rates in the form of accelerated fatigue crack growth rates. Thus, the higher strains were considered evidence of a decrease in K_PR and an increase in Δ K_eff consistent with the conclusions of the damage-summation modeling incorporating the load-interaction effect.