Israel Marines-Garca, Damaris Galvn-Montiel, and Claude Bathias

FATIGUE LIFE ASSESSMENT OF HIGH-STRENGTH, LOWALLOY STEEL AT HIGH FREQUENCY

Israel Marines-Garca *
Senior Structural Integrity Engineer, Tenaris-Tamsa R&D, Veracruz, Mexico

Damaris Galvn-Montiel
Associate Professor, CIICAp-UAEM, Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62210, Mexico

and Claude Bathias

Senior Professor, CNAM-ITMA, Paris, 75003, France

:
( D38MSV5S) HSLA - - . 1010 ( VHCF) 35Hz 20 kHz 1 R=0.1 107 . . R=0.1 107 R= 1 (( ) VHCF) .

* Address for correspondence: Dr. Israel Marines - Garcia Tenaris Tamsa R & D Carr. Mxico Veracruz via Xalapa, Km 433.7 91697 Veracruz, Ver. MEXICO Tel: +52 (229) 9894451 Fax: +52 (229) 9891114 E-mail: imarines@tamsa.com.mx

E-mail: damaris@uaem.mx

E-mail: bathias@cnam.fr

Paper Received 29 March 2006; Revised 8 June 2007; Accepted 18 September 2007

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ABSTRACT A fatigue experimental assessment is described for an HSLA steel (high-strength, low-alloy steel) D38MSV5S on very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) up to 1010 cycles. The fatigue testing has been conducted at load ratio, R = 0.1 and 1, under 20 kHz and 35 Hz. Herein, it will be observed that the test frequency does not have any effect on fatigue data. The fatigue failure can occur over 107 cycles. The fatigue endurance continues to decrease with an increasing number of cycles for R = 1, but, for R = 0.1 no fatigue failure happened over 107 cycles. Finally, the same crack initiation mechanism that has been observed by other researchers on VHCF (termed fish-eye failure), has been found during our fractographic analysis. Key words: gigacycle fatigue, high-strength, low-alloy steel, high frequency testing, fish-eye failures.

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FATIGUE LIFE ASSESSMENT OF HIGH-STRENGTH, LOW-ALLOY STEEL AT HIGH FREQUENCY

1. INTRODUCTION HSLA D38MSV5S steel is widely used in structural parts at the automotive industry due to its high strength characteristic. However, it is very well known that cyclic loading could cause structural failure at anytime. Therefore, it is mandatory to carry out fatigue experimentation to perform safe design of automotive components, which have to survive a relatively high number of load cycles in service. Bathias [1] and Baudry [2] mentioned that fatigue lifetime of some car engine components could attain 109 cycles. Now, considering that some components manufactured in D38MSV5S steel could reach in service the gigacycle fatigue regime, the present work is focused on obtaining experimentally its fatigue behavior up to 1010 cycles. However, conventional fatigue machines (servo-hydraulic) are limited in testing speed; this means that using those machines, it could be impossible to know the experimental fatigue behavior at more than 107 cycles (e.g. to obtain an SN curve up to 1010 cycles, for a single specimen, it takes more than 9 years to attain such a number of cycles at 35 Hz ). In general, SN curves are fixed at 107 cycles; after that lifetime, it is assumed that fatigue strength does not decrease. (an assumption of asymptotic behavior is postulated) [3], but many materials do not exhibit this response; instead, they display a continuously decreasing stresslifetime response, even at a great number of cycles (108 to 1010 cycles) [410]. On the other hand, fatigue strength within the VHCF regime is occasionally estimated by average strength f (106 and 107 cycles) and standard deviation (s), so, fatigue strength at 109 cycles is given by f -3s [1, 11]. This consideration of fatigue strength estimation on VHCF range, using low cycle fatigue (LCF) data, is certainly not the best way to decrease the risk of fatigue failure; for that reason, one must carry out experimental testing to plot the fatigue behavior (SN curves) under VHCF, for better, safe, fatigue design. The way to do so, is to use high frequency fatigue machines. Ultrasonic fatigue devices have been adopted by several research groups around the world, in order to plot experimentally the SN curves under VHCF regime. Nowadays, those devices achieved a high technical standard with high accuracy and reliability [45, 1216]. Fatigue testing on HSLA steel was possible using a high frequency device (natural resonance principle, 20 kHz). Fatigue characterization was under load ratio, R = 0.1 and 1. SEM analysis shows that the crack initiation on VHCF switched location from surface to an internal crack initiation. Thus, a hypothetical explanation related failures up to 109 cycles of biphasic steel is presented, while, biphasic steel is loaded on its bulk elastic regime. 2. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE 2.1. Testing Material and Specimens The material used in this study was an HSLA steel (D38MSV5S). Its chemical composition percentage (weight) is 0.384 carbon, 5.67 silicon, 1.23 manganese, 0.012 phosphorus, 0.064 sulfur, 0.183 gallium, 0.018 molybdenum, 0.063 nickel, 0.025 aluminum, 0.063 copper, and 0.089 vanadium. The HSLA steel manufacture process was under NF EN 10267 standard. Figure 1(a) shows microstructure patterns, examined along two perpendicular planes, longitudinal and transverse section. The micrographs clearly indicate that the HSLA steel has a fine texture. Ferrite (45%) and pearlite (55%) distribution is uniform, however, there are some inclusions of oxide of aluminum (Al2O3) and inclusions composed of aluminum, manganese, calcium, and magnesium (Al2O3MnOCaOMgO), Figure 1(b). It was found that the inclusions as (Al2O3) and (Al2O3MnOCaOMgO) are similar to those located on both surface and internal crack initiation. Fatigue experiments were performed with loading ratio, R = 1 and 0.1. The static strength values of the investigated material are shown in Table 1. Figure 2 shows the dimensions of the testing specimens. The specimens have an hourglass shape with minimum diameter of 3 mm; their dimensions satisfy the natural resonance (axial mode) at 20 kHz. Specimens were designed by finite element method. The relationship between displacements versus stress under natural resonance (vibration) was calculated using commercial computational software (ANSYS) in order to determine the testing applied stress. The surface of the specimens was polished before testing, in order to eliminate micro notches and to obtain a smooth surface.
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(a )

(b)

Figure 1. HSLA steel (D38MSV5S) microstructure; (a) pearlite 55% ferrite 45% microstructure, 500 ; (b) inclusions cleanness, 100

Table 1. Material properties of HSLA steel, D38MSV5S Ed 10kHz (Gpa) 208.3 Ed 20 kHz (Gpa) 211.5 y 0.2% (MPa) 608
10 + 0.05

UTS (MPa) 878

A (%) 20

(kgm3) HV30 HRc 7850 246 21.3

L1 = 14.31 mm L2 = 16.9 mm

3 + 0.01 62.42 + 0.1 R31 + 0.01 L1

L2 8 12

M5

Dimensions en mm

Figure 2. Shape and dimension of ultrasonic fatigue specimen

2.2. Test Method Fatigue tests were performed in an open environment at room temperature using an ultrasonic fatigue test system [7, 11], namely, the piezoelectric (ceramic material which transforms electrical power to mechanical vibration) fatigue technique that operates at a very high frequency. Using this method, specimens are excited to longitudinal resonance

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vibrations at ultrasonic frequency (20 kHz). This leads to a sinusoidal cyclic loading with maximum load amplitude in the center of the specimen. Stress amplitudes are calculated using the measured cyclic strain (strain gages) or displacement at the end of the specimen (optical fiber). The fatigue experiments were performed with constant cyclic loads, with or without static preload, that is, load ratio R = 1 and 0.1 respectively. The preload of the tensiontension fatigue tests (R = 0.1) was controlled on an INSTRON fatigue-testing machine. During testing, the specimen was cooled by air to decrease temperature rise caused by atomic friction (vibration), keeping the superficial temperature of the specimen between 20 and 30C. Failure of specimens may be detected by monitoring the resonance frequency, which makes possible the experiments automatic operation. Tests were not stopped until specimen failure occurred or cyclic loading attained 1010 cycles if failure did not happen. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1. SN Curves The results of fatigue experiments on D38MSV5S steel (R = 1) are shown in Figure 3, specimens that did not fail are marked with an arrow; lines indicate a fracture probability of 50%. Test results from cyclic loading conducted at 35 Hz are between 105 and 107 cycles. If the specimen did not fail at 10 cycles, the testing was stopped and the result on the SN curve was marked as run-out. International codes [3] define 107 cycles as endurance limit (hypothesis of horizontal asymptote; it means that fatigue strength does not decrease any more for a given number of cycles).
7

Comparing experimental results from 20 kHz and 35 Hz, no significant difference is observed below 107 cycles, and the fatigue data coincide within the range of scatter, it means that the frequency has not an influence on results. On VHCF (107109 cycles), it is still observed fatigue failures, moreover, the fatigue strength continues decreasing with the number of cycles. The fatigue strength was calculated by staircase method at 106 and 1010 cycles, it is 417.5 and 315 MPa, respectively. If one estimates the safe fatigue strength value for 109 cycles given by the average strength at 106 cycles f = 417.5 MPa and the standard deviation, s = 25, that is f 3s, then the safe fatigue strength is 342.5 MPa (109cycles). Now, compared to the lower experimental fatigue data, the difference is close to 25 MPa, Figures. 34. Additional statistical analysis has been performed with the bastenaire methodology [17], Figure 5 and Table 2. The bastenaire statistical method follows the best fit of experimental results (it is not a linear regression); however, the estimated curve is always finished by a horizontal asymptote. Even on later observation, the fatigue strength (50% failure probability) values are very close to those calculated by the staircase method.
ITMA-CNAM 20 kHz R=-1 450 RENAULT 30 Hz R=-1

400

max (MPa)

350

= -14,963Ln(N) + 609,82 R2 = 0,8795

300

250 1,E+03

1,E+04

1,E+05

1,E+06

1,E+07

1,E+08

1,E+09

1,E+10

1,E+11

N Cycle s
Figure 3. Fatigue SN curve of high-strength, low-alloy steel D38MSV5S with R= 1, 20 kHz and 35 Hz

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Figure 3. Fatigue SN curve of high-strength, low-alloy steel D38MSV5S with R= 1, 20 kHz and 35 Hz

Fatigue stress limit

(MPa)

(hypothesis of the horizontal asymptote )

55 MPa
Experimental Fatigue strength

104

105

106

107

108

109

1010

1011

N (cycles)
Figure 4. Fatigue stress limit comparison between estimation value and experimental results

490 465 440

490 465 440

MAX MPa

415 390 365 340 315 290 1.E+03

MAX MPa
1.E+07 (a) (Cycles)

415 390 365 340 315 290 1.E+04

1.E+04

1.E+05

1.E+06

1.E+08

1.E+09

1.E+10

1.E+05

1.E+06

1.E+07

NF
490 465 440

NF (Cycles)

(b)

1.E+08

1.E+09

475

450

MAX MPa

415 390 365 340 315 290 1.E+04

1.E+05

(c) NF (Cycles)

1.E+06

1.E+07

1.E+08

MAX MPa

425

400

375

350 1.E+03

1.E+04

1.E+05

N F (Cycles)

(d)

1.E+06

1.E+07

Figure 5. Best fit SN curve and fatigue strength estimation by Bastenaire method [17] for different lifetime under load ratio R= 1; (a) 1010 cycles, (b) 109 cycles, (c) 108 cycles and (d) 107 cycles

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Table 2. Fatigue Strength Estimation by Bastenaire Method [17] for Different Lifetime Under Load Ratio R= 1 Fatigue strength (MPa) Lifetime (cycles) 10% failure probability 1010 109 108 107 310 311 311 378 50% failure probability 325 326 325 395 90% failure probability 340 341 339 413

The experimental results under cyclic loading ratio R = 0.1 are shown in Figure 6. In comparison with the tension compression fatigue results, the fatigue strength decreases abruptly over a short lifetime period. It is noticed that the high frequency results are a little higher on strength than those of low frequency, nevertheless, there is a good agreement between results obtained from both high and low test frequency. There is no failure between 107 and 1010 cycles for the cyclic stress close to plastic strain; in this case the hypothesis of a horizontal asymptote is valid. The fatigue strength calculated at 107 cycles by the staircase method is 632 and 572.5 MPa at frequencies of 35 Hz and 20 kHz respectively. A high scatter in the experimental results is also observed, which gives a great uncertainty. Therefore, those results will be treated carefully by statistics in order to carry out safe fatigue design.

ITMA -CNA M 20 kHz

780

= -33,761Ln(N) + 1102,9 R2 = 0,4997

RENA ULT 35 Hz

730

680

max (MPa) max

(MPa)

630

7
580 530 480 430 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07 1.E+08 1.E+09 1.E+10 1.E+11

N Cycle s

Figure 6. Fatigue SN curve of high-strength, low-alloy D38MSV5S steel with R = 0.1, 20 kHz and 35 Hz

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3.2. Fractography The analysis of fracture surface under SEM shows that failures initiated on different sites (surface or internal) and from different kind of defects. Fatigue crack initiation (R= 1) is located on surface when less than 107 cycles, then it become internal (fish-eye). Figure 7 shows surface crack initiation under cyclic loading ratio, R= 1, under maximum positive stress of 380 MPa. Figure 8 shows a typical example of fish-eye pattern (internal crack initiation), which failed under maximal positive stress of 330 MPa at load ratio R= 1. Non-metallic inclusion was the internal crack initiator, the circular area reveals fatigue crack growth until sudden final failure (unstable crack growing). However, it is noticed that inclusions on most of the internal cracks were not the principal crack initiator. It was the microstructure with low strength (ferrite); this can be explained as follows: the specimen from a macroscopic viewpoint is loaded under lower cyclic stress amplitude (elastic zone), nevertheless from the microscopic viewpoint the ferrite grains are loaded under higher cyclic stress amplitude (plastic zone), it means that fatigue failure may occur from ferrite grain when the applied cyclic loading is higher than its strength. One could conclude that ferrite grains are tested plastically (preferential crack initiation sites), even if the bulk material is tested elastically (Figure 9).

Figure 7. Surface crack initiation, HSLA D38MV5S steel, max =380 MPa, Nf =9.42106, R=1, 20KHz

Figure 8. Fatigue crack initiation from non-metallic inclusion (Al2O3+MnO+CaO+MgO), HSLA steel, max = 330 MPa, Nf = 7.03107 cycles, R = 1, 20 kHz

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Failure initiation mechanism due to mismatching between two phases in the microstructure: (ex. Ferrite Perlite)
Globally: Matrix F P F

Specimen

x
Locally : Ferrite grain

F+

Deformation behavior of two different phases for a given applied load Figure 9. Deformation behavior of two different phases for a specific applied load

Fatigue testing conducted at load ratio, R = 0.1, does not present failure after 107 cycles, crack initiation is always on the surface. It means that fatigue crack initiation is strongly dependent on micro-defects and non-metallic inclusions located on the surface. Also, it is observed that cyclic plastic deformation in the plane stress condition becomes dangerously riskily high (max/y > 1, fully plastic testing). In Figure 10, a surface crack initiation is observed; its origin is a non-metallic inclusion (Al2O3) under maximum cyclic stress of 625 MPa.

Figure 10. Surface crack initiation due to non-metallic inclusion (Al2O3), HSLA steel, max=625 MPa, Nf=2.04106 cycles, R = 0.1, 20 kHz

4. CONCLUSIONS The fatigue properties of an HSLA steel (D38MSV5S) have been investigated at two load ratios, R = 1 and 0.1 under VHCF, using an ultrasonic fatigue testing device (natural resonance principle). In comparison with the results obtained at a frequency of 35 Hz, the fatigue properties in the regime between 105 and 1010 cycles can be summarized as follows: the fatigue data for the HSLA steel between 105 and 109 cycles may be approached by a sloping line and by the Bastenaire method (best fit), between 104 and 1010 cycles in the SN curve with R = 1. Fatigue failure is still present beyond 107 cycles. There is a difference of around 100 MPa between 106 and 109 cycles on experimental fatigue strength. Ferrite grains and non-metallic inclusions initiated the cracks. In most cases, the failure initiation may switch location from surface to an interior fish-eye after 107 cycles. Experimental results conducted at different frequencies are in good agreement.

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Fatigue strength obtained by high frequency seems to be better than at low frequency, however, there is still a good agreement between results. However, high scatter is observed; it could be explained because the max is higher than y (bulk material), so, ferrite grains located on surface may initiate the fatigue failures (fully plasticized). No failure is observed beyond 107 cycles. A statistical analysis of experimental results may help to define the fatigue strength for a given number of cycles, but, it cannot be helpful in estimating fatigue strength on VHCF (safe design). Experiments must be carried out in order to explore the existence of a horizontal asymptote as mentioned in ASTM standard [3]. In order to do so, ultrasonic devices (natural resonance principle) have shown (former researches done by ourselves or other authors) their suitability to be used with confidence on VHCF. ACKNOWLEDGEMNT The authors are grateful for the financial support of French companies: Renault, Ascometal, and A2Mindustrie. Thanks to them, this experimental research has been possible. REFERENCES
[1] [2] C. Bathias, L. Drouillac, and P. le Franois, How and Why the Fatigue SN Curve Does not Approach a Horizontal Asymptote, International Journal of Fatigue, 23 (Supplement 1) (2001), p. 143. Gilles Baudry, Pascal Daguier, Israel Marines, Claude Bathias, Jean-Pierre Doucet, Jean-Franois Vittori, and Sylvain Rathery, Very High Cycle (Gigacyclic) Fatigue of a Wide Range of Alternative Engineering Materials Used in Automotive Industry, 3rd International Conference on Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF-3), Shiga and Kyoto, Japan, September 16-19, 2004, p. 298. Standard Practice for Presentation of Constant Amplitude Fatigue Test Results for Metallic Materials, E468-90 (Reapproved 2004), Annual book of ASTM standards 2006, Section 3, vol. 03.01, pp. 556561. Q.Y. Wang, Etude de la fatigue gigacyclique des alliages ferreux, Doctoral Dissertation at Ecole Centrale de Paris, 1998. I. Marines-Garcia, G. Dominguez, G. Baudry, J-F. Vittori, S. Rathery, J-P Doucet, and C. Bathias, Ultrasonic Fatigue Tests on Bearing Steel AISI-SAE 52100 at Frequency of 20 and 30 kHz, International Journal of Fatigue; 25(9-11), (2003), pp. 10371046. I. Marines-Garcia, X. Bin, and C. Bathias, An Understanding of Very High Cycle Fatigue of Metals, International Journal of Fatigue, 25(9-11)(2003), pp. 11011107. C. Bathias, There is No Infinite Fatigue Life in Metallic Materials, Fast Fract. Eng. Mat. Struct., 22(7)(1999), p. 559. Keisuke Tanaka, Yoshiaki Akiniwa, and Nobuyuki Miyamoto, Notch Effect on Fatigue Strength Reduction in the Very High Cycle Regime, 3rd International Conference on Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF-3), Shiga and Kyoto, Japan, September 16-19, 2004, pp. 5667. Q. Y. Wang, H. Zhang, S. R. Sriraman, and S. L. Liu, Super Long Life Fatigue of AE42 and AM60 Magnesium Alloys, Key Engineering Materials, I., 306-308 (2006), pp. 181186. Q. Y. Wang, H. Zhang, M. R. Sriraman, et al, Very Long Life Fatigue Behavior of Bearing Steel AISI 52100, Key Engineering Materials, 297-300 (1 4)(2005), pp. 18461851. Q.Y. Wang, J.Y. Berard, A. Dubarre, G. Baudry, S. Rathery, and C. Bathias, Gigacycle Fatigue of Ferrous Alloys, Fatigue Fract. Engng. Mater. Struct., 22(8)(1999), p. 667. C. Bathias, Automated Piezoelectric Fatigue Machine for Severe Environments, ASTM STP, 2002, 1411, pp. 315. Z. D. Sun, C. Bathias, and G. Baudry, Fretting Fatigue of 42CrMo4 Steel at Ultrasonic Frequency, International Journal of Fatigue, 23(5)(2001), p. 449450. S. E. Stanzl-Tschegg, H. R. Mayer, and E. K. Tschegg, High Frequency Method for Torsion Fatigue Testing, Ultrasonic, 31(4)(1993), pp. 598607.

[3] [4] [5]

[6] [7] [8]

[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

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[15] [16] [17]

T. Wu, J. Ni, and C. Bathias, An Automatic Ultrasonic Fatigue Testing System for Studying Low Crack Growth at Room and High Temperatures, ASTM STP, 1231 (1994), p. 598607. Israel Marines-Garcia, Jean-Pierre Doucet, and Claude Bathias, Development of a New Device to Perform Torsional Ultrasonic Fatigue Testing, International Journal of Fatigue, 29(911)(2007), pp. 20942101. F. Bastenaires, Estimation et Prevision Statistiques de la Resistance et de la Dure des Matriaux en Fatigue, IRSID report.

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