8th WSEAS International Conference on SIMULATION, MODELLING and OPTIMIZATION (SMO '08) Santander, Cantabria, Spain, September 23-25,

2008

Fatigue Life Assessment of a Shell Structure from Different Steel Types: A Case Study Using Variable Amplitude Loadings
S. ABDULLAH1,*, S. M. BEDEN 1, A. K. ARIFFIN1, Z. M. NOPIAH1, A. ZAHARIM1 and M. M. RAHMAN 2 Engineering Faculty, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor MALAYSIA * shahrum@vlsi.eng.ukm.my 2 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang
Abstract: - Based on fatigue failure theories (stress-life theories such as; Goodman and Gerber), this paper presents a technique to predict the fatigue life of a shell structure of different materials with application of measured variable amplitude loading. The finite element analysis technique was being used for the modelling and simulation. Numerical life prediction results of the shell materials, low and medium carbon steel (ASTM A533, AISI 1020, AISI 4340) are presented and discussed. There are many factors affecting the life predicted, a surface condition effect was shown here. Reasonable difference appears through the comparison of the above materials. Key-Words: - Finite Element Analysis, Shell, Stress-Life, Variable Amplitude Loadings.
1

1 Introduction
Most engineering components contain geometrical discontinuities, such as shoulders, keyways, and grooves, generally termed notches. When a notched component is loaded, local stress and strain concentrations are generated in the notch area. The stresses often exceed the yield limit of the material in the small region around the notch root, even at relatively low nominal elastic stresses. When a notched component is subjected to cyclic loading, cyclic inelastic strains in the area of stress and strain concentrations may cause formation of cracks and their subsequent growth could lead to component fracture. For cracks that nucleate from a shallow or blunt notch, the fatigue behaviour is often dominated by crack nucleation. Cracks that nucleate from a sharp notch often nucleate rather quickly due to the elevated local stresses, and crack growth often dominates the fatigue behaviour in this case [1]. During the last decades, many investigations have been carried out to develop prediction models for the high cycle fatigue (HCF) life, since it takes tremendous time and efforts to construct a SN (Stresslife) curve. Although it has been well known that the high cycle fatigue life is greatly influenced by the microstructural variables such as grain size, the volume fraction of secondary phase and the amount of solute atoms or precipitates [2]

earlier models on HCF life have been developed primarily based on the continuum damage mechanics utilizing various kinds of fatigue damage parameters [3] Many efforts have been devoted to develop models for predicting high cycle fatigue life utilizing the small crack concept, but few models have included the microstructural parameters. Recently, it has been suggested that, there is a model predicting HCF life of pure iron considering the grain size [4]. Pure iron was adopted in their study to investigate the sole effect of grain size. For the plain carbon steels containing solute atoms or precipitates, however, the model needs to be modified to reflect the effects of solute addition and/or precipitates. It is reasonably considered that as the solute atoms are increased, the friction stress for the dislocation movement will be increased [5]. The earliest models of multiaxial fatigue behaviour were based on elastic estimates of the combined applied stress. Starting in the 1970s, much development effort was devoted to strainbased multiaxial fatigue models. The more recent multiaxial fatigue models use energy-based parameters for life predictions, such as [6] and others. The recent critical plane models, such as the SmithWatsonTopper model [7] Fatemi and Socie [8] define the damage parameter, which is also an energy parameter but the normalized stress is used. Among many multiaxial fatigue models, the von

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8th WSEAS International Conference on SIMULATION, MODELLING and OPTIMIZATION (SMO '08) Santander, Cantabria, Spain, September 23-25, 2008

Mises equivalent strain range such as adopted by the ASME Code approach [9] is based on the distortion energy, which is an average measure of the shear stress/strain states and should be representative of damage parameters. The weakness of this parameter for non-proportional loading [10] may be overcome by correction for the effects of non-proportional loading. It is important to note that changing the operational environment can significantly degrade the safety of a structure, failed under abnormal operations due to the fracture of small 3 mm deep weld defects that were not detectable either at the time of manufacture or throughout its operational life [11]. Low-alloy steels have been extensively applied in fabricating pressure boundary components in nuclear power plants due to their relatively excellent mechanical properties and moderately good weldability [12]. The problem of the material fracture in pipeline are a coupling of gas decompression and material cracking resistance, remains a critical issue. Several methodologies have been proposed for that purpose[13]. In the other hand many laboratory studies and some field experience have shown that water environments accelerate the fatigue crack propagation rate in ferritic steels [14]. The main objective of this paper is to study the fatigue life prediction of different materials using stress based method with variable amplitude loadings (VAL) measured from experiments. The application here was a shell structure (pipeline) with infinite length affected by cyclic internal pressure analyzed using finite element approach (FEA).The selection of the material depend mainly on the design and the application of it which has a direct effect on the life of the materials components. The analysis showed different fatigue life prediction through stress-life curve under the same VAL for three types of low and medium carbon steel materials (ASTM A533, AISI 1020 and AISI 4340). There are many factors affected the life prediction, some of them depends on the material like heat treatment and percentage of the component (carbon, sulpher etc.). The others depends on the application; i e. the type of the loads (CAL or VAL) or the surrounding effect (moisture, percentage of hydrogen etc.).The effect of surface condition was also discussed in this paper.

and stress amplitude are defined as Equations (1) and (2), respectively.
S r = S max S min

(1)

Sk =

Sr 2

(S max S min )
2

(2)

where Smax and Smin are the maximum and minimum cyclic stresses respectively. The magnitude of the stress range or amplitude is the independent variable and the number of cycles to failure is the dependent variable. Most of the time, S-N fatigue testing is conducted using fully reversed loading. Fully reversed indicates that loading is alternating about a zero mean stress. The mean stress and stress ratio are defined as in equations (3) and (4) respectively.

Sm =
R=

(S max + S min )
2

(3) (4)

S min S max

Equation (5) represents the typical S-N curve:

S k = S f 2 N f

(5)

Where b is the fatigue strength exponent, and S f is the fatigue strength coefficient. This expression developed from log-log S-N graphs is the most widely used equation (known as the Basquin relation) in the stress-based approach to fatigue analysis and design [15]. Fatigue life data exhibit widely scattered results due to the inherent micro-structural in homogeneity in the materials properties, differences in the surface and the test conditions of each specimen, and other factors. In general, the variance of log life increases as the stress level decreases. It has been observed that once grains nucleate cracks in a material at high stress levels, these cracks have a better chance of overcoming the surrounding microstructure. Most of the grains can successfully nucleate cracks at low stress levels, but only very few of them can overcome the surrounding obstacles such as orientation,size, and microstructure to grow a crack. As a result of the unavoidable variation in fatigue data, median S-N fatigue life curves are not sufficient for fatigue analysis and design. The statistical nature of the fatigue must be considered.

2 Theoretical Background
During fatigue testing, the test specimen is subjected to alternating loads until failure. The loads applied to the specimens were defined by either a constant stress range (Sr) or a constant stress amplitude (Sk). The stress range

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The fatigue damage of a component correlates strongly with the applied stress amplitude or applied stress range and is also influenced by the mean stress. In the high-cycle fatigue region, normal mean stresses have a significant effect on fatigue behaviour of components. Normal mean stresses are responsible for the opening and closing state of micro-cracks. Due to the opening of microcracks that accelerates the rate of crack propagation and the closing of micro-cracks retards the growth of cracks, tensile normal means stresses are detrimental and compressive normal mean stresses are beneficial in terms of fatigue strength. The shear mean stress does not influence the opening and closing state of micro-cracks, and, not surprisingly, has little effect on crack propagation. There is very little or no effect mean stress on fatigue strength in the low-cycle fatigue region in which the large amounts of plastic deformation erases any beneficial or detrimental effect of a mean stress. Early empirical models [15] were proposed to compensate for the tensile normal mean stress effects on the high-cycle fatigue strength. In 1874, Gerber [16] proposed a parabolic representation of Whlers fatigue limit data on a plot of as shown in Figure (1). Goodman introduced a theoretical line representing the available fatigue data based on an impact criterion for bridge designs. Goodman justified the use of the impact criterion on a basis that it was easy, simple to use, and provided a good fit to the data. In 1917, Haigh [17] first plotted fatigue data for brasses on a Sk vs. Sm plot. Figure (2) represents the Haigh plot of Gerber and Goodman mean stress corrections. The ordinate of the Haigh plot is the normalized fatigue limit, and the maximum mean stress is limited to the ultimate strength Su. The curve connecting these two points on the two axes represents combinations of stress amplitudes and means stresses given at the fatigue limit life.
1

0.

Se / S

Goodman Gerber
Sk / S

Sm / S

FIGURE 2. Haighs plot for the Gerbers and Goodmans diagram Mathematically, the Gerber parabola and the Goodman line in Haighs coordinates [17] can be expressed as the expressions in equations (6) and (7). It mentioned about the Gerbers mean stress correction, i. e.:

Se =

Sk S 1 m S u
2

(6)

and the Goodmans mean stress correction i. e.:

Se =

Sk S 1 m Su

(7)

where Se is the fatigue limit for fully reversed loading, Sk is the stress amplitude and Sm is the mean stress.

S max / Su S k / Su

S k / Su

3 Computational Simulation: Results and Discussions

It is also well known that fatigue life predictions, based on the Whler curve [3] from the constant amplitude tests, often give large systematic prediction errors for service loads at variable amplitude. Many refinements of the fatigue damage calculations have been suggested, especially mean stress corrections, and also crack closure models.

-1

-1

S min / S u

FIGURE 1. Gerbers and Goodmans diagrams for Whlers data

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8th WSEAS International Conference on SIMULATION, MODELLING and OPTIMIZATION (SMO '08) Santander, Cantabria, Spain, September 23-25, 2008

The main contribution of this paper is the method for prediction of the S-N curves from different materials with variable amplitude loadings as well as to study the factors affecting that prediction. The finite element technique was used for modelling and simulation of the case studied of the shell as a cylinder in three-dimension mesh showed in Figure 3.

= e + p =

+ ' 1 ' E K n

(8)

The load data used here are a real strains measured experimentally using strain gauges on pipes under different types of flow, then converted into stresses using equation (8), as shown in Figure(4).

FIGURE 4. Stress loadings history In this analysis, different carbon steel ( low and medium carbon steel) materials of the shell (ASTM A533, AISI 1020 and AISI 4340) with different mechanical properties are selected, which they are normally used in manufacturing pipes. The chemical compositions and mechanical properties at the room temperature [18,19] are listed in Table 1 and Table 2 respectively. TABLE 1. Chemical composition (wt%) of steel materials Chemical material ASTM AISI composition A533 1020 % Carbon, C 0.160 0.170 0.230 Iron, Fe Manganese, Mn Phosphorous, P Sulfur, S Silicon, Si AISI 4340 0.370 0.430

Inner Diameter=250mm, Thickness/Diameter<0.1, Length>10*Diameter FIGURE 3. Finite element mesh of a shell structure For this purpose, the Finite Element analysis technique with tetrahedral elements (10 nodes) was being used for the modelling and simulating based on MSC Nastran/Patran analysis codes To study the fatigue life prediction in this analysis a shell with T/D<0.1 (where T is the thickness and D is the diameter) and L/D>10 (where L is the length) was used. Components or structures are subjected to quite diverse load histories, their histories may be rather simple and repetitive, at the other extreme, and they may be completely random. The load using here are from experiential work. Masings assumption [15] states that the stress amplitude versus strain amplitude curve can be described by the cyclic stress-strain curves, meaning

97.37699.080 96 99.530 1.150 0.300 0.600 0.010 0.003 0.200 0.700

0.040

0.035 0.040
0.230

0.050

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Molybdenum, Mo Nickel, Ni Chromium, Cr

0.200

0.200 0.300 1.830 0.700 0.900

alternating fatigue life, which they are varied from curve (Gerber) to straight line (Goodman). These effects lead to Gerber approach gives higher predicted life than Goodman approach, which are showen clearly in Figure 6.

TABLE 2. Mechanical properties of steel materials Mechanical ASTM properties Materials A533 Yield strength 670 MPa 720 Ultimate strength MPa 205 Modulus of Elasticity GPa Hardness, Brinell 230 28 Elongation at Break % AISI AISI 1020 4340 295 731 395 200 855 205

111 255 36.5 21.7

Using the cyclic load history mentioned above as an internal pressure to the shell to understand the evaluation and distribution of cyclic stress field under cyclic loading conditions. The linear static analysis was performed using finite element software to determine the stress results for the model. The results of the maximum principle stresses are used for the subsequent fatigue life analysis. Figure 5 showed the contour (image) of the stress distribution on the shell.

FIGURE 6. Stress-Life Curve using Goodman and Gerber theories The behaviour of different low and medium carbon steel materials were studied and showed in Figure 7, which indicated that high ultimate strength and hardness of medium carbon steel AISI 4340, with the chemical composition such as chromium, manganese and nickel gives long life greater by more than 95% compare to AISI 1020 and more than 85% as compare with ASTM A533, but still ASTM A533 butter than AISI 1020 by 80% of the predicted life.

FIGURE 5. Contour display of stresses on shell structure FIGURE 7. S-N curve for different steel materials Since most of fatigue failure originate at the surface, the surface will have a substantial influence on fatigue behavior. Surface effects are

The normal mean stresses have a significant effect on fatigue behavior of components. Normal mean stresses are responsible for the opening and closing state of micro-cracks. The effect of mean stress on

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caused by differences in surface roughness, microstructure, chemical composition, and residual stresses. Most engineering parts, however, are not highly polished, and grinding or machining, even if done carefully, will cause degradation in fatigue strength. To show the effect of various surface finish on fatigue life of the shell, we study here three type of surface finishing, Figure 8, showed the effect of surface finish on fatigue life of the shell as a comparison between the polished, machined and hot rolled, the polished surface gave better life at the same stress with others. This is clear at low stresses, but the differences are so small at high stresses. He polished surface reduced the crack nucleation and hot rolled cause surface decarburization, which leads to have lower strength, while the machined surface mainly affected by the stress concentration.

compressive and the tensile mean stress. The predicted fatigue life appears to be more conservative for the tensile mean stress than compressive mean stress. It observed that that Goodman mean stress correction method for the stress-life approach gives the most conservative results when the time histories are predominately tensile mean. However, the Gerber mean stress correction model gives the conservative results when the time histories predominantly are zero mean. In the majority of the lifetime analysis, the deformation pattern remains stable and the material stiffness degrades due to the damage accumulated after each cycle. The fatigue resistance of steel depends more on material strength, the higher ultimate strength and hardness, the longer life. The condition of the surface and the residual surface stress cause by a machining operation are important criteria to be investigated. Since the fatigue can be associated with the surface phenomenon. The hot rolling causes surface decarburization and the loss of atoms from the surface of material weakens the material strength and may also produce residual tensile stresses. Both of these factors are really detrimental to fatigue strength. The surface compressive residual stress has the greatest effect on the fatigue life. It can be concluded that the
polished surface finishes provide the unsurpassed results while the hot rolled provide the minimum life.

References: FIGURE 8. Effect of different surface condition on shell structure [1] A., Fatemi, Zeng, Z. & Plaseied, A. Fatigue behavior and life prediction of notched specimens made of QT and forged microalloyed steels. International Journal of Fatigue, 2004,26:663-672. [2] R. W. Landgraf. Fatigue and microstructures. In: Meshii M, edit ASM, 1979, pp 439-440. [3] A. Fatemi, & Yang, L. Cumulative fatigue damage and life prediction theories: a survey of the state of the art for homogeneous materials, International Journal of Fatigue, 1998, 20(1), pp 9-34. [4] J. S. Park, A microstructural model for the prediction of high cycle fatigue life based on the small crack theory. PhD Thesis. POSTECH, 2003, Pohang, Korea. [5] J. S. Park, Kim, K. H., Park, S. H. &Lee, C. S. .A microstructural model for predicting high cycle fatigue life of steels. International Journal of Fatigue, 2005, 27:1115-1123. [6 ] F. Ellyin, Golos, K. & Xia, Z. In-phase and

Conclusion

The fatigue life of different steel materials using stress based method with variable amplitude loadings (VAL) measured from experiments was discussed using finite element approach (FEA). The application here was a shell structure (pipeline) with infinite length The analysis showed different fatigue life prediction through stress-life curve under the same VAL for three types of low and medium carbon steel materials (ASTM A533, AISI 1020 and AISI 4340), taking into account the effect of mean stress by using Goodman and Gerber theories. The effect of surface condition (polished, machined and hot rolled) was studied and shown in this paper. The obtained results indicate that the influence of mean stress correction are different for the

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out-of-phase multiaxial fatigue. Trans. ASME Journal of Engineering Materials Technology; 1991, 113:112118. [7] R. N. Smith, Watson, P. & Topper, TH. A stress strain function for the fatigue of metal. Journal of Materials, 1970, 5(4):767778.. [8] A. Fatemi & Socie, D. A critical plane approach to multiaxial fatigue damage including out-of-phase loading. Fatigue and Fracture Engineering Materials Structures, 1988, 11(3):149165. [9] ASME Code. Case N-47-23 Case of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, 1988. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. [10] B. Li, Reis, L. & de Freitas, M. Simulation of cyclic stress/strain evolutions for multiaxial fatigue life prediction. International Journal of Fatigue, 2006, 28:451-458. [11] L. Molent, Jones, R., Barter S. & Pitt, S. Recent development in fatigue crack growth assessment. International Journal of Fatigue, 28(12)2006:1759-1768. [12] W. U. Xinqiang, Yasuyuki Katada, Sang, G., Lee, & Kim, IN. S. Hydrogen-Involved tensile and cyclic deformation behavior of low-alloy pressure vessel steel. Metallurgical and Materials Transaction A. 2004, 35A (5):14771485. [13] T. Pavankumar, Samal M, Chattopadhyay J, Dutta B, Kushwaha Roos E. Transferability of fracture parameters from specimens to component level. International Journal of Pressure Vessels Piping 2005;82:38699. [14] D. Erent Eason, Edward Nelson E. & Gilman Joe D. Modeling of fatigue crack growth rate for ferritic steels in light water reactor environments. Nuclear Engineering and Design. 1988, 184:89-111. [15] A. Julie, Bannantine, Jess J. Comer, James L. Handrock, Fundamentails of metal fatigue analysis Prntice Hall, 1990. [16] W. Z. Gerber, Calculation of the allowable stresses in iron structuresZ. Bayer Archif Enginneering, 1874, Ver. 6(6):101-110. [17] B. P. Haigh, Experiments on the fatigue of brasses, Journal of the institute of Metals, 1917, 18:55-86. [18] Metatls Handbook,Vol. 1,-Properities and Selection: Irons, Steels and High-Performance Alloys, ASM International 10th Ed. 1990. [19] SAE Ferrous Materials Standards Manual, 1999 ed, HS-30, Society of Automative Engineers, Inc. Warrendale, PA.

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