Very-high-cycle-fatigue (VHCF) strength properties are of interest to several technical applications assessed globally at different laboratories with long-life fatigue testing capabilities. Also, VHCF failure mechanisms are a scientific topic with remaining open research questions. Herein, three automotive bar grade steels are studied with respect to VHCF strength and initiation mechanisms. A microalloyed ferritic-pearlitic steel (38MnSiV5, 870 MPa tensile strength), a quenched and tempered martensitic steel (50CrV4, 1410 MPa tensile strength), and a carburizing steel (16MnCr5, 1180 MPa core structure tensile strength) are studied to reveal characteristics regarding initiation and VHCF failure mechanisms. A 20 kHz ultrasonic fatigue testing instrument is used to obtain fatigue lives up to and above 10(9) load cycles in uniaxial loading. Hour-glass specimens, smooth or notched, are tested at R = -1 and R = 0.1. Fatigue strength and stress life (SN)-diagram data are achieved, and crack initiation and growth mechanisms are studied using primarily field-emission gun-scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM). Fatigue strengths are explained by a modified life-dependent Murakami-expression, the Haigh diagram, and notch sensitivity. Interior and surface crack initiations by surface defects, triple points, and inclusions are found. The fine granular area (FGA) to fish-eye crack growth transition conditions are explored and schematic descriptions are given.

During the past decades, Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF) research has developed into an active and prioritized research area. An increased interest in testing up to 107-1010 load cycles, realized within a reasonably short amount of time, has been enabled by the development of 20-30 kHz ultrasonic fatigue testing equipment. Here, a study is presented on fatigue crack propagation at 20 kHz of three different automotive steels tested at R=-1 and R=-0.24 load ratios. However, the high load rates provokes new challenges, as theoretically finding the best practice method to compute the stress intensity factor considering 20 kHz dynamic effects (inertia forces and damping). Calibrating the fatigue load system, monitoring, controlling and performing precise measurements of the growing crack during the tests are some examples of experimental challenges encountered. Here, a best practice method for computing the stress intensity factor is presented together with a complete 20 kHz fatigue crack growth testing procedure.Three different bar steel grades have been tested; a ferritic-pearlitic, a quenched and tempered martensitic and a carburizing steel grade. Crack propagation test results differentiated between the three steel grades and were depending on load ratio R. The obtained test results at 20 kHz were found to agree with results of the same steel grades tested at conventionally used load frequencies. The SEM fractography analysis revealed ductile transgranular crack propagation mechanisms, also this in agreement with the same steel grades tested at lower frequencies.

The 20 kHz load frequency enables fatigue tests for very high cycle fatigue life, 109-1013 cycles, within conveniently short time. In automotive applications, many components are subjected to flexural loading and hence bending fatigue is an important test mode. Ultrasound fatigue test instruments have been used successfully in several assessments of fatigue strength and more commonly in uniaxial loading. Here, a 3-point bending fatigue test rig operating in resonance at 20 kHz load frequency has been designed to test plane specimens at R=0.1 loading. The test rig design and stress calculations are presented. Testing for fatigue strength was conducted using the staircase method with 15 specimens of each steel grade, specimens reaching 108 cycles were considered run-outs giving fatigue strength at 108 cycles. Additional 15 specimens of each grade were tested for S-N curves with the upper limit above 109 cycles. Two different common automotive steels, 38MnSiV5, a micro-alloyed ferritic-pearlitic steel, and 16MnCr5, a carburizing martensitic steel, were tested. The fatigue strengths achieved from the staircase testing are 340 and 419 MPa stress amplitudes for the 38MnSiV5 and 16MnCr5 steels, respectively. The S-N curves of the steels appear to be quite flat in the tested life range 107 - 109.

This paper presents the development of the distributed dislocation dipole technique (DDDT) for the analysis of straight, kinked and branched cracks where parts of the cracks may close during loading. The method has been developed for plane problems. Crack cases in which closure occurs are analyzed by reformulating the Buecicner's principle, taking into account the contact stresses at the contacting portions of the crack surfaces. Stress intensity factors corresponding to opening and the in-plane sliding mode of deformation at the crack tips are computed. Several test cases involving straight, kinked and/or branched cracks where parts of the cracks undergoes crack surface closure when subjected to the outer loading are analyzed. The results obtained from the DDDT are compared to those obtained from a Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis of the same crack cases. This comparison shows that the computation of stress intensity factors for the cases involving crack surface closure are less accurate than those for fully open crack cases. However, for the cases under consideration, the stress intensity factors were still computed with a maximum difference of approximately 2 per cent compared to the FEM calculations if Jacobi polynomial expansions of at least the twelfth order were used to represent the crack surface opening and sliding displacements. In most cases under consideration, sixth order Jacobi polynomial expansions were sufficient to obtain results within that margin of deviation.

The present paper explores the short span compression tester (SCT) as a means to experimentally determine the transverse shear moduli of paper. These moduli, which are known to be difficult to determine by any other means, are of importance for the behavior of paper during tissue manufacturing and in the converting and embossing of paperboard. Testing was conducted on paper of two different grammages both in MD and in CD. By applying the Timoshenko-Engesser theory for buckling of shear compliant materials, estimates of the transverse shear moduli were obtained through the measured SCT values and standard measurements of the Young's modulus and the thickness. These estimates were evaluated by detailed FE-analyses of the SCT setup incorporating initial geometrical imperfections representative for real test conditions. It was found that the Timoshenko-Engesser theory gives estimates of the transverse shear moduli that are within an accuracy well applicable for most engineering purposes. The results suggest that the method is at least as accurate as any other, more involved, method that could be used for the purpose.

Fatigue properties are evaluated in a large span of fatigue lives ranging from a few load cycles to more than 1013 load cycles. If the interest is focused on fatigue lives above 10(7) load cycles, we speak of the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) range. For evaluation of properties in the VHCF range one often needs to use higher load frequencies to be able to perform testing within a reasonable time. Therefore, the influence of load frequency on fatigue strength and fatigue crack growth is an important issue, both from testing and design perspectives. Within an EU-RFCS research project on the frequency influence on high strength steel fatigue properties the present study has been conducted on fatigue crack growth testing to determine threshold values and crack growth material parameters. The testing was analyzed by FE-computation to determine geometry factors for AK-determination. The testing was performed in a 20 kHz ultrasound resonance instrument. In such a system the whole load train needs to be designed to run at a resonance frequency of 20 kHz, and it implies that the specimen needs to be designed and computations performed by dynamic computational methods. As the crack grows the dynamic response of the specimen will change, and hence calculation to obtain the geometry factor is made with a progressing crack length. A uniaxial tensile load at 20 kHz frequency is applied to a single edged notched side-grooved flat specimen. The specimen dimensions are calculated in order to have a resonance frequency of 20 kHz, which is the frequency used for the experiments. Dynamic FEM computation, with a 3D-model and a quarter symmetry was used with one of the symmetry planes parallel to and in the crack growth line. To avoid crack surface interpenetration during the simulations a rigid thin sheet was introduced and used as a counter-face to the crack surface. The solution obtained was then combined with the breathing crack model proposed by Chati et. al. (1997) in order to solve for the irregularities observed when crack surface interpenetration occurs. Finally, the whole load train was considered. Thus, also the computed frequencies were very close to frequencies observed in experiments. The computation of stress intensities was made for varying crack lengths in a series of simulations. The geometry factor relation was determined and used in 20 kHz crack growth testing to control the actual stress intensity at the advancing crack tip. Comparison of computations and experimental results were made.

An innovative creping simulator for tissue has been developed to meet the requirements set by both industrial needs, such as speed and process step duration, and research ambitions, such as flexibility for modifications and efficient operation. Some of these factors can be difficult to achieve with the previously introduced simulators. Lower speeds and much longer process step times can jeopardize results when, for instance, the drying time of chemicals is longer and the speed of creping is slower than in a tissue mill. The newly developed simulator has been used to investigate the effects of paper grammage, creping angle, temperature of dryer, speed and the horizontal force experienced during tissue creping. Results show good agreement with results of industrial-scale tissue production, with the exception of shrinkage which was greater. It was observed that the grammage influences the final thickness and the shrinkage of creped sheets, and that creping speed affects the creping frequency, thickness and shrinkage. The temperature of the surface of a sled mimicking the Yankee cylinder was shown to influence creping frequency and thickness. The horizontal friction force during creping appears to increase if drying temperature is lowered.

The fatigue strength of two-duplex stainless steel grades, 2304 SRG and LDX 2101, with austenitic–ferritic microstructure is tested using ultrasonic fatigue testing equipment operating at 20 kHz. The testing is conducted in tension-compression mode with the load ratio R=-1. The fatigue strength is evaluated at 10⁷, 10⁸, and 10⁹ load cycles and the estimates of fatigue strength are higher for the LDX 2101 grade. The fatigue crack initiation mechanisms are analyzed using a scanning electron microscope. The fatigue cracks, in all cases, appear to initiate due to accumulation of plastic fatigue damage at the surface. In the 2304 SRG grade, accumulation of fatigue damage occurs at the external surface of fatigued specimens in the form of extrusions at the grain/phase boundaries and in the form of individual slip lines in the austenite phase. Meanwhile, in the LDX 2101 grade accumulation of plastic fatigue damage in the form of extrusions and intrusions occurs mainly within the ferrite grain. When the crack is microstructurally short, the crack growth appears to be crystallographic in nature and the crack appears to change its direction propagating from one grain into another.

A distributed dislocation dipole technique for the analysis of multiple straight, kinked and branched cracks in an elastic half plane has been developed. The dipole density distribution is represented with a weighted Jacobi polynomial expansion where the weight function captures the asymptotic behaviour at each end of the crack. To allow for opening and sliding at crack kinking and branching the dipole density representation contains conditional extra terms which fulfil the asymptotic behaviour at each endpoint. Several test cases involving straight, kinked and branched cracks have been analysed, and the results suggest that the accuracy of the method is within 1% provided that Jacobi polynomial expansions up to at least the sixth order are used. Adopting even higher order Jacobi polynomials yields improved accuracy. The method is compared to a simplified procedure suggested in the literature where stress singularities associated with corners at kinking or branching are neglected in the representation for the dipole density distribution. The comparison suggests that both procedures work, but that the current procedure is superior, in as much as the same accuracy is reached using substantially lower order polynomial expansions.

Fatigue studies of cold-rolled duplex stainless strip steel were performed in the very high cycle fatigue life region. The duplex austenitic-ferritic microstructure gives this grade a combination of high mechanical strength and high corrosion resistance. Fatigue properties of thin steel strips are particular due to cold rolling introducing a very fine microstructure. Crack initiation and fatigue strength are controlled by steel microstructure and alloying. The initiation and growth of the very short initial fatigue crack in very high cycle fatigue are unclear and subject to different descriptions. Fatigue test data of thin strip specimens at very high fatigue lives are scarce due to testing difficulties. For practical reasons testing must be performed at ultrasound test frequencies which involves fixturing problems. A test setup including the load chain ultrasonic horn, fixture and specimen was designed for resonance with a horse-shoe design of a screw fixture. The design of the horse-shoe fixture and the specimens along with FEM calculation of eigenfrequency are presented. Fatigue testing was performed at 20 kHz in R=-1 conditions up to fatigue life of 10⁷ to 5*10⁹ cycles. Fatigue strength was tested and crack initiation was studied on the fracture surface using FEG-SEM at the initiation site.