Application of the Tufftride Process to Prevention of Fracture of Cracked Steels

Abstract

In this study, the effect of the Tufftride process to prevent a fracture of cracked steels has been examined. Static tensile strength, rotary, bending and cyclic torsional fatigue strength of steel specimens with pre-cracks were measured after they were Tufftride-processed. The measured values were compared with the strength of non-processed virgin specimens. The results show that the Tufftride process is more effective for fatigue strength than for static strength. For example, in the case of rotary bending, fatigue strength of a specimen with a pre-crack of 1.5mm can be raised to that of virgin specimens by the Tufftride process. The fatigue strength of non-processed specimens with a pre-crack of this size drops to about 63% of that of virgin specimens. It may be concluded that the Tufftride process can be applied to prevent a fatigue fracture of cracked steels.