The influence of delayed failure on the initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks in Ni–Cr–Mo martensitic steel in water was investigated.
The fatigue crack propagation rate in water (
da⁄
dN)
w is expressed as the sum of the fatigue crack propagation rate in air
da⁄
dN(=
c1Δ
Km1) and the crack propagation rate in delayed failure
da⁄
dt(=
c2KDm2) as follows: (
da⁄
dN)
w=
da⁄
dN+β(
da⁄
dt)⁄
f, where Δ
K is the range of stress intensity factor,
KD is the static stress intensity factor,
f is the frequency (cpm), β is a coefficient of addition. The perfect or formal addition (β=1) cannot be applied because β is about 0.3 in this experiment, mainly due to the interaction between hydrogen atoms invading into the metal and the cyclic change of the region in the tri-axial tensile stress state.
The number of cycles before the fatigue crack initiation in water
N is less than that in air. In some conditions, two bulged parts are observed on the Δ
Ka-
N curve in water (where Δ
Ka is the range of apparent stress intensity factor), and the upper bulge in a short fatigue lifetime suggests the existence of a strong effect of the delayed failure phenomenon on the fatigue crack initiation in water.
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