The single crystal superalloy PWA 1484 is used in hot section turbine blade applications due to its performance at high temperatures. In practice, the turbine blades are often coated in order to protect them from environmental degradation. However, under repeated cyclic loading, the coating may serve as a site for crack initiation in the blades. Fundamental out-of-phase (OP) thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) studies, primarily using uncoated solid cylindrical test samples, have previously examined both crack initiation and propagation in PWA 1484. In this work, mechanical strain-controlled OP TMF tests were performed on coated and uncoated specimens of a hollow cylindrical geometry in order to study the effects of both geometry and coating on the TMF crack initiation behavior. To accomplish this, it was necessary to create and analyze a modified gripping mechanism due to the unique geometry of the test samples, and as predicted by hand calculations and finite element analysis, these modifications proved to be successful. The TMF test results for the uncoated material were compared to those from previous studies under the same testing conditions, and it was found that the differences in geometry had a minimal impact on fatigue life. Comparisons of the results for the coated and uncoated material suggested that the coating may have offered a slight improvement in life, although insufficient results were available to determine whether these differences were statistically significant. Damage mechanisms resulting from different test conditions were also observed through microscopy on failed specimens.

The large number of vehicles operating on the roads cause high emissions and consequently a negative effect on the environment. When developing and optimizing internal combustion engines, certain requirements must be considered, which are environmental regulations, reduced fuel consumption and increased specific power. In order to meet these demands, an increase of the engine combustion pressure will occur usually accompanied with a temperature increase. During start-up and shut-down of an engine, it is subjected to cyclic thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) loads. The turbo manifold and exhaust manifolds connected to the engine is also subjected to these thermo-mechanical fatigue loads and thereby exposed to alternating tensile and compression loads. As these TMF loads will increase in the near future due to the development and optimization of internal combustion engines, it is important to understand the limitations of the material for these loads. In collaboration with Scania CV AB in Södertälje, this thesis covers the investigation of influence of nitrocarburizing (NC) on TMF properties of three ductile irons (DCI) labelled HiSi, SiMo51 and SiMo1000 intended to be used for components in the exhaust system. Nitrocarburizing is a thermo-chemical process where nitrogen and carbon diffuses from the process medium into the surface zone of a ferrous metal. The purpose of the NC is to increase the wear properties in contact areas between different parts. The oxidation with and without nitrocarburizing are studied both after isothermal and stress free oxidation tests at 780 °C and after TMF loads with combined cyclic variation of mechanical and thermal loads. In addition, the properties such as hardness, defects, porosity, microstructure, composition of both the materials and of the oxide layer have been investigated. For SiMo1000+NC cracks formed during nitrocarburizing were positioned parallel to the surface edge in the diffusion zone and consequently an increased diffusion of nitrogen into the material, i.e. deeper diffusion depth. SiMo1000+NC showed highest hardness, highest compressive residual stresses and thickest oxide layer. SiMo1000 showed highest resistance against oxidation due to the protective aluminum oxide layer. Oxide crack initiations after thermo-mechanical tests with a protective silicon oxide layer around the cracks for HiSi and SiMo51 and a protective aluminum oxide layer around the cracks for SiMo1000. In materials with nitrocarburizing, these protective layers of either silicon oxide or aluminum oxide were more distributed into the material. In SiMo1000+NC, crack initiations were not oxidized.

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New stricter environmental legislation requires lower emissions and fuel consumption of automotive engines. Therefore the fuel efficiency must be increased but this leads to higher loads in the engine. As for the exhaust system it is affected by higher thermomechanical loads. Until today the turbo manifold has been nitrocarburized in order to increase the wear resistance in slip joints with other exhaust components. The problem is that there is no knowledge of how the nitrocarburizing affects the thermomechanical properties of the material. The purpose of this thesis work is to examine the difference in thermomechanical properties with and without nitrocarburizing on the three different ductile irons High Silicon, SiMo51 and SiMo1000 intended for exhaust components. Thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) experiments were performed on test rods to evaluate difference in number of cycles to failure. In each cycle the test-rod was affected by a combination of mechanical loads and thermal loads resembling those found on exhaust components. Light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and x-ray radiography were used to examine microcracks and damage mechanisms of the materials. It was found that the nitrocarburizing did not affect the number of cycles to failure in any large extent. Further, it was also found that SiMo1000 on average has the longest lifetime followed by SiMo51 and High Silicon. Although, the difference is small for many loadings and taking a 95% confidence band into account the curves overlap for many loading cases.

Directionally solidified Rene 80 (DS R80) and polycrystalline Inconel 738(IN 738) Superalloys were tested in thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) over the temperature range of 500-900°C and plastic strain range from 0.1 to 0.8% using a DSI Gleeble thermal simulator. Thermo-mechanical testing was carried out on the parent material (baseline) in the conventional solution treated and aged condition (STA), as well as gas tungsten arc welded (GTAW) with an IN-738 filler, followed by solution treatment and ageing. Comparison of the baseline alloy microstructure with that of the welded and heat treated alloy showed that varying crack initiation mechanisms, notably oxidation by stress assisted grain boundary oxidation, grain boundary MC carbides fatigue crack initiation, fatigue crack initiation from sample surfaces, crack initiation from weld defects and creep deformation were operating, leading to different “weakest link” and failure initiation points. The observations from this study show that the repaired samples had extra crack initiation sites not present in the baseline, which accounted for their occasional poor fatigue life. These defects include lack of fusion between the weld and the base metal, fusion zone cracking, and heat affected zone microfissures.

Directionally solidified Rene 80 (DS R80) and polycrystalline Inconel 738(IN 738) Superalloys were tested in thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) over the temperature range of 500-900°C and plastic strain range from 0.1 to 0.8% using a DSI Gleeble thermal simulator. Thermo-mechanical testing was carried out on the parent material (baseline) in the conventional solution treated and aged condition (STA), as well as gas tungsten arc welded (GTAW) with an IN-738 filler, followed by solution treatment and ageing. Comparison of the baseline alloy microstructure with that of the welded and heat treated alloy showed that varying crack initiation mechanisms, notably oxidation by stress assisted grain boundary oxidation, grain boundary MC carbides fatigue crack initiation, fatigue crack initiation from sample surfaces, crack initiation from weld defects and creep deformation were operating, leading to different “weakest link” and failure initiation points. The observations from this study show that the repaired samples had extra crack initiation sites not present in the baseline, which accounted for their occasional poor fatigue life. These defects include lack of fusion between the weld and the base metal, fusion zone cracking, and heat affected zone microfissures.

Simulation of crack growth in the internal cooling system of a blade in a Siemens gas turbine has been studied by inserting and propagating cracks at appropriate locations. The softwares used are ABAQUS and FRANC3D, where the latter supports finite element meshing of a crack and calculation of the stress intensities along the crack front based on the results from an external finite element program. The blade is subjected to thermo-mechanical fatigue and the cracks are grown subjected to in-phase loading conditions.   The material of the blade is STAL15SX, a nickel-base single-crystal superalloy. The <001> crystalline direction is aligned with the loading direction of the blade, while the secondary crystalline directions are varied to examine how it affects the thermo-mechanical crack propagation fatigue life of the blade.   The finite element model is set up using a submodeling technique to reduce the computational time for the simulations. Investigations to validate the submodeling technique are conducted.   From the work it can be concluded that a crack located at a critical location in the cooling lattice reach above the crack propagation target life. Cracks located at noncritical locations have crack propagation lives of a factor 5.2 times the life of the critical crack.

Traditionnellement, les collecteurs d'échappement sont fabriqués en fonte, d'un seul tenant. En raison de l'augmentation des performances des moteurs, des tôles d'acier mécano-soudées sont maintenant utilisées pour améliorer la tenue mécanique du collecteur à haute température. Cette technologie permet de réduire la masse du collecteur et de répondre ainsi favorablement aux normes de dépollution les plus sévères. L'objectif de la thèse est de proposer un modèle numérique de soudure et un critère de ruine associé permettant de prédire la durée de vie de ces structures mécano-soudées soumises à des chargements thermiques anisothermes. La procédure de dimensionnement consiste à simuler plusieurs cycles de chargements et à évaluer le critère de fatigue sur le dernier cycle simulé, considéré comme stabilisé.Dans un premier temps, une étude théorique est menée sur la caractérisation des différents états asymptotiques (adaptation, accommodation et rochet). Elle permet, d'une part de vérifier que l'état stabilisé est effectivement atteint et éventuellement d'estimer le nombre de cycles nécessaires pour l'atteindre, d'autre part de déterminer la nature de l'état limite. Dans un second temps, des essais de durée de vie isothermes, réalisés sur des éprouvettes en tôle, en tôle soudée et en tôle soudée arasée (abrasion du cordon puis polissage de la zone utile) mettent en évidence l'influence de la géométrie et de la microstructure au niveau de la soudure sur la durée de vie de ces structures. Enfin, des essais de durée de vie anisothermes, inspirés de chargements effectivement observés sur le collecteur, ont été réalisés sur des éprouvettes en tôle et en tôle soudée.La rigidité du cordon de soudure est modélisée à l'aide d'éléments coques dimensionnés de sorte à reproduire la déformée des éprouvettes en tôle soudée observée expérimentalement. Différents critères de ruine sont mis au point sur le matériau de base pour caractériser l'endommagement induit par des chargements anisothermes puis sont adaptés à la zone soudée. Enfin, la simulation d'un essai de choc thermique sur un collecteur d'échappement permet de valider le modèle de soudure proposé et de tester la pertinence des critères vis-à-vis de l'application industrielle. / Exhaust manifolds are classically designed in cast-iron. However, the engine performance increasing, the output gas reaches higher temperature, and other types of material like welded steel plates are considered to design exhaust manifolds. These components are subjected to complex thermomechanical loadings which must be taken into account in fatigue design. To limit the computational costs, only a few loading cycles are simulated and a fatigue criterion is used to estimate the lifetime of the structure. This study proposes a junction model combined with a fatigue criterion to assess the lifetime of a welded structure. The model is simple enough to be integrated into a computation on a complete structure and the fatigue criterion is available for anisothermal loadings.The theoretical characterization of the asymptotic states (elastic or plastic shakedown, ratchetting) is studied and adapted to anisothermal loadings in order to check whether the structure reaches a stabilized behaviour and to find the trend line of the evolution of the structure. Then isothermal low cycle fatigue tests are completed up to specimen crack initiation on plate, butt-welded plate and butt-welded plate after smoothing out the weld bead. The geometry and the microstructure of the weld have significant influence on strain localization and on the fatigue lifetime of the specimens. Finally anisothermal tests were completed on welded specimens to reproduce the typical loading seen by welds on exhaust manifolds.The stiffness of the weld is modelled thanks to additional shell elements calibrated to reproduce the deflected shapes of the welded specimens. Various fatigue criteria are developed on the base material to characterize anisothermal damage, and are then adapted to welded zones. The junction model is finally validated thanks to the simulation of a thermal shock on an exhaust manifold and the relevance of the criteria is estimated in relation to the industrial application.

Cette étude porte sur la modélisation de la durée de vie à l'écaillage des barrières thermiques pour aubes de turbines aéronautiques. La caractérisation expérimentale de l'adhérence du revêtement combine l'identification de la durée de vie - qualifiée par l'écaillage macroscopique de la céramique - à une caractérisation de l'endommagement à l'échelle de la microstructure du revêtement et en particulier à la dégradation des interfaces céramique / oxyde / métal. Des essais de compression uniaxiale sur des éprouvettes en AM1 revêtues NiAlPt et YSZ par EB-PVD, vieillies en fatigue thermique et mécano-thermique permettent d'estimer l'adhérence du revêtement. Ces essais sont complétés par des essais de propagation du délaminage interfacial par compression. Un essai original de compression in situ en laminographie aux rayons X a également permis d'analyser l'écaillage et la propagation du front de délaminage. Tous ces essais sont instrumentés et équipés de moyens d'observation permettant de réaliser des mesures de surfaces délaminées ou écaillées et de déterminer leur évolution en fonction des déformations locales mesurées.Une analyse microstructurale complète l'étude afin de comprendre l'influence du vieillissement thermique ou mécano-thermique sur l'évolution de l'endommagement du système. Cette analyse porte sur les mécanismes d'oxydation, de diffusion, de changement de phase principalement dans l'oxyde et la sous-couche. Elle est complétée par l'étude de l'ondulation de surface au cours du cyclage thermique, phénomène de « rumpling », et de ses conséquences, notamment au niveau de l'endommagement global de l'interface et de son adhérence. Le lien entre endommagement de l'interface à l'échelle d'imperfections de rugosité (quelques microns) et de la propagation d'une fissure d'interface (quelques dizaines à quelques centaines de microns) est analysé numériquement par la méthode des zones cohésives.Ces deux études complémentaires ont permis d'établir un modèle phénoménologique de durée de vie à l'écaillage. Celui-ci se base sur une estimation de l'énergie contenue dans la couche de céramique comparée à la valeur théorique d'énergie critique à rupture obtenue par un modèle d'endommagement, fonction de l'oxydation et des paramètres de chargement mécano-thermique. Ce modèle est implémenté en post-processeur d'un calcul par éléments finis facilitant son utilisation industrielle. / This study aims to model lifetime of thermal barrier coating (TBC) used on aircraft turbine blades. Experimental characterization of the coating adherence combines the lifetime identification – described by macroscopic spallation of the ceramic – with damage estimation trough the analysis of the influence of the microstructure of the coating and evolutions of interfaces ceramic / oxide / metal.Adherence of the ceramic is assessed using uniaxial mechanical compressive tests on AM1 specimen coated with NiAlPt bond coat and EB-PVD yttria stabilized zirconia varying the thermal and thermo-mechanical fatigue ageing conditions. Those tests are completed with analysis of interfacial crack propagation. A pioneering in situ compressive test using X-ray laminography has also been developed to analyze spallation and further delamination. The use of in-situ surface imaging by CCD cameras has enabled measurement of delaminated or spalled areas as function of measured local strain.The influence of thermal or thermo mechanical ageing on damage evolution of TBCs is studied through a microstructural analysis. Oxidation, diffusion and phase transformation mechanisms in the alumina and the bond coat are main parts of this analysis. Moreover the oxide rumpling and its consequences have been detailed, particularly through the measurement of global interfacial damage and adherence evolution. The link between interfacial damage at the scale of local defects (few microns) and the propagation of an interfacial crack (from tens to hundreds of microns) is numerically analyzed with a cohesive zone model.Those two spatial length of analysis were used to build a phenomenological lifetime model to spallation. This model was based on the assessment of the elastic strain energy stored in the ceramic layer and it comparison to fracture energy. A damage model is used to model the fracture strain energy evolution as a function of oxidation and thermo mechanical loading. This model is implemented in post processor of a FEM analysis, making its industrial use easier.

Objective Cartilage fatigue, due to mechanical work, may account for the early development of degenerative joint disease (DJD) in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), and why women are three times more likely to be afflicted. This study tested for gender differences in mechanical energy densities in women and men with healthy TMJs. Design Eighteen women and eighteen men gave informed consent. Research diagnostic criteria including imaging were used to ensure that subjects’ TMJs were normal, without disc displacement or signs of DJD. Numerical modeling determined TMJ loads (Fnormal). Jaw tracking and three-dimensional dynamic stereometry characterized individual-specific data of stress-field dynamic mechanics during 10 symmetrical jaw closing cycles. These data were used to estimate tractional forces (Ftraction). Energy densities were then calculated, where: Energy Density = W/Q (W = work done or mechanical energy input = Ftraction*distance of stress-field translation, Q = volume of cartilage). Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and follow-up two-group comparisons tested mean energy densities for ipsilateral and contralateral TMJs in women vs men. Results Mean energy densities ± standard deviations in ipsilateral and contralateral TMJs in women were 9.0 ± 9.7 and 8.4 ± 5.5 mJ/mm3, respectively, and were significantly larger (P = 0.004 and 0.001, respectively) compared to ipsilateral and contralateral TMJs in men, which were 5.6 ± 4.2 and 6.3 ± 4.2 mJ/mm3, respectively. Conclusions Energy densities were significantly larger in healthy TMJs of women than men. Larger TMJ energy densities during normal jaw functions could predispose earlier mechanical fatigue of the TMJ disc.