Fatigue is a major cause of failures concerning metal structures, being capable of causing catastrophic damage to the environment and considerable financial loss. Steel pipelines used in oil and gas industry for hydrocarbon transportation, for instance, are submitted to the action of cyclic loads, being susceptible to undergo fatigue failures. The phenomenon of metal fatigue is a complex process comprising different successive mechanisms. In general, four stages can be identified, representing microcrack initiation (nucleation), microcracking, macrocrack propagation, and final fracture. Fatigue damage prior to nucleation of microcracks is primarily related to localized plastic strain development at or near material surface during cycling. The microhardness of the material shows its ability to resist microplastic deformation caused by indentation or penetration, and is closely related to the material plastic slip capacity. Therefore, the study of changes in material surface microhardness during the different stages of fatigue process can estimate the evolution of the material resistance to microplastic deformations and, consequently, provide relevant information about the cumulated fatigue damage on the surface. The present work is part of a research study being carried out with the aim of proposing a new method based on microstructural changes, represented by a fatigue damage indicator, to predict fatigue life of steel structures submitted to cyclic loads, before macroscopic cracking. In a previous work, the X-ray diffraction technique was used to evaluate these changes. This technique presents several advantages, since it is non-destructive and concerns the surface and subsurface of the material, where major microstructural changes take place during fatigue. The most important parameter obtained by this technique is the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the diffraction peak, which can provide information about the dislocation network density and estimate microdeformations. It was found that the evolution of this parameter with cycling presents three different stages, associated to the mechanisms of microcrack initiation, microcracking, macrocrack propagation, respectively. Here, the fatigue damage of pipeline steels is evaluated through microhardness testing. Different stages of changes in microhardness are also found and they are correlated to those observed with the X-ray technique and also with transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images from experimental tests performed with a similar material. This correlation can help to corroborate the X-ray diffraction results previously obtained and recommend then this non-destructive technique as the base of the method for predicting fatigue life of steel structures proposed here.
Skip Nav Destination
ASME 2017 36th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering
June 25–30, 2017
Trondheim, Norway
Conference Sponsors:
- Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5768-7
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
High Cycle Fatigue Damage Evaluation of Steel Pipelines Based on Microhardness Changes During Cyclic Loads Available to Purchase
Geovana Drumond,
Geovana Drumond
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Search for other works by this author on:
Bianca Pinheiro,
Bianca Pinheiro
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Search for other works by this author on:
Ilson Pasqualino,
Ilson Pasqualino
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Search for other works by this author on:
Francine Roudet,
Francine Roudet
University Lille 1, Lille, France
Search for other works by this author on:
Didier Chicot,
Didier Chicot
University Lille 1, Lille, France
Search for other works by this author on:
Xavier Decoopman
Xavier Decoopman
University Lille 1, Lille, France
Search for other works by this author on:
Geovana Drumond
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Bianca Pinheiro
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ilson Pasqualino
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Francine Roudet
University Lille 1, Lille, France
Didier Chicot
University Lille 1, Lille, France
Xavier Decoopman
University Lille 1, Lille, France
Paper No:
OMAE2017-62677, V004T03A018; 10 pages
Published Online:
September 25, 2017
Citation
Drumond, G, Pinheiro, B, Pasqualino, I, Roudet, F, Chicot, D, & Decoopman, X. "High Cycle Fatigue Damage Evaluation of Steel Pipelines Based on Microhardness Changes During Cyclic Loads." Proceedings of the ASME 2017 36th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering. Volume 4: Materials Technology. Trondheim, Norway. June 25–30, 2017. V004T03A018. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/OMAE2017-62677
Download citation file:
30
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
Constitutive Modeling of Inelastic Solids for Plastic Flow Processes Under Cyclic Dynamic Loadings
J. Eng. Mater. Technol (April,1999)
Analysis of Variable Amplitude Fatigue Data of the P355NL1 Steel Using the Effective Strain Damage Model
J. Pressure Vessel Technol (October,2009)
Decomposition Method to Detect Fatigue Damage Precursors in Thin Components Through Nonlinear Ultrasonic With Collinear Mixing Contributions
ASME J Nondestructive Evaluation (May,2020)
Related Chapters
Understanding the Problem
Design and Application of the Worm Gear
In Situ Observations of the Failure Mechanisms of Hydrided Zircaloy-4
Zirconium in the Nuclear Industry: 20th International Symposium
Surface Analysis and Tools
Tribology of Mechanical Systems: A Guide to Present and Future Technologies