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Uniaxial strain‐controlled fatigue tests were carried out on a 304L austenitic stainless‐steel specimens in air at 300°C and in pressurized water reactor (PWR), without or with the application of a mean stress, at different total strain amplitudes. For strain amplitude no less than 0.2%, a deleterious effect of PWR water on fatigue life is observed, associated with the enhancement of both crack initiation and propagation. Besides, the fatigue life is reduced by the application of a mean stress for a fixed strain amplitude in a given environment. In particular, due to the acceleration of crack initiation stage by an enhancement of the plastic strain accumulation, the PWR water effect on fatigue life is re‐activated for strain amplitude below 0.2% in the presence of a mean stress. The fatigue life reduction under mean stress application is mostly related to the maximum stress level and strain amplitude, rather than the generated ratcheting strain. Highlights: The results of strain‐controlled fatigue tests in air and in PWR water are presented.The application of a mean stress affects the fatigue strength in both environments.The effect of environment and mean stress on initiation and propagation is analyzed.A modified SWT equation is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies the theory of stochastic control to an environmental project planning to counteract against the sediment starvation problem in river environments. This can be considered as a time‐average inventory problem to time‐discretely control a continuous‐time system driven by a non‐smooth jump process under habit formation disturbing project implementation. The system is modeled such that the sediment storage dynamics are physically consistent with certain experimental results. Further, the habit formation is modeled as simple linear dynamics and serves as a constraint related to the replenishment amount of the sediment. We show that the time‐average control problem is not necessarily ergodic. Consequently, the effective Hamiltonian may become a non‐constant. Thereafter, ratcheting cases as extreme cases of the irreversible habit formation are considered, owing to them being unique exactly solvable non‐ergodic control problems. The optimality equation associated with a regularized and hence well‐defined control problem is verified. Furthermore, a finite difference scheme is examined against the exactly solvable case and then applied to more complicated cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structures may predominantly inelastically deform in a single direction during earthquakes and incur greater damage. This behavior is known as seismic ratcheting and can be caused by eccentric gravity loads. Code clauses were introduced in Canada and New Zealand to amplify displacements obtained from static analysis methods to consider seismic ratcheting effects. However, such clauses are based on analyses of reinforced concrete (RC) wall or single‐degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) structures, and methods to mitigate seismic ratcheting behavior were not explicitly provided. In this study, parametric analyses of steel and RC moment resisting frame buildings were performed to evaluate the adequacy of code clauses, identify parameters which influence seismic ratcheting behavior, and propose methods to mitigate such behavior. It was found that the New Zealand code underestimated the displacement increase for RC buildings, though it was able to envelope the displacement increase for steel buildings while the Canadian code was conservative. Additionally, the displacement increase was found to be sensitive to the building's post‐yield behavior and ground motion properties. However, assumptions of these properties during design may not be reflective of the actual building and seismic conditions, indicating that a reliable estimate of the increase in displacement is difficult to obtain. Instead, employing mitigation measures to reduce seismic ratcheting effects, such as designing to higher seismic demands, adding a secondary structural system to increase the building's post‐elastic stiffness, or providing more balanced lateral strengths after adjusting for eccentric gravity load effects are better measures to counter seismic ratcheting effects caused by eccentric gravity loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stiffness and hysteretic response due to mechanical and thermo‐mechanical cycling have been studied in plasma‐sprayed yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ). Mechanical cycling of free‐standing cantilevers of YSZ shows that the progressive decrease in stiffness is accompanied by monotonic increase in hysteretic energy dissipation per cycle and a permanent ratcheting displacement of ∼20 nm/cycle. Below a critical stress, it varies from coating to coating, ratcheting accompanied by a slow decrease in stiffness does not lead to failure even after ∼1000 cycles. In contrast, at higher stresses, the rates of ratcheting and decrease in stiffness increase rapidly, leading to the nucleation of macrocracks that lead to fracture failure. Prior thermal cycling of coatings on Inconel substrate up to 700°C, which induced an estimated cyclic thermal stress of ∼35 MPa, led to a pronounced reduction in stiffness and mechanical cycling life. During bending, damage accumulates in the tension side of the cantilever and the volume going through the compression cycle remains relatively undamaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A methodology considering Chaboche's isotropic‐kinematic hardening (CIKH) model and genetic algorithm optimization technique is examined here to simulate the cyclic‐plastic response for materials exhibiting cyclic hardening or softening behavior. The aim of the present report is to illustrate the inherent potential of this approach by assessing the closeness of fit of the obtained predictions to the experimental results for several materials like Z2CND18.12N, and 25CDV4.11 steels, OFHC copper, and INCONEL718 alloy. The obtained results were further subjected to comparative examinations with the available predictions to demonstrate the adoptability of the suggested methodology for the cyclic hardening or softening materials. This proposed approach provides a single set of CIKH model parameters to replicate the stabilized hysteresis loops and cyclic hardening or softening behavior under symmetric strain‐controlled loading, as well as ratcheting characteristics under asymmetric stress‐controlled cycling, and is thus generalized in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A semianalytical model is introduced to assess rolling contact fatigue problems in railway applications. The constitutive law is based on the nonlinear kinematic and isotropic hardening model of Chaboche–Lemaitre, which allows the cyclic elastoplastic strain under the contact surface to be evaluated. The much higher computational effectiveness in comparison with finite element (FE) analyses is quantified. The Dang Van multiaxial fatigue criterion is implemented to evaluate the rolling contact fatigue in the subsurface elastic region where cracking is relatively rare but more dangerous than surface cracks. The influence of the presence of sulfides in the wheel matrix in decreasing fatigue strength is also assessed by means of Murakami's approach. The model is used to compare conditions under small‐scale twin‐disk experiments to full‐scale wheel/rail contact conditions. It is found that, for the same Hertzian pressure, the small‐scale contact is more conservative in that it causes a deeper plasticized layer as compared with the elliptical full‐scale contact. In the investigated cases, crack initiation is also not expected according to Dang Van criterion in neither of the studied contact conditions. Highlights: A semianalytical model is developed to study the rail–wheel contact problem.Full‐scale rail–wheel contact and small‐scale twin‐disk contact problems are compared.The line contact problem experiences a deeper plasticized layer.The subsurface crack initiation is assessed using the Dang Van fatigue criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, the ratchet transport of particles under static asymmetric potential with periodicity is investigated. Ratchet transport garners considerable attention due to its potential for application in smart transport techniques on a micrometer scale. In previous studies, either particle self‐propulsion or time‐varying potential has been introduced to realize unidirectional transport. The ratchet transport through particle interactions during crowding without utilizing these two factors is experimentally demonstrated. Such ratchet transport induced by particle interaction has not previously been experimentally demonstrated, although some theoretical studies have suggested that particle crowding enhances ratchet transport. In addition, a model for such transport in which the potential varies depending on the particle density is constructed, which agrees well with the experimental results. The development of transport techniques on a micrometer scale is accelerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation on asymmetric cyclic‐plastic or ratcheting behaviour of non‐ferrous materials has received relatively little attention compared with ferrous materials. Ratcheting behaviour of materials is generally simulated using isotropic‐kinematic hardening models; however, for materials showing cyclically stable response, isotropic hardening is often not accounted for the constitutive modelling. A methodology based on Chaboche's isotropic‐kinematic hardening (CIKH) model with the consideration of genetic algorithm for optimization of initial estimates of the CIKH parameters is used in this study. The investigated plastic responses incorporate both symmetric strain‐controlled hysteresis loops and ratcheting behaviour. The suggested approach satisfactorily predicts the reported plastic response of cyclically stable non‐ferrous alloys based on aluminum, zirconium, and titanium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is determining experimentally the characteristics of tension and cyclic plastic behaviours of as‐received and annealed coppers and studying distribution of stress/strain field near the crack tip. Samples made by pure copper were annealed at 420°C for 40 minutes in electric furnace. To determine the properties of the cyclic plastic behaviour, proper tests with symmetric strain‐controlled conditions were performed on standard samples. Chaboche nonlinear hardening model was used to determine the cyclic plastic behaviour of both materials. According to results, annealing process creates isotropic hardening in the copper and also changes its initial kinematic hardening behaviour. Effects of the annealing and hardening on the variations of the stresses and strains around the crack tip were investigated. Also, ratcheting and mean stress relaxations versus number of cycles, inside the plastic region, were studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ratcheting and creep of reinforced graphite sheet with stainless steel insert (RGSWSSI) are tested under cyclic stress‐controlled compression by a self‐designed clamp from 500°C to 600°C. The effects of insert type, temperature, stress amplitude, stress rate, creep, and loading sequence are considered. Results present that ratcheting deformations for RGSWSSI with 316‐L stainless steel tanged and bonded insert approach to each other and show little rate dependence, while they slightly increase with the increment of stress amplitude and temperature. Moreover, obvious ratcheting effect takes place under cyclic pulsating loads with the peak stress of 32 MPa at 500°C or higher. The accumulated deformations of RGSWSSI under small stress amplitude only increase during about the first 25 cycles and then always turn to shakedown. It can also be estimated by the corresponding static creep strain in practical engineering with good accuracy at high temperature. This work provides important data and understanding of RGSWSSI under harsh fluctuating loads. Highlights: Accumulated deformations of 5 different types of RGSWSSI are tested under cyclic compression from 500°C to 600°C.The ratcheting strain, compressive moduli, and creep of RGSWSSI are stressed.The effects of insert type, temperature, stress amplitude, stress rate, creep, and loading sequence are considered.The specimens with tanged insert and bonded insert have very similar mechanical feature under the same load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The uniaxial fatigue and ratcheting behavior of commercial pure titanium (CP‐Ti) was investigated by asymmetric cyclic stress‐controlled experiments at room temperature. The effects of mean stress, stress amplitude, stress ratio, and peak stress on ratcheting behavior and fatigue life were discussed. It was found that increasing mean stress, stress amplitude, and peak stress or decreasing stress ratio reduced fatigue life and promoted ratcheting behavior. The applicability of different fatigue life models was analyzed, and a new stress ratio‐related failure model was proposed based on the exponential increase of fatigue life with stress ratio. Among all the models investigated in this study, the exponential stress ratio‐related model has more advantage in fatigue life predictions for CP‐Ti under ratcheting‐fatigue interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a learning framework in which a principal seeks to determine the ability of a strategic agent. The principal assigns a test consisting of a finite sequence of tasks. The test is adaptive: each task that is assigned can depend on the agent's past performance. The probability of success on a task is jointly determined by the agent's privately known ability and an unobserved effort level that he chooses to maximize the probability of passing the test. We identify a simple monotonicity condition under which the principal always employs the most (statistically) informative task in the optimal adaptive test. Conversely, whenever the condition is violated, we show that there are cases in which the principal strictly prefers to use less informative tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As parameters in Chaboche model are difficult to be determined from experimental data, a single objective particle swarm optimization procedure was employed to obtain them. Hysteresis loop and uniaxial and biaxial ratcheting simulations were conducted to validate the determined models. Chaboche models determined by particle swarm optimization give more accurate simulation of ratcheting compared with the model determined by trial and error method. Chaboche models containing different backstress components were studied. Models determined considering uniaxial ratcheting can only predict uniaxial ratcheting precisely, while giving very bad simulation of biaxial ratcheting. The linear hardening rule in the N3L1 model clearly decreases the rate of the accumulation of ratcheting strain, and the N3L1 model gives the best simulations. For biaxial ratcheting, the fourth backstress component can decrease the rate of the accumulation apparently, while it has a little influence on prediction of uniaxial ratcheting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AISI H13 hot-work tool steel is extensively used as tool material for the aluminum extrusion process and its working temperature is about 500 °C. It is essential to model cyclic responses and conduct lifetime prediction of H13 reasonably for optimization of the tools. In this study, uniaxial tests are conducted to investigate mechanical properties of H13. It can be observed that the material shows significant rate-dependence and obvious cyclic softening effects. In addition, the evolution of ratcheting obviously has three stages: gradually decreasing stage, approximately constant stage, and rapidly increasing stage. Considering above-mentioned characteristics, a modified visco-plastic constitutive model is proposed to describe the cyclic plasticity responses in the whole lifetime by a combination of modified A-F kinematic hardening rule and a new proposed isotropic hardening rule. Furthermore, its lifetime is predicted by involving a failure criterion with the critical size of yield surface. Accelerated ratcheting phenomena and peak stress reduction in failure phase are simulated reasonably. In addition, the simulation results of cyclic responses give a good estimation of plastic deformation under cyclic loading conditions. All in all, the comparisons of simulation and experimental results indicate that the proposed constitutive model predicts mechanical properties, as well as lifetime reasonably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ratcheting occurs easily because of the presence of mean stress during the stress-control fatigue of engineering components. For ductility exhaustion dominated fatigue failure, a new fatigue life prediction model is developed by introducing the mean ratcheting strain rate to incorporate the effects of ratcheting and mean stress on fatigue life. The prediction accuracy of the proposed model was compared with that of the generalised damage parameter, Xia-Kujawski-Ellyin, Walker and Goswami models. Specifically, the model predictions and tested lives were compared using nine sets of experimental data from the literature. In the statistical analysis of these five models, the proposed model provides the highest accuracy and robust life predictions with the lowest model prediction errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the latest research results of ratcheting behavior of aluminum alloy 2124-T851 under uniaxial loading. All fatigue tests were carried out at the Technical University of Ostrava mainly under block loading in order to determine the effect of stress amplitude and mean stress on the strain response of the material. Experimental results show that the critical value of the axial deformation is close to the ductility of the material investigated. The aim of this paper also is to draw important conclusions in terms of ratcheting modelling for the material investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue failure, ratcheting behaviour and influence of pre-fatigue on fatigue behaviour were investigated under uniaxial cyclic loading for CK45 steel at room temperature. The fatigue life was recorded for various stress ratios, and then, three mean stress models were considered. The Walker model showed an acceptable accuracy in comparison with Smith-Watson-Topper and Park et al. models. The ratcheting strains were measured for various loading conditions in order to evaluate the impact of mean stress, stress amplitude and stress ratio on ratcheting behaviour. The experimental results showed that the ratcheting strain increased with increasing mean stress, stress amplitude and stress ratio. In addition, the results of the post-ratcheting-fatigue tests showed that although the fatigue life decreased with increasing pre-ratcheting strain (the ratcheting strain that is accumulated in pre-fatigue), the loading condition that pre-fatigue experiments were conducted has a significant effect on subsequent fatigue behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Many animals exhibit social learning and behavioural traditions, but human culture exhibits unparalleled complexity and diversity, and is unambiguously cumulative in character. These similarities and differences have spawned a debate over whether animal traditions and human culture are reliant on homologous or analogous psychological processes. Human cumulative culture combines high-fidelity transmission of cultural knowledge with beneficial modifications to generate a 'ratcheting' in technological complexity, leading to the development of traits far more complex than one individual could invent alone. Claims have been made for cumulative culture in several species of animals, including chimpanzees, orangutans and New Caledonian crows, but these remain contentious. Whilst initial work on the topic of cumulative culture was largely theoretical, employing mathematical methods developed by population biologists, in recent years researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including psychology, biology, economics, biological anthropology, linguistics and archaeology, have turned their attention to the experimental investigation of cumulative culture. We review this literature, highlighting advances made in understanding the underlying processes of cumulative culture and emphasising areas of agreement and disagreement amongst investigators in separate fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT On the basis of the Bauschinger effect, a relationship between the elastic space defined in this study and the accumulated plastic strain is measured in uniaxial ratcheting tests of 304 stainless steel at room temperature. According to this relationship, a new model of uniaxial ratcheting is established and used to simulate uniaxial ratcheting behavior. The results of simulation agree well with the experimental results. These results demonstrate that the relationship between the elastic space and the accumulated plastic strain plays an important role in uniaxial ratcheting simulation. Furthermore, by taking into account the interaction of ratcheting and viscoplasticity, the relationships among elastic space, accumulated plastic strain and loading cases are discussed. It can be seen that, when the stress ratio R of valley stress versus peak stress is not less than zero, the accumulated plastic strain is a function of the peak stress. So, a constitutive curve is obtained to describe the stable states of plastic shakedown for 304 stainless steel material under the stress ratio R ≥ 0. It can be used to determine the accumulated plastic strain of engineering structures under cyclic loading only by an elastic-plastic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study intends to compare ratcheting response of 42CrMo, 1020, SA333 and SS304 steel alloys over uniaxial stress cycles evaluated by a parametric ratcheting model and Bower's hardening rule. The parametric ratcheting equation was formulated to describe triphasic stages of ratcheting deformation over stress cycles. Mechanistic parameters of mean stress, stress amplitude, material properties and cyclic softening/hardening response of materials were employed to calibrate parametric equation. Based on the framework of cyclic plasticity theory, the modified Armstrong-Frederick nonlinear hardening rule of Bower was employed to assess ratcheting response of steel alloys under uniaxial stress cycles. Bower's model was chosen mainly due to simplicity of the model and its lower number of constants required to predict ratcheting strain over stress cycles as compared with other hardening rules. Ratcheting strain values predicted by Bower's model showed good agreements over stage I of stress cycles as compared with experimental values of ratcheting strain. Beyond of stage I stress cycles, Bower ratcheting strain rate stayed constant resulting in an arrest in ratcheting process. The predicted ratcheting strains based on the parametric equation were found in good agreements over three stages of ratcheting as compared with those of experimentally obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study intends to investigate the concurrent interaction of fatigue damage and ratcheting strain in two commonly used steel alloys of (American Society for Testing and Materials) ASTM A-516 Gr.70 and 42CrMo, respectively for pressure vessels and high grade machinery parts over uniaxial stress cycles. Ratcheting extension and fatigue damage progress were both characterized cycle-by-cycle over life cycles of tested materials. The interaction of ratcheting and fatigue damage was defined based on mechanistic parameters involving the effects of mean stress, stress amplitude and cyclic softening/hardening response of materials. The extent of ratcheting effect was defined by product of average ratcheting strain per cycle, and maximum stress value during a cycle, while fatigue damage was analysed based on earlier developed energy-based models of Xia-Ellyin, and Smith-Watson-Topper. Overall damage due to ratcheting and fatigue was calibrated through a weighting factor at various mean/ cyclic amplitude stresses. An algorithm was developed to evaluate overall damage due to ratcheting and fatigue stress cycles of materials subjected to various mean and amplitude stresses. The estimated lives at different mean stresses and stress amplitudes for ASTM A-516 Gr.70 and 42CrMo samples showed good agreements as compared with those of reported experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study intends to formulate ratcheting strain evolution in steel alloys of 42CrMo, 20CS, SA333 Gr. 6 C-Mn and OFHC copper over uniaxial stress cycles. Stages of ratcheting deformation were related to stress cycles, lifespan, mechanical properties and amplitude and mean stress components by means of linear and nonlinear functions. Terms of mechanical properties in the ratcheting formulation enabled to characterize ratcheting response of various materials over life cycles. These terms were further employed to interpret the influence of softening/hardening response of materials on ratcheting deformation. Ratcheting data for 42CrMo, 20CS, SA333 steels and OFHC copper reported in the literature were employed to evaluate the proposed ratcheting formulation. The predicted ratcheting strain values based on the proposed equation were found in good agreements as compared with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Engineering stress-controlled ratcheting tests under different sets of stress amplitudes and mean stresses show that ratcheting deformation in polycrystalline OFHC copper occurs in three different stages. A plateau region with almost no accumulation of inelastic strain follows general ratcheting deformation during initial loading cycles. With breakdown of the plateau region inelastic ratcheting deformation occurs at an increasingly rapid rate. The effect of the stress amplitude on the ratcheting process is found to be more than mean stress effect. Reconstruction of the ratcheting curves clearly separates the conditions for stress-controlled low cycle fatigue with zero mean stress and ratcheting with tensile mean stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue life of fibrous metal matrix composites is limited by the distribution of fibre strengths, the fibre-matrix interfacial strength, and the fatigue resistance of the matrix. The aim of this work is to provide fatigue results for a beta titanium alloy over a range of temperatures and stresses that can be used as input for predicting fatigue life of a titanium matrix composite. Stress controlled tests having fatigue ratios between −1 and −0.2 were conducted on a limited number of samples machined from unreinforced laminated Ti-15Mo-3Al-2.7Nb-0.2Si (TIMETAL®21S) sheets to represent as closely as possible the in situ matrix material. Stress control was used to enable quantification of strain ratcheting for tensile mean stresses and a fast loading rate was used to minimize time-dependent (creep) deformation. Stress amplitude-life data at 20, 482 and 648 °C for fully reversed loading are well fit by a power law. Normalizing the stress amplitude with respect to the power law coefficient appears to account for the temperature dependence of the S–N curves. As the tests had large strains and lives were in the low-cycle fatigue range, strain range at the half-life was also correlated to life. For tensile mean stress cycling at 482 and 648 °C, the rate of strain ratcheting per cycle increased to failure; shakedown was not observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]