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Abstract. The main aim of this paper is to assess the quality of newly produced, alloyed flux-cored wire with increased thickness of the steel cover compared to traditional according to AWS A5.29 standard, alloyed with Ni and Mo, and designed for welding of fine-grained HSLA steel. Flux-cored wire was produced on a pilot production line that allows calibration of steel band of higher thickness and production of flux-cored wire. Quality assessment of the alloyed flux-cored wire was based on the analysis of the results of tests of mechanical properties and microstructure mainly of the weld metal. Variation of chemical composition and microstructure were analyzed along weld metal (for each welding pass) and heat affected zone (HAZ) using SEM and EDS. Based on the results of the quality assessment of flux-cored wire, the conclusions about the feasibility of industrial application of selected metallurgical grade of flux-cored wire designed for welding of fine-grain HSLA steel were presented.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Abstract. The subject of this work is examination of API J55 steel casing pipes manufactured by high frequency (HF) contact welding. Since the pipes were withdrawn after about 70 000 hours of service in an oil drilling rig, the influence of the exploitation conditions on the material properties is determined. Experimental analysis includes tensile, impact toughness and fatigue testing of the specimens cut from the exploited pipe and the new pipe manufactured from the same-grade material. Additionally, pipe with flaws (stress concentrators) is tested by subjecting to internal pressure. The analysed stress concentrators represent defects which are often found in the exploitation: localized corrosion damages (corrosion pits). They were simulated by machining on the external surface of the pipe wall. The behavior of the pipes with these defects is determined by strain measurement and finite element analysis in software package Abaqus. The dimensions of the defects are varied, in order to determine the dependence of load carrying capacity on their depth and length. Several expressions from the literature are applied for estimation of the maximum pressure in damaged pipelines, and the solutions are compared with the predictions of finite element models. Additionally, triaxiality values at the bottom of the defects are compared with those obtained on tensile specimens, having in mind the key role of this parameter in ductile fracture initiation. /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0mm 5.4pt 0mm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0mm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

Seam casing pipe used in an oil drilling rig, manufactured by high frequency (HF) contact welding of API J55 steel, is tested. The influence of an initial defect (machined surface crack) is analysed, by performing pressure test of a pipe segment closed at both ends. Besides the damages at the internal surface, casing pipes are exposed to damage at the external surface, which is why such configuration is analysed here. Measurement of strains and crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) enabled the application of direct method for J integral evaluation. This procedure is based on the path independence of the J integral and can be applied both in laboratory conditions (on specimens) and on structures. However, it requires a demanding experimental - computational procedure, which is accomplished here using the developed routine. Additionally, the behaviour of the pipe under internal pressure, including fracture mechanics parameters determination, is modelled numerically (by finite element method) in software package Abaqus. The pressure is applied as distributed load acting on the inner surface of the three-dimensional model, and axial tension is applied at the end of the pipe to simulate the closed end. J integral values determined numerically and using direct method are used for estimation of the critical pressure corresponding to the crack growth initiation. Additionally, plastic limit load, i.e. pressure which causes yielding of the ligament, is determined. Based on the results, criteria for pipe integrity assessment are discussed

Among various micromechanical models for ductile fracture analysis using local approach, those based on the Gurson plastic flow criterion have been intensively developed in the past three decades. However, their application is still subject of many researches, with the aim to improve the assessment of ductile fracture in various, mainly metallic, materials. In this work, Gurson criterion is applied to welded joints produced with one or two different weld metals (one of these is overmatched, while the other is undermatched). Welded single-edge notched bend (SENB) specimens are examined, with an initial pre-crack located in the symmetry plane of each joint. Local approach is chosen for assessment of behaviour of the joints under the external loading, to capture the effect of material inhomogeneity and initial crack length on deformation and ductile fracture initiation in analysed specimens.

Ductile fracture process includes three stages: void nucleation, their growth and coalescence. The voids nucleate due to the fracture or separation of non-metallic inclusions and secondary-phase particles from the material matrix. Micromechanical models based on the Gurson plastic flow criterion are often used for analysis of ductile fracture. They consider the material as a porous medium in which the effect of voids on the stress-strain state and plastic flow cannot be neglected. Another important property of the Gurson criterion is that the hydrostatic stress component influences the plastic flow of the material.

Antimicrobial activity of essential oils obtained from many plants has been known for a long time. However, the use of essential oils as active components of biomedical textile have recently gained popularity and aroused scientific interest. The antimicrobial activity of two essential oils, Rosmarinus officinalis and Abies sibirica, respectively, was detected using two indicator strains: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, respectively. To achieve a controlled release of antimicrobial activity and to enable utilization of higher concentrations of active ingredient, the essential oils were first encapsulated in beads based on alginate, gelatin and yeast cells, and then bounded to medical textile. The maximum oil content (85.4%) was achieved in alginate capsules. The release of essential oils was followed by determination of viable bacterial cells during a seven-day incubation of beads in saline. Rosmarinus officinalis and Abies sibirica immobilized in the beads showed a significantly prolonged activity, with some gel-dependent variation.

In this paper the micromechanical approach to ductile fracture was applied in a study of constraint effect on crack growth initiation in mismatched welded joints. The single-edged notched bend specimens (precrack length a0/W=0.32) were experimentally and numerically analyzed. The coupled micromechanical model proposed by Gurson, Tvergaard and Needleman was used. Constraint effect was tested by varying widths of the welded joints (6, 12 and 18mm). Highstrength low-alloyed (HSLA) steel was used as the base metal in a quenched and tempered condition. The flux-cored arc-welding process in shielding gas was used. Two different fillers were selected to obtain over- and undermatched weld metal. The micromechanical parameters used in prediction of the crack growth initiation on precracked specimen were calibrated on a round smooth specimen. The difference in fracture behavior between over- and undermatched welded joints obtained in experimental results was followed by numerical computations of void volume fraction in front of the crack tip.

Considering the conditions to which steels used for the manufacture of steam pipelines are exposed, the micromechanism of their destruction in exploitation is exclusively the ductile one. In order to make an estimation of the level of the damage that occurs in exploitation, in this paper a combined experimental and numerical procedure has been developed based on micromechanical or local approach to the fracture mechanics of metallic materials. After the analysis of the results obtained for micromechanical criterion of failure for virgin steel and that used in the steam pipeline, a proposal for prolongation of the working life of tested steel for steam pipelines until the next overhaul is given.

The crack growth resistance of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy forgings in overaged condition was investigated with three industrially produced alloys, which showed differences in the microstructures governed by compositional variations. Fatigue-crack propagation experiments were conducted at ambient temperature and variations in crack growth rates (da/dN) as a function of applied stress intensity range (ΔK) were related to the characteristics of microstructures, including coarse intermetallic (IM) particles and precipitates. It appears that the crack growth rate increases systematically with an increase of the impurity level, which in turn increases the amount and size of large Fe- and Si-containing IM particles while decreases their spacing. That degradation in resistance to crack growth was attributed to the acceleration of the crack initiation and propagation by coarse IM particles were confirmed by in-situ SEM observation of the fracture process. The observed anisotropy in fatigue behavior was caused by the anisotropy in coarse IM particle orientation.

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