Micromechanics Study of Fatigue Damage Incubation Following an Initial Overstrain

Understanding and quantifying the effects of overloads/overstrains on the cyclic damage accumulation at a microscale discontinuity is essential for the development of a multistage fatigue model under variable amplitude loading. Micromechanical simulations are conducted on a 7075-T651 Al alloy to quantify the cyclic microplasticity in the matrix adjacent to intact or cracked, life-limiting intermetallic particles. An initial overstrain followed by constant amplitude cyclic straining is simulated considering minimum to maximum strain ratios of 0 and $−1$⁠. The nonlocal equivalent plastic strain at the cracked intermetallic particles reveals overload effects manifested in two forms: (1) the cyclic plastic shear strain range is greater in the cycles following an initial tensile overstrain than without the overstrain and (2) the initial overstrain causes the nonlocal cumulative equivalent plastic strain to double in subsequent tensile-going half cycles and triple in subsequent compressive-going half cycles, as compared with cases without an initial tensile overstrain. The cyclic plastic zone at the microdiscontinuity corresponds to that of the maximum strain during the initial overstrain and the nonlocal cyclic plastic shear strain range in the matrix near the intact or cracked inclusion is substantially increased for the same remote strain amplitude relative to the case without initial overstrain. These results differ completely from the effects of initial tensile overload on the response at a macroscopic notch root or at the tip of a long fatigue crack in which the driving forces for crack formation or growth, respectively, are reduced. The micromechanical simulation results support the incorporation of enhanced cyclic microplasticity and driving force to form fatigue cracks at cracked inclusions following an initial tensile overstrain in a fatigue incubation model.