The paper is devoted to development of the evaluation methods tor limiting condition of metal alloys and steels under uniaxial and biaxial proportional and non-proportional low-cycle fatigue. To investigate the fatigue behavior of Type 08X 18H I OT stainless steels and titanium alloys BT9 strain controlled tests under 12 proportional and nonproportional loading ar room temperature were carried out. A strain parameter. namely, a nonproportional strain range. is proposed to obtain a correlative dependence with lifetime. For the majority or the materials this dependence can be derived from uniaxial tests and described by a linear function. It made it possible to propose simple engineering method for lifetime prediction.

Ladle plays an important role in the metallurgical industry whose maintenance directly affects the production efficiency of enterprises. In view of the problems such as low maintenance efficiency and untimely maintenance in the current ladle passive maintenance scheme, the life prediction mechanism for ladle composite structures is established which bases on the stress analysis of steel shell and ladle lining in the production process, combining conventional fatigue analysis and extended fracture theory. The mechanism is accurate and effective according to the simulation results. Through which, the useful life of steel shell can be accurately predicted by detecting the crack length of it. Due to the large number of factors affecting the life of the lining of the ladle, it is difficult to accurately predict the life of the ladle lining, so a forecasting mean based on the thermal shock method is proposed to predict the service life of the ladle lining in this paper. The life prediction mechanism can provide data support and theoretical guidance for the active maintenance of the ladle, which is the prerequisite for scientifically formulating ladle initiative maintenance program.

The numerical solutions of stress and strain components on the critical plane of tungsten carbide coating were solved based on the critical plane method in three-dimensional coordinate system, and accordingly three strain energy density parameters (Smith-Watson-Topper, Nita-Ogatta-Kuwabara and Chen parameters) were determined to reveal the fretting fatigue characteristics of tungsten carbide coating. In order to predict the fretting fatigue life based on the strain energy density criterion, the expressions between the strain energy density parameter and the fretting fatigue life was obtained experimentally. After the comparison of the three strain energy parameters, it was found that all three parameters could accurately predict the crack initiation position, but only the Smith-Watson-Topper parameters could accurately predict the crack initiation angle. The effects of cyclic load, normal load and friction coefficient on fretting fatigue damage behaviors were discussed by using the Smith-Watson-Topper criterion. The results show that the fretting fatigue life decreases with the increase of cyclic load; an increase in the normal contact load will cause the Smith-Watson-Topper damage parameters more concentrated at the outer edge of the bridge foot; a decrease in the friction coefficient will increase the Smith-Watson-Topper damage parameters in the middle of the contact surface.

In the present paper, the excavation of the energetic approach that estimates the fatigue crack initiation life of metal is conducted for H62 brass. The benefit of the energetic approach is the division of the actual applied strain range Δε into two parts, that is, a damage strain range Δεd that induces fatigue damage within the metal, and an undamaged strain range Δεc, which does not produce fatigue damage of the metal and corresponds to theoretical strain fatigue limit. The brightness of this approach is that the undamaged strain range Δεc can be estimated by the fundamental conventional parameters of metal in tensile test. The result indicated that the fatigue crack initiation life of H62 brass can be estimated by this approach successfully.

The introduction of new road pavement materials causes the need to verify whether the existing pavement design methods enable correct incorporation of their properties. In the case of asphalt pavements, the origins of contemporary methods may be traced back to the mid-20th century, when solely unmodified binders were used. The introduction of highly SBS-modified binders in 2009 significantly changed the behaviour of the asphalt mixtures and the entire pavement structure. Asphalt courses are now characterised by very high flexibility, elasticity and fatigue resistance, with simultaneous high resistance to rutting. The aim of the article is to present the effect of the use of asphalt mixtures with HiMA (Highly Modified Asphalt) binders in different variants of flexible pavement structures – including one, two or three courses containing HiMA. Fatigue life calculations were performed using the “Similarity Method”, which enables estimation of the fatigue life of the structure based on its relationship with the results of laboratory fatigue tests. The layer system with HiMA in the asphalt base course proved the most advantageous, combining excellent fatigue properties of the mixture containing HiMA with greater stiffness of the wearing and binder courses containing classic binders. The other aspect taken into account in the calculations was the effect of changing the mixture in the asphalt base course from AC 22 to AC 16. This change proved advantageous in all the analysed structures. The deflections and critical strains decreased, while pavement life, determined by fatigue and permanent deformation criteria, increased.

In a corrosive environment with coupled dry-wet-sulfate action, concrete structures are susceptible to erosion by sulfate ions, which seriously affects the safe operating life. To forecast the operational lifetime of concrete below the influence of the dry-wet cycle and sulfate erosion environment, four different admixtures of polypropylene fiber: 0, 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 kg/m ³, were incorporated into concrete specimens, and indoor accelerated tests were designed to observe the macroscopic and microscopic deterioration law analysis of concrete specimens; using the precept of damage mechanics, the damage of concrete under solubility cycle was established. The damage evolution equation of concrete under freeze-thaw cycles was established and the operational life of concrete was predicted. The results showed that the overall mass loss rate of concrete specimens increased with the number of tests, and the relative energetic modulo decreased with the number of tests; the pore change pattern, microstructure, and internal material composition of specimens under different working conditions were obtained by using NMR scanning technique, SEM electron microscope scanning technique and XRD physical phase analysis technique. The damage evolution equation shows that adding a certain amount of polypropylene fiber to concrete can improve the working life of concrete under dry and wet connected sulfate assault.