Atomistic and Microstructural Computational Fatigue Design and Integrated Creep-Fatigue Theory for High-Temperature Alloys

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Fatigue accounts for at least 90 percent of all service failures of components subjected to cyclic loading, as experienced by automobiles, aircraft, compressors, pumps, turbines, etc. Traditionally, engineers and researchers have to perform testing to determine a material's fatigue property, which results in high costs in time and money, thus prolonging the development cycle in material and component design for mechanical/structural systems. Recent research has reported that the low cycle fatigue (LCF) life of a material can be formulated in terms of material's physical properties including Burgers vector, shear modulus and surface energy. High cycle fatigue (HCF) is, in essence, a process of microstructural LCF crack nucleation plus crack propagation. Enlightened by these understandings, a computational fatigue design approach is proposed in the present research, aiming to search for new high-temperature alloys with superior fatigue resistance. A microstructure-based numerical model combined with first-principles density functional theory (DFT) will be developed and then used to predict the crack nucleation life of polycrystalline metals for a wide spectrum of loading from LCF to HCF. Furthermore, utilizing the deformation mechanisms involving glide and climb of dislocations within grain interior and along grain boundaries, a holistic theoretical framework - the integrated creep-fatigue theory (ICFT) for high-temperature alloys will also be proposed in the present research. The theoretical model established based on the first cornerstone leads to constitutive laws encompassing all possible deformation mechanisms and that based on the second cornerstone describes the damage accumulation process leading to fracture, and thus defines the life under general loading conditions that involve a combination of fatigue, creep and thermomechanical fatigue. Using this theory, only limited laboratory-testing will be required for a new material development such that material behavior under complicated loading conditions can be linked to the fundamental deformation mechanisms. Once established, the proposed theory and model will speed up material development and application to meet the fast-growing technological demands and stringent environmental requirements in the 21st century and future. They also have a great implication in prognosis and health management of existing or newly designed mechanical systems, with accurate life prediction, offering tremendous savings in life cycle management. In addition to the benefits for the research field, the proposed research has also planned the training of Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) with serious consideration of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). The time and cost saving using this research outcomes to design new materials and maintain mechanical systems to meet continuously increasing requirements for the gas turbine industry will certainly benefit and contribute to the economy and society of Canada.