Quantitative dependence of oxide-induced crack closure on air humidity for railway axle steel

Abstract The paper analyses fatigue crack closure in the near-threshold regime of the EA4T railway axle steel. The dependence of fatigue crack growth threshold on air humidity was experimentally obtained. Varying air humidity led to changes of fatigue threshold values Kmax,th in the range from 4 to 7 MPa m0.5, which was explained by the effect of oxide-induced crack closure (OICC). Such a wide range of threshold values results in significant changes of residual fatigue lifetime of railway axles (by one or two orders of magnitude) operated under various humidity conditions. The Newman's model of plasticity-induced crack closure is not sufficient to explain high portions of crack closure near threshold and their variation, since roughness-induced crack closure (RICC) and OICC has also be taken into account. Detailed explanations and interpretations of the parameters quantifying crack closure are presented. A quantitative model for separation of the crack closure components was applied to threshold data from literature for dry and humid atmosphere as well as for new experimental data of the EA4T steel tested at various levels of humidity. The levels of OICC determined from threshold values were compared to those calculated from thicknesses of oxide debris measured on fracture surfaces. The oxide layers were measured after the experiments in scanning electron microscope using focused-ion-beam cuts. The results were plotted as dependences on absolute air humidity and were in a good agreement. Very low threshold values measured in dry air can occur in operation when the temperature is around 0 °C which is not exceptional in many countries.