Characterization of cyclic visco-plastic behavior, damage and failure in high temperature weldments via an inverse method

Liu, Huijie, Li, Ming, Wang, Yan, Wen, Zhixun, Cheng, Lu, Gong, Xiufang, Yue, Zhufeng, Leen, Sean B., Sun, Wei. (2025). Characterization of cyclic visco-plastic behavior, damage and failure in high temperature weldments via an inverse method. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 328, 111548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2025.111548

Abstract

High-temperature fatigue failures often occur in the heat-affected zone of welded joints, threatening the integrity of high-temperature piping components under flexible operation. This study presents an experimental–numerical framework for determining cyclic visco-plastic and damage properties, including the parent metal, weld metal, and heat-affected zone. A unified visco-plastic damage constitutive model is developed, coupled with high-temperature low cycle fatigue test for each of the constituents in the weldment. An analytical inverse approach is formulated to optimize the visco-plastic and damage properties of the parent metal and weld metal using high temperature uniaxial low-cycle fatigue tests data, while an FE-based inverse method is used to optimize HAZ properties via cross-weld fatigue test simulation. The framework is validated using cyclic test data from a P91 weldment, demonstrating the effectiveness of the FE-based inverse approach in characterizing full-life cyclic behavior and fatigue failure of the weldments.

Funder

National Natural Science Foundation of China
National Foreign Expert Introduction Program of China
I-Form Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre

Publisher

Elsevier

Rights

CC BY

cb

Collections

Mechanical Engineering (Scholarly Articles)