• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.1177-1185
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• 1996

The crack growth under creep condition is one of the major damage mechanisms which determines remaining life of the component operating at high temperatures. In this paper, the creep crack growth by grain boundary cavitation is studied, which is frequently observed failure mechanism for creep brittle materials. As a result of diffusive growth of creep cavities, it is shown that the crack-tip stress field is modified from the original stress distribution by the amount of singularity attenuation parameter which is function of crack growth rate and material properties. Also, the stress relaxation at crack-tip results in the extension of cavitating area by the load dump effect to meet the macroscopic force equilibrium conditdion.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.152-159
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• 1980

The temperature and the grain boundary precipitation have the great influence on the low-cycle fatigue behavior of austenite stainless steel at elevated temperature. For the purpose of investigating the mechanism concerning the change of fatigue micro crack mode in SUS 316 under various conditions low-cycle fatigue test was carried out at the elevated temperature 600.deg.C, plastic strain range 2% and constant strain rate .5c.p.m. A special attention is given to the observation of intergranular crack initiation. The results obtained are summarized as follows. The low-cycle fatigue behavior of SUS 316 at 600.deg.C is affected by transition of crack initiation mode from intergranular to transgranular. The transition is due to the aging effect, which is caused by grain boundary precipitations of Cr$\_$23/C$\_$6/. Since the intergranular crack initiation is brought about by the grain boundary sliding, the transgranular crack initiates in case that the strengthening of grain boundary due to the precipitation of Cr$\_$23/C$\_$6/ carbides takes place ahead of the intergranular crack initiation.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.141-150
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• 2012

Stress corrosion cracks in Alloy 600 compact tension specimens tested at $325^{\circ}C$ in a simulated primary water environment of pressurized water reactor were analyzed by analytical transmission electron microscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). From a fine-probe chemical analysis, oxygen was found on the grain boundary just ahead of the crack tip, and chromium oxides were precipitated on the crack tip and the grain boundary attacked by the oxygen diffusion, leaving a Cr/Fe depletion (or Ni enrichment) zone. The oxide layer inside the crack was revealed to consist of a double (inner and outer) layer. Chromium oxides existed in the inner layer, with NiO and (Ni,Cr) spinels in the outer layer. From the nano-SIMS analysis, oxygen was detected at the locations of intergranular chromium carbides ahead of the crack tip, which means that oxygen diffused into the grain boundary and oxidized the surfaces of the chromium carbides. The intergranular chromium carbide blunted the crack tip, thereby suppressing the crack propagation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05b
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• pp.123-128
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• 1997

The effects of heat treatment on fatigue crack growth rates (FCGRs) of Inconel 690 have been investigated in terms of carbide morphology and grain size. Cycling tests in air at room temperature have shown that FCGR in low stress intensity factor range (ΔK) region can be effectively reduced by increasing the grain boundary carbide precipitate size and grain size. Decrease in FCGR is attributed to the crack tip blunting at the precipitates of grain boundary chromium carbides.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.170-176
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• 2007

Iodine-induced stress corrosion cracking (ISCC) properties and the associated ISCC process of Zircaloy-4 and an Nb-containing advanced nuclear fuel cladding were evaluated. An internal pressurization test with a pre-cracked specimen was performed with a stress-relieved (SR) or recrystallized (RX) microstructure at $350^{\circ}C$, in an iodine environment. The results showed that the $K_{ISCC}$ of the SR and RX Zircaloy-4 claddings were 3.3 and 4.8MPa\;m^{0.5}, respectively. And the crack propagation rate of the RX Zircaloy-4 was 10 times lower than that of the SR one. The chemical effect of iodine on the crack propagation rate was very high, which was increased $10^4$ times by iodine addition. Main factor affecting on the micro-crack nucleation was a pitting formation and its agglomeration along the grain boundary. However, this pitting formation on the grain-boundary was suppressed in the case of an Nb addition, which resulted in an increase of the ISCC resistance when compared to Zircaloy-4. Crack initiation and propagation mechanisms of fuel claddings were proposed by a grain boundary pitting model and a pitting assisted slip cleavage model and they showed reasonable results.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2014

In the past, cold crack was commonly observed in the HAZ(heat affected zone) of high-strength steels. Applying to TMCP(thermo-mechanical controlled process) and HSLA(high strength low alloy) steels, cold crack tends to increase the occurrence in the weld metal. It is generally understood that cold crack occurs when the following factors are present simultaneously : diffusible hydrogen in the weld metal, a susceptible microstructure and residual stress. In particular, many studies investigated the microstructural effect on the cold crack in HAZ and the cold crack in weld metals starts to receive the special attendance in modern times. The purpose of the study is to review the effect of weld microstructures (grain boundary ferrite, Widm$\ddot{a}$nstatten ferrite, acicular ferrite, bainite and martensite) on cold crack in the weld metals. Among various microstructures of weld metals, acicular ferrite produced the greatest resistance to the cold crack due to the fine interlocking nature and high-angle grain boundary of the microstructure.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.76-82
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• 2002

In this study, the rotary bending fatigue test was carried out with low carbon steel(SM25C). The specimens were heat-treated in order to change the grain size, and investigated items are fatigue limit, small crack initiation, fatigue crack propagation behavior and possibility of fatigue life prediction according to the different grain size. The summarized result are as follows ; Fatigue limit of the smooth specimen was dependent upon the grain size. The fatigue crack initiation of the small grain size specimen was delayed more than that of the large grain size specimen. And the small cracks of small grain size specimen were distributed in the narrow region of the main crack circumference contrary to the large grain size specimen. The main crack was grown along the grain boundary having co-alliance with small cracks. The experiment material has quantitatively disclosed the possibility of fatigue life prediction because the fatigue crack propagation behavior is dependent upon the grain size.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.329-333
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• 1994

A large number of grain boundaries were seen to crack in near-eutectic solder joints of leadless ceramic chip carriers (LLCC's) during thermal cycling at temperature ranges from -$35^{\circ}C$ to +$125^{\circ}C$ with lhr time period. One potential explanation for this type of cracking might be the presence of embrittling species on the boundary. Although there do not appear to be any instances reported in the literature of solders being embrittled by small amounts of contaminating species, the possibility of such an occurrence exists. The potential presence of impurities located at crack surfaces was inspected using Scanning Auger Microprobe(SAM) and it was found that intergranular cracking could be accomplished by the oxidation of the grain boundary. A physical model for fatigue crack growth was introduced, in which grain boundary separation took place under oxidation facilitated by sliding.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.12
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• pp.924-929
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• 2011

It is well known that grain boundary cavitation is the main failure mechanism in austenitic stainless steel under tensile hold creep-fatigue interaction conditions. The cavities are nucleated at the grain boundary during cyclic loading and grow to become grain boundary cracks. The attenuation of ultrasound depends on scattering and absorption in polycrystalline materials. Scattering occurs when a propagation wave encounters microstructural discontinuities, such as internal voids or cavities. Since the density of the creep-fatigue cavities increases with the fatigue cycles, the attenuation of ultrasound will also be increased with the fatigue cycles and this attenuation can be detected nondestructively. In this study, it is found that individual grain boundary cavities are formed and grow up to about 100 cycles and then, these cavities coalesce to become cracks. The measured ultrasonic attenuation increased with the cycles up to cycle 100, where it reached a maximum value and then decreased with further cycles. These experimental measurements strongly indicate that the open pores of cavities contribute to the attenuation of ultrasonic waves. However, when the cavities develop, at the grain boundary cracks whose crack surfaces are in contact with each other, there is no longer any open space and the ultrasonic wave may propagate across the cracks. Therefore, the attenuation of ultrasonic waves will be decreased. This phenomenon of maximum attenuation is very important to judge the stage of grain boundary crack development, which is the indication of the dangerous stage of the structures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.132-141
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• 2002

The effects of microstructure on fretting wear were investigated in Inconel 690 tube. The microstructure observation indicated that the solution annealing temperature and time affected the grain size of the Inconel 690 tubes. The carbide morphology, along grain boundaries, was mainly affected by thermal treatment time and temperature. The wear test results showed that specimens with larger grain size and with coarse carbides along grain boundaries had better wear resistance. Cracks were found in specimens with carbides along the grain boundary, while few cracks were found in carbide free specimens. It seemed that the carbides on grain boundary assisted crack formation and propagation in carbide containing specimens. On the other hand, the micro-hardness of specimen did not have a major role in fretting wear. It could be inferred from the SEM images of worn surfaces that the main wear mechanism of carbide containing specimen was delamination, while that of carbide free specimen was abrasion.