The effect of weld residual stresses and their re-distribution with crack growth during fatigue under constant amplitude loading

In this work the evolution of the residual stresses in a MIG-welded 2024-T3 aluminium alloy M(T) specimen during in situ fatigue crack growth at constant load amplitude has been measured with neutron diffraction. The plastic relaxation and plasticity-induced residual stresses associated with the fatigue loading were found to be small compared with the stresses arising due to elastic re-distribution of the initial residual stress field. The elastic re-distribution was modelled with a finite element simulation and a good correlation between the experimentally-determined and the modelled stresses was found. A significant mean stress effect on the fatigue crack growth rate was seen and this was also accurately predicted using the measured initial residual stresses

Deformation heterogeneity study of a 6061-T6 aluminum alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing

Among the severe plastic deformation techniques, the equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) has drastically improved the mechanical properties of the processed alloys. However, information regarding friction phenomenon, which modifies the deformation at the surface and the heterogeneity microstrain state produced by the process itself, is still scarce. In the present work, the deformation heterogeneity and the friction effect, at the surface in the bulk material of the 6061-T6 aluminum alloy processed by ECAP, is presented and discussed. The residual stress (RS) measurements were performed by means of X-Ray diffraction. By means of synchrotron diffraction, volumetric sections of the ECAPed samples were characterized. Finite element analysis showed a good agreement with the experimentally obtained residual stress and microhardness mapping results. The study also showed that the highest deformation zones were located at the outer parts of the deformed samples (top and bottom), while the inner zone showed strain oscillations of up to 49±2 MPa.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Background: Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. // Methods: We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung's disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. // Findings: We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung's disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middle-income countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in low-income countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. // Interpretation: Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Development of Intergranular Stresses during In-situ Compression Tests in Zircaloy-4

This paper reports results of an in-situ compression experiment carried out on a hot rolled Zircaloy-4 plate at ENGIN-X, ISIS. The experiment was aimed at characterizing the plastic anisotropy of the alloy, which can give rise to high intergranular stresses in the polycrystal. As expected from the crystal anisotropy, the various lattice reflections had very different behaviours. In the compression directions, the basal reflections appeared to bear much more load than the other planes. The resulting intergranular elastic strains could therefore reach up to 5000 microstrain after 10% total deformation, and were responsible for high type II residual stresses after unloading. Considering the macroscopic behaviour, the normal direction had higher mechanical properties than the other two processing directions. The strong texture measured from EBSD measurements suggest that the crystal anisotropy has been brought to a macroscopic level. The experiment also evidenced a significant change in texture for compression along the rolling direction which indicates twinning activation

Evolution of Residual Stresses with Fatigue Crack Growth in a Variable Polarity Plasma Arc–Welded Aluminum Alloy Compact Tension Specimen

The evolution of the residual stresses during fatigue crack growth in a welded compact tension C(T) specimen was measured using neutron diffraction. The measurements were performed by growing a fatigue crack in a sample in situ on a neutron diffractometer. The stresses were found to be unaffected by crack growth through the compressive part of the initial residual stress field. The residual stresses at the crack tip increased when the crack entered the tensile residual stress field to maintain residual stress equilibrium. Finite element (FE) modeling of the evolution of the residual stresses showed good correlation with the experimental results. The residual stress evolution was found to be governed by redistribution of the initial stress field and only slightly affected by fatigue-induced effects at the measured spatial resolution (2 mm × 2 mm × 7 mm)

Weld residual stress effects on fatigue crack growth behaviour of aluminium alloy 2024-T351

The interaction between residual stress and fatigue crack growth rate has been investigated in middle tension and compact tension specimens machined from a variable polarity plasma arc welded aluminium alloy 2024-T351 plate. The specimens were tested at three levels of applied constant stress intensity factor range. Crack closure was continuously monitored using an eddy current transducer and the residual stresses were measured with neutron diffraction. The effect of the residual stresses on the fatigue crack behaviour was modelled for both specimen geometries using two approaches: a crack closure approach where the effective stress intensity factor was computed; and a residual stress approach where the effect of the residual stresses on the stress ratio was considered. Good correlation between the experimental results and the predictions were found for the effective stress intensity factor approach at a high stress intensity factor range whereas the residual stress approach yielded good predictions at low and moderate stress intensity factor ranges. In particular, the residual stresses accelerated the fatigue crack growth rate in the middle tension specimen whereas they decelerated the growth rate in the compact tension sample, demonstrating the importance of accurately evaluating the residual stresses in welded specimens which will be used to produce damage tolerance design data

Evolution of residual stresses with fatigue loading and subsequent crack growth in a welded aluminium alloy middle tension specimen

Neutron diffraction has been used to measure the evolution of the residual stresses in a VPPA welded Al-2024 alloy middle tension (M(T)) specimen with fatigue loading and subsequent crack growth. The measurements were carried out on the diffractometer ENGIN-X, a time-of-flight instrument, at the ISIS Pulsed Neutron Source. Fatigue crack growth was performed in situ and strain measurements averaged through the thickness of the specimen were made along two orthogonal directions as the crack grew, allowing the stresses in the specimen to be calculated assuming plane stress. 2D finite element simulation of the evolution of the initial residual stress field with crack growth, using an elastic model produced predictions that were in reasonable agreement with the experimental results. The results further indicate that some re-distribution of the residual stress field occurred due to the crack tip plasticity associated with the fatigue loading

Load partitioning and evidence of deformation twinning in dual-phase fine-grained Zr-2.5%Nb alloy

In situ neutron diffraction loading experiments were carried out on a cold-rolled dual-phase (α-phase, ∼10% β-phase) Zr–2.5%Nb alloy at room temperature. The specimens were cut at different angles from the rolling direction (RD) towards the transverse direction (TD), thus the loading axis changes gradually from the rolling to transverse direction. Due to the strong texture of the studied alloy, and unidirectional nature of deformation twinning, the changing loading direction with respect to initial texture has a significant impact on the collaborative slip-twinning deformation mode in the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) α-phase. The present neutron diffraction results provide direct evidence of {1−1.2}〈1−1.−1〉 “tensile” twins in the α-phase of dual-phase Zr–2.5%Nb alloy at room temperature. Additionally, TEM analysis was employed to confirm the presence of “tensile” twins, and determine if other type of twins were present. It is further clear from the neutron diffraction results that applied load is gradually transferred from the plastically softer α-phase to the plastically harder β-phase which acts as a reinforcing phase having a yield strength in the range 750–900 MPa depending on the loading direction. © 2012, Elsevier B.V