1.

INTRODUCTION
Welding was one of the most widely used connecting techniques in the modern industry. Every year, 50% of the worlds steel output was used to make steel structures. However failures of the Welded structures occurred frequently with which 8090% was fatigue failure. This often happened when used for bridges, pipelines, marine structures, bullet trains and water turbine Blades, which resulted in mass economic loss. And it was found that many of the fractures in these welded structures happened when they had been working for over 1x109 cycles. This was regarded by the conventional theory as the infinite life region. Because of the conflicts between the practical phenomena and traditional theory, studies on the behavior of the welded structure especially the welded joints in the ultra-long life region had great theoretical and application values. Due to the discoveries mentioned, the fatigue limit was considered no longer appropriate. In the 1980s, Japanese researchers first found the disappearance of the fatigue limit in high-strength steel under high fatigue load cycles (at about 108cycles). Hereafter, the researchers from Japanese French and other countries had conducted many ultra-long life fatigue tests on base materials. Test results confirmed that the fatigue limit does not exist in the one-billion-cycle zone, so traditional structural strength design theory in the ultra-long life region no longer applied. The large number of studies by the predecessors focused mainly on the ultra-long life fatigue behavior of the base material, while adequate research was not performed on the welded joints which were considered to be the weak links in the structure. Here, ultrasonic fatigue test technology was employed to study the ultra-long life fatigue behavior of the welded joints. We can use UPT to improve the fatigue properties of welded joints. The UP technique is based on the combined effect of the high frequency impacts of the special strikers and ultrasonic oscillation in treated material. The UP treatment introduces plastic deformation on the welded toe. During plastic deformation of surface layers the density of defects is increased and compressive macroscopic stresses are formed. As a result, engineering properties of materials, parts and welded structures could be improved drastically.

2. ULTRASONIC PEENING TECHNOLOGY

2.1 Technology The surface plastic deformation is widely used as an effective method of strengthening of parts and welded elements. During plastic deformation of surface layers the density of defects is increased and compressive macroscopic stresses are formed. As a result, engineering properties of materials, parts and welded structures could be improved drastically. Different improvement treatments and techniques such as shot peening, hammer peening, laser shock processing, etc. are applied for this purpose. One of the promising techniques for surface plastic deformation is the Ultrasonic Peening (UP) of materials, parts and welded elements. The UP technique is based on the combined effect of the high frequency impacts of the special strikers and ultrasonic oscillation in treated material. High frequency of impacts is one of the main differences and advantages of UP technology. The optimized equipment for UP consumes only 0.2 0.4 kW of the electric power. At the same time the quality of UP treatment allows providing the highest fatigue characteristics of welded elements in comparison with the application of known improvement treatments. The ultrasonic transducer oscillates at a high frequency, with 20-30 kHz being typical. As was described earlier, the transducer may be based on either piezoelectric or magnetostrictive technology. Whichever technology is used, the output end of the transducer will be oscillating, typically at amplitude of 20 40 m. During the oscillations, the transducer tip will impact the striker at different stages in the oscillation cycle. The impact results in plastic deformation of the surface layers of the material. These high stress impacts, repeated hundreds to thousands of times per second, and results in the ultrasonic peening effect of this technique. The plastic deformation during UP is more intensive than under the action of traditional surface treatment processes. The surface roughness is reduced and the wear resistance is increased as a result of the action of UP. The UP is very effective for relieving of harmful tensile residual stresses and introducing of the beneficial compressive residual stresses in surface layer of parts and welded elements.

The mechanism of residual stresses redistribution is connected mainly with two factors. At a highfrequency impact loading the oscillation with complex frequency mode spectrum propagates in a treated element. The nature of this spectrum depends on the frequency of ultrasonic transducer, mass, quantity and form of impact units (spheres, rods etc.), and also on the geometry of the treated element. These oscillations lead to lowering of residual welding stresses. The second and the more important factor, at least for fatigue improvement, is surface plastic deformation, which leads to introducing of the beneficial compressive residual stresses. The features of high-frequency impact deformation explain the high efficiency of UP application for fatigue life improvement. A rheological model explaining effect of essential lowering of the deforming force in high-frequency impact loading was developed. It is known, that at the impulse loading even with the level of stresses lower than the yield strength, the inelastic behavior of material - mechanical hysteresis is observed. If the time of relaxation process exceeds the gap between two subsequent impacts, the mechanical system is in non-equilibrium state and each subsequent impact results in accumulation of deformation. It was shown experimentally that in repeated static loading the size of the plastic impressions from a sphere does not practically change after first loading. If the sphere vibrates with high frequency, the impression grows during repeated impacts up to a certain extent. The dependence of accumulation of a plastic deformation depending on the frequency of impacts could be analyzed by using the developed reological model. During the UP process the strikers oscillate creating a small gap (~ 0.01 0.1 mm) between the ultrasonic transducer, striker and the treated material. These oscillations have an aperiodic character with the frequency lower than the frequency of ultrasonic transducer. It was found, that at different oscillation amplitudes there is an optimum gap at which the highest plastic deformation is observed. The deforming element oscillates with lower frequency than the tip of ultrasonic transducer alternately hitting the tip of transformer and treated surface. The generation of the intensive quazi-resonance vibrations of the strike in the gap between the ultrasonic transducer tip and treated material is a specific feature of UP process. In the fatigue improvement the beneficial effect is achieved mainly by introducing of the compressive residual stresses into surface layers of metals and alloys, decrease in stress
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concentration of weld toe zones and the enhancement of the mechanical properties of the surface layer of the material. The schematic view of the cross section of material/part improved by UP is shown on Figure.1

Fig.1 Schematic view of the cross section/part improved by Ultrasonic Peening

Table 1 Zones of material/part improved by Ultrasonic Peening

2.2. Equipment for Ultrasonic Peening

The Ultrasonic Peening equipment consists of a transducer, wave guide, indenter and a computer. The transducer produces ultrasonic oscillations. These oscillations transmitted to the indenter through wave guide. The indenter is the part which strikes the treating surface with ultrasonic frequency. Computer controls the treating parameters such as frequency, amplitude of oscillations etc.

Fig.2 Schematic diagram of esonix UPT (1- Magnetostrictive transducer, 2- Wave guide, Indenter, 4 Treated surface, I- Oscillations, II- Impact pulses) There are two general types of ultrasonic transducers which can be used for UP: magnetostrictive and piezoelectric. Both accomplish the same task of converting alternating electrical energy to oscillating mechanical energy but do it in a different way. In magnetostrictive transducer the alternating electrical energy from the ultrasonic generator is first converted into an alternating magnetic field through the use of a wire coil. The alternating magnetic field is then used to induce mechanical vibrations at the ultrasonic frequency in resonant strips of magnetostrictive material. Magnetostrictive transducers are generally less efficient than the piezoelectric ones. This is due primarily to the fact that the magnetostrictive transducer requires a dual energy conversion from electrical to magnetic and then from magnetic to mechanical. Some efficiency is lost in each conversion. Magnetic hysteresis effects also detract from the efficiency of the magnetostrictive transducer. In addition, the magnetostrictive transducer for UP needs forced water-cooling. The equipment in this case is relatively heavy and expensive. Piezoelectric transducers convert the alternating electrical energy directly to mechanical energy through the piezoelectric effect. Today's piezoelectric

transducers incorporate stronger, more efficient and highly stable ceramic piezoelectric materials, which can operate under the temperature and stress condition.

Fig.3 Schematic view of transducer for ultrasonic peening Piezoelectric transducers are reliable today and can reduce the energy costs for operation by as much as 60%. Due to the high energy efficiency of piezoelectric transducers the effect in fatigue life improvement by UP is practically the same by using of the magnetostrictive transducer with power consumption of 1000 Watts and peiezoceramic transducers with power consumption of only 250 Watts .

Fig.4 Computerized complex for ultrasonic peening of parts and welded joints 6

3. ENDURANCE LIMIT FOR ULTRA-LONG LIFE

The failures of the welded structures occurred frequently with which 8090% was fatigue failure. This often happened when used for bridges, pipelines, marine structures, bullet trains and water turbine blades, which resulted in mass economic loss. And it was found that many of the fractures in these welded structures happened when they had been working for over 1x109 cycles. This was regarded by the conventional theory as the infinite life region. Because of the conflicts between the practical phenomena and traditional theory, studies on the behavior of the welded structure especially the welded joints in the ultra-long life region had great theoretical and application values.

Fig.5 Endurance limit of steel Due to the discoveries mentioned, the fatigue limit was considered no longer appropriate. In the 1980s, Japanese researchers first found the disappearance of the fatigue limit in high-strength steel under high fatigue load cycles (at about 108cycles). Hereafter, the researchers from Japanese French and other countries had conducted many ultra-long life fatigue tests on base materials. Test results confirmed that the fatigue limit does not exist in the one-billion-cycle zone, so traditional structural strength design theory in the ultra-long life region no longer applied.

4. TEST SETUP
4.1. Specimens preparation

As the ultrasonic peening technology enhanced the fatigue strength and prolonged fatigue life of welded joints, the treatment of the welded joints was conducted and the performance of the aswelded and UPT joints were compared in this experiment. Carbon steel Q235B and low alloy structural steel Q345 has been selected as the test material of the welded joints. The specimens of the two kinds of materials were divided into the base material group and the ultrasonic impact treatment group using the cruciform welded joints. The chemical constituents and mechanical properties of the two steels were listed in Tables 2 and 3

Fig.6 Geometry shapes and dimensions of the cruciform weld joints (mm)

Table 2 Chemical constituents of steel Q235 and Steel Q 345

Table 3 Mechanical properties of steel Q235 and Steel Q 345

UPT should be guided by the following methods:

1. The operation for the UPT Specimens should be carried out with the tool held at

approximately 450to the plate surface with the ends of the needles in contact with the weld toe.
2. Sufficient force should be applied to the tool to prevent unsteady movement and to ensure

even treatment. 3. The toe should be needle peened four times to achieve optimum benefit and adequate coverage. 4. The resulting surface should be bright in appearance and contain a uniform distribution of small indentations.
5. All the specimens in this test were cruciform welded joints. The geometry and dimensions

of each group of specimens are shown

4.2. Fatigue test methods All the tests were conducted on the TJU-HJ-I (Tianjin University Hanjie Model 1) ultrasonic fatigue test equipment. The load in this test was axial and cyclic with the stress ratio R = -1, and the load frequency is about 20 kHz. Water cooling was used to control the temperature of the specimens.

4.3. Fatigue test data processing method The fatigue data of were computed according to the statistical method recommended by the International Institute of Welding (IIW). It was assumed that the results of the fatigue tests consisted with the Gaussian log-normal distribution, and then a dispersion zone was formed by the two nominal SN curves with K (K as the eigenvalue) standard deviation. The survival probability was at a value of 95% with a two-side 75% confident level of mean. The nominal value could be calculated as below: All data of the stress ranges () and the number of load cycles (N) should be convert to denary logarithms. Calculate m and constant log C by linear regression analysis taking stress as the independent variable: m log + log N = log C Calculate the values Ci being log C from the (N, ) test results. Then, calculate the mean Ci and standard deviation of log C using m

Then, calculate the characteristic values Ck

5. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

5.1 Fatigue test results analysis Two kinds of materials were divided into the as-welded and the UPT specimens group according to the treatment states of the samples, then the corresponding SN curves were plotted based on the test data obtained (50% survival probability, data points in ultra-long life range were mainly considered). The SN curves are shown

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Fig.7 S-N curve of steel Q235B using ultrasonic fatigue test method According to the recommended fatigue design code by IIW on steel structures treated by UPT the fatigue strength from the SN curves show that the fatigue strength of both kinds of steel specimens of the UPT groups increased in varying degrees at 1x107 cycles relative to that of the aswelded group. When the cycle number exceeded declining. Table 4 Comparison of fatigue strength of steel Q235 and steel Q345 1x107regardless of whether it was UPT or aswelded state the fatigue limit cannot be seen in the SN curves, in other words the curves kept

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Although the fatigue strength of UPT joints improved relatively, the curve still kept a downward trend. For the constant amplitude fatigue test the traditional sense of fatigue limit did not exist within the107109 cycles region and the samples still fractured after 1x107fatigue cycles. Results in Table 4 show that compared with the fatigue strength at 1x107 cycles the value at 1x109still decreased, but UPT groups had a much slower decreasing rate. In addition, Fig 7 had revealed that fatigue fracture still occurred up to 1x108 load cycles. With the load going down the SN curve still continued to decline even after 1x109 load cycles (i.e. if the lower alternate stress provided the fatigue fracture probably could occur with long enough fatigue cycles). This meant that the fatigue limit was not yet reached even after 1x109load cycles. Therefore, it could be dangerous using the fatigue strength at1x107cycles to design structures serviced in the ultra-long life conditions which was recommended in document, even when the structures only withstand the constant amplitude load. Since there were differences between the conditions in the recommendations for fatigue design from IIW and that in this experiment the test results should be modified with stress ratio, wall thickness and misalignment. The specific correction method was described as follows. For modification of the stress ratio an enhance factor should be considered here following the formulas: F(R) = 1.6 R < -1 -1 < R < 0.5 F(R) = -0.4R + 1.2 F(R) = 1 R > 0.5 Where F(R) is the stress ratio enhance factor and R is the stress ratio. The enhance factor in this test should be as 1.6. Misalignment in axially loaded joints leads to an increase of stress in the welded joint due to the occurrence of secondary shell bending stresses. The resulting stress is calculated by stress analysis or by using the formulae for the stress magnification factor given in the recommendation. So the factor was set as 1.45 for cruciform joints. The influence of the wall thickness should also be taken into account with the equation below:

Where f(t) is the thickness reduction factor, t is the plate thickness, teff is the effective thickness and n is the thickness correction exponent.

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Fig.8 Residual stress at weld toes of steel Q235 and Q345 in thickness direction

5.2. Fatigue strength During the UPT process, the surface geometry was changed by the plastic deformation which will lead to the compressive stress in the surface and sub-surface layer. Fig. 8 shows the results of the UPT welded joints of steel Q235B and Q345. The figure revealed that the values of the residual compressive stress in the surface and sub-surface layer (the depth of the sub-surface layer: Q235B to 0.075 mm, Q345 to 0.050 mm) were higher than the yield strength of base metals. As the depth increased, the residual stress changed from compression to tension gradually, and the thickness of the residual compressive stress layer was about 1.5 mm or so similar trend showed in both kinds of materials. Most fatigue cracks originated from the surface or sub-surface of the structures and components. Their expansions were caused by the tensile stress. Due to the high-value compression residual stress in a certain depth employed by the UPT, the applied tensile stress and the compressive residual stress were superimposed which led to the reduction of the total stress level, thereby increasing the fatigue strength of materials and extending the fatigue life. According to the Goodman relation:
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Where n is the mean stress, na is the fatigue limit when n exits and 0a is the fatigue limit

Known as the mean stress sensitivity coefficient. (In order to avoid repeating the all parameter m in the classic formula was replaced with the parameter n).When the residual stress was considered to be equivalent to the mean stress, the equation above became:

The parameter r in Eq. was the residual stress which played a role of the mean stress, therefore a known as the change of the fatigue strength caused by the residual stress was:

This shows that the influence of the mean stress on the fatigue strength increased as the mean stress sensitive factor became higher, and the higher the value of the compressive residual stress became the more the fatigue strength increased. In this test, for example, when the alternative load reached its tensile maximum value the compressive residual stress could play a role of lowering the value of the total stress so that the surface layer could keep at a low tensile stress state. Fig.9 shows this situation.

Fig.9 Cyclic loading and residual stress before and after superimposition

5.3. Work hardening

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The plastic deformation in the surface layer of the specimens which led to work-hardening was generated because of UPT. The hardness and strength in this layer had increased significantly. It can be seen that the largest value of the hardness located in top layer, and then it gradually reduced with depth. Metal plastic deformation was achieved by dislocation motion, and in the process of plastic deformation the density of dislocations increased due to the interaction between them. The left image in Fig.10 shows the original microstructure in the welded toe where the grains and sub-grains were relatively large and clear. The middle image showed the transformation microstructures turned from source material to the UPT material where due to the effect of ultrasonic energy the dislocations rearranged and new sub-boundaries were formed. As the plastic deformation continued, the density increased which made the grain crushing, refining and the grain boundary reforming, as shown in the right image. Therefore the surface hardness and strength of the weld enhanced.

Fig.10 Metallurgical structure and grain size of the cruciform welded joint of steel Q235: Base material to UPT treated from left image to right image 5.4. Fractography The fatigue cracks in the original welded joints often initiated from the weld toe slag, inclusions and small surface machining trace while the fatigue fractures in the UPT welded joints might have different type of crack sources. The fractures images of the specimens were analyzed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The types of the crack sources are shown in Figs.11 and 12.

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Fig.11 A slag type crack initiation point in specimens of steel Q235B.

Fig.12 Micro-crack caused by UPT in specimens from steel Q235B It can be seen from the former two images in Figs. 11 and 12 that the crack origins in specimens of as-welded joints were initiated mostly from the surface or sub-surface slag inclusions. It can also be noticed in the image of the as-welded joints of steel Q235B (Fig.11) that the fatigue striation was not found at the source area neither did the fatigue beaches. As around the initial point of fatigue crack in the specimens as-welded of steel Q345 (Fig. 12), there was no obvious smooth halo observed, and even the crack propagation area was not evident. In UPT welded joints groups, apart from the types mentioned above, a new type of crack origin was found on the fractography: the micro-crack (MC) probably produced by the UPT power. 5.5. Fracture modes

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5.5.1. Fracture modes in as-welded specimens The crack source generally had several different types. It often originated from the slag inclusions, machining location and other defects. The granular bright facet (GBF) in the high strength steel was observed to be the internal fracture initial point while in the welded joints it frequently started from the inclusions and second phase particles near the surface or interface. For carbon and low alloy structural steel, the domain fracture mode was still the surface layer slag inclusions induced cracking. Fig. 11 shows the surface-type fatigue crack sources in the as welded sample from Q235B, which initiated at the sub-surface inclusions with a fatigue life of 3.68 x 10 8 and 4.98 x 105 cycles. It can be seen that, in the as-welded joints, whether in the normal or ultra-long life range the slag inclusions initiation point was the primary reason for the fatigue fracture. Although a large number of observations had been done other types of crack sources were not found. 5.5.2. Fracture modes in UPT specimens Fracture modes in UPT specimens Due to the ultrasonic peening treatment plastic deformation was introduced into certain depth (about 1500 lm deep) of the weld toe area where high value beneficial compressive stress was produced in the same time. Therefore, the fracture modes there could probably be different from that of the as-welded joints. Slag inclusions type surface crack source was also observed in the UPT welded joints from steel Q345. The small fractures were formed on the very top layer at weld toe due to the peeling of the slag from the base material under external loads and because of this continuous interaction the cracks propagated until it finally broke, as shown in Fig. 14. But it was not the predominant crack source in the UPT joints, a new type of alternative was observed more often: the micro-crack-type surface or sub-surface crack source. As the mechanism of the fracture behavior in UPT welded joints was not very clear the following section will make an explanation of it. In addition to slag inclusions surface crack source, MC was also observed where the cracks initiated there and propagated till it finally failed. No slag or inclusions were found in that area. This phenomenon was observed in two UPT welded joint groups, therefore the MC caused fatigue fracture should be a unique mode of fatigue failure in the UPT joints. It can be pointed out from the two figures above that the MC was under a certain depth from the surface (generally no more than 100 m) where the fatigue cracks expanded
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eventually to fracture. However, the fatigue life of these defects containing joints compared to those of the as-welded ones had increased significantly.

6. CONCLUSION
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Traditional fatigue design codes with fatigue limit were no longer applicable for welded structures working in the long life range. For welded joints, whether they were bearing the constant amplitude load or variable amplitude load, the SN curve continuously declined. Even if the cyclic load exceed 1 x 107 or 1 x 109 cycles fatigue limit still cannot be observed, in other words, the SN curve kept going down. Therefore, if the fatigue life of the welded joints were designed according to the fatigue limit theory it could be very dangerous in the ultra-long life region. Fatigue life of the welded joints should be designed based on different post-weld treatment states and modifications should be conducted correspondingly. For the as-welded joints, the slope value m should be set as 3 when the cycle number was less than 1 x 107 and set as 5 when it was more than 1 x 107; for the UPT joints, the m value should always be set as 10 in the whole life zone for fatigue design. The weld toe area plastic deformation layer was formed as a result of UPT which led to strongly refined grains in a certain depth (not less than 200 m deep). Thus the strength and hardness was improved in that area. The crack nucleation formed at the slag inclusions and then propagated under the external load until it finally fractured. This still predominated in the fracture modes of the as-welded joints. As for some of the UPT specimens, the crack did not originate from the slag inclusions but from the surface or sub-surface microcracks created by the ultrasonic peening energy. Because the micro- cracks were located in the compression residual stress zone, the crack propagation rate was lower than that of the as-welded specimen. The fatigue lives of the UPT groups were longer than those of the as-welded groups. The theoretical analysis above was also proved by fatigue test data and the metallographic photos.

REFERENCE

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1. Danqing Yin,Dongpo Wang,Hongyang jing,Lixing Huo.The effect of ultrasonic peening treatment on the ultra-long life fatigue behavior of welded joints. Materials and Design 31(2010);3299-330 2. Statnikov ES, Korolkov Oleg V, Vladimir Vityazev N. Physics and mechanism of ultrasonic impact. Ultrasonics 2006;44:e5338. 3. Y.Kudryavtsev,J.Kleiman,L.Lobanov,V.Knysh,G.prokopenko.Fatigue life improvement of welded elements by ultrasonic peening.IIW Document XIII-2010-04
4.

Xiaohui Zhao,Dongpo Wang, Lixing Huo.Analysis of the S-N curves of welded joints enhanced by ultrasonic peening treatment. Materials and Design 32 (2011) ; 88-95

5.

Xiaohua Cheng, John W. Fisher,Herny J. Prask, Thomas Gnaupel-Herold, Ben T. Yen, Sougata Roy. Residual stress modification by post weld treatment and its beneficial effect on fatigue strength of welded structures. International Journal on fatigue 25 (2003) ; 1259-1269

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