Damage investigation of a pressurized elbow pipe using the XFEM technique under severe cyclic loading

AbstractGiven the various loading cases possible in tubular structures, cyclic bending moment is one of the frequent cases presented in bent structures attached by straight tubular parts, as in straight tubular structures or a connecting tubular element; their loading is under various cyclic modalities; analyzing these pressurized tubular structures or unlocking the difficulties of numerically predicting or approximating to possible and actual fatigue behavior is of interest to several researchers, this work opts to use 316LN stainless steel, also known as Z2CND18.12 N of an elbow attached by straight parts, the study of the cyclic response up to the damage of the pressurized bend is aimed at evaluating the behavior under the effects of the parameters analyzed, namely the amplitude and the pattern of the cyclic bending moment, The fatigue behavior of the steel is formulated as a combined isotropic and kinematic Ohno-Wang model introduced into the ABAQUS calculation code by parameters calibrated to the experimental, using the finite element method. The damage to the structure under a high cyclic bending moment is introduced into the structure mesh. Of the cyclic accumulation of stress, the damage will occur in the structure by crack initiation and propagation, hence using the XFEM technique. The non-linear behavior, independent of the strain rate, is based on the Von Mises equivalent stress flow theory by mode effect at high cyclic bending moment; the results presented by moment-rotation curves show a significant effect on the response, as well as the level of damage. That damage by crack initiation and propagation precedes excessive ovalization at the level of the elbow cross-section. The approach followed in this analysis and the reliability of the results obtained were previously based on a validation of experimental results, which showed good agreement with the numerical model used.Keywords: Constitutive modelextend finite element method (XFEM)elbow pipecyclic plasticityfatigue crack initiation and propagation