Effects of Local Peak Stress Distribution on the Ratchet Limit

Alternative stress evaluation criteria suitable for Finite Element Analysis (FEA) proposed by Okamoto et al. [1],[2] have been studied by the Committee on Three Dimensional Finite Element Stress Evaluation (C-TDF) in Japan. Thermal stress ratchet criteria in plastic FEA are now under consideration. Two criteria are proposed: (1) Evaluating variations in plastic strain increments, and (2) Evaluating the width of the area in which Mises equivalent stress exceeds 3Sm . To verify of these criteria, we selected notched cylindrical vessel models as prime elements. To evaluate the effect of the local peak stress distribution on these criteria, cylindrical vessels with a semicircular notch on the outer surface were selected for this analysis. We used two notch configurations for our analysis, and the stress concentration factor for the notches was set to 1.5 and 2.0. We conducted elastic-plastic analysis to evaluate the ratchet limit. Sustained pressure and alternating enforced longitudinal displacements which causes secondary stress were used as parameters for the elastic-plastic analysis. We found that when no ratchet was observed, the equivalent plastic strain increments decreased and the area in which Mises equivalent stress exceeds 3Sm are below the certain range.Copyright © 2002 by ASME