Ratcheting assessment of steel alloys under step-loading conditions

• A modified hardening rule was developed to predict ratcheting response over cycles.
• Stress-dependent coefficients were defined to address ratcheting over stages I/II.
• Various loading sequences were examined based on the modified hardening rule.
• The hardening rule was capable of assessing ratcheting under multi-step loading.
• Agreements were achieved between the predicted and experimental ratcheting values.

The present study examines the capability of a recently modified hardening rule to characterize ratcheting response of materials subjected to multi-step uniaxial stress cycles. The modified hardening rule was developed based on Armstrong–Frederick (A–F) hardening rule through implementing new ratcheting rate dependent coefficients γ2 and δ. These coefficients were estimated by means of calibrated curves for any given stress levels defined from the uniaxial single-step ratcheting response at various cyclic stress levels. At a constant mean stress, ratcheting strain progressively increased as stress amplitude over steps of loading history increased. Similar response was also evident for step-loading with constant stress amplitude while the values of mean stress increased. For high–low histories, the trend of predicted ratcheting strain from higher to lower magnitudes found agreeable with that of experimental data. The discrepancy of the predicted and experimentally ratcheting strain values in the high–low step loading however was due to constancy in the shape and size of translating yield surface in the modified kinematic hardening rule. The modified hardening rule was employed to assess ratcheting response of SS316L, SA333, SS316L(N) and 1070 steel alloys under various step-loading conditions. Predicted ratcheting data at various stress level were found in good agreements as compared with the experimental ratcheting strains.