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Abstract
The study was carried out to evaluate the effect of the tempered martensite fraction in the fatigue behaviour of type R4 structural steel as used, quenched and tempered, in the manufacture of chains for offshore mooring systems. As the manufacturing process for these uses flash welding, the study also includes welded joints of the same steel. Different fractions of martensite were achieved by means of variations in the austenitization temperature of the material and the fatigue resistance of the tempered test pieces was evaluated by means of the kinetics of crack growth of crack under cyclic loading at a constant amplitude. The results indicated that an increase in the amount of ferrite was associated with an increase in the number of cycles to material failure, and for the same microstructural condition, the fatigue life of the welded joint was always lower than that of the base material. Finally, the fatigue behaviour of the test pieces is presented and discussed on the basis of the mechanical properties and toughness of the material.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Brazil Amarras, Niterói, RJ, for their financial support for this research.