PSI - Issue 81

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 81 (2026) 536–538

© 2026 The Authors. Copy from the contract: Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of DMDP 2025 organizers Keywords: pearlitic steel; cold drawing; fatigue crack paths; macro-crack path; micro-crack path; multi-scale approach; macroscopic approach; microscopic approach. 1. Introduction In cold drawn pearlitic steel wires, the interlamellar spacing is the key parameter governing fatigue crack growth (FCG) because the ferrite/cementite interfaces block dislocation movement (Gray et al., 1985), while the pearlite colony size controls fatigue thresholds (Ravichandran, 1991). The anisotropy of microstructure (in the form of oriented pearlite colonies and ferrite/cementite lamellae) promotes a tortuous crack path with crack deflections and bifurcations (Korda et al., 2006a; 2006b), thereby slowing down the fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR). This paper studies the local anisotropy of fatigue behaviour in heavily cold drawn pearlitic steels supplied in the form of prestressing steel wires for prestressed concrete. Abstract The paper studies the local anisotropy of fatigue behaviour in heavily cold drawn pearlitic steels supplied in the form of prestressing steel wires for prestressed concrete. To this end, a multi-scale approach ( macro & micro ) is carried out to the locally multiaxial fatigue crack paths in progressively cold drawn pearlitic steel wires, addressing the important role of microstructural evolution (orientation and packing closeness) during the manufacture process by cold drawing in the posterior fatigue performance of the pearlitic steel wires. Results show that fatigue crack paths are globally uniaxial (they develop in global mode I ) in both oriented and non-oriented pearlitic microstructures, whereas such fatigue crack paths are locally multiaxial (they develop in local mixed-mode with a zig-zag shape) in both cases, the degree of packing closeness and orientation affecting the microstructural features ( micro-length and micro-deflection angle ) of the fatigue crack path . VIII International Conference “In -service Damage of Materi als: Diagnostics and Prediction” (DMDP 2025) Local anisotropy of fatigue behaviour in cold drawn pearlitic steels supplied in the form of prestressing wires: A Tribute to Antonio Machado Jesús Toribio*, Beatriz González, Juan-Carlos Matos, Francisco-Javier Ayaso Fracture & Structural Integrity Research Group (FSIRG), University of Salamanca (USAL) E.P.S., Campus Viriato, Avda. Requejo 33, 49022 Zamora, Spain

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-677566723; fax: +34-980545002. E-mail address: toribio@usal.es

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Copy from the contract: Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of DMDP 2025 organizers 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.03.091