Fatigue

Outcomes and Expectations

Define fatigue and specify the

conditions under which it occurs.
From a fatigue plot for some material,
determine (a) the fatigue life time (at a
specified stress level), and (b) the
fatigue strength (at a specified number
of cycles).
 FATIGUE
- a form of fracture
-can occur below the yield strength
- structures subjected to cyclic loads
-fracture occurs after, e.g., millions
of cycles of loading
- fracture is
'brittle', i.e. no shape change

Monotonic Cyclic
loading loading
i.e. fatigue deteriorates material
 CHARACTERISATION OF
FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR
CYCLIC STRESSES
types: tensile, torsional, flexural (bending)
stress-time modes:

stress
Repeated stress cycle

Reversed cycle
time

Random cycle
 stress
max a
r
Repeated stress cycle
m

min
time
max min
mean stress, m
2
stress range, r max min
r max min
stress amplitude, a
2 2
max
stress ratio R
min
e.g. R for reversed cycle = -1
tension is +ve, compression -ve,
Generation of Alternate
Stresses

Tensile

Compressive
LAB TEST
- rotating bending test:
elastically bent specimen rotated
generates compression and tensile stresses
hourglass shaped specimen (to break in
centre)

(specimen must be very straight)

 TEST MEASURES EFFECT OF LOAD (S)
ON CYCLES TO FAILURE (N)

- loading (S) starts at about 2/3 tensile strength

(below yield)
- number of cycles to failure (N) recorded on a
counter (fracture triggers a switch)
- loads are decreased to obtain effect of S on N
- curve generally plots stress amplitude vs N
(or, more rarely, max or minvs N)
- (try to maintain constant frequency)
 DATA ACQUIRED
Stress
(S)
Fatigue
limit Low High
cycle cycle
Steel, Ti
106 Cycles to failure (N)
S

S1
NO
Fatigue
Strength at N2 limit
N
N2
Life at S1
 PROBLEM WITH DATA

- usually lots of scatter, due to:

(i) Test errors:
specimen alignment,
surface preparation
(surface sensitive property, see later)
test variables (mean stress, frequency etc.,
environment)
(ii) Materials problems
effect of ALL defects are magnified
 STATISTICAL TREATMENT

- S-N curves used to generate S-N curves

of different probabilities of failure

S
1 50% prob of failure

5% prob of failure
N

5% will fail after a few cycles 50% will fail after many
cycles
 Fatigue Fracture

gives rise to a very characteristic

fracture surface
ENGINEERING DESIGN BASED
ON CRACK PROPAGATION RATE

S-N curves assume no crack is

present
Alternative approach:
assume cracks always present
therefore:
ignore crack initiation
measure crack propagation rate
 LAB TEST
- KIc test with cyclic loading (below KIc, of course)
-monitor crack length (optically, electrically, etc)

Fatigue crack
growth rate Paris
(da/dN) law
region unstable
log scale crack
propagation
Non propagating
cracks

Stress intensity factor range, K (log scale)

 PARIS LAW IS: da
A ( K ) m
dN
Where: K Kmax Kmin
K Y ( max min ) a
- if min is compressive, then K=Kmax
- A and m are materials constants
- they also depend on environment, frequency and R.
(m varies between 1 and 6)
important because:
It occupies most of the life of the component
- therefore:
integration of the Paris law expression gives (THE LIFE)
number of cycles to reach critical a
(final failure occurs when Kc is attained)
FACTORS THAT AFFECT FATIGUE
Mean Stress

S Higher mean
stress

N
Surface effects
max stress usually is found at surface (bending)
therefore fatigue life improved by :
-polishing
-inducing compressive strain into surface
-Increasing hardness of surface
Design Factors
Good design
 Surface Finish

Nf
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Thermal fatigue:
( i T ) E
thermal coeff. of expansion
Corrosion:
(humidity; marine and hydrogen
environments) - damages surface

-attacks crack tip

COMPONENT DESIGN CONSIDERATION

- avoid/reduce stress raisers
 Suggested lectures

Callister (7th edidion)

Section 8.6 (fatigue) 8.11
 Problems
Question 1
The fatigue data for a brass alloy are as follows

a) Do you think this material exhibits a fatigue limit?

If so, what is it?

b)A shaft of this alloy is attached to an electric motor

operating at 1500 rpm. Give the maximum torsional
stress amplitude possible for each of the following
lifetimes of the shaft: (i) 2 hours; (ii) 1 month; (iii) 8 years

Question 2
A component, which is in the form of a flat plate made of a metal alloy, is exposed to tensile /compressive
cyclic loading. The component has a defect in it, which is 0.2 mm long. If fracture occurs when the crack
length is 5 mm, estimate the maximum tensile stress to yield a fatigue life of 7*107 cycles. (For the Paris
Law region, m = 3.8 and A = 1.7 * 10-14 for in MPa, and crack length in meters. Take Y = 1.5.)

Question 3
For the above component and loading conditions. If the fracture toughness of the plate material was doubled,
what would be the life of the component?
 Problems
Question 4
A 2-cm diameter, 20-cm long bar is loaded on one end and is expected to survive one million cycles of
loading, with equal maximum tensile and compressive stresses, during its lifetime. What is the maximum
permissible load that can be applied?

Question 5
A cylindrical bar 20 cm long and 1.5 cm in diamter of the same material is subjected to a vibrational load at
a frequency of 500 vibrations per minutes, with a load of 50 N. How many hours will the part survive
before breaking?

Question 6
Suppose that we would like a part produced from the same material to survive for one million cycles under
conditions that provides equal compressive and tensile stresses. What is the fatigue strength, or maximum
stress amplitude required? What are the maximum stress, the minimum stress, and the mean stress on the
part during its use? What effect would the frequency of the stress application have on your answer?