Fractureofanaluminiumcrank

arm.Darkareaofstriations:slow
crackgrowth.Brightgranulararea:
suddenfracture.
11References
12Furtherreading
13Externallinks
ASTMdefinesfatiguelife,N
f
,asthenumberofstresscyclesofaspecifiedcharacterthataspecimen
sustainsbeforefailureofaspecifiednatureoccurs.
[2]
OnemethodtopredictfatiguelifeofmaterialsistheUniformMaterialLaw(UML).
[3]
UMLwas
developedforfatiguelifepredictionofaluminumandtitaniumalloysbytheendof20thcenturyand
extendedtohighstrengthsteels
[4]
andcastiron.
[5]
Forsomematerials,thereisatheoreticalvaluefor
stressamplitudebelowwhichthematerialwillnotfailforanynumberofcycles,calledafatiguelimit,
endurancelimit,orfatiguestrength.
[6]
Inmetalalloys,whentherearenomacroscopicor
microscopicdiscontinuities,theprocessstartswith
dislocationmovements,whicheventuallyformpersistent
slipbandsthatbecomethenucleusofshortcracks.
Macroscopicandmicroscopicdiscontinuitiesaswellas
componentdesignfeatureswhichcausestress
concentrations(holes,keyways,sharpchangesofdirection
etc.)arecommonlocationsatwhichthefatigueprocess
begins.
Fatigueisaprocessthathasadegreeofrandomness
(stochastic),oftenshowingconsiderablescatterevenin
wellcontrolledenvironments.
Fatigueisusuallyassociatedwithtensilestressesbut
fatiguecrackshavebeenreportedduetocompressiveloads.
[7]
Thegreatertheappliedstressrange,theshorterthelife.
Fatiguelifescattertendstoincreaseforlongerfatiguelives.
Damageiscumulative.Materialsdonotrecoverwhenrested.
Fatiguelifeisinfluencedbyavarietyoffactors,suchastemperature,surfacefinish,
metallurgicalmicrostructure,presenceofoxidizingorinertchemicals,residualstresses,
scuffingcontact(fretting),etc.
Somematerials(e.g.,somesteelandtitaniumalloys)exhibitatheoreticalfatiguelimitbelow
whichcontinuedloadingdoesnotleadtofatiguefailure.
Inrecentyears,researchers(see,forexample,theworkofBathias,Murakami,andStanzl
Tschegg)havefoundthatfailurescanoccurbelowthetheoreticalfatiguelimitatveryhigh
Fatigue(material)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_(material)
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