Fatigue Failure in Metals

What is Fatigue Failure?

• Failures occurring under conditions of
repetitive or fluctuating stress and at
stresses lower than the yield stress!
• accounts for at least 90 percent of all
service failures
• insidious because it occurs without any
obvious warning
 Static vs Dynamic Loading

Static Loads Dynamic Loads

‘Load is Constant’ ‘Load is Changing’
Railtrain Tragedy (Germany,1998)

Train Wheel Broke due to Fatigue

Rocket Launch Failure
(Japan,1999)

Inducer Blades Broke

due to Fatigue
 In What Applications is Fatigue
Encountered?
• Fatigue can crack revolving parts such
as crankshafts, gears, axles, and
propellers
 In What Applications is Fatigue
Encountered?
• Bridges and Spans
 In What Applications is Fatigue
Encountered?
• Skin and Wings of • Engine Parts such
Planes as Connecting rods
 Ductile vs Brittle Failure

Flat and glassy

Fibrous and has a appearance
reduced cross section
Fatigue Fracture
Fatigue Fracture
Brittle Fracture

Region of Crack
Propagation

Crack
Nucleation
Point
Fatigue Fracture Surface
 Stress Cycles

Fully Reversed Case Repeated Case

Fluctuating Case
Quantitative Parameters used in
Analyzing Fatigue
Quantitative Parameters used
in Analyzing Fatigue

 max   min  max   min

a  m 
2 2
Alternating Stress Mean Stress

 min a
R A
 max m
Stress Ratio Amplitude Ratio
 Sample Problem
Given a fully reversed case, determine:
a) alternating stress
b) mean stress
c) amplitude ratio
d) stress ratio
S-N Diagram (Wohler Curve)
Basic method of presenting
engineering fatigue data
S-N curves
are Semilog
plots!

S-N curves
are derived
from data
obtained in
Fatigue
Tests
Fatigue Tester (Moore Tester)
- Cantilever Type -

In a Fatigue Test, one sample is tested to

failure and that would correspond to a
point in the SN plot
 Fatigue Tester
- Four-Point Bend Type -
S-N Diagram
 Fatigue Strength or
Endurance Limit, Se
• The lowest alternating stress at which the
metal exhibits infinite life
• Stress at which life = 5x108 cycles

How do I
determine Se?
Case Where No True Fatigue
Strength is Present
How do I
determine Se?
Relationship of Se with UTS
(for steel only)

Se = 0.5*UTS (in ksi) (when UTS < 200 ksi)

UTS = 0.5*BHN (in ksi)

Se = 0.25*BHN (in ksi)

 Empirical Relationship between
Stress and Number of Cycles to
Failure (for Steel only)
• This is derived from the S-N curve assuming that
S1000 = 0.9(Su) and Se = 0.5Su

0.085
S  1.62Su N
Sample Problem:
Determine the fatigue life of a steel component (Su= 180
ksi) if it is subjected to an alternating stress:
a) 85 ksi b) 140 ksi c) 175 ksi
How do I determine Se when Mean
Stress is not Zero?
Mean Stress Effect
Goodman Diagram
Haigh Diagram (Modified
Goodman)
Effect of Mean Stress on Fatigue
Life
• Aside from Mean Stress, what
are the other factors that
affect Se?
 Modifying Factors
Se = Se’.Cs.CL.CSF….

1. Size
Csize  1.0
0.869d 0.097
if d  0.3in
if 0.3in  d  10 in

2. Type of Loading
Se (axial )  0.70Se (bending )
 e (torsion)  0.577Se (bending )
 Effect of Size

VS

For the same stress, the Smaller the

Specimen, the higher the fatigue strength!

Since one will have lower chance of finding a

defect!
Polished vs Unpolished Metal

VS

The more polished the surface is, the

higher the fatigue strength!
 Modifying Factors
3. Surface roughness
 Effect of Residual Stresses
at the Surface
• Residual tensile
stresses at the
surface lowers
fatigue strength

• Residual compressive
stresses at the surface
improves fatigue strength
• Nitriding, Carburization and
shot peening could induce
RCS
 Modifying Factors
4. Residual Stresses

Superposition of
applied and residual
stresses
 Shot Peening

‘uses steel shots which are

projected at high velocity against
the surface of a metal!’
Effect of Shot Peening
 Effect of Defects at the Surface
• Presence of defects (cracks, voids, and
inclusions) lowers fatigue strength!
• Serve as Crack Nucleation Points!
• These defects are considered as ‘Stress
Concentrators’ or ‘Stress Raisers’
 Stress Concentration Reviewed

 a
 max   1  2 
 
max= maximum stress at the tip
 = applied stress
• At the tip of a crack, = radius of curvature
the applied stress is a = crack length
magnified to a - 0.5a when inside
maximum! - a when crack is at the surface
 Modifying Factors
5. Stress concentration
K f 1
q
Kt 1
Effect of Notch

Notches lower Fatigue

strength since this
portion of the metal do
not plastically deform!
 Modifying Factors
6. Temperature
• The endurance limit of steels disappear at
high temperatures due to the mobilization of
dislocations.

7. Environment
• Fluctuating thermal stresses may induce thermal
fatigue

• A corrosive atmosphere during cyclic stressing may

accelerate the rate at which fatigue cracks propagate,
leading to corrosion fatigue
Effect of Corrosion

Corrosion create pits

at the surface which
would lower fatigue
strength!
 Guarding Against Fatigue
• Use Polished Specimen
• Consider Lowering Mean Stress
• Shot peen or cold roll specimen
• Prevent corrosion from occurring
Thanks For Listening!
Effect of Fillet Radius on Stress
Concentrations
 Fatigue
• fatigue describes the response of a material
to cyclic or repeated loads
• tester used is based on that designed by RR
Moore
 Fatigue Failure
Transmission electron
fractograph showing fatigue
striations in aluminum.

Fracture surface of a
rotating steel shaft that
experience fatigue failure.
Beachmark ridges are
visible in the photograph.
 STRESS VS NUMBER OF CYCLES TO FAILURE
S-N DIAGRAM

0.085
S  1.62Su N

For Steel:
Endurance Limit = 0.5 (UTS) (< 200 ksi)
= 100 ksi (if UTS>200 ksi)
 Sample Problem

Given a steel with an ultimate

strength of 100 ksi, estimate the
allowable alternating stress for lives
of 104 and 105.
 Sample Problem

Given a steel with an ultimate

strength of 100 ksi, estimate the
allowable alternating stress for lives
of 104 and 105.
 Sample Problem
High strength steel bars are to be used as
leaf springs. The springs will be subjected to
zero-to-max three point flexural loading. The
bars are 1.5 in. wide and 0.192 thick.
Hardness=495 BHN
Residual surface stress = -140 ksi
Modification for surface roughness = 0.65
Modification for size = 0.94

a) What is the endurance limit(ksi) of the

steel bars?

b) Determine the zero-to-maximum surface

stress that will allow the bars to have an
infinite life. Use Goodman line.