International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijfatigue

On the number of overload-induced delay cycles as a function

of thickness
A.J. McEvily a,
, S. Ishihara b, Y. Mutoh c
a
Department of Material Science and Engineering, Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyama University, Toyama, Japan
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Japan

Received 28 March 2003; received in revised form 9 February 2004; accepted 26 April 2004

Abstract

In this paper, a brief review of the experimental facts associated with the crack growth delay period following a tensile overload
is given. In the retardation process, crack closure is considered to play a dominant role. A scenario for the two crack opening
processes which develop as a fatigue crack penetrates the overload plastic zone is presented. This scenario deals with the effect of
specimen thickness on the crack opening processes. Consideration is given to the delay distance and to the minimum crack
growth rate. A method of analysis for the determination of the number of delay cycles following an overload is then developed.
Finally the method of analysis is used to compare with recent experimental results.
# 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Fatigue crack growth; Overloads; Effect of thickness; Crack closure

1. Introduction case of an overload, it is the stretch of material during

Although the effect of an overload on the subsequent
constant amplitude fatigue crack growth has been a
topic of interest since the 1960’s, a comprehensive
method of analysis for the number of delay cycles
developed after an overload based upon an under-
standing of the mechanisms involved is still a goal of
research. Opinions may differ as to the role of such
factors as compressive residual stresses ahead of the
crack tip and crack closure, not only under overload
conditions, but under constant amplitude conditions as
well [1,2]. With respect to overloads this situation
reflects the complexity of the process, which involves
such factors as plane-strain and plane-stress interac-
tions in the retardation phenomenon. The view adop-
ted here is that the compressive residual stress and
crack closure are interrelated, and that crack closure is
an important aspect of the retardation process. In the


Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-860-486-2941; fax: +1-860-486-
4745.
E-mail address: mcevily@mail.ims.uconn.edu (A.J. McEvily).
0142-1123/$ - see front matter # 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2004.04.008
the overload and the consequent compressive residual
stress ahead of a crack which develops upon unloading
that gives rise to excess crack closure as the crack pro-
pagates through the overload plastic zone. Further, it is
not surprising that an anneal following an overload
can eliminate the retardation phenomenon [3], since if
the stretch is eliminated by material flow during the
anneal, so will be the excess crack closure.
In one approach [2], which minimized the role of
crack closure but emphasized the role of the residual
compressive stress field ahead of a crack, a heavy
reliance was placed upon the work of Lang and Marci
[4] which relegated crack closure to a minor role in the
retardation phenomenon based upon the belief that
crack closure was not observed at high R values
whereas retardation was. However, it has since been
shown [5] that crack closure does occur at high R
values, and the basic assumption of Lang and Marci is
therefore invalid. Further it was shown that crack
growth rates at both high and low R values can be cor-
related on the basis of DKeff, where DKeff is equal to
Kmax  Kop [5].
1312 A.J. McEvily et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319
In the present paper a brief review of the current
understanding of the physical nature of the retardation
process will be given. In addition an analysis of recent
results of overload behavior under plane-strain con-
ditions will be provided.
2. Brief review
2.1. The retardation process
Fig. 1 is a schematic plot of crack length under con-
stant DK cyclic conditions before and after an over-
load. In this figure the number of delay cycles, ND,
associated with the overload is defined. Fig. 2 shows
the typical variation in the rate of fatigue crack growth
as the fatigue crack penetrates the overload zone,
although in some cases the initial acceleration in the
fatigue crack growth rate may not be detected.
As the crack advances after an overload, the crack
front shape can differ from that under constant ampli-
tude loading. The crack front shape is best revealed by
the periodic use of a number of cycles of relatively low
amplitude to outline the shape of the advancing crack
Fig. 1. Definition of the number of delay cycles, ND [8].
Fig. 2. Characteristic features of the variation in the post-overload
fatigue crack growth rate [8].
front, a method used by Matsuoka and Tanaka [6].
Matsuoka and Tanaka found that under baseline load-
ing conditions the crack front was curved, with the
crack at the surface lagging behind the crack in the
interior. After an overload and again under baseline
loading the curvature initially decreased, a reflection of
an initially faster growth rate at the surface. Then the
curvature gradually increased until retardation was
complete at the surface. Thereafter, there was an accel-
eration in the rate of crack growth at the surface until
the curvature decreased toward the curvature charac-
teristic of the baseline condition. They also noted that
even in an 18-mm thick steel specimen both the
distance to the point of maximum retardation and the
distance to the end of the overload effect were smaller
in the mid-thickness, plane-strain region than at the
surface, plane-stress region. It has also been observed
(e.g. Ref. [7]) that in some cases a pop-in event may
occur during the overload, which will lead an initial
increase in curvature of the crack front and a slower
overall rate of propagation in the interior than at the
surface as the fatigue crack propagates through the
overload affected zone.
The measurement techniques which are most often
used to determine the crack length as a function of the
number of baseline cycles applied are (a) visual (aided
by a low power telescope), (b) the potential drop
method in which the crack length is related to a change
in the potential drop, and (c) the compliance method
which is used to determine the crack length as well as
the crack-opening levels. These methods have their
shortcoming, e.g. the visual method provides no infor-
mation on the crack length other than at the surface,
and the potential drop method only gives the average
crack length and assumes that a given potential drop
corresponds to a given crack length as calibrated
under constant amplitude loading conditions. This
shortcoming is also true of the compliance method.
Therefore, none of these methods may give a true rep-
resentation of the crack shape as the crack grows
through the overload zone. Despite this shortcoming,
the use of any of these methods provides useful infor-
mation concerning the fatigue crack growth processes
occurring after an overload.
It is usually considered that the retardation process
is a result of plasticity-induced crack closure [8,9] as
originally proposed by Elber [10]. In the case of plas-
ticity-induced closure, the yield stress level is the most
important material property affecting the extent of
overload-related retardation. The higher the yield stress
the smaller will be the size of the plastic zone, and as a
result the less will be the extent of retardation.
It has been demonstrated by machining away the
surface layers after an overload, that the surface,
plane-stress regions can be important in affecting over-
load behavior [11]. When plane-stress effects dominate,
 A.J. McEvily et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319
the machining process leads to a marked reduction in
the effects of the overload. On the other hand, as
shown by Matsuoka and Tanaka [6], when plane-strain
conditions dominate, this machining has little or no
effect on post-overload behavior. For example, surface
removal from an 18-mm-thick specimen of HT80 steel
(yield stress, rY ¼ 800 MPa) had little effect upon the
number of delay cycles, which were relatively small,
being of the order of 2  104 . On the other hand, for
4-mm-thick specimens of the aluminum alloy A5083
(rY ¼ 145 MPa), as a result of machining, the number
retardation cycles dropped by more than an order of
magnitude, from 7  105 to 4  104 cycles at a DKb
level of 12 MPa m1=2 , a clear indication of the impor-
tance of plane stress in this case.
Fig. 2 is applicable to both plane-stress dominated
and plane-strain dominated conditions, although the
shapes of the plastic zones for these two conditions
vary considerably, as shown in Fig. 3 [12]. In the plane-
strain region away from the surfaces only in-plane
movement of material occurs, and striations are cre-
Fig. 3. Crack-tip plastic zone shapes. (a) Plane strain and (b) plane
stress [12].
1313
ated over a range of DKb values. An example of Fig. 2
type behavior in the plane-strain region has been
obtained by Bichler and Pippan [13] who carried out
overload tests using 9-mm-thick specimens of an
austenitic Cr–Ni steel (rY ¼ 890 MPa). Immediately
following the overload, the fatigue crack in the plane-
strain region accelerated due to a reduction in near-tip
crack closure as evidenced by an increase in the spacing
of fatigue striations over the baseline spacing. Follow-
ing the initial acceleration, the crack growth rate then
gradually decreased to a minimum with crack advance
before increasing back to the baseline level as the fati-
gue crack exited the overload-affected zone. Bichler
and Pippan also observed that the trends based upon
striation measurements were in close agreement with
fatigue crack behavior based upon surface observations
as well as potential drop measurements.
However, even the type of plane-strain behavior
observed by Bichler and Pippan may be influenced by
the surface regions. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, a
53% overload test of a 6.35 mm thick 9Cr–2Mo steel
specimen (rY ¼ 480 MPa) at R ¼ 0:05 exhibited the
type of delayed retardation behavior shown in Fig. 2,
but when 1.5 mm was machined away from each sur-
face after an overload, what appeared to be immediate
retardation was observed [14]. On the other hand, in
the case of a 100% overload of an 18-mm-thick steel
specimen (rY ¼ 400 MPa), delayed retardation still was
evident after machining following an overload (M.
Skorupa, personal communication).
When plane-stress conditions dominate, the retar-
dation effect is attributable to the plastic stretch and
lateral contraction of material at the tip of the crack
during the overload [8]. The stretched material results
in an increased level of compressive stress ahead of the
Fig. 4. Delay behavior in a 9Cr–2Mo steel following a 53% over-
load [14]. The solid line shows the delay behavior of full thickness
(6.35 mm) specimen after an overload. The dashed line shows the
delay behavior for a specimen from which 1.5 mm had been machined
away from each surface immediately following the overload. The data
have been normalized with respect to the baseline crack growth rate.
1314 A.J. McEvily et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319

crack on unloading. As Topper (personal communi-

cation) has pointed out, the extent of stretching and
the level of residual stress at a given point in the over-
load zone is essentially the same before the crack tra-
verses the overload plastic zone as after. It is this
stretch which leads to an enhanced level of plasticity-
induced crack closure as the fatigue crack grows
through the overload-affected zone. Even after fatigue
crack has propagated past the overload zone, as a
result of this stretch that portion of the crack which is
within this zone is much less open than is the crack on
either side of the overload region [15].
The retardation that occurs under plane-strain con-
ditions can be attributed to the in-plane movement of
material into the plastic zone ahead of the crack tip
during the crack-tip blunting process which accom-
panies the overload. As in the case of plane stress,
upon unloading the additional material results in a Fig. 5. Crack-opening behavior of a 0.3-mm-thick specimen of
higher compressive stress within the crack-tip plastic 9Cr–1Mo steel before and following a 100% overload at a baseline R
value of 0.05. The position of the crack-tip relative to the point of the
zone and as a result more crack closure occurs as the
overload is indicated [16].
crack advances. In the case of plane strain, the over-
load plastic zone size, OLPZS, is considered to be one-
third that of the plastic zone size developed under
Under plane-stress dominated conditions, McEvily
plane-stress conditions, and this smaller plastic zone
and Yang [8] used a compact specimen equipped with a
size is one of the factors contributing to a lesser degree
back-face strain gauge to show that the second, higher
of retardation under plane-strain conditions as com-
opening level occurs in the plane-stress overload zone
pared to plane-stress conditions. In addition the clos-
ure levels developed under plane strain are less than at the surface. Fig. 5 is an example of the crack open-
under plane stress [16]. ing behavior for a crack which has penetrated the over-
An important study of crack-closure behavior load zone. In this example the two opening levels,
following an overload was carried out by Paris and designated as Kop1 and Kop2 can be seen. They also
Hermann [17]. They tested a 25-mm-thick compact found the crack growth rate to be a function of DKeff.
specimen of the aluminum alloy 2024-T351 (rY ¼ As in the case of plane strain, in calculating the value
290 MPa). A compliance method which utilized a of DKeff, Kop2 is used.
crack-mouth clip gauge was used to determine the The rate of decrease of the crack velocity to the
crack length as well as crack opening behavior. They minimum level was found by Skorupa et al. [18] to be
showed that after an overload under plane-strain con- independent of specimen thickness for a steel
ditions two opening events could be detected as the (rY ¼ 400 MPa) in the range of thicknesses from 4 to
fatigue crack grew through the overload zone. The first 18 mm, with the minimum rate being achieved after
of these was due to the opening of the crack behind the approximately 0.5 mm of growth. A similar distance
overload zone. The second opening event was due to was a found by McEvily and Yang [8] for the alumi-
crack opening in the overload-affected zone itself. They num alloy 6061-T6 (rY ¼ 276 MPa). However Bao and
also observed that the extent of crack closure varied as McEvily [16] reported distance of but 0.1 mm for a
the fatigue crack penetrated the overload zone, and 9Cr–1Mo steel (rY ¼ 530 MPa) of 0.3 mm thickness. A
that the maximum closure level corresponded to the
similar distance was found by Yang [14] for a 9Cr–2Mo
minimum fatigue crack growth rate. In addition they
steel of 6.35 mm thickness (rY ¼ 480 MPa). A rapid
showed that the rate of fatigue crack propagation in
rate of decrease was also reported by Damri and
the overload zone was a function of DKeff, where
Knott [19] who employed single-edge notched speci-
DKeff ¼ Kmax  Kop2 ; ð1Þ mens of a steel (rY ¼ 240 MPa), 18 by 18 mm in cross-
section, tested under four-point bending. It appears
Kop2 being the higher of the two opening levels. As is that the distance to the minimum varies with the
typical of many overload tests carried out under plane- material, the specimen configuration and the loading
strain conditions, the number of delay cycles in their conditions.
experiments was relatively small. For a 75% overload The distance to the end of the overload effect is also
the number of delay cycles was only about 5000. material dependent. The following relation has been
 A.J. McEvily et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319
used to approximate this distance:


1 KOL 2
OLPZS ¼
p rY
In the present paper we will modify the above equation
to take into account the baseline closure level, Kopb, as
follows:


1 KOL  Kopb 2
OLPZS ¼ ð3Þ
p rY
where OLPZS is the size of the overload plastic zone,
KOL is the stress intensity factor at the overload level,
and rY is the yield strength. However, since there is an
asymptotic return of the crack growth level to the base-
line level after an overload it is difficult to establish
experimentally the actual distance with certainty.
Eq. (3) will be used since it represents the size of the
overload zone at the surface, the last region to open.
2.2. Scenario for the crack opening process
On the basis of the above experimental evidence the
following scenario for the crack opening process fol-
lowing an overload is proposed:
(a) Immediately after the overload, the wake closure
level, which had previously been developed under
baseline loading, is reduced due to crack-tip blunt-
ing. As the load is increased from its minimum
value, this now reduced wake effect shields the
crack tip until the crack wake opens. The crack tip
now can move forward under a higher DKeff and a
higher crack growth rate than at the baseline level,
and this is why the initial rate of crack growth fol-
lowing an overload is often observed to be higher
than the baseline growth rate. In some materials of
low yield strength, e.g. 304 stainless steel
(rY ¼ 245 MPa) [20], the blunting action may be
so severe that the lower opening level is eliminated
entirely, and the full range of stress is effective in
propagating the crack at an accelerated rate.
(b) As the crack penetrates into the overload zone, the
compressive stresses which had been contained in
material formerly ahead of the crack tip now
appear in the wake of the crack tip, giving rise to
an increase in crack closure. When the applied
stress is just sufficiently high to open the crack
everywhere except in the overload plastic zone the
Kop1 level is reached.
(c) As the stress intensity factor is increased beyond
Kop1, the specimen behaves in a near-linear–elastic
manner until the start of the upper opening process
in the overload-affected zone is reached. At the
completion of the upper opening process the speci-
men is at Kop2 and the crack can advance by an
1315
increment of crack growth as the stress intensity
factor is raised beyond Kop2 to its maximum value.
ð2Þ (d) The opening process is three-dimensional in nature.
The crack in the overload plastic zone first begins
to open in the mid-thickness of the specimen. As
the load increases the opening process spreads lat-
erally toward the specimen surfaces, and at the
same time the crack advances. The last portions of
the crack front to open are the plane-stress regions
at the surfaces, and the value of Kop2 corresponds
to this opening level.
(e) The thicker the specimen the more easily will the
plane-stress, surface regions be opened, i.e. there
will be a reduction in the level of Kop2 with increas-
ing thickness. Consider a through crack in plate of
thickness B which has been subjected to a tensile
overload. As the baseline stress level is increased to
the maximum stress of the baseline cycle, the crack
will initially open everywhere except at the surfaces
where due to the overload it is closed to a depth D.
The opened length of the crack in the thickness
direction is B2D. The stress intensity tending to
open the closed portion at the surfaces will vary as
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
B  2D. Therefore, the greater the thickness the
lower will be the applied stress needed to open the
closed surface regions, i.e. the crack opening level will
decrease with increasing thickness, as observed [16].
(f) As the crack penetrates into the overload zone a
reduction in growth rate occurs due to the develop-
ment of additional crack closure in the overload
zone. The crack growth rate will continue to
decrease up to the point of the maximum in the
value of Kop2.
(g) After the maximum Kop2 has been reached the
crack growth rate will increase as the value of Kop2
decreases to the baseline level, Kopb, at the limit of
the overload-affected zone.
2.3. Objective
The main objective in the remainder of this paper is
to analyze recent data on the effect of an overload on
delay behavior as a function of thickness. In a study
carried out by Skorupa et al. [18], center-cracked,
100-mm-wide specimens of a steel (rY ¼ 400 MPa)
were tested under constant load amplitude conditions
in thicknesses ranging from 4 to 18 mm at R values of
0.05 and 0.5. The potential drop method was used to
determine the average crack length. The overloads were
applied when the semi-crack length, a, had reached a
length of 13 mm, which corresponds to a DK value of
16:8 MPa m1=2 . One hundred percent overloads were
used. The percentage overload can be defined either as [8]
rOL  rmaxb
%OL ¼  100; ð4Þ
DKb
1316 A.J. McEvily et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319
Fig. 6. Constant amplitude (CA) and post-overload (OL) fatigue
crack growth rates as a function of DK for 18G2A steel at two R
levels. After Skorupa et al. [18].
or equivalently as defined by Skorupa et al. [18],


rOL  rminb
%OL ¼  1  100 ð5Þ
DKb
In a separate study (M. Skorupa, personal communi-
cation), the tests of the 18-mm-thick specimens were
shown by Skorupa to be under plane-strain dominated
conditions. A reduction in the thickness of this steel
from 18 to 12 mm after an overload had little effect on
the retardation behavior.
Plots of the crack growth rate as influenced by an
overload as obtained by Skorupa et al. [18] are shown
in Fig. 6 for two R levels. In these tests the initial
acceleration was noted only at R ¼ 0:05 for 4 and
12 mm thick specimens. The data of Skorupa et al.
showed little effect of thickness on the rate of decrease
in growth rate or on the minimum growth rate.
3. Analysis
3.1. Number of delay cycles, ND
In this section a determination of the number of
delay cycles, ND, following an overload will be made
on the basis of the method developed by Bao and
McEvily [16] which takes thickness effects into account.
The basic equation used in the analysis is
da
¼ AðDKeff  DKeffth Þ2 ð6Þ
dN
where a is the semi-crack length in the case of a center-
cracked panel, N is the number of cycles, A is a
material constant, DKeff has been defined above, and
DKeffth is the effective range of DK at the threshold
level, which is taken to correspond to a growth rate of
1011 m/cycle. (An added advantage of Eq. (2) is that
if there is uncertainty in the exact value of the opening
load, a matter under general discussion [21,22], both
terms may be equally affected and the uncertainty is
therefore compensated for.)
In the case of an overload, this equation can be writ-
ten as
da
¼ AðKmaxb  Kop2  DKeffth Þ2 ð7Þ
dN
Good correlation between experimental results and this
equation has been achieved in a number of studies at R
values of 0.05 [8,16] and 0.5 [5].
In the present analysis the main objective is the pre-
diction of the number of delay cycles, ND, following an
overload. Bao and McEvily [16] have shown that for
constant DK baseline conditions the number of delay
cycles can be approximated as a function of Kop2max,
where Kop2max is the maximum value of Kop2, corre-
sponding to the minimum growth rate in the overload
zone. The expression derived is:
OLPZS
ND ¼
AðKmaxb Kop2max DKeffth ÞðKmaxb Kopb DKeffth Þ
OLPZS
 ð8Þ
AðKmaxb Kopb DKeffth Þ2
where the first term on the right hand side of Eq. (8)
represents the total number of cycles to traverse the
overload plastic zone size, OLPZS, and the second
term is the number of cycles to traverse this same dis-
tance in the absence of an overload. For purposes of
calculation this equation can also be written as:
OLPZS Kop2max  Kopb
ND ¼
AðKmaxb  Kopb  DKeffth Þ2 Kmaxb  Kop2max  DKeffth
ð9Þ
The following empirical expression for Kop2max for the
case of a 100% overload was proposed by Bao and
McEvily for a 9Cr–1Mo steel (rY ¼ 530 MPa):

0:15
0:3
Kop2max ¼ 0:8 DKb ð10Þ
B
where B is in millimeters. The steel tested by Skorupa
et al. was of lower yield stress (400 MPa), and we can
 A.J. McEvily et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319 1317

Fig. 7 shows the experimentally determined rate of fati-

gue crack growth under constant load amplitude con-
ditions as a function of DK for R ratios of 0.05 and 0.5
[18]. Also shown is a calculated curve which is based
upon Eq. (6). The constants used in the calculations
are given in Table 1, and are the same as those used in
Ref. [16]. It is noted that there is little effect of thick-
ness on the rate of fatigue crack growth, an indication
that the primary closure mechanism under these con-
stant load amplitude conditions is roughness-induced,
in contrast to the plasticity-induced closure which
develops following an overload. In the latter case,
when much of the delay mechanism is associated with
the surface, there will be a thickness effect.
The stress intensity factor for a center-cracked panel
is given by:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
pffiffiffiffiffiffi pa
K ¼ r pa sec ; ð12Þ
W
where a is the semi-crack length and W is the width.
Table 2 gives the K values and calculated OLPZSs
corresponding to the Skorupa et al. test program. As
an initial check on the computational procedures, base-
line crack growth rates were computed with the aid of
Fig. 7. The rate of fatigue crack growth in 18G2A steel as a func-
tion of DK and thickness at R values of 0.05 and 0.5. The experi-
Eq. (9) and compared with the experimental values as
mental points are from Skorupa et al. [18]. The solid line is a shown in Fig. 7.
calculated line based upon Eq. (6). In view of the agreement shown in Fig. 7, parti-
cularly at the stress intensity ranges of interest, calcula-
tions for the number of delay cycles were then carried
out. Table 3 presents the results of the calculations for
Table 1
Material constants ND based upon Eq. (9), and compares them with the
experimental values for 100% overloads.
rY (MPa) A (MPa)2 DKeffth ðMPa m1=2 Þ Kopb ðMPa m1=2 Þ Fig. 8 shows how the number of delay cycles is pre-
400 2:0  1010 3.5 3.5 dicted to vary for a 100% overload as a function of the
baseline level at which the overload is applied and of
the thickness. The experimental data points of Skorupa
expect that the amount of plasticity-induced closure et al. are also included in this figure. For this steel with
due to an overload will be higher. Eq. (8) is therefore DKeffth equal to 3:5 MPa m1=2 and Kop equal to
modified in a manner to reflect the lower yield strength, 3:5 MPa m1=2 , the original value of DKth threshold
as well as to insure that the Kop2max value always level was taken to be 7:0 MPa m1=2 . Note that the
exceeds Kopb. The modified expression is: effect of an overload is most pronounced at low values

0:15 of DKb, and in fact a significant increase in the thresh-
0:3 old level can result, the more so the thinner the speci-
Kop2max ¼ Kopb þ 0:8 DKeff ð11Þ
B men.

Table 2
Stress intensity factorsa and OLPZS

B (mm) R DKb Kmax Kop DKeff Kop2max KOL OLPZS (m)

4 0.05 16.8 17.7 3.5 14.2 11.2 34.5 0.0019
4 0.5 16.8 33.6 16.8 16.8 25.9 50.4 0.0023
12 0.05 16.8 17.7 3.5 14.2 10.0 34.5 0.0019
12 0.5 16.8 33.6 16.8 16.8 24.5 50.4 0.0023
18 0.05 16.8 17.7 3.5 14.2 9.7 34.5 0.0019
a
Units for K are MPa m1=2 .
1318 A.J. McEvily et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319

Table 3 3.2. Minimum growth rates

Calculated and experimental values of ND

B R ND ;  105 ND ;  105 Ratio Calc./Exp. We now consider other aspects of the results of
(mm) calculated experiment Skorupa et al. Fig. 6 shows little effect of thickness on
the minimum growth rate following an overload. Mini-
4 0.05 2.1 2 1.05
12 0.05 1.3 1.25 1.05
mum growth rates were calculated using the following
18 0.05 1.1 0.75 1.5 equation.
4 0.5 1.4 2 0.7

12 0.5 0.9 0.95 0.95 da
Avg: ¼ 1:05 ¼ AðKmaxb  Kop2max  DKeffth Þ2 ð13Þ
dN min
Comment: Note that the experiments were carried out under constant
load amplitude conditions, whereas the computations were for con- The calculated and experimental results are compared
stant DK conditions. Nevertheless it is considered that the calculated in Table 4.
values of Nd are in reasonable agreement with the experimental
values.
3.3. Overload plastic zone size

Table 5 compares the experimentally determined and

the calculated plastic zone sizes.

4. Concluding remarks

1. In this paper a brief review of the mechanisms

involved in the retardation process following an
overload has been given, and the three-dimensional
nature of the crack-opening process has been stres-
sed. With increase in thickness there is a correspond-
ing reduction in the crack-opening level which
controls the rate of fatigue crack growth after an
overload. As a result, the number of delay cycles
decreases with increasing thickness. Further, there is
a gradual transition from plane-stress dominated
delay behavior to plane-strain dominated delay beha-
vior with increase in thickness.
2. In addition, the recent overload data provided by
Skorupa et al. have been analyzed, and the main
conclusions to be drawn from this analysis are that:

(A) The calculated constant amplitude crack growth

rates are close to the experimental values, and
Fig. 8. The predicted number of delay cycles, ND, for a 100% over-
(B) The calculated numbers of delay cycles follow-
load for several thicknesses of 18G2A steel as a function of the base-
line DKb level. The experimental result obtained by Skorupa et al. ing a 100% overload are in good agreement
[18] are shown for comparison. with the experimental results.

Table 4
Calculated and experimental minimum growth rates

B (mm) R Calc. minimum da/dN (m/cycle) Exp. minimum da/dN (m/cycle) Ratio Calc./Exp.
9 9
4 0.05 1:8  10 3:4  10 0.5
12 0.05 3:5  109 3:0  109 1.2
18 0.05 5:4  109 7:8  109 0.7
4 0.5 3:5  109 3:0  109 1.2
12 0.5 6:3  109 2:9  109 2.2
Comment: The calculated minimum growth rates increase with thickness. However the variation is not large, and may well be within the range of
experimental variation.
 A.J. McEvily et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 26 (2004) 1311–1319
Table 5
Calculated and experimental overload plastic zone sizes
B (mm) R Exp. delay distance (m)
4 0.05 0.0073
4 0.5 0.0061
12 0.05 0.0035
12 0.5 0.0030
18 0.05 0.0040
Comment: The calculated values of the overload plastic zone sizes are less than the experimental values. This is due in part to the extended ter-
minal regions of high growth rate in the experiments where the growth rate asymptotically approaches the baseline value as the crack leaves the
overload zone. Because of their relatively high growth rates, these terminal regions do not contribute significantly to the number of delay cycles
since there is a relatively small difference in growth rate between the steady state case and the overload case.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their appreciation to Prof. M.
Skorupa and to Prof. R. Pippan for helpful comments
on the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Prof. Skorupa
for providing us with unpublished data.
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