Fatigue ?

Fatigue is a form of failure that occurs in structures subjected to dynamic and

fluctuating stresses (e.g., bridges, aircraft, machine components).

Under these circumstances, it is possible for failure to occur at a stress level

considerably lower than the tensile or yield strength for a static load.

The term fatigue is used because this type of failure normally occurs after a
lengthy period of repeated stress or strain cycling.

Fatigue is important : it is the single largest cause of failure in metals,

estimated to be involved in approximately 90% of all metallic failures;

Polymers and ceramics (except for glasses) are also susceptible to this type of
failure.

Furthermore, fatigue is catastrophic and insidious, occurring

very suddenly and without warning.
 Fatigue Failure
Fatigue failures are often easy to identify.
Fatigue failure is brittle-like in nature even in normally ductile metals in that
there is very little, if any, gross plastic deformation associated with failure.

The process occurs by the initiation and propagation of cracks, and typically
the fracture surface is perpendicular to the direction of an applied tensile stress.

The fracture surface near the origin is usually smooth

(crack initiation point-Beach mark ). The surface
becomes rougher as the crack increases in size.
Beach marks - macroscopic Striations - microscopic
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Fatigue Parameters
The applied stress may be axial
(tension–compression), flexural
(bending), or torsional (twisting) in
nature. In general, three different
fluctuating stress–time modes are
possible.
Parameters of interest
Mean stress

Range of stress

Stress amplitude a is one-half

of this range of stress, or

Load ratio = 3
 Fatigue Data
The most important fatigue data for engineering designs are the S-N curves,
which is the Stress-Number of Cycles curves.

In a fatigue test, a specimen is subjected to a cyclic stress of a certain

form and amplitude and the number of cycles to failure is determined.

The number of cycles, N, to failure is a function of the stress amplitude, S.

A plot of S versus N is called the S-N curve.

Like other mechanical properties

Fatigue data are generated in labs

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 Data Presentation
Data are plotted as stress S versus the logarithm of the number N of cycles to
failure for each of the specimens. The S parameter is normally taken as either
maximum stress (max) or stress amplitude (a)

Non-ferrous metals
Steels, Ti-alloys

Two distinct types of S–N behavior are observed .

The higher the magnitude of the stress, the smaller the number of cycles the material is
capable of sustaining before failure.
For some ferrous (iron-base) and titanium alloys, the S–N curve becomes horizontal at
higher N values; there is a limiting stress level, called the fatigue limit (also sometimes
called the endurance limit), below which fatigue failure will not occur.

For some materials, the fatigue response is specified as fatigue strength, which is defined
as the stress level at which failure will occur for some specified number of cycles (e.g., 10 7
cycles).
 The S-N Curve
Results of fatigue tests are presented as plots of nominal cyclic stress, S, versus number of
cycles to failure, N.

At a nominal stress equal to the ultimate stress, the component will fail after the first half
cycle.
At a nominal stress below the yield strength, the number of cycles to failure is relatively
large but still finite.
In iron-based materials, there is a nominal stress below which fatigue does not occur during
“normal” life times, the endurance limit, which is used as a design parameter.
 Types of Fatigue
May be classified into two domains
1. Associated with relatively high loads
that produce not only elastic strain
but also some plastic strain during
each cycle. Consequently, fatigue lives
are relatively short; this domain is
termed low-cycle fatigue and occurs
at less than about 104 to 105 cycles.

2. For lower stress levels wherein

Nf = Ni + Np
High cycle fatigue (low loads): Ni is
relatively high. With increasing stress
level, Ni decreases and Np dominates
deformations are totally elastic,
longer lives result. This is called high-
cycle fatigue because relatively large
numbers of cycles are required to
produce fatigue failure. High-cycle
fatigue is associated with fatigue lives
greater than about 104 to 105 cycles.

N< 105
 Scatter in fatigue data

Unfortunately, there always exists considerable scatter in fatigue data—that is,

a variation in the measured N value for a number of specimens tested at the
same stress level. This variation may lead to significant design uncertainties when
fatigue life and/or fatigue limit are being considered.

The scatter in results is a consequence of the fatigue sensitivity to a number

of test and material parameters that are impossible to control precisely. These
parameters include specimen fabrication and surface preparation, metallurgical
variables, specimen alignment in the apparatus, mean stress, and test frequency.
At 200 Mpa , 1% of the specimen to fail at about 106 cycles, 50% to fail at about
2x 107 cycles
 Definitions

• Fatigue life: indicates how long

(no. of cycles) a component
survives a particular stress.

Fatigue strength: is applicable to a component with No endurance limit. It is the

maximum stress for which fatigue will not occur at a particular number of cycles,
in general, 108 cycles for metals.

Endurance ratio: the endurance limit is approximately ¼ to ½ the

tensile strength.
endurance limit(fatigue strenght)
Endurance ratio   0.25  0.5
tensilestrength 11
S-N behaviour of various engineering materials
Higher strength
Higher is the fatigue strength
13
Example of Surface Stress Raiser on S-N Curve
The endurance limit is sensitive to the size of the stress raiser that may exist in
the material.
The endurance limit decreases as the size of the stress raiser decreases (radius
of crack), which agrees with the increase in the concentrated stress as the
crack radius decreases.


 c   n 1  2 c/r 
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  = max- min
K =

K =a

KI = KIC

Kth = threshold

Expression for K for the component must be known

when laboratory data is used
Slow crack growth
 m=4

N  1/ ai
Good melting practice – reduce size of inclusions
 Fatigue Damage Accumulation Process
fatigue crack nucleation > initiation > propagation >failure phases

Fatigue crack
nucleation/initiation at
the surface via
persistent slip bands.

Small crack Failure/Fracture

propagation via
Mode II mechanism.
Long crack
propagation via
Mode I mechanism.

Cracks associated with fatigue failure almost always initiate (or nucleate) on
the surface of a component at some point of stress concentration :
surface scratches, sharp fillets, keyways, threads, dents, and the like. 24
 Fatigue Crack Nucleation

Some mechanisms of fatigue crack nucleation.

(After J. C. Grosskreutz, Tech. Rep. AFML-TR-70–55 (Wright– Patterson AFB, OH: Air Force Materials Laboratory), 1970.)
Simultaneous action of a cyclic stress and chemical attack is termed corrosion
fatigue. Corrosive environments have a deleterious influence and produce
shorter fatigue lives.
Note da/dn is left of inert case
Crack growth below Kth (for inert)
 Titanium alloys
[Polmear]

• For many Ti alloys, the proportion of hcp (alpha) and bcc (beta) phases depends
strongly on the heat treatment. Cooling from the two-phase region results in a two-
phase structure, as Polmear’s example, 6.7a. Rapid cooling from above the transus
in the single phase (beta) region results in a two-phase microstructure with
Widmanstätten laths of (martensitic) alpha in a beta matrix, 6.7b.
• The fatigue properties of the two-phase structure are significantly better than the
Widmanstätten structure (more resistance to fatigue crack formation).
• The alloy in this example is IM834, Ti-5.5Al-4Sn-4Zr-0.3Mo-1Nb-0.35Si-0.6C.
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Small pits may form as a result of chemical reactions between the environment and the
material, which may serve as points of stress concentration and therefore as crack nucleation
sites.
Reduce the rate of corrosion by some of the techniques -for example, apply
protective surface coatings, select a more corrosion-resistant material, and reduce the
corrosiveness of the environment.

Reduce the applied tensile stress level and impose residual compressive
stresses on the surface of the member.
 Mechanical stresses
from an external source
need not be present.

The origin of these thermal stresses is the restraint to the dimensional

expansion and /or contraction that would normally occur in a structural member
with variations in temperature.
Allowing unhindered dimensional changes
How to mitigate with temperature variations (design)
or
to choose materials with appropriate
physical properties
 Designs Against Fatigue Load
The laboratory test results (under lab condition) cannot be directly used for
design purposes - due to the behavior of component which not only depend
on loading or stress but also on some other variables resulting from
manufacturing imperfection, design and improper material selection.
Therefore, modifying factors or de-rating factors can be employed to
account for the main parameters those might affect the materials
performance in service.

The de-rating factors are numbers less then unity and used to reduce
materials strength value to take into account manufacturing imperfection,
incorrect design and improper materials selection. Commonly used de-rating
factors (parameters) in design are :
• Size and shape of the component
• Type of loading
• Stress concentration
• Surface finish
• Operating temperature
• Service environment
• Method of fabrication
• Mean stress levels
• Metallurgical variables.
Fatigue Crack Propagation for PMMA and PVC

Variation in fatigue crack propagation rates, at fixed

values of K (= 0.6 MPa m1/2) and test frequency v (= 10 Hz), as a
function of reciprocal of molecular weight for PMMA and PVC.

(After S. L. Kim, M. Skibo, J. A. Manson, and R. W. Hertzberg, Polymer Eng. Sci., 17 (1977) 194.)
 Fatigue Crack Growth Under Cyclic Loading

Fatigue crack growth rate da/dN in alumina as a function

of the maximum stress intensity factor Kmax under fully reversed
cyclic loads (v = 5 Hz). Also indicated are the rates of crack
growth per cycle derived from static-load fracture data.

(After M. J. Reece, F. Guiu, and M. F. R. Sammur, J. Amer. Ceram. Soc., 72(1989) 348.)
 Effects in Fatigue

A schematic of fatigue crack propagation rate as a

function of cyclic stress intensity factor in air and
seawater. At any given K, the crack propagation rate is
higher in seawater than in air.
Casting porosity affects fatigue
Gravity cast
versus
squeeze cast
versus [Polmear]
wrought
Al-7010

• Casting tends to result in porosity. Pores are effective sites for nucleation of
fatigue cracks. Castings thus tend to have lower fatigue resistance (as
measured by S-N curves) than wrought materials.
• Casting technologies, such as squeeze casting, that reduce porosity tend to
eliminate this difference.
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Thank you