Processing of Aerospace

Materials – Part I (ME-772)

Lecture 4:
Low Cycle Fatigue and Fatigue Crack Growth in metals
14 January, 2022

Reference: AP Mouritz, Aerospace Materials, Sections 20.4, 20.5

Effect of mean stress on fatigue strength
• Fatigue S-N curves are generally reported for fully reversed cycles
• Unless otherwise specified, endurance limit or fatigue strength are
based on fully reversed cycle tests
• What happens when the mean stress is positive?

The entire cycle

contributes to
crack extension

Compressive stresses do not

contribute to crack extension
Intuitively, when 𝜎 > 0 and for the same
fatigue life, lower fatigue strength is expected

Fully reversed cycle Repeated stress cycle

Effect of mean stress on fatigue strength (endurance limit)

u UTS

e
0

m
Allowable alternative stress 𝜎 Demonstrates that fatigue
(Fatigue strength) decreases with strength reduces with
increasing mean stress
increase in mean stress
Allowable
alternating
stress when
mean stress is
not zero
x = 1 for Goodman line,
=2 for parabola
 Fatigue data scatter
Fatigue S-N curves show large scatter since they are sensitive to sample to sample
variations in machining, microstructures, composition and defects

Heat treated
forging of alloy
steel

2024 Al alloy

Range of fatigue lives for give applied stress Range of endurance limits for steel
 Sample problem: When a wing component is cyclically loaded from zero to a max load of 500
MPa, it fails after 5 x 107 cycles. The same alloy, when cyclically loaded under fully reversed
loading, shows the fatigue strength (endurance limit) of 350 MPa (fails after the same

number of cycles). If the alloy has to be loaded from (- ) to () and attain the fatigue life of
5 x 107 cycles, how much can the maximum stress be?

500
𝜎
350 𝜎
250
𝜎 𝜎 = 2𝜎/3
0 0 𝜎 = 𝜎/3
0
-350 -𝜎/3

All give the same fatigue life

• 𝜎 = 350 MPa
• In Goodman formula, 𝜎 = 𝜎 (1 − ), 𝜎 = 250 MPa,, and 𝜎 = 250 MPa (this is to be
taken for the non-fully reversed cycling, hence 𝜎 = 875 MPa (UTS)

• Let us apply Goodman formula for the (- ) to () cycling,

• = 350(1 − )
• Solving, 𝜎 = 375 𝑀𝑃𝑎 (this is the maximum stress)

endurance limit for =0

endurance limit for 0
Q&A

What do you understand by fracture toughness?

Low cycle fatigue
Fatigue under stress amplitudes greater than yield strength is called low cycle fatigue.
Cycles to failure are low. Due to plastic deformation, cyclic strain hardening can take
place. Tests are conducted at controlled plastic strain amplitudes (not stress
amplitudes). The relation between plastic strain range and cycles to failure is (Coffin
Manson Relation):

Where p = plastic strain range ( ,

f = static failure strain,
‘c’ = an empirical constant known as the ductility coefficient (typically - 0.5 to - 0.7 for
most metals). Smaller ‘c’ value results in longer fatigue life.

347 stainless
steel
 Fatigue crack growth (HCF) (for pre-existing cracks)
FCG tests are used to determine the fatigue stress conditions under which cracks grow
and cause complete failure

= C.Km C Few hundred

load cycles
K = (max - min)..    Finding cycles
to failure
= crack length, n = no. of cycles Paris Law (1961) > 10-6 m/cycle
C and m = constants
 = correction factor depending on
shape and geometry of the crack
(=1 for centre crack in infinite sheet)

K approaches
KIc

This relation is applicable when stress levels are low and plastic deformation is not high.
Simulation of fatigue crack growth
Comparative performance of different Al alloys

• 8090 Al alloy is not used in

spite of its excellent resistance
to fatigue crack growth
• 2024-T3 is used in favour of
7075 – T6 for fuselage and
lower wing components which
experience cyclic tensile
loading
Fatigue crack growth example
• A structure contains a critical component made from A514 steel. After fabrication of
the structure, a welding defect 7.6 mm deep is discovered in this steel plate. The flaw
is essentially an edge crack under tension loading. The component is subject to a
fluctuating load which causes a stress variation from 172 MPa to 310 MPa. Calculate
the fatigue life of this component based on attaining a critical defect size for fast
fracture.
• Material properties for the A514 steel are: yield stress = 689 MPa, K1C = 165 MPa.m½,
geometry correction factor  = 1.12, and the Paris law is:

= 1.36 x 10-10 .K2.25 K = (max - min). .   

where is in m/cycle, and:

K1C = max. .   
Solution to the problem on FCG
i.e. 71.9 mm. Hence the limits on the Paris law integration are 7.6 mm and 71.9 mm,
while the stress range is (310 - 172) MPa = 138 MPa. Separating the variables and
rearranging the Paris law gives:

(

𝑐𝛼

𝑐𝛼 𝑐𝛼
Stages of fatigue crack initiation and propagation (metals) - 1

(a) crack initiation – includes the early development of fatigue damage (microscale)
(b) slip-band crack growth (stage-I crack growth) – involves the deepening of initial crack
on planes of high shear stress. Here, the cracks grow only along ‘slip’ planes which are
characteristic of the crystal structure of the parent metal. These are known as short
cracks.
(c) crack growth on planes of high tensile stress – involves growth of crack in direction
normal to maximum tensile stress, called stage-II crack growth. Here, the cracks do not
necessarily grow along the slip planes.

(d) final fracture failure – occurs when the crack reaches the
‘critical’ size (where the remaining cross section does not
support the applied load, i.e. where stress intensity factor
reaches the fracture toughness value)
 Stages in fatigue - 2
Ref: H Mughrabi, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 373:
20140132., http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2014.0132
Applied stresses are
above yield strength
+ Microcrack growth
(Macro crack growth)

Applied stresses are

fully elastic
 Stages of fatigue 3
• Crack initiation can occur in a defect-free region or in a pre-existing defect in the
material e.g. voids, large inclusions or surface flaws (machining burrs, scratches,
corrosion pits, and sharp corners). Defects reduce the number of load cycles to
initiate a fatigue crack.
• In a defect-free region, any microstructural feature that concentrates the stress is a
potential site for the formation of a fatigue crack.
• e.g. at coarse slip bands with a high dislocation concentration or at localised soft
regions such as precipitate-free regions near grain boundaries.

Crack initiation Crack growth

Aluminium alloy 2024-T351

Improving fatigue properties
• Removes stress concentration through smoother surfaces or blended radii
• Free from sharp corners and sudden changes in section thickness
• Where stress concentration is unavoidable: reinforced with additional
material to reduce stress
• Additional thickness around bolt holes
• Free from surface scratches, machine marks
• Shot peening: blasting the metal with a high velocity stream of hard particles
which introduce a residual compressive stress into the surface region
• Fastener holes in metal components are often cold worked to introduce
residual compressive stress
• Avoid the formation of microstructural defects such as voids and large
inclusions
• Increasing the yield strength
• Surface protective coatings to resist corrosion, erosion
Shot peening Cold
compression
around bolt
holes

These techniques introduce compressive stresses which must be overcome by the

applied tensile stresses before fatigue can cause any damage
Airframe design philosophies
• A fail-safe is a design practice that in the event of a specific type of failure,
the design responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other
equipment / environment / people. Redundancy is built in… too heavy.
• In safe-life design, products are intended to be removed from service at a
specific design life, based on S-N and Coffin-Manson curves. NDE is not
feasible. The risk is in incorrectly estimating service loads or determining S-N
curves. Safety factors too high, structure lighter than fail safe but heavy.
• Damage tolerance structure has the ability to sustain defects safely until
repair can be effected. Based on the assumption that flaws can exist in any
structure and such flaws propagate with usage. Maintenance program is
implemented that will result in the detection and repair of accidentally
formed flaws before such damage reduces the residual strength of the
structure below an acceptable limit. (Fatigue Crack Propagation relations are
important)
Why does fracture toughness depend on
specimen thickness?
Assignment 4
1. A pressure cylinder with a 100 mm inside diameter ‘d’ and 6 mm wall thickness ‘t’ is
subjected to internal pressure that varies from (-p/4) to p. The steel has a fatigue limit
of 410 MPa in completely reversed bending. Under a repeated stress cycle of zero to a
maximum stress in tension, the same steel can withstand 620 MPa without failure in
107 cycles. What is the maximum internal pressure that can be withstood by the
cylinder without failure in 107 cycles? Hoop stress in the cylinder shell is given as: h =
pd/(2t)
2. A high-strength steel plate, which has a KIC of 80 MPam is alternately loaded in tension
to 500 MPa and in compression to 60 MPa. The plate is to survive for 10 years with the
stress being applied at a frequency of once every 5 minutes. What is the maximum
allowable size of a manufacturing defect that will give the component its intended life.
Assume a geometry factor  = 1.0 for all flaws,
C = 1.62 * 10-12 and n = 3.2 in Paris equation.
 Balance between fatigue crack initiation, crack
growth and fracture toughness

8090 will be superior

after 2 mm crack
Shows high
2024 will be superior
fatigue crack after few hundred mm
initiation crack, because of
resistance of higher fracture
MMC toughness

m
Design philosophy based on Safe Life Principle

• Introduced in 1930’s to 40’s

• Safe life design philosophy requires that no fatigue
failure occurs in N (declared) lifetimes, where N is
always greater than one, and typically of the order of
four
• Hence high cycle fatigue and low cycle fatigue
resistance are important; they deal with resistance to
fatigue crack initiation, tested under low stress
amplitudes and high plastic strain amplitudes,
respectively.

22
Design Philosophy based on Damage Tolerance Principle
• Introduced in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s
• Is based on the acceptance of the inevitability that, in many cases, damage
exists ab initio in manufactured items
• Combines crack growth analysis with periodic inspections to detect cracks.
• Decision to remove cracked load bearing members from service is based on
whether there is high probability of failure prior to the next scheduled
inspection
• A damage tolerant structure is one which is resistant to fatigue crack growth
and catastrophic fracture (the latter represented by high fracture toughness)
• In a damage tolerant design, the largest and initially undetected crack in the
highest stressed location should take longer-than-declared service life /
inspection stage (by a factor, say 2) to reach unacceptable loss in strength at
the limit load.
• It is less conservative than safe life design philosophy because it allows use of
components closer to their complete failure life than safe life approach
Damage tolerant designs

• This is the design philosophy increasingly being used to extend

component life, since it allows existence of defects up to certain size.
• Implementation of this design approach needs careful periodic
inspections of components and good expertise in non destructive
testing (NDT) to track changes in defect size, so that components can
be repaired or retired from service at an appropriate stage.