Fatigue & Fracture of

Engineering Materials & Structures

doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2695.2008.01296.x

The Modified Wöhler Curve Method applied along with the Theory
of Critical Distances to estimate finite life of notched components
subjected to complex multiaxial loading paths
L . S U S M E L 1,2 a n d D . T A Y L O R 2
1 Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Via Saragat, 1 - 44100, Ferrara, Italy, 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Trinity College,
Dublin 2, Ireland

Received in final form 20 October 2008

A B S T R A C T This paper is concerned with the use of the Modified Wöhler Curve Method (MWCM)
applied in conjunction with the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD) to estimate fatigue
lifetime of mechanical components subjected to multiaxial cyclic loading and experiencing
stress concentration phenomena. In more detail, our engineering approach takes as its
starting point the idea that accurate estimates can be obtained by simply assuming that the
value of the critical length, L M , to be used to evaluate fatigue damage in the medium–cycle
multiaxial fatigue regime is a function of the number of cycles to failure, Nf . In other words,
the MWCM, which is a bi-parametrical critical plane approach, is suggested here to be
applied by directly post-processing the linear-elastic stress state damaging a material point
whose distance from the notch tip increases as Nf decreases. According to the main feature
of the TCD, the above L M versus Nf relationship is assumed to be a material property
to be determined experimentally: such an hypothesis results in a great simplification of
the fatigue assessment problem because, for a given material, the same critical length can
be used to estimate fatigue damage independent of the considered geometrical feature.
The accuracy of the devised approach was checked by analysing about 150 experimental
results we generated by testing V-notched cylindrical samples made of a commercial
cold-rolled low-carbon steel. The above specimens were tested under in-phase and out-
of-phase combined tension and torsion, considering the damaging effect of superimposed
static stresses as well. Moreover, in order to better check its accuracy in assessing notched
components subjected to complex loading paths, our method was also applied to several
data sets taken from the literature. This extensive validation exercise allowed us to prove
that the MWCM applied along with the TCD is successful in estimating medium-cycle
multiaxial fatigue damage (Nf values in the range 104 –106 ), resulting in predictions falling
within the widest scatter band between the two used to calibrate the method itself. Such
a high accuracy level is very promising, especially in light of the fact that the proposed
approach predicts multiaxial fatigue lifetime by post-processing the linear elastic stress
fields in the fatigue process zone: this makes our method suitable for being used to
assess real components by performing the stress analysis through simple linear-elastic FE
models.

Keywords critical plane; multiaxial fatigue; notches; Theory of Critical Distances.

NOMENCLATURE a, b, α, β = constants used in the MWCM approach

d g = gross diameter
d n = net diameter
k, k τ = negative inverse slope of the Wohler curve
m = mean stress sensitivity index

Correspondance: Luca Susmel. E-mail: ssl@unife.it


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1048 L. SUSMEL and D. TAYLOR

r n = notch root radius

A, B = constants of the L M versus Nf relationship
K Ic = plane strain fracture toughness
K ta = stress concentration factor referred to the net area under axial loading
K tb = stress concentration factor referred to the net area under bending
K tt = stress concentration factor referred to the net area under torsional loading
L = material characteristic length in the high-cycle fatigue regime
L M = material characteristic length in the medium-cycle fatigue regime
L S = material characteristic length under static loading
NA = reference number of cycles to failure
Nf = number of cycles to failure
Nf,e = estimated number of cycles to failure
P S = probability of survival
R = load ratio
R CP = load ratio relative to the critical plane (R CP = σn,max /σn,min )
T σ , T τ = Scatter ratio of endurance limit for 90 and 10% probabilities of survival
δ = out-of-phase angle
λ = σx,a to τxy,a ratio
ω = notch opening angle
σ0 = fully reversed uniaxial fatigue limit
σA = uniaxial endurance limit at NA cycles to failure
σn,a = amplitude of the stress perpendicular to the critical plane
σn,m = mean stress perpendicular to the critical plane
σn,max = maximum stress perpendicular to the critical plane
σn,min = minimum stress perpendicular to the critical plane
σS = material inherent strength under static loading
σx,a = amplitude of the normal stress referred to the net area
σx,min = minimum normal stress referred to the net area
σx,max = maximum normal stress referred to the net area
ρ eff = effective value of the critical plane stress ratio
ρ lim = limit value of ρ eff
τ0 = fully reversed torsional fatigue limit
τA = torsional endurance limit at NA cycles to failure
τA,Ref = amplitude of the reference shear stress at NA cycles to failure
τxy,a = amplitude of the shear stress referred to the net area
τxy,min = minimum shear stress referred to the net area
τxy,max = maximum shear stress referred to the net area

K th = range of the threshold value of the stress intensity factor

σ0 = range of the plain fatigue limit

ion that any reliable fatigue assessment technique should

INTRODUCTION
Since the beginning of the last century, researchers in-
vestigating the fatigue problem have made a big effort in
order to devise sound methodologies suitable for safely as-
sessing mechanical assemblies subjected to time-variable
loadings. It is well known that correctly estimating fatigue
damage in real components is a complex process involving
a high number of different variables that have to be prop-
erly taken into account in order to avoid unwanted and
dangerous failures. In particular, it is these authors’ opin-
be capable of efficiently and simultaneously modelling the
damaging effect of non-zero superimposed static stresses,
degree of multiaxiality of the stress field and the role of
stress concentration phenomena. At the same time, due to
the needs of industrial reality, the calibration of such an
engineering fatigue assessment method should be based
on pieces of experimental information that can easily be
obtained through tests run in accordance with the per-
tinent standard codes. Finally, to reduce the time and
costs of the design process, the stress analyses needed to


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 M O D I F I E D W Ö H L E R C U R V E M E T H O D A N D T H E O R Y O F C R I T I C A L D I S T A N C E S
correctly estimate fatigue damage should be carried out
by directly post-processing simple linear elastic finite el-
ement (FE) models.
The ambitious goal of the present paper is to formal-
ize and validate an engineering method which meets
all the requirements mentioned above. In more detail,
the present paper summarizes an attempt of extend-
ing the use of a multiaxial fatigue approach (the
Modified Wöhler Curve Method, MWCM1–3 ), applied
along with a method of analysing stress concentrations
(the Theory of Critical Distances, TCD4–6 ), down to the
medium-cycle multiaxial fatigue regime. The proposed
life estimation technique takes as its starting point the
hypothesis that the linear elastic stress state at a given
distance from the stress raiser apex supplies all the en-
gineering information needed to correctly estimate fa-
tigue damage. The above critical length is assumed here
to depend on the number of cycles to failure,7 but its
value does not vary as the type of the geometrical fea-
ture contained by the component to be assessed changes.
In other words, the hypothesis is formed that both the
stress gradient and scale effect are efficiently taken into
account by the TCD applied in terms of the so-called
point method (PM).4,5 At the same time, the degree of
multiaxiality of the stress field damaging the fatigue pro-
cess zone is directly accounted for by the MWCM, which
is a critical plane approach sensitive to the presence of
both non-zero mean stresses and non-zero out-of-phase
angles.8
It is worth noticing here that the philosophy behind the
K th
above strategy is simply that fatigue damage is assumed to
σ0
depend on the complexity of the entire stress field acting
on the material in the vicinity of the crack initiation site,
σ0 is the plain fatigue limit, whereas
K th is
so that uniaxial situations become just simpler sub-cases of
the more general multiaxial case. This approach is quite
novel because, in general, uniaxial and multiaxial notch
fatigue problems are assumed to be nominally different,
and for this reason, they are addressed by following differ-
ent strategies. This is surprising because it is well known
that when a notched component is subjected to uniax-
ial cyclic loading, a multiaxial stress state exists near the
notch: therefore, an efficient multiaxial fatigue method
should be capable of correctly assessing also this situa-
tion. In other words, multiaxial fatigue in components
can arise either externally due to loading or internally due
to geometry effects. In terms of fatigue damage, it is evi-
dent that no differences can exist between the above two
types of multiaxiality, provided that the stress filed distri-
butions in the vicinity of the crack initiation site are the
same.
To conclude, it has to be said that we have already
proved that the MWCM applied along with the TCD
is successful in estimating high-cycle fatigue strength of
notched components subjected to cyclic loading.9–15 In

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1049
the present paper instead we attempt to extend this engi-
neering approach down to the constant amplitude finite
life regime, considering specifically Nf values in the range
104 –106 cycles. In particular, it is important to highlight
that the present paper summarizes an attempt to devise a
novel multiaxial fatigue life estimation technique by tak-
ing full advantage of the work we have done so far in this
particular field of the structural integrity discipline. For
the sake of brevity, in what follows only the fundamen-
tal ideas explicitly needed to formalize our method will
briefly be reviewed, so that, if necessary, those readers
interested in deepening such concepts are referred to the
quoted papers.
D E T E R M I N A T I O N O F T H E L M V E R S U S Nf
RELATIONSHIP
The TCD assumes that static and fatigue uniaxial strength
of components containing notches and cracks can be esti-
mated through an effective stress, whose value depends on
a defined material characteristic length.4–6 In particular,
the above effective stress can be determined by follow-
ing different strategies, which include the PM, the line
method (LM), the area method (AM) and, finally, the
volume method (VM).5,16 When the TCD is applied to
estimate uniaxial notch fatigue limits, the material char-
acteristic length, L, used to calculate the effective stress is
defined as follows:5,17
 2
1
L= , (1)
π
where
the range of threshold value of the stress intensity fac-
tor (both determined under the same load ratio, R, as the
one characterizing the loading path applied to the com-
ponent to be assessed). Due to the fact that L is defined
through two fatigue properties, it is in turn a constant,
whose value depends on the considered material as well as
on the applied load ratio, R. Similarly, when the TCD is
used to perform the static assessment of notched compo-
nents, the corresponding material characteristic length,
L S , needed to calculate the effective stress takes on the
following value:18–22
 2
1 K Ic
LS = . (2)
π σS
In the above definition, K Ic is the plane strain material
toughness, whereas the inherent material strength under
static loading, σS , is a static property to be determined
by running appropriate experiments.22 In more detail, σS
can be thought of as a defect free ultimate tensile strength
of the material to be assessed, which is equal to the
1050 L. SUSMEL and D. TAYLOR
classical σUTS only for certain materials, being higher in
general.18–22
By performing a systematic validation exercise based on
the use of a large amount of experimental data, it was
proved that the different formalizations of the TCD are
successful both in addressing the static18–21 and high-
cycle fatigue problem,23,24 resulting in estimates falling
within an error interval of about ±20%.
In light of the encouraging results obtained when us-
ing the TCD to address the static and high-cycle fatigue
problems, recently, our theory was reformulated to make
it suitable for assessing notched components also in the
finite life region. In particular, the hypothesis was formed
that, in the medium-cycle fatigue regime, the material
characteristic length, L M , increases as the number of cy-
cles to failure, Nf , decreases. According to the above idea
the L M versus Nf relationship was suggested to be formal-
ized by using a simple power law:7
LM = A NfB . (3)
In the above relationship A and B are two material param-
eters whose values depend on the assessed material as well
as on the considered load ratio. From a theoretical point
of view, Eq. (3) can be calibrated by directly using the
characteristic lengths defined in Eqs (1) and (2): this way
of determining constants A and B makes it evident that L M
is a material property because both L and L S are defined
by using static and fatigue properties to be determined
experimentally in accordance with the recommendations
of the pertinent standard codes.
Unfortunately, the L M versus Nf relationship is very dif-
ficult to calibrate by following the above strategy due to
the well-known inadequacy of the stress based approach
in describing engineering materials’ fatigue behaviour in
the low-cycle fatigue regime as well as due to the fact that
the number of cycles to failure defining the position of the
fatigue curve knee points varies as both the geometry of
the tested samples and the degree of multiaxiality of the
applied loading change. This is the reason why, to effi-
ciently determine constants A and B in Eq. (3), we have
suggested adopting an alternative procedure based on the
PM argument.7 In particular, the procedure we have de-
vised to calibrate the L M versus Nf relationship makes
use of two reference fatigue curves, where the first one is
generated by testing plain specimens, whereas the second
one by testing notched specimens containing a known
geometrical feature. According to the PM,5 it is possible
then to calculate the material characteristic length at dif-
ferent Nf values. It is useful to remember here that the
PM calculates the effective stress to be used to predict
static failures and high-cycle fatigue strength at a distance
from the notch tip equal to L S /2 and L/2, respectively.21
According to the above formalization of the TCD, for any
value of the number of cycles to failure, that is, Nf = Nf,i
σnom,a
Stress
σ1,a
LM(Nf,i) Distance
2
Stress
amplitude
Plain Fatigue Curve
σ1,a
σnom,a
σnom,a
Notch Fatigue Curve
Nf,i Nf
Fig. 1 Determination of the critical distance value, L M , in the
medium-cycle fatigue regime by using two calibration curves.
in Fig. 1, it is straightforward to determine the distance
from the stress concentrator apex, L M /2, at which the
amplitude of the linear elastic maximum principal stress,
σ1,a , is equal to the amplitude of the stress which breaks
the plain material at Nf = Nf,i . If the above strategy is
used to calculate the material characteristic length both
in the medium/low- and in the high-cycle fatigue field,
constants A and B can directly be estimated: such a sim-
plified way of calibrating Eq. (3) allows all the problems
mentioned above to easily be overcome, obtaining a re-
liable relationship describing the variation of L M as the
number of cycles to failure decreases.
It is important to highlight here that the calibration of
Eq. (3) done by using two reference fatigue curves is sim-
ply an engineering stratagem adopted to obtain reliable
values for constants A and B. Strictly speaking, the TCD
works because the material characteristic length used to
calculate the effective stress represents a sound link be-
tween Continuum Mechanics and Linear Elastic Frac-
ture Mechanics.5,22 In other words, independent of the
method used to calibrate the L M versus Nf relationship,
such a function has always to be thought of as a mate-
rial property giving engineering information suitable for
estimating fatigue damage in the presence of stress con-
centration phenomena.7
The TCD reformulated as above to estimate fatigue
strength in the medium-cycle fatigue regime was seen
to be highly accurate, giving, independent of the consid-
ered geometrical feature, estimates always falling within
the parent material scatter band.7 It is worth noticing
here that the LM proved to be the formalization of our
theory resulting in the overall best accuracy when used to

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estimate finite life. On the contrary, both the PM and the
AM were seen to give slightly conservative predictions.
According to such a degree of conservatism and observ-
ing that complex non-proportional multiaxial situations
are easier to be handled when the stress state needed to
estimate fatigue damage is determined at one single point,
in the next section the MWCM will be applied to estimate
multiaxial fatigue lifetime of notched components only in
terms of the PM.
To conclude, it is worth pointing out again that in our
theory Eq. (3) is assumed to define a material property.
This implies that its rigorous calibration should be based
on critical lengths L and L S , which are in turn mate-
rial properties. Unfortunately, due to the experimental
difficulties mentioned above, the most reliable way to
calculate constants A and B is by using two calibration
fatigue curves. In what follows then the MWCM and
PM will be applied by determining the L M versus Nf re-
lationship using data from fully reversed (i.e., R = −1)
loading and assuming that A and B are constants that
are independent of the degree of multiaxiality. In par-
ticular, in Ref. [7] the accuracy in estimating finite life
resulting from the systematic use of the above power law
was checked in terms of maximum principal stress range
only considering nominal uniaxial fatigue situations and
recalibrating constants A and B when varying the investi-
gated load ratio, R. On the contrary, in the present study
the L M versus Nf relationship is used in conjunction with
the MWCM by assuming that the adopted multiaxial fa-
tigue damage parameter is capable of efficiently account-
ing for the presence of both superimposed static stresses
and non-zero out-of-phase angles: this explains the reason
why Eq. (3) will be calibrated only considering two exper-
imental fatigue curves determined under fully reversed
loading.
THE MWCM APPLIED IN CONJUNCTION WITH
THE PM TO ESTIMATE MULTIAXIAL FATIGUE
LIFETIME
According to its most general formulation,25 the MWCM
postulates that fatigue damage depends on the maximum
shear stress amplitude, τa , as well as on the mean value,
σn,m , and the amplitude, σn,a , of the normal stress relative
to that plane experiencing the maximum shear stress am-
plitude (i.e., the so-called critical plane). In particular, the
MWCM assumes that fatigue strength can directly be es-
timated through the amplitude of the shear stress relative
to the critical plane, τa , provided that the adopted refer-
ence fatigue curve is defined by fully taking into account,
by means of ratio ρ eff , the actual degree of multiaxiality
of the stress field damaging the fatigue process zone. The
latter stress parameter is the effective value of the critical

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1051
plane stress ratio, and it is defined as follows:
m σn,m + σn,a
ρeff = . (4)
τa
In the above definition, m is the mean stress sensitivity
index, i.e., a material constant ranging between 0 and 1
and giving a measure of the material sensitivity to non-
zero mean stresses perpendicular to the critical planes.25
The main feature of the above stress ratio results in the
fact that it is capable of correctly accounting for both the
mean stress effect in multiaxial fatigue and the presence
of non-proportional loadings. In particular, in order to
better evaluate the influence of the mean stress perpen-
dicular to the critical plane, it is useful to introduce here
the following load ratio:
σn,min
RCP = , (5)
σn,max
where σn,min and σn,max are the minimum and the maxi-
mum stress perpendicular to the plane of maximum shear
stress amplitude, respectively.
According to the MWCM, engineering materials’ fa-
tigue behaviour under multiaxial cyclic loading can be
summarized in modified Wöhler diagrams, that is, in log–
log charts plotting the shear stress amplitude relative to
the critical plane, τ a , against the number of cycles to fail-
ure, Nf . As shown by the schematic sketch reported in
Fig. 2a, whose validity is fully supported by the exper-
imental evidence,1–3,25 for a given value of τa , fatigue
strength is seen to decrease as the ratio ρ eff increases.
In the above representation the position of any modified
Wöhler curve is defined by the corresponding values of
both the negative inverse slope, k τ (ρ eff ), and the reference
shear stress amplitude, τA,Ref (ρ eff ), determined at NA cy-
cles to failure.
The modified Wöhler diagram of Fig. 2a suggests that
fatigue lifetime can be estimated through the degree of
multiaxiality of the stress field damaging the fatigue pro-
cess zone measured in terms of ρ eff , provided that, the k τ
versus ρ eff and τA,Ref versus ρ eff relationships are correctly
calibrated by running appropriate experiments. In more
detail, by taking full advantage of an extensive systematic
validation based on a large amount of experimental re-
sults, it was seen that such calibration functions can be
formalized by adopting simple linear laws:1–3
kτ (ρeff ) = a ρeff + b, (6)
τA,Ref (ρeff ) = α ρeff + β, (7)
where a, b, α and β are fatigue constants to be deter-
mined experimentally. In particular, by observing that
under fully reversed uniaxial fatigue loading ρ eff is equal
to unity, whereas under full-reversed torque such a stress
ratio is invariably equal to zero,25 it is straightforward to
1052 L. SUSMEL and D. TAYLOR

be estimated by using a uniaxial fatigue limit generated

Fig. 2 Modified Wöhler diagram (a) and k τ versus ρ eff and τA,Ref
versus ρ eff relationship corrected to take into account the effect of
high values of ratio ρ eff (b).
obtain the following values for the constants of Eqs (6)
and (7)
under a load ratio, R = R CP , larger than −1. At the same
time, it has to be said that, when an experimental en-
durance limit to be used to determine the index m is not
available, the material to be assessed can be assumed to be
fully sensitive to the presence of non-zero mean stresses
perpendicular to the critical planes (i.e., m = 1), increasing
the degree of conservatism of the estimates.25
Another aspect which deserves to be outlined in de-
tail here is the way the MWCM performs the multiaxial
fatigue assessment in the presence of non-proportional
loading. In particular, it is worth remembering that, as
clearly explained by Sonsino,26 in the presence of non-
zero out-of-phase angles fatigue damage depends on the
material response to the mutual interaction between the
intrinsic material ductility and the cyclic variation of the
maximum principal stress direction. Because of this, a
phase change in the loading can have a beneficial, a detri-
mental or no effect at all on the overall fatigue strength
of the component to be assessed.
The problem related to the correct evaluation of the
damaging effect of non-zero phase shifts is clearly shown
in Fig. 3. In more detail, according to Gough,27 high-cycle
fatigue strength under fully reversed bending (or tension)
and torsion can efficiently by summarized in diagrams
plotting, at the fatigue limit condition, the amplitude of
the applied shear stress against the amplitude of the ap-
plied uniaxial fatigue loading (see Fig. 3a for the defini-
tion of the adopted frame of reference). The diagram of

a = kτ (ρeff = 1) − kτ (ρeff = 0) ; b = kτ (ρeff = 0) (8)

σA
α= − τA ; β = τA . (9)
2
In the above identities, k τ (ρ eff = 1) and k τ (ρ eff = 0) are
the negative inverse slope of the uniaxial and torsional
fatigue curves, respectively, whereas σA and τA are the
endurance limits estimated at NA cycles to failures un-
der fully reversed uniaxial and torsional fatigue loading,
respectively.
After determining constants a, b, α and β, it is then
possible to calculate the value of the mean stress sensitivity
index, m. In particular, by using a third endurance limit
determined under a value of R CP larger than −1, m takes
on the following value:
 ∗ 
τ∗ τ0 − τa∗ σn,a
m = ∗a 2 − ∗ (10)
σn,m 2τ0 − σ0 τa
where τ ∗a , σ n,m
∗ ∗
and σ n,a are the critical plane stress com-
ponents relative to the above calibration fatigue curve
generated under R CP > −1 and determined at NA cycles
to failure. It is important to highlight here that, from a Fig. 3 Sensitivity of two different plain materials to the degree of
practical point of view, the material constant m can easily non-proportionality of the applied loading.28,29


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Fig. 3b shows the response to non-zero out-of-phase an-
gles of two metallic materials characterized, according to
Gough’s definition,27 by a brittle behaviour. In particular,
the arcs of ellipse plotted in such a diagram predict the
high-cycle fatigue strength in the presence of in-phase
biaxial stress states and the reported experimental points
clearly confirm that Gough’s equation is successful in es-
timating fatigue damage under the above loading path.
For the two considered materials, the presence of non-
proportional loading instead results in a little increase of
fatigue strength and the extent of such an increment de-
pends on the τxy,a to σx,a ratio.
As to the MWCM’s sensitivity to the presence of non-
zero out-of-angles, it has to be pointed out that, according
to the experimental evidence, our method predicts that
such a design parameter can have a detrimental, a bene-
ficial or no effect and it depends on both the degree of
multiaxiality and non-proportionality of the stress field
acting on the process zone as well as on the material fa-
tigue properties. In more detail, for the sake of simplicity
consider a plain cylindrical specimen subjected to fully
reversed tension (or bending) and torsion (Fig. 3a). It is
straightforward to see that in general, for a given ratio be-
tween the amplitudes of the applied tensile and torsional
nominal stresses, the shear-stress amplitude relative to the
critical plane, τa , and the corresponding amplitude of the
reference shear stress, τA,Ref (ρ eff ), decrease as the out-
of-phase angle, δ, increases. The diagrams reported in
Fig. 4 instead make it evident that according to the
MWCM, as δ increases, the estimated fatigue damage
extent depends on the ratio between τxy,a and σx,a as well
as on the ratio between the two relevant fatigue limits, i.e.,
σ0 and τ0 . In more detail, the above charts plot the σx,a
to σ0 ratio against angle δ, where σx,a was estimated, for
every considered value of τxy,a /σx,a , by the MWCM cali-
√
brated imposing a τ0 to σ0 ratio equal to 0.5, to 1/. 3 (Von
Mises’ hypothesis) and to unity, respectively. As to the as-
sumed fatigue properties, it is worth remembering here
that, as far as conventional metallic and non-metallic en-
gineering materials are concerned, the experimental value
of the above ratio is seen to range from 0.5 up to unity.1
Fig. 4 confirms that the MWCM estimates fatigue dam-
age under out-of-phase loading by simultaneously taking
into account three different aspects: (i) degree of mul-
tiaxiality and (ii) non-proportionality of the stress field
damaging the material in the vicinity of crack initiation
sites and (iii) response to fatigue loading of the material
to be assessed evaluated in terms of τ0 to σ0 ratio.
Another aspect of the problem that has to be discussed
here in detail is the engineering material behaviour under

1.2 1.2
τ0 τ0
= 0 .5 = 0 .5
σ x,a /σ 0 1 σ0 σ x,a /σ 0 1 σ0
τ0 1 τ0 1
0.8 = 0.8 =
σ0 3 σ0 3
τ0 τ0
0.6 =1 0.6 =1
σ0 σ0
0.4 0.4
τ xy ,a τ xy ,a
0.2 = 0.25 0.2 = 0 .5
σ x ,a σ x ,a
0 0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
δ [°] δ [°]

1.2 1.2
τ0 τ xy ,a τ0
= 0 .5 =2 = 0 .5
σ x,a /σ 0 1 σ0 σ x,a /σ 0 1 σ x ,a σ0
τ0 1 τ0 1
0.8 = 0.8 =
σ0 3 σ0 3
τ0 τ0
0.6 =1 0.6 =1
σ0 σ0
0.4 0.4
τ xy ,a
0.2 =1 0.2
σ x ,a
0 0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
δ [°] δ [°]

Fig. 4 Fatigue damage under fully reversed tension (or bending) and torsion as predicted by the MWCM when the τ0 to σ0 ratio ranges
from 0.5 up to unity.


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
1054 L. SUSMEL and D. TAYLOR

high values of the ratio ρ eff . In particular, it is logical to

believe that, when the contribution to the overall fatigue
damage of the stress components normal to the critical Fk(t) Fj(t)
z
plane prevails over the one due to the maximum shear
stress amplitude, the physical mechanisms leading to final y
breakage are no longer mainly Mode II governed. In other ⎡ σ x ( t ) τ xy ( t ) τ xz ( t )⎤
O
words, we presume that when ρ eff becomes larger than [σ] = ⎢⎢τ xy (t ) σ y (t ) τ yz (t )⎥⎥ x
a certain material threshold value, ρ lim , the use of the ⎢τ xz ( t ) τ yz ( t ) σ z ( t ) ⎥
⎣ ⎦ Fi(t)
critical plane approach as it stands is no longer justified,
unless other hypotheses are formed to more efficiently
model the change in the physical processes resulting in the
τ a , σ n ,m , σ n ,a , ρ eff
formation of fatigue cracks.8 Therefore, we have proposed
that Eq. (7)2 is valid up to a certain threshold value, ρ lim ,
given by8,25 τa
τA
ρlim = . (11) τ A ,Re f (ρ eff ), k τ (ρ eff )
2τA − σA
τa
In order to extend the use of the MWCM to those situa- 1
tions in which critical planes experience very high values τA,Ref (ρeff)
kτ(ρeff)
of ρ eff , we suggested performing the multiaxial fatigue
assessment by imposing ρ eff = ρ lim when ρ eff is larger
than ρ lim 25,30 : the schematic diagram reported in Fig. 2b Nf NA Nf
shows the way the profile of the τA,Ref versus ρ eff and k τ
Fig. 5 In-field use of the MWCM.
versus ρ eff relationship is modified in accordance with the
above assumption. It is important to highlight here that
the validity of such an hypothesis is fully confirmed not
only by the reanalysis discussed elsewhere25,30 but, as it τa(r)
ρeff =ρlim
will be shown below, also by the new experimental results Fi(t)
τa
reported in the present paper. A ⋅ N fB
−r
2
Figure 5 summarizes the procedure to be followed to Fj(t) ρeff
ρeff (r)
perform, according to the MWCM, the fatigue assess- A ⋅ N fB,e
=r
2
ment of plain mechanical components subjected to mul- O O
Focus path L M (N f ,e ) rmax r
tiaxial fatigue loading. In particular, the maximum shear
r 2
stress amplitude, τa , and stress components σn,m and σn,a
Fk(t) Nf,e
perpendicular to the critical plane have to be calculated at
(b)
the component hotspot, O, determining the value of the
effective critical plane stress ratio, ρ eff . Subsequently, the (a)
modified Wöhler curve corresponding to the degree of
multiaxiality of the considered stress field damaging the Fig. 6 Proposed procedure to apply the MWCM along with the
fatigue process zone can directly be estimated, through PM to estimate notch fatigue lifetime in the medium-cycle fatigue
the calculated value of ρ eff , from relationships (6) and (7). regime.
Lastly, the number of cycles to failure, Nf , can be pre-
dicted by using the following classical relationship:
  in Fig. 6. In more detail, initially the linear-elastic stress
τA,ref (ρeff ) kt (ρeff ) distribution along the focus path has to be calculated by
Nf = NA . (12)
τa using either analytical or numerical methods. The focus
As briefly noted above, the attempt of extending the use path is a straight line emanating from the crack initiation
of the MWCM to predict fatigue lifetime of notched com- point, O, and perpendicular to the surface at the hotspot
ponents summarized in the present paper is based on the itself (Fig. 6a). When stress concentrators are modelled
idea that such a criterion can successfully be applied in by assuming a notch root radius equal to zero, then the
terms of the PM, where the critical distance value is di- focus path is suggested to be taken coincident with the
rectly calculated according to Eq. (3). The suggested way notch bisector. The maximum shear stress amplitude, τa ,
of employing our method to estimate finite life under mul- along this line and the ratio ρ eff are both obtained, giv-
tiaxial cyclic loading is summarized by the sketch reported ing curves of τa versus r and ρ eff versus r, as shown in


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
 M O D I F I E D W Ö H L E R C U R V E M E T H O D A N D T H E O R Y O F C R I T I C A L D I S T A N C E S 1055

Fig. 6b. According to the calculated values of τa and ρ eff ,
the corresponding modified Wöhler curve can be esti-
mated at any distance r from the notch tip by using the k τ
versus ρ eff and τA,Ref versus ρ eff relationship properly cal-
ibrated by means of the measured parent material fatigue
properties. Thus, the corresponding number of cycles to
failure, Nf , can easily be estimated at any point positioned
along the focus path. Subsequently, for any value of r, the
critical distance is calculated according to Eq. (3). Finally,
the component to be assessed is assumed to fail at the
number of cycles to failure, Nf,e , as given by the following
condition (Fig. 5b):
B
A Nf,e
LM
−r = 0 ⇒ − r = 0.
2 2
It is worth remembering here that the L M versus Nf rela-
tionship has to be calibrated by using always experimental
results generated under fully reversed loading: thanks to
the sensitivity of the ratio ρ eff to non-zero mean stresses
perpendicular to the critical planes, it is assumed that the
detrimental effect of superimposed static loadings is di-
rectly taken into account by the MWCM itself.
To conclude, the flow-chart reported in Fig. 7 summa-
rizes the procedure to apply our multiaxial fatigue life-
estimation technique to perform the multiaxial fatigue
assessment of real mechanical components weakened
by notches and subjected to in-field multiaxial fatigue
loading.
EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
In order to check the accuracy and reliability of the fa-
tigue assessment procedure proposed to be used here to
estimate multiaxial fatigue lifetime of notched compo-
nents, 150 tests were carried out by testing cylindrical
V-notched specimens having gross diameter, d g , equal to
8 mm and made of En3B, i.e., a commercial cold-rolled
low-carbon steel. This material had an ultimate tensile
strength, σUTS , equal to 676 MPa, a yield stress, σY , equal
to 653 MPa and a Young’s modulus equal to 208.500 MPa.
The geometries of the tested samples are shown in
Fig. 8a. In particular, the investigated V-notches had an
opening angle equal to 60◦ , net diameter, d n , equal to
(13) 5 mm and notch root radii, r n , equal to 0.2 mm, 1.25 mm
and 4 mm, respectively. Such specimens were tested un-
der in-phase and 90◦ out-of-phase tension and torsion,
by imposing a uniaxial and torsional load ratio, R =
σx,min /σx,max = τxy,min /τxy,max , equal both to −1 and to 0.
Two different ratios between the amplitudes of the ten-
sile, σx,a , and torsional, τxy,a , net stress were considered,
√
that is, λ = σx,a /τxy,a = 1 and λ = 3. The tests were
carried out at a frequency ranging between 6 and 10 Hz.
The adopted failure criterion was the complete breakage
of the specimens. Figure 9 reports some examples showing
the complexity of the observed crack paths.
The experimental results generated under uniaxial and
torsional fatigue loading used to calibrate the MWCM
as well as the L M versus Nf relationship are plotted in

Calibration of the MWCM’s governing equations and determination

of the LM vs. Nf relationship
Determination of the crack initiation point
and definition of the focus path (Fig. 6) Fully reversed
LM=A·NfB – Eq. (3), Fig. 1 notch uniaxial
fatigue curve

FOR r=0 TO rmax

Fully reversed Fully reversed Plain uniaxial
plain uniaxial plain torsional fatigue curve
fatigue curve fatigue curve under R>-1
τa(r), σn,a(r), σn,m(r), ρeff(r) – Fig. 6b

σA, kτ(ρeff=1) τA, kτ(ρeff=0) m – Eq. (10)

YES!
ρeff(r)>ρlim? ρeff(r)=ρlim

⎛σ ⎞
τ A , Re f (ρ eff ) = ⎜ A − τ A ⎟ ⋅ ρ eff + τ A
NO! ⎝ 2 ⎠
k τ (ρ eff ) = [k τ (ρ eff = 1) − k τ (ρ eff = 0 )]⋅ ρ eff + k τ (ρ eff = 0 )
Nf – Eq. (12)
τA
ρ lim =
2τ A − σ A

LM=A·NfB
YES!
NO! LM/2=r? Nf,e= Nf

NEXT r

Fig. 7 Flow-chart summarizing the in-field use of the proposed multiaxial fatigue assessment method.


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
1056 L. SUSMEL and D. TAYLOR

(a)

Calibration Fatigue Results

1000 1000

σ x,a
PS=10% τ xy,a
[MPa] [MPa]
PS=90%
PS=10%
PS=90%
PS=10%

100
PS=90%

Plain, uniaxial, R=-1

Plain, uniaxial, R=0
0.2 mm, uniaxial, R=-1
Plain, torsion, R=-1
10 100
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000 Fig. 8 Geometries of the tested specimens
Nf [Cycles] (a) and summary of the experimental fatigue
results used to calibrate the MWCM as well
(b) as the L M versus Nf function (b).

Fig. 8b, whereas those used to check the accuracy of

our method and run under biaxial loading are listed in
Tables 1–3. Tables 4 and 5 summarize the experimental
fatigue curves calculated under the hypothesis of a log-
normal distribution of the number of cycles to failure at
any stress level, with a confidence value equal to 95%. To
conclude, it is important to highlight that according to the
observed fatigue behaviour of the tested En3B, high-cycle
endurance limits were extrapolated at NA = 106 cycles to
failure.
Finally, the linear-elastic stress fields in the vicinity of
the investigated geometrical features were determined by
using commercial FE software ANSYS® , gradually refin-
ing the mesh until convergence occurred.
METHOD VALIDATION BY EXPERIMENTAL
DATA
The multiaxial fatigue life estimation methodology for-
malized in the present paper was initially used to predict
the experimental results summarized in Tables 1–3. Ac-
cording to the procedure briefly explained above, the two
fatigue curves generated by testing, under full-reversed
uniaxial fatigue loading, the plain specimens and the V-
notched samples having r n = 0.2 mm, respectively, were
used to calculate constants A and B in the L M versus
Nf relationship, Eq. (3). The constants a, b, α and β in
Eqs (6) and (7) as well as ρ lim , Eq. (11), were deter-
mined through the uniaxial and torsional fully reversed


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
 M O D I F I E D W Ö H L E R C U R V E M E T H O D A N D T H E O R Y O F C R I T I C A L D I S T A N C E S
Fig. 9 Examples of the observed cracked
surfaces.
plain fatigue curves. Finally, the mean stress sensitivity
index, m, of the tested En3B was estimated by means of
Eq. (10) from the uniaxial fatigue curve determined by
testing plain samples under zero-tension (R = 0). The
values of the constants needed to fully calibrate both the
MWCM and the L M versus Nf relationship are summa-
rized in Table 6.
The experimental, Nf , versus estimated, Nf,e , fatigue life
diagram reported in Fig. 10a clearly shows that our ap-
proach was successful in predicting the fatigue lifetime of
the tested samples, giving estimates falling mainly within
the widest scatter band between the two determined
by testing plain specimens under uniaxial as well as un-
der torsional fully reversed fatigue loading (and used to
calibrate the MWCM itself).
The experimental results we generated can be used also
to check the accuracy of the MWCM applied along with
the PM in estimating notch multiaxial endurance lim-
its in the presence of large values of ρ eff . In particular,
the τa versus ρ eff diagram reported in Fig. 10b strongly
supports the idea that, when ρ eff is larger than ρ lim , accu-
rate estimates can be obtained by simply imposing ρ eff =
ρ lim : such a chart confirms that, similarly to the uniaxial
TCD,23,24 our multiaxial method is capable of estimates
falling within an error interval equal to ±20%.
In order to investigate its accuracy in predicting
multiaxial fatigue lifetime more deeply, the MWCM
applied in conjunction with the PM was also used to
estimate some results taken from the literature. In par-
ticular, we considered the biaxial tests carried out by
Quilafku et al.,31 by Kurath et al.32 and, finally, by
Atzori et al.33 The geometries of the investigated sam-
ples are sketched in Figs 11a, 12a and 13a, respectively.

c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
1057
For any considered material, the L M versus Nf relation-
ship was calibrated by using the fully reversed uniaxial
plain fatigue curve together with the curve generated by
testing, under R = −1, the notched samples character-
ized by the largest value of the stress concentrator fac-
tor. Moreover, as done when reanalysing our own data,
constants a, b, α and β in Eqs (6) and (7) were calcu-
lated by using the uniaxial and torsional fully reversed
plain fatigue curve, whereas the corresponding endurance
limits were used to estimate ρ lim , Eq. (11). The values
of the fatigue constants needed to apply our method
to the above materials are summarized in Table 6. Be-
cause a plain curve generated under a R CP value larger
than −1 was not available, the mean stress sensitivity
index, m, of the C40 carbon steel33 was assumed to be
equal to unity. The Nf versus Nf,e diagrams reported
in Figs 11b, 12b and 13b seem to strongly support the
idea that our approach is successful in estimating life-
time of notched components damaged, in the medium-
cycle fatigue regime, by multiaxial fatigue loading. In par-
ticular, it is possible to conclude this section observing
that the above figures fully confirm that our method
is capable of estimates falling mainly within the widest
plain scatter band between the two used to calibrate the
MWCM and it holds true independent of material, stress
raiser sharpness and complexity of the applied loading
path.
DISCUSSION
The present paper summarizes an attempt of using the
MWCM in conjunction with the TCD (in the form
of the PM) to estimate the fatigue lifetime of notched
1058 L. SUSMEL and D. TAYLOR

Table 1 Experimental results generated by testing V-notched Table 2 Experimental results generated by testing V-notched
specimens having notch root radius equal to 0.2 mm (K ta = 3.8; specimens having notch root radius equal to 1.25 mm (K ta = 1.8;
K tt = 2.0) K tt = 1.3)

Code R σx,a τxy,a λ δ Nf Code R σx,a τxy,a λ δ Nf

(MPa) (MPa) (◦ ) (Cycles) (MPa) (MPa) (◦ ) (Cycles)
√
TSN1 −1 0 114.1 ∞ 0 2 900 000a r125_iP_1 −1 259.6 155.9 √3 0 82 952
TSN2 −1 0 134.5 ∞ 0 2 000 000a r125_iP_2 −1 200.0 115.5 √3 0 437 907
TSN3 −1 0 171.1 ∞ 0 1 025 331 r125_iP_3 −1 180.0 103.9 √3 0 2 174 897
TSN4 −1 0 264.8 ∞ 0 31 705 r125_iP_4 −1 275.0 158.8 √3 0 46 254
TSN5 −1 0 264.8 ∞ 0 30 028 r125_iP_5 −1 230.0 132.8 √3 0 188 480
TSN6 −1 0 171.1 ∞ 0 306 633 r125_iP_6 −1 190.0 109.7 3 0 1 400 006
TSN7 −1 0 171.1 ∞ 0 904 657 √
TSN8 −1 0 203.7 ∞ 0 344 380 r125_ofP_1 −1 260.0 150.1 √3 90 314 817
TSN9 −1 0 203.7 ∞ 0 614 536 r125_ofP_2 −1 200.0 115.5 √3 90 2 100 000a
TSN10 −1 0 244.5 ∞ 0 70 232 r125_ofP_3 −1 285.0 164.5 √3 90 31 700
TSN11 −1 0 297.4 ∞ 0 7700 r125_ofP_4 −1 285.0 164.5 √3 90 36 976
√ r125_ofP_5 −1 230.0 132.8 √3 90 150 125
r03_iP_1 −1 259.6 155.9 √3 0 14 743 r125_ofP_6 −1 270.0 155.9
r03_iP_2 −1 216.3 129.9 √3 90 59 622
√3 0 30 837 r125_ofP_7 −1 230.0 132.8 √3 90 245 935
r03_iP_3 −1 183.9 110.4 √3 0 87 177 r125_ofP_8 −1 250.0 144.3 3 90 79 328
r03_iP_4 −1 146.0 87.7 √3 0 460 400
r03_iP_5 −1 135.2 81.2 √3 0 227 391 r125_iP_7 0 150.0 150.0 1 0 844 615
r03_iP_6 −1 135.2 81.2 3 0 924 890 r125_iP_8 0 180.0 180.0 1 0 28 108
√ r125_iP_9 0 160.0 160.0 1 0 370 618
r03_ofP_1 −1 183.9 110.4 √3 90 67 416 r125_iP_10 0 165.0 165.0 1 0 249 286
r03_ofP_2 −1 216.3 129.9 √3 90 30 764 r125_iP_11 0 190.0 190.0 1 0 34 298
r03_ofP_3 −1 146.0 87.7 √3 90 210 914 r125_iP_12 0 170.0 170.0 1 0 110 056
r03_ofP_4 −1 259.6 155.9 √3 90 9202
r03_ofP_5 −1 135.2 81.2 √3 90 189 952 r125_ofP_13 0 170.0 170.0 1 90 112 944
r03_ofP_6 −1 129.8 77.9 3 90 1 646 841 r125_ofP_14 0 155.0 155.0 1 90 367 445
r125_ofP_15 0 180.0 180.0 1 90 49 200
r03_iP_7 0 194.7 202.5 1 0 6364 r125_ofP_16 0 145.0 145.0 1 90 2 581 210a
r03_iP_8 0 194.7 202.5 1 0 6680 r125_ofP_17 0 150.0 150.0 1 90 2 500 000a
r03_iP_9 0 162.2 168.7 1 0 11 899 r125_ofP_18 0 160.0 160.0 1 90 2 500 000a
r03_iP_10 0 108.2 112.5 1 0 396 137 r125_ofP_19 0 190.0 190.0 1 90 52 000
r03_iP_11 0 97.3 101.2 1 0 626 504 r125_ofP_20 0 200.0 200.0 1 90 67 873
r03_iP_12 0 129.8 135.0 1 0 83 907 r125_ofP_21 0 160.0 160.0 1 90 304 439
r125_ofP_22 0 155.0 155.0 1
√ 90 2 000 000a
r03_ofP_7 0 129.8 135.0 1 90 62 951
r125_ofP_23 0 235.0 135.7 3 90 59 243
r03_ofP_8 0 91.9 95.6 1 90 685 098
r125_ofP_24 0 160.0 160.0 1 90 77 755
r03_ofP_9 0 146.0 151.9 1 90 45 580
r125_ofP_25 0 175.0 175.0 1 90 111 250
r03_ofP_10 0 108.2 112.5 1 90 1 397 923
r03_ofP_11 0 119.0 123.7 1 90 203 792 a Run out.
r03_ofP_12 0 135.2 140.6 1 90 59 130

a Run out.
components subjected to multiaxial cyclic loading, for
which the number of cycles to failure was in the medium-
cycle regime of 104 –106 cycles. The proposed method
takes as its starting point the idea that accurate estimates
can be made by simply considering the linear elastic stress
fields in the vicinity of stress concentrator apices. From a
practical point of view, such an hypothesis results in a great
simplification of the problem, because tri-dimensional
stress states arising from the presence of complex systems
of external cyclic forces can easily be handled by taking full
advantage of the superposition principle. In particular, the
stress state at the point assumed to be the one giving all
the engineering information needed to correctly estimate
fatigue damage can be determined by separately comput-
ing the contribution of every single applied force, pay-
ing attention not to lose the synchronism amongst them:
such a way of managing complex cyclic stress states allows
the contribution of both superimposed static stresses and
non-zero out-of-phase angles to correctly be taken into
account. This kind of analysis can be carried out relatively
easily by post-processing the results of linear-elastic finite
element analysis.
The main feature of the proposed approach is that the
material characteristic length is assumed to increase as


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
 M O D I F I E D W Ö H L E R C U R V E M E T H O D A N D T H E O R Y O F C R I T I C A L D I S T A N C E S 1059

Table 3 Experimental results generated by testing V-notched moving from the high-cycle down to the low-cycle fatigue
specimens having notch root radius equal to 4 mm (K ta = 1.3; regime. This change in L M can be anticipated from the
K tt = 1.1)
fact that the inverse slope of a fatigue curve generated
by testing notched samples is, in general, different from
Code R σx,a τxy,a λ δ Nf
the one obtained by testing the parent material. From a
(MPa) (MPa) (◦ ) (Cycles)
computational point of view, the most evident drawback
√ in assuming that L M depends on Nf is that the position of
r4_iP_1 −1 290.0 167.4 √3 0 282 833
r4_iP_2 −1 270.0 155.9 the material point used to perform the fatigue assessment
√3 0 136 165
r4_iP_3 −1 270.0 155.9 2 000 000a is never known a priori, so that recursive procedures have
√3 0
r4_iP_4 −1 330.0 190.5 √3 0 38 446 to be applied to make the solution converge to a unique
r4_iP_5 −1 370.0 213.6 √3 0 11 543 value of the number of cycles to failure.7 In any case, it has
r4_iP_6 −1 370.0 213.6 √3 0 15 717 to be said that such a problem can be overcome very eas-
r4_iP_7 −1 350.0 202.1 √3 0 12 200 ily by using conventional and well-established numerical
r4_iP_8 −1 280.0 161.7 √3 0 57 847
algorithms, as we demonstrated above.
r4_iP_9 −1 280.0 161.7 3 0 90 140
√ As clearly stated at the beginning of the present paper,
r4_ofP_1 −1 290.0 167.4 √3 90 88 682 the L M versus Nf relationship, calibrated by using the
r4_ofP_2 −1 350.0 202.1 √3 90 7427 procedure summarized above and based on two reference
r4_ofP_3 −1 270.0 155.9 √3 90 51 504 curves, is assumed here to be a material property, which
r4_ofP_4 −1 230.0 132.8 √3 90 181 609
does not depend on the degree of multiaxiality of the
r4_ofP_5 −1 215.0 124.1 √3 90 2 400 000a
r4_ofP_6 −1 345.0 199.2
linear-elastic stress field in the fatigue process zone. It
√3 90 6725
has to be said that, strictly speaking, the above assump-
r4_ofP_7 −1 245.0 141.5 3 90 266 899
√ tion is refuted by the experimental evidence, in fact it was
r4_iP_10 0 250.0 144.3 √3 0 60 384
seen that, in the high-cycle fatigue regime, the critical dis-
r4_iP_11 0 240.0 138.6 √3 0 340 599
tance under torsion is different from its value determined
r4_iP_12 0 230.0 132.8 √3 0 316 599
r4_iP_13 0 245.0 141.5 under uniaxial fatigue loading.13 However, by reanalysing
√3 0 422 875
r4_iP_14 0 220.0 127.0 a large amount of experimental results, we showed that in
√3 0 488 018
r4_iP_15 0 200.0 115.5 practice the assumption of a constant characteristic length
√3 0 231 414
r4_iP_16 0 245.0 141.5 √3 0 48 347 can be used, with little loss of accuracy.9–13 As to the above
r4_iP_17 0 200.0 115.5 3 0 721 275 aspect, it is worth observing here that by testing notched
√ cylindrical specimens of PMMA under combined tension
r4_iP_10 0 250.0 144.3 √3 90 49 000
r4_iP_11 0 240.0 138.6 and torsion,34 the static critical distance under torsion
√3 90 36 446
r4_iP_12 0 230.0 132.8 √3 90 2 113 544a was also seen to be much larger than its value under ten-
r4_iP_13 0 245.0 141.5 √3 90 106 129 sion. This increase of the static material characteristic
r4_iP_14 0 240.0 138.6 √3 90 31 641 length was ascribed to an evident change in the mech-
r4_iP_15 0 230.0 132.8 √3 90 72 734 anisms leading to the final breakage of the tested sam-
r4_iP_16 0 235.0 135.7 √3 90 60 399
ples. It is very probable that under fatigue loading the
r4_iP_17 0 228.0 131.6 √3 90 407 794
r4_iP_18 0 224.0 129.3 3 90 165 543
observed variation of the critical distance value as the de-
gree of multiaxiality of the applied loading path changes
a Run out. is also related to the activation of different physical

Table 4 Summary of the experimental fatigue results generated under uniaxial fatigue loading as well as under torsion

En3B

Specimen No. of rn dg dn ω R k σA τA Tσ Tτ K ta K tt
type data (mm) (mm) (mm) (◦ ) (MPa) (MPa)

Plain 14 − 5 5 – −1 19.7 345.9 – 1.105 – 1.0 1.0

9 – −1 18.7 – 268.3 – 1.205
11 – 0 37.4 303.3 – 1.095 –
Sharp 16 0.2 8 5 60 −1 3.75 110.2 – 1.961 – 3.8 2.1
10 60 −1 7.7 – 170.0 – 1.435


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
1060 L. SUSMEL and D. TAYLOR

Table 5 Summary of the experimental fatigue results generated under combined tension and torsion

En3B

Specimen No. of rn dg dn ω R δ k σA λ Tσ K ta K tt
type data (mm) (mm) (mm) (◦ ) (◦ ) (MPa)
√
Sharp 6 0.2 8 5 60 −1 0 5.6 119.9 3 1.677 3.8 2.1
6 0 0 6.9 91.4 1
√ 1.261
6 −1 90 6.0 118.4 3 1.872
6 0 90 7.5 95.7 1 1.728
√
Itermediate 6 1.25 8 5 60 −1 0 8.7 192.4 3 1.202 1.8 1.3
6 0 0 15.5 148.7 1
√ 1.150
8 −1 90 7.5 188.2 3 1.551
11 0 90 10.2 141.3 1 1.423
√
Blunt 9 4 8 5 – −1 0 7.8 212.2 √3 1.454 1.3 1.1
8 0 0 6.1 180.0 √3 1.998
7 −1 90 8.6 199.7 √3 1.425
9 0 90 13.9 197.2 3 1.284

Table 6 Values of the fatigue constants used to apply the MWCM in conjunction with the PM to the considered materials

Material B A a b α β m ρ lim NA
(mm/cyclesB ) (MPa) (MPa) (Cycles)

En3B −0.565 118.9 1.0 18.7 −95.3 268.3 0.22 1.407 106
LCS31 −0.399 34.5 −7.6 22.8 −79.6 192.8 n.a. 1.210 106
SAE 104532 −0.151 25.8 −1.15 10.2 −17.9 115.8 n.a. 3.235 2 × 106
C4033 −0.345 48.7 −1.2 17.5 −63.3 194.3 1 1.534 2 × 106

processes resulting in the formation of fatigue cracks. In
any case, apart from the above philosophical problems, the
results of the present work strongly support the validity
of the idea that the L M versus Nf relationship can be as-
sumed to be independent of the complexity of the assessed
stress field. Figures 10a, 11b, 12b and 13b clearly show
that the torsional data always fall within the widest parent
material scatter band, even though the constants of the
L M versus Nf relationship were determined by consider-
ing experimental results generated under uniaxial fatigue
loading.
It is the authors’ opinion that it would be certainly pos-
sible to further increase the accuracy of our engineering
method by assuming that the L M value is a function not
only of the number of cycles to failure but also of the
degree of multiaxiality of the stress field damaging the fa-
tigue process zone. Unfortunately, even if very appealing
from a philosophical point of view, such a way of deter-
mining L M would be very difficult to be used to address
problems of practical interest due to an increase of the
number of pieces of experimental information needed to
correctly calibrate the method itself.
Another aspect that deserves to be considered in de-
tail here is the experimental effort that has to be made
to calculate all the material fatigue constants required
for the in-field application of our approach. In partic-
ular, it is worth remembering that to rigorously apply
the MWCM reinterpreted in terms of the PM, four dif-
ferent calibration fatigue curves are needed: the uniaxial
and torsional fully reversed plain fatigue curve (to cali-
brate the MWCM); another plain fatigue curve generated
under a critical plane load ratio, R CP , larger than −1 (to
be used to determine the mean stress sensitivity index, m)
and finally, a uniaxial fully reversed fatigue curve deter-
mined by testing notched specimens containing a known
geometrical feature (needed to determine constants A and
B in the L M versus Nf relationship) (See Fig. 7). Even if
the above pieces of experimental information can easily
be obtained by using standard testing equipments, it has
to be admitted that the experimental effort needed to cor-
rectly calibrate the approach formalized and validated in
the present work is considerable. In any case, we do believe
that the above investment in terms of number of fatigue
tests to be run is worth the effort because a simple linear-
elastic method allows both the presence of superimposed
static stresses, the influence of non-zero out-of-phase an-
gles and the detrimental effect of stress concentration
phenomena to simultaneously be taken into account in


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
 M O D I F I E D W Ö H L E R C U R V E M E T H O D A N D T H E O R Y O F C R I T I C A L D I S T A N C E S 1061

100000000
Uniaxial Scatter Band
Kta=4.6 35°
Torsional Scatter Band
Nf Ktt=2.4
10000000
[Cycles]
Kta=3.4
1000000 0.2mm, Uniaxial, R=-1 R0.4 Ktt=1.9
Conservative 0.2mm, Torsion, R=-1
R0.2
0.2mm, In-Phase, R=-1
0.2mm, Out-of-Phase, R=-1
0.2mm, In-Phase, R=0
100000 0.2mm, Out-of-Phase, R=0
PS=95% 1.25mm, In-Phase, R=-1
1.25mm, Out-of-Phase, R=-1
7.62 12.7
PS=5%
1.25mm, In-Phase, R=0
1.25mm, Out-of-Phase, R=0
10000 4mm, In-Phase, R=-1 52
4mm, Out-of-Phase, R=-1
4mm, In-Phase, R=0
Non-Conservative 4mm, Out-of-Phase, R=0 (a)
1000
100000000
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000 100000000 Torsional Scatter Band
N f,e [Cycles]
Nf
10000000
(a) [Cycles]
Conservative
700 1000000 Uniaxial Scatter
0.2mm, Torsion, R=-1 0.2mm, In-Phase, R=-1 Band
600 0.2mm, In-Phase, R=0 0.2mm, Out-of-Phase, R=-1
0.2mm, Out-of-Phase, R=0 1.25mm, In-Phase, R=-1 0.2mm, Uniaxial, R=-1
500 1.25mm, In-Phase, R=0 1.25mm, Out-of-Phase, R=-1 100000
1.25mm, Out-of-Phase, R=0 4mm, In-Phase, R=-1 PS=95% 0.2mm, Torsion, R=-1
τ a [MPa]

400 4mm, In-Phase, R=0 4mm, Out-of-Phase, R=-1 0.2mm, In-Phase, R=-1
4mm, Out-of-Phase, R=0 PS=5%
10000 0.4mm, Uniaxial, R=-1
300 E=20%
0.4mm, Torsion, R=-1
Non-Conservative
200 0.4mm, In-Phase, R=-1
E= -20% 1000
100 1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000 100000000
m=0.22 ρ lim =1.41
Nf,e [Cycles]
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 ρ eff 3.0 (b)
(b)
Fig. 11 Accuracy of the MWCM applied along with the PM in
Fig. 10 Accuracy of the MWCM applied along with the PM in estimating the fatigue lifetime of the notched samples of
estimating the lifetime (a) and the high-cycle fatigue strength (b) of Low-Carbon Steel (LCS) – data taken from Ref. [31]
the tested notched samples.

actual value of m approaching unity: according to our ex-

a very efficient and accurate way. It is worth noting that
the number and, especially, the complexity of the exper-
imental tests required here is less than that required by
those methods which determine the number of cycles to
failure based on modelling of crack initiation and propa-
gation through a component.
In any case, it is evident that according to engineers’
experience some simplifying assumptions can be made in
order to reduce the number of fatigue curves needed to
efficiently calibrate our method. For instance, when some
experimental information suitable for calculating m is not
available, it is always possible to assume that the mate-
rial to be assessed is fully sensitive to the mean stresses
perpendicular to the critical planes: such an assumption
results, in general, in an increment of the degree of con-
servatism of the estimates.8 As to the above aspect, it is
interesting to highlight here that the highly accurate esti-
mates obtained as predicting fatigue lifetime under a load
ratio, R, equal to zero of the notched specimens tested by
Atzori et al.33 suggests that the above C40 steel had an
perience,25 assuming m equal to unity for those materials
having a small value of the mean stress sensitivity index
always results in estimates that are characterized by an
evident degree of conservatism.
On the contrary, the experimental information which
has to be determined very accurately is the L M versus
Nf relationship. In particular, it is important to remem-
ber here that the correct determination of the material
characteristic length plays a fundamental role in the over-
all accuracy of our theory. According to the above re-
mark, when the above relationship is determined through
two reference fatigue curves, the use of notches as sharp
as possible is always advisable: this allows an L M versus
Nf relationship efficiently linking Linear Elastic Fracture
Mechanics to Continuum Mechanics to be determined in
a very accurate and simple way.7
Another aspect that deserves to be discussed in detail
here is our proposal to locate the orientation of the focus
path needed to perform the fatigue assessment according
to our method. As clearly explained above (Fig. 6), the
focus path is a straight line emanating from the assumed


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
1062 L. SUSMEL and D. TAYLOR

R5
Kta=3.7; Ktt=1.95
R0.5

20 12
63 50 40
90°
R0.5
Ktt=1.8

Ktb=1.42; Ktt=1.23 20 28

(a) 200

100000000 (a)
Torsional Scatter Band
100000000
Uniaxial Scatter Band Uniaxial Scatter Band
Nf Torsional Scatter Band
10000000
[Cycles] Nf
10000000
Conservative [Cycles]
Conservative
1000000 PS=5%
1000000

Uniaxial, R=-1
100000 Bending, R=-1
100000 Torsion, R=-1
Torsion, R=-1 PS=95% In-Phase, R=-1
PS=95% In-Phase, R=-1 90° Out-of-Phase, R=-1
PS=5%
10000 90° Out-of-Phase, R=-1 In-Phase, R=0
10000
90° Out-of-Phase, R=0
Non-Conservative Non-Conservative Fillet (Torsion), R=-1

1000 1000
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000 100000000 1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000 100000000
N f,e [Cycles] N f,e [Cycles]

(b) (b)

Fig. 12 Accuracy of the MWCM applied along with the PM in Fig. 13 Accuracy of the MWCM applied along with the PM in
estimating the fatigue lifetime of the notched samples of SAE estimating the fatigue lifetime of the notched samples of C40 – data
1045– data taken from Ref. [32] taken from Ref. [33]

crack initiation point and perpendicular to the compo-
nent’s surface at the hotspot itself. This assumption takes
as is starting point the idea that fatigue damage depends
on all the physical processes taking place within the bulk
material in the vicinity of crack initiation sites and the size
of such a material volume (that is, the so-called structural
volume) is assumed to increase as the number of cycles to
failure decreases. In accordance with the PM, it is possi-
ble to presume that the stress state determined, along the
focus path, at a distance from the notch tip equal to L M /2
supplies a powerful engineering information suitable for
estimating, in a very accurate way, the damaging effects of
all the physical mechanisms damaging the material within
the structural volume itself and leading to the final fatigue
breakage. According to the above idea, it seems reason-
able to assume that the focus path defined as above simply
represents the set of those points giving all the engineer-
ing information needed to estimate fatigue damage. In
other words, as the number of cycles to failure decreases,
the size of the fatigue process zone increases, so that the
point at the centre of the structural volume, whose stress
state is suggested to be used to estimate fatigue strength,
increments its distance from the crack initiation site: as
the above reference point moves away from the notch tip,
it plots a straight line which coincides with the focus path
as defined in Fig. 6.
Due to its nature, it seems that there exist no draw-
backs in extending the use of the method formalized and
validated in the present paper also to those situations in-
volving variable amplitude multiaxial fatigue loading. In
fact, it is logical to believe that such an approach could
be used to predict the effects of random load histories by
using a damage accumulation rule such as Miner’s law.
It is the authors’ opinion that the main difficulty in us-
ing the above strategy in practise is that no universally
accepted theories capable of efficiently counting cycles in


c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
 M O D I F I E D W Ö H L E R C U R V E M E T H O D A N D T H E O R Y O F C R I T I C A L D I S T A N C E S
the presence of multiaxial random fatigue loading have
been formalized yet: the above remark makes it evident
that more theoretical and experimental work has to be
done in this area to efficiently extend the use of the avail-
able fatigue criteria to those situations involving multiaxial
variable-amplitude loading.
Another aspect that deserves to be discussed here is the
fact that, being a critical plane approach, the MWCM
should strictly be used only to model the crack initiation
phenomenon. In more detail, according to its main fea-
tures, our method should be capable of estimating the
number of cycles to failure required to exhaust the Stage
I process. This means that to safely use the procedure
formalized and validated in the present study to perform
the multiaxial fatigue assessment of real mechanical com-
ponents, fatigue failures should be defined as the number
of cycles required for the formation of a technically de-
tectable crack, that is, a crack having length lower than
about 1 mm.
To conclude, it is worth noticing that the accuracy
of our method was systematically checked by calibrat-
ing it through fatigue curves calculated for a probability
of survival, P S , equal to 50%. On the contrary, and in
accordance with the pertinent standard codes, the use of
fatigue curves characterized by higher P S values is always
advisable: the procedure for the in-field application of
our method is the same as the one explained above, but
adopting P S values much larger than 50% allows the fa-
tigue assessment to be performed always with an adequate
degree of safety.
CONCLUSIONS
1 The TCD can successfully be extended down to the
medium-cycle fatigue regime for the case of notched com-
ponents subjected to multiaxial cyclic loading.
2 The MWCM applied along with the PM is seen to be
highly accurate in estimating multiaxial fatigue lifetime of
mechanical components experiencing stress concentration
phenomena, a conclusion which holds true independently
of the sharpness of the considered notch.
3 This approach is capable of efficiently taking into account
the presence of both superimposed static stresses and non-
zero out-of-phase angles, provided that it is calibrated by
using the appropriate pieces of experimental information.
4 Due to its nature, the fatigue life estimation technique
proposed and validated in the present work is suitable for
being used in situations of practical interest by directly
post-processing simple linear-elastic FE models.
5 More work has to be done in this area to better investigate
the existing link amongst material characteristic length,
degree of multiaxiality of the stress field damaging the
fatigue process zone and number of cycles to failure.

c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064
1063
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c 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 31, 1047–1064