The metallography of fatigue
by W. J. Plumbridge and D. A. Ryder
The object of this review is to consider the
contribution that metallography has made
in the last decade to an understanding of
the fatigue process in solids, particularly
metals and alloys. During this period
purely observational experiments have
become rare and metallography has there-
fore been broadly interpreted as the inter-
relation of structure and properties. A (2) The wider use of fractography,24,25
useful starting point is the comprehensive
'state of the art' review of Thompson and
Wadsworth1 published in 1958. It was
then well known that fatigue-crack initia-
tion, in smooth specimens of ductile
crystalline materials, often occurred in
slip bands.2-5 Forsyth6,7 had observed
the slip-band extrusion effect, and Cottrell
and Hu1l8 and Forsyth9 had discovered
the converse process, slip-band intrusion.
Thompson et al.10 had reported the per-
sistent slip-band phenomenon and demon-
strated that, if a specimen had been fatigued
for a substantial proportion of its nominal
life, surface removal could restore the
specimen to the 'as-new' condition. More-
over, this process could be repeated to
extend the life of the specimen indefinitely.
Cyclic deformation had also been observed
to produce, under particular experimental
conditions, polygonisation,1l,12 recrystal-
lisation,l3 and grain-boundary migra-
tion.ll,12
There have been many subsequent
review papers, although few authors have
attempted to be so comprehensive as
Thompson and Wadsworth; nor have
most reviews been concerned specifically
with metallography. The reviews of Ham, 14
Laird,15 Low,16 Avery and Backofen,17
Grosskreutz,18 and of Manson 19 are all
relevant, as are a number of papers pre-
sented at conferences on fatigue. 20-23
w. ]. Plumbr~dge, M.Sc.Tech., Ph.D., A.I.M.,
and D. A. Ryder, M.Met., B.Sc., A.I.M., are in
the Metallurgy Department, University of Man-
chester Institute of Science and Technology.
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
The literature reveals a shift of emphasis
away from crack-initiation studies which
has been made possible because of the
wider use of two experimental techniques:
(I) Transmission electron microscopy
of thin crystals, which has permitted study
of the dislocation/dislocation and disloca-
tion/particle interactions typical of fatigue.
first applied to fatigue-fracture surfaces
by Zappfe and Worden,26 and the extension
of this technique to permit use of the
electron microscope. 27,28 This has resulted
in a much clearer understanding of crack-
growth processes .
.Results obtained by these techniques,
together with experiments that have inte-
grated metallographic observations with
such variables as specimen geometry, stress
condition, and work-hardening behaviour,
have led to the currently held view that the
process of fatigue can be realistically
divided into a number of stages. Each
stage may involve either different mechan-
isms or be governed by different stress
criteria. Such models were proposed by
Forsyth and Ryder29 and extended by
Forsyth 30,31and their terminology is now
common in current literature.l4,15,32
It is convenient to introduce at this
point the concepts of such models, since
the separate consideration of each stage, in
the remainder of this paper, seems logical.
Multi-stage models postulate that failure by
fatigue entails the following processes:
a. Crack initiation. In smooth specimens
of ductile metals this involves the initiation
of cracks in slip bands or other regions of
strain localisation and is controlled by
shear stress. It is accompanied by changes
in mechanical properties, lattice-defect
concentration and distribution, and may
entail other structural changes such as
polygonisation, recrystallisation, and in
age-hardened alloys localised re-solution
or precipitate overageing. No crack-
initiation stage may be necessary in acutely
REVIEW 136
notched specimens, particularly if they
have low ductility and are tested at high
loads. Smooth specimens of ductile
material tested at low stress are generally
cracked after < 10% of their total life.
b. Slip-band crack growth. Forsyth 31
termed this 'Stage- I crack growth', and it
entails the deepening of the initial crack on
a plane, or conjugate planes, of high shear
stress. This process was not separated
from initiation on the grounds that both
involved reversed-glide mechanisms. How-
ever, growth into a region of plastic con-
straint must require a higher stress than
slip at a free surface, and the evidence that
very early fatigue damage can be annealed
out seems to justify separation of crack
initiation from Stage-I growth. This
mode of propagation may again be absent
in acutely notched, highly stressed speci-
mens, yet it may involve up to 90% of the
total cycles to failure in low-stress tests.
c. Crack growth on planes of high tensile
stress. This mode of growth, familiar to
engineers, is controlled primarily by the
stress intensity at the crack tip and was
designated 'Stage-II growth' by Forsyth. 31
The Stage I-Stage II transition is generally
supposed to result from the reduction in
the ratio of shear to normal stress at the
crack tip as it moves from a free or weakly
constrained surface into the interior of a
specimen where slip is difficult. The
fracture surfaces associated with this stage
often show large areas of the characteristic
Zappfe .and Worden striations. Stage- II
fracture may occupy from 10- 100% of
t"..I
the fatigue life of a specimen.
A number of authors have suggested
modifications or additions to this model;
Jacoby33 has proposed additional stages to
describe special features of crack growth in
thin sheets, and Laird15 has suggested that
there is no essential difference in the
mechanisms of Stage- I and Stage- II
growth.
119
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
For the purposes of this review, however, tion both from transmission and fracto-
the simple three-stage model (schematically graphic studies, has undoubtedly made a numbers of vacancy and interstitial types
represented in Fig. 1) involving crack major contribution in the last decade.
initiation, Stage- I and Stage-II growth, This section will present a general picture
but ignoring final catastrophic failure, is on a microscale of the structural changes
adequate. The model also seems to des- induced by cyclic deformation. Although
cribe adequately high-stress (or high-strain) there is a broad· spectrum of observations
fatigue involving lives of < 104-105 cycles, and no sharp divisions can be made, the
since the metallography of such failures is influence of the many variables will be screw dislocations that leave behind an
similar to that observed at low stress (or pointed out. A concluding paragraph will edge-dislocation dipole, and this is'termi-
low strain) giving lives of > 106 cycles. discuss the validity of thin-foil observations
with respect to the real situation existing
in the bulk material, paying particular
attention to fatigue studies. For con-
venience, a somewhat arbitrary distinction
is made between single- and multi-phase
The initiation of fatigue cracks materials.
Single-phase materials
To adhere as closely as possible to the
In the initial electron-microscope observa-
natural sequence of events, this section will tions on aluminium and stainless steep4-36
first consider the changes in internal
a comparison between the dislocation
microstructure produced during the early
arrangements produced by tension and
stages of cyclic deformation. Information fatigue revealed that for high-stress cycling
concerning these has been obtained almost
a substructure was formed as in uniaxial
entirely from electron-microscope studies.
tension, but having a larger cell size. For
Having constructed a picture of the exist-
low cyclic stresses a cell structure was not
ing dislocation arrangement, crack initiation
created, even though the dislocation den-
will then be re-examined on a more macro- sity was similar to the high-stress-ampli-
scale. tude case. Prismatic loops were formed
which were heterogeneously distributed.
The loops (t'..I 200 A dia.), unlike those
The influence of cyclic deforma-
tion on internal microstructure arising from quenched-in vacancies, were
No reports concerning electron-microscope often closely associated with dislocations,
studies of the internal structural damage and were thought to originate from both
produced by fatigue were presented in the dislocation/ dislocation interaction and the
Thompson and Wadsworth review. Shortly collapse of vacancy discs. The production
afterwards, however, the initial observations of loops and! or irregular dislocations either
on aluminium and stainless steel were pub- heterogeneously dispersed in tangles or to oscillate to and fro over a short range. 46
lished, and this proved to be the beginning constituting a continuous cell structure; is It has been suggested47 that during high-
of a period of rapid advancement in our now regarded as typical of mechanical
knowledge of the fatigue process. The deformation. The broad similarities in
electron microscope, furnishing informa- internal microstructure that exist between
cyclic and unidirectional straining will be
mentioned throughout, but for a detailed
correlation the papers of Feltner and
Laird37 and Segall38 are recommended.
systems is restricted. 39,40 About equal
are formed in cycled aluminium.41 Again,
a difference between these loops and those
created by quenching is noticeable, speci-
fically for gold, in which stacking-fault
tetrahedra form on rapid cooling. Dipole
loops originate from sessile jogs in moving
nated either by double cross-slip42 or by
conservative motion of the long jogs of the
parent dislocation. 43 In general, the more
frequently jogs are formed by cross-slip,
then the shorter is the dipole length. For
example, dipoles become less elongated on
increasing the cyclic strain range39 or
decreasing the testing temperature. 44
At low strain amplitudes, a high stacking-
fault energy (S.F.E.) favours prismatic
loop and dipole formation, whereas dis-
location multipoles predominate in low-
S.F.E. materials. Reversed cyclic strain
appears to be a prerequisite of loop forma-
tion in large quantities (of the order of
1015cm-3), since in cyclic tension the loop
density is small (107-108 cm-3), being
similar to that achieved during uniaxial
deformation. 45 Furthermore, an appli-
cation of a tensile strain after fatigue will
cause the vast majority of the existing
loops to be swept out. 39 In fact, any
appreciable dislocation motion in one
direction as generated in high-strain
fatigue will annihilate loops, usually re-
placing them with planar arrays or tangled
planar arrays. Their stability at low cyclic
strains arises from the ability of dislocations
strain cycling a variation from zero mean
stress frequently occurs, so introducing a
tensile component destructive to loops.
In fatigued hexagonal-close-packed and
body-centred-cubic metals the same basic
defects are generated. Elongated dipoles
have their major axis along (1010> in

t As with unidirectional straining, the cycled magnesium and cadmium, which

major factors influencing the types of exhibit non-basal cross-slip, but in zinc,
dislocation produced in fatigue and their which does not do so, sessile loops only
arrangement are strain amplitude, stacking- are observed.48,49 The loops seen in
fault energy, and temperature. High . zinc, although faulted, may in fact be
values of these terms promote cross-slip prismatic. 50 In iron, the dislocation loops
and the following description of the experi- are of similar diameter (100-1 000 A) to
mental observations can be explained on those in f.c.c. ·materials but elongated
this basis. dipoles are not generally observed. 51
During the initial stages of cyclic strain- Considering now the arrangements of
ing rapid dislocation multiplication takes the fatigue-induced defects within a grain,
place, and the 'debris' is stored in the the resultant structure is extremely sensi-
II lowest-energy configuration, which is often tive to the orientation of the grain with
associated with the directions of the traces respect to the major stress axis, particularly
of the critical and conjugate slip planes. in long-life fatigue. In low-strain cycling
Dislocation 'debris' includes jogged and or in materials possessing a low S.F .E.
tangled dislocation lines, prismatic dis- the dislocation debris agglomerates into
location loops, and dislocation dipoles and isolated clumps or bands, a few microns
multipoles (Fig. 2). The proportion of each in dimension, in a relatively dislocation-
is determined by the material and the free matrix. As the strain amplitude or
experimental conditions. the number of cycles is increased, the

Schematic
t
diagram of the three-stage
In face-centred cubic structures the
dipoles are elongated in the (21 I> direction,
as in unidirectional deformation, particu-
difference in dislocation density between
the clumps and the matrix becomes more
marked when further debris is swept into
fatigue process. larly when the number of operating slip the clumps, which are enlarged. Debris
120 M!::TALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge
bands are generally elongated along glide shown to be reversible in polycrystalline
directions. The factors cited earlier govern- copper, in that a reduction in the cyclic
ing the creation of individual types of strain amplitude produces a subsequent
defect apply equally in this instance. Such increase in cell size. 53, 54 In grains favour-
discontinuous dislocation arrangements ably oriented for double slip, and depend-
have been observed in all metals and ing upon the strain intensity, a complete
alloys, irrespective of S.F.E., when cycling cell structure can be observed in the initial
has been performed at sufficiently small few hundred cycles. The cell walls offace-
strain amplitudes. For example, in alu- centred cubic metals are constituted by
minium, which has a high S.F.E. and in dislocation clustering on {I I I}, {I IO}, and
which cross-slip is easy, the cyclic strain {IOO} planes, and the formation of an
amplitude must be < r-...; 5 X 10-4 at overall subgrain structure corresponds to
78° K.44 An interesting feature in iron, the onset of the saturation-hardening stage.
fatigued at low strain amplitudes, is the 18,55 Further strains may be accom-
occurrence of dislocation-loop trails. 52 modated by dislocation motion across cells
As the incidence of cross-slip is increased or cell-wall migration. The composition of
either by a greater cyclic strain amplitude the cell walls naturally varies with the
or a large S.F.E., there is a tendency for a type of induced dislocation defect; for
continuous cellular dislocation structure example, in polycrystalline aluminium
to be created (Fig. 3). The cell diameter fatigued at 78° K with Ae: ± 0·002, loops
is inversely proportional to the strain compose the vast majority of the sub grain
amplitude until a limiting value of r-...; 2 walls,44 whereas for copper at room tem-
Ilm is reached. 40 This process has been perature (Ae: ± 0·05) there are few loops
and Ryder
and dislocation tangles predominate. 3 7
The dislocation arrangement in b.c.c.
'metals after fatigue has been sparingly
investigated but cell structures have been
observed in iron under favourable stress
conditions. 51,56
The following example illustrates the
influence ofS.F.E. on cell formation, which
is promoted by high y values. Polycrystal-
line aluminium (y ~ 200 ergsjcm2), when
subjected to cyclic strains giving fatigue
lives of 2 x 106 cycles, will possess a
sub grain structure; 46 copper (y ~ 40 ergs I
cm2) will do so at lifetimes of r-...; 105
cycles; but in copper-7' 5 o~ aluminium
(y ~ 2 ergs/cm2) no cells are observed
even at lifetimes as short as 104 ~cyc1es.37
This is well demonstrated in copper and
single-phase copper-zinc alloys which
show a decrease in S.F.E. with increasing
zinc content. 57 This results in a gradual
tendency for homogenisation of the dis-
location distribution (Fig. 4 and 5).

[Courtesy 'Acta Met.' [Courtesy 'Acta Met.

2 Dislocation clump, typical of low-strain fatigue, consisting of edge- 3 Copper strain-cycled at room temperature (AB ± 0·02) showing contino:-
dislocation bundles, dipole loops, and Frank partials. (Hancock and uous cell structure. (Pratt.54)
55
Grosskreutz. ) [Courtesy 'Physica Status Solidi'.
[Courtesy 'Physica Status Solidi'. 5 Copper-31 % zinc after approximately the same treatment, showing the
4 Copper cycled to saturation, O'a ± 8·5 kp/mm2
• (Lukas and Klesnil.57) influence of stacking-fault energy. (Lukas and Klesnil.57)

METALLURGICAL REVIEWS 121

 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder

[Courtesy tActa Met.'

6 Identical testing as in Fig. 3 but at 78°K [Courtesy tphil. Mag.'
illustrating reduction in cell diameter. 7 Surface of a fatigued stainless-steel speci-
(Pratt. 54) men. C denotes a persistent slip band.
(Hirsch et al.36)

Following unidirectional deformation,
materials possessing a low S.F .E. usually
do not exhibit a cell structure.
The fact that, for example, in both
aluminium and copper a discontinuous
dislocation arrangement is superseded by
a cellular structure on increasing the cyclic
strain amplitude may suggest that the
latter is simply a poorly developed case
of the former. Kettunen58 argues, how-
ever, that a change in mechanism is neces-
sary for the transition from a banded to
a subgrain structure to occur. Employing
the hypothesis of Kocks59,60 of a free slip
path, he proposes that cell formation is
possible only when the acting stresses are
sufficient to move dislocations over distances
equivalent to the inter-band spacing. When
this happens, dislocations can move from
tangle to tangle, producing irreversible
deformation and affording conditions suit-
able for cell formation.
The effect of test temperature on the
dislocation distribution induced by fatigue
is not so marked as that of strain amplitude
or S.F .E. The net result is usually an
alteration in the scale of the dislocation
arrangement. Cyclic deformation at 780 K
produces an increase in dislocation density
over that formed during ambient-tempera-
ture testing, and the cell walls become
broader and more tangled to accommodate
this increase44,54 (Fig. 3 and 6). Dipole
loops tend to become shorter, although
greater in number, 46 but temperature has
little effect in non-reversed stress cycling
and the dipole concentration remains
small. 45 In copper, the cell diameter in
relation to that after room-temperature
cycling is reduced by a factor of three
following fatigue at 780 K,54 and when a
band structure is created the spacing be-
tween the regions of high dislocation den-
sity is also reduced. 37
So far, the reported observations have
been restricted to foils taken from the bulk
of the fatigue specimen. The notable out-
come of cyclic deformation is the produc-
tion of changes in surface topography in
the form of persistent slip bands, intrusions,
and extrusions, and it seems pertinent to
explore the dislocation arrangement asso-
ciated with these features. Surface regions
may be examined by reducing the thickness
of the bulk specimen from one side only
up to final electropolishing from both sides.
Among the earliest electron-microscope

lCourtesy tphil. Mag.'

8 Correlation between surface topography and subsurface dislocation
arrangement for fatigued copper. (Laufer and Roberts.62)

[Courtesy 'Phil. Mag.'

9 Dislocation loop trails formed near the surface after 10 cycles in a-iron. [>
(Wei and Baker.65)
122 METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
investigations of fatigue damage, stainless
steel alone was exceptional in that a corre-
lation between surface contours and
internal dislocation arrangement was pos-
sible. 36 The surface striations were asso-
ciated with broad bands of dislocations
(Fig. 7). To date, such correlation has
been achieved mainly for medium- and low-
S.F.E. materials, specifically copper61,62
and copper alloys, certain aluminium
alloys,31,63 iron,56 and possibly zinc. 50
Persistent slip bands are invariably
associated with the cell-type structure,
(since they are regions of localised strain),
irrespective of the dislocation distribution
within the bulk of the specimen. The
surface regions between persistent slip
bands are essentially dislocation-free, and
the arrangement peculiar to the bands
usually extends to several tens of microns
beneath the surface, although isolated
penetrations of a millimetre or more have
been observed. 64 This and other dimen-
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
[Courtesy 'Phil. Mag.'
10 Persistent slip band in
<] I ow-a m p litu de-cycled
copper (121) section.
(Lukas et al.64)
11 A space model of the persistent
(Lukas et al.64)
sional measurements of intrusions and
extrusions show good agreement with the
values obtained optically and by replication
techniques (Fig. 8). The high stability of
the persistent slip-band structure in copper
has been demonstrated by Laufer and
Roberts. 62 Annealing at 4300 C removed
the dislocation bands in the bulk but the
subsurface cells remained essentially un-
changed. Again, a distinguishing feature
of fatigued a-iron is the existence of arrays
of parallel rows of dislocation loops extend-
ing a considerable distance across each
grain52,65 (Fig. 9). It is thought that these
may be the initial stage of the high-density
dislocation bands corresponding to slip-
band intrusions. The spacing between the
loop trails (1-2 /lm) is similar to that of the
'pores' observed in persistent slip bands. 66
The intense deformation bands in iron lie
on the {IIO} and {112} slip planes and
are surrounded by regions of very low
dislocation density . Recently, an almost
[Courtesy 'Physica Status Solidi'.
12 ~ Dislocation arrangement in persistent slip
- band. Foil perpendicular to the surface and
approximately parallel to the band. (Lukas
et al.68)
[Courtesy 'Phil. Mag.'
slip band.
identical loop configuration has been
observed in foils from copper sheet after
low-stress cycling. 67
An elegant investigation by Lukas and
his co-workers, 64,68 who have examined
foils both parallel and non-parallel to the
specimen surface, has revealed the three-
dimensional dislocation arrangement asso-
ciated with persistent slip bands (Fig. 10
and II). The alternate areas of high dis-
location density seen when viewing planes
parallel to the surface are linked below
the surface, and the band is composed of
regions of high dislocation density forming
the walls of irregular cylinders the axes of
which are perpendicular to the primary
slip plane. Intrusions have not been ob-
served by this technique, but extrusions
are associated with the soft zones that
act as channels for dislocation motion
and the roots of these dislocation-free
zones may be the origin of microcracks
(Fig. 12).
123
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
Multiphase materials
The relatively small effort devoted to the
investigation of the dislocation distribution
set up by cyclic deformation of two-phase
materials has been largely focused on
precipitation-hardened systems, with par-
ticular emphasis on precipitate! dislocation
interaction. The nature of this reaction
is strongly influenced by the precipitate-
particle size and spacing, and its effect
determined by the energetics of the alloy
system.
Observations on fatigued aluminium-
4wt.-% copper and aluminium-IS wt.-%
silver, following quenching and ageing, 69
provide an admirable example of the above
generalisation. In the as-quenched struc-
ture of the copper-containing alloy G. P. I
zones are not visible and subsequent
strain cycling results in distortion of the
dislocation helices and an increase in
loop density. The absence of a cell struc-
ture can be attributed to a reduction in
S.F.E. with respect to pure aluminium
due to the presence of the solute atoms.
124
[Courtesy' Acta Met.'
13 Aluminium-4 wt.-% copper. Solution-
treated+5 hours at 160°C+100 kilo-
~ cycles at ± 0·0017 shear strain. Precipitate-
free region produced by cyclic loading.
(Clark and McEvily.69)
14 Aluminium-4
250° C + 100 kilocycles. Dislocation loops at a' platelets and
complex dislocation tangles in dilute alloy matrix. (Clark and
McEvily.69)
Fatigue of an alloy aged to form G.P.I
zones (~ 80 A dia.), produces a homo-
geneous distribution of dislocations that
cut through the coherent zones. When
larger (~ 400 A dia.) and less coherent
G.P.2 particles predominate, deformation
is confined to regions where localisation of
strain and dislocation sources promotes
shearing. The passage of a large number
of dislocations through a few precipitates
results in fragmentation of the latter, their
eventual re-solution, and finally the crea-
tion of a precipitate-free band (Fig. 13).
The presence of widely spaced semi-
coherent platelets of 9' concomitant with
an essentially solute-free matrix permits
considerable dislocation motion through
the matrix and the creation of tangles and
clusters often containing dipole loops.
There is no effect on the precipitates, as
their spacing is sufficient to make possible
the passage of dislocations between them
(Fig. 14). This general scheme is identical
in aged aluminium-silver alloys, with the
exception that, instead of zone reversion
[Courtesy 'Acta Met.'
15 Iron-O·08 wt.-% C quenched from 710° C,
aged 1 hour at 60° C + 3·6 X 105 cycles at
± 0·0018, showing precipitate-free channel.
(McGrath and Bratina.73)
[Courtesy' Acta MeV
wt.-% copper. Solution-treated + 2·5 hours at
encountered previously, nucleation of y
and y precipitates is favoured, so leading to
an overageing effect. In aluminium alloys
of commercial purity, fatigue cracks may
nucleate preferentially at large (> I J-lm)
impurity inclusions, and reversion or
overageing is not observed. 70
Precipitate re-solution has been observed
within persistent slip bands of aluminium-
zinc-magnesium alloys, 31,71 and on fatigue
at elevated temperatures72 re-precipitation
occurs on dislocation arrays within the
band and at the matrix interface. This
interface ultimately becomes the path of
the growing fatigue crack. In quench-aged
iron-carbon alloys the sequence of events
following cyclic. deformation is similar, in
that, as the precipitate size increases with
increasing ageing temperature, re-solution
is superseded by dislocation tangling
around the particles and movement between
them.73 (Fig. 15). Normalised iron-carbon
alloys containing ferrite and pearlite possess
inherent dislocation networks arising from
the stresses developed during the y-a
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography
transition. Cyclic straining results in the
breakdown of these networks and the
intense tangling observed in the pure
metal is not achieved. 74 The dislocation
configuration of the pearlite remains essen-
tially unchanged; although some clusters
and loops exist at the pearlite interface.
Precipitate instability of age-hardened
alloys in the presence of cyclic stresses
negates to some extent the increased uni-
directional properties of these materials.
The maintenance of a high fatigue: tensile
strength ratio requires precipitates that
remain mechanically stable under condi-
tions of cyclic strain. These exist in systems
that exhibit spinodal decomposition; and
in copper-iron-nickel alloys the effect of
fatigue is to change the modulated precipi-
tate structure into aligned blocks with
small loss in mechanical strength. 75 This
configuration is resistant to re-solution and
overageing during fatigue and the disloca-
tion arrangement is uniform, being similar
to that in cycled aluminium alloys con-
taining G. P. zones. Unfortunately, how-
ever, the absolute properties of such alloys
are usually unsuitable for technological
exploitation.
Recently, the concept of fatigue-induced
precipitate re-solution in aluminium-
copper and aluminium-zinc-magnesium
alloys has been challenged by Laird and
Thomas.76 It is suggested that precipitate-
free bands are an inherent feature of the
quenching and ageing processes and that,
being soft, these zones act as centres for the
most severe fatigue damage. The signifi-
cant criterion, however, may be the depth
below the specimen surface from which the
foil is taken. It is likely that quench bands,
which ultimately become precipitate-free
owing to vacancy starvation after quench-
ing, will be further from the surface than
denuded zones originated by cyclically
induced reversion.
The validity of electron-microscope
observations
At this point it is germane to consider the
validity of the observations of dislocation
arrangement in thin foils with respect to
the situation existing in the bulk specimen.
Substantial evidence for subgrain forma-
tion and dislocation multiplication is
furnished from X-ray studies. 77,78 Obser-
vations made on specimens fatigued at low
temperatures are liable to complications
arising on warming to electropolishing
temperatures, but again X-ray investiga-
tion reveals this effect to be simply an
accentuation of the difference in dislocation
density between cell walls and the matrix. 79
Examining now the possibility of dis-
location loss or rearrangement during the
actual preparation of the thin foil, it has
been suggested that the final foil thickness
should be > 2000 A for the retention of a
representative distribution.80 This should
present problems only for materials having
an extremely low transparency thickness
and a specific case is that of the spinodal
copper-nickel-iron alloys mentioned
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
earlier. Although the overall dislocation
arrangement in foils seems likely to be
representative of the bulk, estimations of
the absolute defect density remain
questionable. A comparison between the
dislocation densities of cold-worked alu-
minium and aged and unaged aluminium-
silver alloys has suggested that the loss
during thinning amounts to {: 50%.81
These findings are dependent upon the
assumption that precipitates in the aged
material will pin dislocations and prevent
any loss during electropolishing. Measure-
ments made on foils thinned so as to retain
a coherent oxide film, which prevents dis-
location loss during preparation, indicated
significantly greater densities than in foils
prepared conventionally. However, it was
concluded that the major outcome of
electropolishing on fatigue-induced struc-
tures is simply the migration of dislocations
from one region of high density to another. 82
Experiments contrasting the dislocation
content in irradiated and unirradiated
copper specimens indicate that in (I I I)
sections dislocation losses during the early
stages of fatigue-hardening are minimal,
but in (101) sections r-J 70% are lost. 83 A
recent comparison of dislocation densities
detected by electrical-resistivity measure-
ments and observed in thin foils has sug-
gested that dislocation loss during prepara-
tion is severe only when a critical value
(r-J 1010 cm-2 in polycrystalline copper) is
exceeded. 84 A final cautionary point raised
by Lukas and Klesnil57 is the critical
importance of the exact position in the
bulk specimen from which the foil is taken.
This is particularly valid in cases where
inhomogeneous strain is produced through-
out a specimen, as in bending or torsion
fatigue, and in the extreme could mean the
difference between an observed continuous
or a discontinuous dislocation arrange-
ment.
16 Schematic summary
function of amplitude,
and Laird. 85)
Summary of the dislocation rearrange-
ment produced by fatigue
A broad similarity exists between the dis-
location arrangements produced by fatigue
and unidirectional deformation. The ten-
dency to form a continuous cell structure
is favoured by a large strain amplitude and
a high S.F.E., both of which are factors
promoting cross-slip. Loops and dipoles
are created under conditions of cross-slip
and low strain amplitude, but in low-S.F .E.
materials dislocation tangling and inter-
action is inhibited. Test temperature
influences the scale of the dislocation
distribution; crystal structure has no
drastic effect, although investigations of
cyclically strained b.c.c. or h.c.p. metals
have not been extensive. The situation
depicted in thin foils can be regarded as
qualitatively representative of the true dis-
location arrangement in bulk specimens.
The schematic diagram by Feltner and
Laird 85 (Fig. 16) provides a good summary
of the type of fatigue-induced defect under
varying experimental conditions.
Surface observations
Modes of crack formation have been
studied mostly by conventional optical
microscopy of specimen surfaces polished
before testing.4,6,10 Electron-microscope
examination of surface replicas, 8 re-electro-
polishing of deformed specimens,lo etch-
ing, and conventionalll and taper section-
ing86,87 have also been used. The topic has
been the subject of several reviews, all of
which emphasise the importance of slip-
band initiation and discuss the slip-band
extrusion effect. 16
A· relatively new tool now commonly
employed in the examination of metal
surfaces is the scanning electron micro-
scope. The advantages over the optical
microscope of this instrument are its high
magnification and its great depth of focus,
[Courtesy Ford Motor Co.
of dislocation structures in f.c.c. metals as a
temperature, and stacking-fault energy. (Feltner
125
 The metallography of fatigue." Plumbridge and Ryder
17 Scanning electron
micrograph of the
fati g u e-fractu re
surface of pure
aluminium. N, = 7
x 103• (See Sec-
tion .on thin-film
observations on
Stage-II growth.)
•••
Macroscopic direction
of crack growth
which makes possible the simultaneous
examination of severe topographical
changes. The instrument has been used to
study both specimen and· fracture surfaces
produced by fatigue (Fig. 17). When
characterisation of features observed at
high magnifications is complete, the tech-
nique may possibly furnish useful new
information on the surface changes pro-
duced by fatigue.
Slip-band cracks
The early observations on the initiation of
cracks in slip bands have already been
mentioned but the topic has continued to
attract wide interest. Much effort has been
devoted to studying the slip processes in-
volved, the details of the surface topo-
graphy so generated, and the dislocation
mechanisms capable of producing the
observed effects.' Wood, 87 examining
torsionally fatigued copper and a-brass
subsequently acutely taper-sectioned, has
demonstrated the progressive and steady
slip-band development with number of
cycles to form hill-and-valley surface con-
tours (Fig. 18). In contrast, when slip-band
extrusion occurs, a considerable bulk of
material, sometimes tens of microns long,
appears on the specimen surface during the
course of a few load cycles (Fig. 19). The
surface topography thus undergoes a rapid
and large change. The extrusion phenome-
non has been reported in a wide variety of
metals and alloys possessing the common
crystal structures and also in ionic materials
that readily cross-slip. 1,8,16,88-90
These two cases represent what may
well be extremes of behaviour and it seems
probable that many hill-and-valley profiles
intermediate between them can be gener-
ated by slip. Wood has suggested that pro-
126
18 'Hill-and-valley' surface topography developed by torsional fatigue.
Electron micrograph of surface replica. (Henry and Plateau.1g8)
gressive surface roughening to develop such
contours could occur by random-walk pro-
cesses. The only criterion for such a pro-
cess is that the slip produced in one-half
cycle of load is not fully reversed in the
subsequent half-cycle of opposite sign. 87
May9l has developed formal mathematical
treatments which suggest that such models
are feasible. Avery and Backofen 17pointed
out that this process demands the operation
of only a single slip system intersecting the
surface, and cannot simultaneously explain
the great resistance to fatigue of single
crystals of Zn, LiF, and N aCl8 8,89and the
poor resistance to fatigue of materials that
show slip-band extrusion. They also point
out that acute taper-sectioning requires
care in interpretation, since notch acuity
and depth are both exaggerated. For
example, a section at 8° to a flat surface
will increase the apparent depth of a notch
seven times and make a real notch angle of
r--I 105° appear as an angle of r--I 20°. There
is also a great deal of metallographic evi-
dence to suggest that cross-slip is essential
to the slip-band extrusion process, 88,92and
cyclic work-hardening data support this
view.93 The importance of cross-slip has
been discussed at some length by Avery
and Backofen.17 Many of the dislocation
models of slip-band extrusion and intrusion
require the co-operative cross-slip of
groups of parallel screw dislocations whose
Burgers vectors intersect a free surface.
Recent work94 on copper fatigued in
torsion at low strain amplitude has however
demonstrated that the formation of surface
slip-band striae (persistent slip bands)
could not be correlated with a high resolved
shear stress on cross-slip planes. A theor-
etical analysis,94 based on this observation,
suggested that slip-band striations were
[Courtesy I.R.S.I.D.
produced by different systems of disloca-
tions gliding on the same primary plane.
In single crystals of low-S.F.E. material
oriented for slip on one system, random-
walk nucleation is likely. Rapid nucleation
of cracks by the intrusion-extrusion mech-
anism requires easy cross-slip and hence is
favoured by high S.F.E. This view, origin-
ally proposed in 1962, still seems a fair
assessment, and is realistic in that it does
not attempt an explanation of all topo-
graphical changes by one mechanism.17
Therefore, the taper-section observations
would be interpreted as showing relatively
small hills and shallow valleys produced by
a random-walk process, and not extrusion
or intrusion developed during a few load
reversals.
Other crack-nucleation sites
The amount of work on slip-band cracking
perhaps over-emphasises the frequency of
its incidence, since there are many cases
in which fatigue cracks nucleate at other
sites. These include grain boundaries,96,97
annealing-twin/matrix interfaces in f.c.c.
metals/6, 96, 98, 99 twin/matrix inter-
faces,3,49,90,100 and fragmented deforma-
tion twins in other crystal structures.lOl In
alloys, particles of second phase,102 especi-
ally if fragmented by prior mechanical
working, can initiate cracks, as may weak
particle/matrix interfaces. In precipitation-
hardened materials, notably aluminium-
based, regions depleted of precipitate
adjacent to grain boundaries or resulting
from quench bands are favoured sites for
crack nucleation. 71,76,102 In engineering
components geometric effects such as
notches or machine marks, rather than
microstructural features, often determine
the position of the initial crack. The
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
19 Optical micrograph of slip-band extrusion produced
by fatigue of aluminium-4 wt.-%copper. (Forsyth.7)
common feature of all these sites is that
they involve localised plastic deformation
in directions that intersect a free surface.
It has been shown that only those anneal-
ing-twin/matrix interfaces parallel to a
highly stressed slip direction that inter-
sected the surface at a significant angle
produced interface cracks.I°2,103
The influence of free surface on crack
initiation
The influence of engineering surface
condition is well known and, together with
that of environment, suggests the import-
ance of free surfaces in the fatigue process.
This view is supported by the fact that
periodic removal of surface from specimens
during cyclic straining can extend life
apparently indefinitely. The amount of
material removed need only be small.
Thompson et al.10 electropolished 30 Jlm
f'..I
from the surfaces of their copper crystals
tested in push/pull to remove persistent
slip bands, and Siebel and Stahli 104found
that periodic removal of 50 Jlm from the
surface of rotating cantilever specimens of
steel extended life by as much as 660%.
Similar results have been obtained for iron
and other steels,l°5,106 and for aluminium
tested at large constant strain amplitudes
in push/pull.107 The beneficial effect of
surface removal cannot therefore be associ-
ated with any particular mode of stressing,
particular material, or amplitude of loading.
Much of the metallographic evidence al-
ready discussed suggests that cracks start
at a free surface. In those rare cases, mainly
service failures, where fatigue cracks are
unambiguously initiated inside the speci-
men, an interface of some sort seems always
to have been involved.I°s,109
It could be argued that many of the
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
I
x WXYZ
Jll
20 Diagrammatic representation of the way in which an acute taper sec-
tion would show an irregular crack front as a row of voids.
above effects might be attributed to im-
mediately subsurface behaviour and several
experiments have been designed to isolate
surface effects. Backofen et al.93,110-112
fatigued single crystals of copper of various
orientations and showed that slip displace-
ments at an angle to the surface were
essential to the development of slip-band
cracks. Such crystals exhibited extrusion
when a slip plane in the most highly
stressed slip direction intersected a surface,
but did not do so when this direction was
parallel to the crystal surface. In these
instances topographical changes occurred
by the operation of secondary slip systems,
with considerable increases in life. It has
been shown 93that aluminium covered with
a 1000 A coherent oxide film could be
cycled indefinitely at stresses that produced
failure in uncoated material, so long as the
film remained uncracked. Coarse slip-band
formation and the hill-and-valley slip-step
profile, typical of fatigue, were suppressed.
A coated crystal, fatigued well beyond the
crack-initiation stage, stripped of its oxide
film, and then recycled, exhibited the cyclic
slip behaviour typical of a fresh uncoated
specimen. A similar experiment110 used an
aluminium crystal anodically coated by
electropolishing, then fatigued at 0'2%
strain amplitude in reverse plane bending.
The specimen was periodically repolished
lightly to maintain a continuous film with-
out significant removal of material. It
remained crack-free at 4'5 X 105 cycles
and saturation of work-hardening occurred
in 3 X 105 cycles at a 130/0 higher flow
stress than in uncoated crystals, whose life
was r05 cycles. Subgrains developed in the
coated specimen, which remained smooth
and uncracked although the dislocation
density was greater than in the untreated
ABCD = SLIP fIlANE CONTAINING GROWING
FATIGUE CRACK.
= TAPER SECTION.
material that had been cycled to failure.
These results seem to confirm that a free
or weakly constrained surface is essential
to fatigue-crack initiation, and that a high
dislocation density or a substructure is not,
per se, capable of' initiating cracks. A
contrary view is that of Wood et al.113,114
who, from observations on copper fatigued
in torsion and then taper-sectioned, con-
cluded that crack initiation involved the
nucleation of subsurface voids. The num-
ber of voids increased with the number of
cycles until they linked up to form cracks.
Topographical effects, including extrusion,
were considered to be by-products of
voids created by dislocation pile-up
mechanisms of the Stroh type. There are
several objections to this interpretation,
apart from the evidence on free surfaces
already discussed. All the tests were in
torsion, which involves a stress gradient and
the maximum shear stresses lying in the
plane of the surface. Acute taper-section-
ing involves difficulties in interpretation,
and it is possible that all the apparently
subcutaneous voids were linked to the
surface in planes parallel to that of the
section. Figure 20 shows diagrammatically
how a surface-initiated slip-band crack
with an irregular front would, if taper-
sectioned, show apparently subcutaneous
voids.
Crack initiation in high-strain fatigue
The term 'high-strain fatigue' is usually
restricted to test results where the Coffin-
Manson relationship holds,115,116i.e.
where N = cycles to failure, ~E = cyclic
strain range of test, k and C are constants.
127
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge
F or many materials k ~ t and C is the have been observed in copper at tempera-
strain to fracture in single-load tension. tures as low as 4.2° K,124 showing that
This means, even for ductile specimens, vacancies are not a controlling factor. At
lives to failure of < 104-105 cycles. high temperatures (0·5-0·g Tm) metallo-
Wood 86,114has also distinguished between graphic changes not common at lower
high-strain, low-cycle fatigue H, and temperatures have been reported. These
long-life fatigue F, on the basis of slope include a greater tendency for grain-
of the S/N curve, and the type of damage boundary cracking, grain-boundary mi-
produced by various load levels. The gration,121 reorientation of grains, and
transition from H to F behaviour occurred failure by the nucleation, growth, and
at 105 cycles. There has thus been a linking of grain-boundary cavities.l25-128
tendency to regard high-strain fatigue as The nucleation of boundary voids has
quite distinct from long-life behaviour. been suggested to occur by the sliding of
The metallographic evidence does not stepped boundaries,129,130 but there is
seem to justify this separation, since in direct evidence for void nucleation by
high-strain tests surface cracks have been particles. 131 Grain-boundary crack initia-
seen to initiate at grain boundaries117-119 tion in austenitic steel, tested at high
and slip bands.l20,121 Surface removal strain amplitude and temperatures in the
during cycling prolongs life indefinitely;107 range 650-900° C, involves development
crack initiation occurs early in life and of a surface notch and the creation of a
inhibition of cross-slip prolongs life.l21 new grain at the notch root and is
There is adequate evidence that, in short- accelerated by oxidation at high tempera-
life fatigue, crack growth occurs also by tures.132 Growth of cavities is believed
the Stage-I and Stage-II processes. For to be vacancy-controlled and seems more
more detailed discussions Laird 120 and closely related to creep fracture than to
Dawson et al.122 are recommended. fatigue.126,131,133 Environmental effects
Therefore, there seems little reason for are more acute at high temperatures,
distinguishing high-strain from high-cycle making separation of these two variables
fatigue, except to make the point that difficult. A comprehensive review of high
different proportions of life will be spent temperature and thermal fatigue is not
in the various stages previously detailed. possible in this review. The recent sym-
There is evidence that large proportions posia are recommended.l4,134
of the total cycles to failure are, in many
materials subjected to high-strain cycling, The effects of environment on crack
spent in extending Stage-II cracks.122 initiation
Departures from the Coffin-Manson law Environmental and corrosion effects in
may well result from the testing procedures fatigue are so variable and complex that
employed, particularly the inability to their detailed consideration is again beyond
control small plastic-strain amplitudes, the scope of this review. There is general
and the more common use of constant-load, agreement that actively corrosive environ-
variable-strain equipment for long-life ments are more damaging than air, and
tests, rather than from lack of generality there are many examples of fatigue cracks
of the relationship.1:3 being initiated by intercrystalline corrosion
or by corrosion pits. Gilbert's135 review
The effects of temperature on crack and the proceedings of a recent conference
initiation are relevant. 134Fatigue tests at atmospheric
The initiation of cracks bycyc1ic glide and reduced pressures have shown that
and the extrusion and intrusion effects air profoundly reduces the life of many
[Courtesy College of Aeronautics.
21 Stage-I crack in cold-rolled pure aluminium associated with localised 22 Similar specimen to that illustrated in Fig. 21 showing a multiplicity
recrystallisation. Optical micrograph of etched longitudinal section. of Stage-I cracks and associated substructure.
(Forsyth.30) (Forsyth.30)
128
and Ryder
metals and alloys. Frequently, no bene-
ficial effect is observed until the pressure is
reduced below some critical value.136-138
Attempts to isolate the particular consti-
tuent of air that is damaging to a specific
material have sometimes led to conflicting
results. The early experiments in vacuum
did not clearly distinguish between effects
on crack initiation and crack growth. In
view of the early stage in the life of a
specimen at which fatigue cracks are
generated, the effect on growth processes
is usually considered as of major im-
portance. Recent work has concentrated
on the effects of environment on Stage-II
crack growth and is discussed later.l39,140
Grosskreutz and Bowles141 have observed
a change in slip behaviour and a reduction
in work-hardening rate of aluminium
fatigued in a vacuum better than 2 X 10-9
torr. The beneficial effects of vacuum
are often ascribed to the fact that newly
produced slip steps or fracture surfaces
remain free of adsorbed gas, permitting
slip reversal or crack rewelding on reversal
of the load.142 Broom and Nicholson
regard the specific effect of water vapour
on aluminium alloys as resulting from
hydrogen uptake. 138 An interesting experi-
ment143 aimed at examining the effect of
atmosphere involved torsion-fatigue testing
of copper in air and in argon. Chromium-
plated and gold-plated specimens were
also tested in air. An argon environment
gave the greatest increase in fatigue life
for uncoated specimens. Gold plating
afforded rather less benefit, while
chromium was least beneficial despite
its ability to suppress the formation of
damaging surface topography by virtue of
its high strength. These results were
interpreted as showing that suppression of
damaging surface topography was unim-
portant. It was considered that fatigue
zones, unrelated to surface geometry but
highly sensitive to environment, accounted
for the beneficial effect of argon or gold.
This interesting attempt to separate the
[Courtesy College of Aeronautics.
Optical micrograph.
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
effect of surface topography from environ- Both metals cross-slip readily, which Crack growth on planes of high
ment is not however unambiguous, since favours slip-band extrusion and Ii.mits resolved shear stress
chromium coatings are frequently cracked linear strain-hardening in tension:" Thus, In the ideal case the initiation of a fatigue
and generate high residual stresses at the early saturation of work-hardening and crack is succeeded by its growth on a
plating/specimen interface. the initiation of cracks by the extrusion plane, or planes, of high resolved shear
Attrition between mating surfaces, often and intrusion mechanisms are predictable stress. The separation of this process
called fretting or fretting corrosion, causes for both metals. Experimental evidence from Stage-II growth was suggested by
rapid initiation by the development of confirms this, notably Hull's124 observation Forsyth and Ryder29 and extended by
pits and cracks, and there is a possibility of extrusion in copper at < I % of the Forsyth,30 who presented direct experi-
that crack growth may be accelerated by total life to failure. Decrease in S.F.E. mental evidence and first employed the
the wedging action of corrosion pro- permits more extensive work-hardening term 'Stage l' now widely used in the
duct.I44-148 while inhibiting extrusion and intrusion, literature. Possible mechanisms have been
and so should increase the number of discussed by, for example, McEvily and
Other microstructural effects cycles required to initiate a crack. This is Boettner32 and Laird.15
Many of the microstructural features not supported by experimental work on the
already discussed, such as cold work, effect of additions of aluminium to copper Metallographic observations of
grain size, and second-phase stability, (Cu y ~ 40 ergsjcm2, CU-7% Al y ~ 2 Stage-I cracks
influence similarly both crack initiation ergsjcm2).17 On this basis cracking is Figure 21 shows a Stage-I crack in cold-
and Stage- I growth and are therefore regarded as coincident with the exhaustion rolled aluminium. Transgranular, inter-
considered under the latter heading. of work-hardening capacity, which coin- granular, and mixed-mode Stage-I cracks
cides with the localisation of slip in a few have been reported in aluminium alloys.
The relation of surface steps to the bands. The literature suggests that cracks Forsyth et al.151,152 have observed inter-
initial crack are present in most unnotched metals crystalline initiation and growth in AI-Zn-
The precise point at which a slip band can fatigued as smooth specimens at between Mg, changing to trans crystalline Stage- I
be regarded as a crack has been a matter of o·sand 10% of the total life, the value propagation, and also some cases in which
contention and it has been suggested that depending upon S.F.E. and cyclic load the trans crystalline fracture alternated
no physical distinction is possible. There level. 89 The criterion suggested for between two conjugate {III} planes.
is, however, good evidence that fatigue separating initiation from Stage- I growth Stage- I cracks associated with local bands
damage may be annealed out,I49,93 the should not be confused with some useful of substructure produced by cyclic loading
specimen restored to its original state, and but arbitrary engineering criteria, often have been noted (Fig. 21 and 22). It is
this process repeated indefinitely provided based on the smallest crack visible to the not clear whether substructure is essential
that the treatment is carried out early naked eye. Schijve and }acobs150 dis- to Stage-I crack growth or whether it is
enough, i.e. before the formation of the tinguish microscopic cracks from macro- produced before cracking or generated
'crack'. Such treatments must precede scopic or 'technical' cracks; the latter ahead of the advancing crack. The precise
saturation of work-hardening to be bene- being those longer than 100 Jlm. Other path of fracture when bands of substruc-
ficial, since this is the point at which general similar criteria have been discussed by ture are present is also in dispute.
slip ceases and subsequent deformation is }acoby,33 who concludes from an analysis Recently, transmission electron-micro-
localised in a few bands that become per- of published data that the microscopic scope observations on the shear mode of
sistent and develop as cracks. For alu- crack-growth stage occupies on average crack growth in copper single crystals have
minium at room temperature this entails about half of a specimen's life, unless the been reported by Klesnil and Lukas.153
annealing after each 50 cycles of load com- specimen is very acutely notched or highly At the fracture surface a cell structure
pared with r-.J 500 cycles for copper. stressed, when the value may be reduced. exists, whose diameter increases with

[Courtesy 'Phil. Mag.'

23 Dislocation arrangement associated with Stage~r cracking in copper single crystals.' Section" (121). (Klesniland
Lukas. 153) D = electrodeposit S = specimen
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS 129
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder

[Courtesy Roy. Aircraft Estab. [Courtesy Roy. Aircraft Estab.

24 Stage- I crack in AI-Zn-Mg alloy associated with localised fatigue 25 Similar to Fig. 24 but showing transition to Stage II despite damage
damage. Optical micrograph of etched longitudinal section. ahead of Stage-I crack. Optical micrograph of etched longitudinal
152
. (Forsyth and Stubbington. ) section. (Forsyth and Stubbington.152)

[Courtesy Roy. Aircraft Estab. [Courtesy Roy. Aircraft Estab.

26 Transition from intercrystalline Stage-I to transcrystalline Stage-II 27 Ridge pattern of parallel lamellae on Stage-I fatigue-fracture surface
fracture. No observable structural phenomenon is associated with of AI-Zn-Mg alloy fatigued in torsion at room temperature. Note
the transition. Optical micrograph of etched longitudinal section. change of direction of lamellae at grain boundary. Optical micrograph.
(Forsyth and Stubbington.152) (Stubbington and Forsyth. 158)

increasing depth until the dislocation band
or clump structure typical of law-strain
fatigue is visible. The Stage- I crack
propagates along the persistent slip band,
and the large amaunt af plastic defarma-
tian assaciated with the crack tip accaunts
far the cell farmatian. Camparisan af cell
diameters suggests that the lacal strains
associated with the crack farmed in law-
stress fatigue eNf = 106 cycles) are greater
than the averall strains encauntered in
high-strain fatigue eNf = 103 cycles), see
Fig. 23.
The extent of Stage-I fracture and
the transition to Stage II
In severely natched brittle materials tested
at high stress Stage- I fracture may be
130
totally absent. In unnatched specimens
the fractian af life spent in grawing Stage- I
cracks will depend up an the magnitude af
the cyclic laad, specimen geametry, and
micrastructure. Measurements o.f the
extent of Stage- I cracking, by controlled
surface remaval an specimens fatigued far
variaus fractians af their naminal lives,
suggest that this made of fracture may
occupy fram 10 to. 90~!c> of the life of plain
specimens. 15 Even at the higher value,
the Stage- I crack may extend only far a
few grain diameters. The abave results
are supparted by several experiments
that have entailed estimating the number
af cycles spent in Stage-II cracking and
taking the difference between this figure
and tatal life as a measure of the number
af cycles invalved in growing Stage- I
cracks.
There are twa cases in which extensive
Stage-I cracking has been abserved. In
tarsianal fatigue the maximum shear
stresses are in directians lying in the speci-
men surface, o.ne parallel and o.ne perpen-
dicular to. the tarsian axis. Stage- I crack
gro.wth accurs in these directians, with
little tendency to. advance into. the interio.r
of the specimen where co.nstraint wauld
favo.ur transitian to. Stage-II made. Ex-
tensive Stage-I fracture so. praduced has
been abserved in service failures af air-
screw blades.I54 Accentuated Stage- I
fracture has also. been reparted in Al-Zn-
Mg braken in carrasian fatigue at stresses
belaw the air endurance limit af the
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
(a)
28(a) and (b) Stage-I fracture
reflective {111} surface and regions of lamellae (1 and 3) parallel
lamellae are visible (2). (Gell and Leverant. )
material. This may have resulted from the
low nominal stress being insufficient to
cause the transition to Stage-II cracking,
or, since the tests were of the rotating-
cantilever type, the increased importance
of the torsional component of stress at
low bending loads may have been respon-
sible.152,155
The transition from Stage-Ito Stage-II
growth has been attributed to the pro-
gressive decrease of the shear-stress/
normal-stress ratio acting on a crack
growing from a free surface into the
interior of a specimen. Slip-controlled
processes thus become more difficult and
[Courtesy 'Acta Met.'
29 Electron micrograph of Stage-I
fracture surface containing
fine regular striations, at..- 60°
to parallel lamellae shown in
Fig. 28 (regions 1 and 2). (Gell
and Leverant.159)
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
<110> /
(b)
facet in nickel-base high-temperature
to <110) Shorter
159
mechanisms controlled by tensile stress
are favoured. 15,32,156 Transition at a
grain boundary and, for a case of inter-
crystalline Stage- I fracture, at a triple
point, have been reported. There are,
however, cases where the change was not
associated with any microstructural fea-
ture, and a Stage- I crack turned into a
plane of maximum tension although there
were regions of induced damage ahead of
the Stage- I crack that might well have
been expected to favour its continued
growth in this mode.I51,152 (Fig. 24-26).
The converse case, transition from Stage-
II to Stage-I, is possible if during Stage-II
[Courtesy 'Acta Met.
alloy showing highly
curved
growth the load is reduced. 29 Many of
the published photographs of non-propa-
gating cracks suggest that they reverted
to the Stage- I mode before ceasing to
grow. Stage- I cracking has been reported
to involve the predominant operation of a
single slip system.I5,30 In ~-brass single
crystals tested at several nominal stresses,
transition to Stage II always occurred at a
stress of 41 opo lbfjin 2 calculated on the
section remaining unbroken regardless of
nominalload.157
Observations on Stage-I fracture
surfaces
Stage- I fractures are often featureless
except for damage arising from rubbing of
the mating surfaces. Fractures produced
by single {III} slip in AI-Zn-Mg were
largely featureless, but slip alternating
between a pair of intersecting {II I} planes
produced a ridged pattern of parallel
lamellae that changed direction sharply at
grain boundaries158 (Fig. 27). Gell and
Leverant159 have examined the fatigue-
fracture surfaces of a nickel-base high-
temperature alloy and observed extensive
Stage- I fracture that produced highly
reflective {III} facets. Crack growth was
in <110) directions and some facets showed
lamellae parallel to < I 10>, although at
short crack lengths curved lamellae were
often present (Fig. 28). Conjugate lamellae
occurred on different parts of a single
facet and fine regularly spaced lines inter-
secting lamellae at angles close to 60 0
were detected by replication electron
microscopy (Fig. 29). These corresponded
131

30 Stage-I fracture surface of nickel-base
alloy showing ridged profile. Also
tongues (inset). Electron fractograph. (Gel! and Leverani.159)
to {III} traces, and were attributed to
slip after fracture. 'Herringbone' patterns,
probably the result of conjugate slip, were
also 0 bserved, as were small triangular
'tongues' probably caused by local fracture
on sets of {III} planes other than the
main facet (Fig. 30 ). The form of the
crack front during Stage-I fracture has
been studied by Williams157 using ~-brass
single crystals. During testing the fatigue
stress was periodically altered slightly then
adjusted back to its original value, a process
that produced a progression mark visible
on subsequent examination of the fracture
(Fig. 3 I). The fracture surface near the
origin of failure showed no detail between
the induced markings, but at greater
crack lengths Zappfe and Worden stria-
tions, generally regarded as characteristic
of Stage- II fracture, were observed.
Striations on Stage- I fractures have also
been noted in aluminium alloys160 (Fig.
32) and thoriated nickel.161
rrhe presence of striations on some Stage-
I fractures and the fact that no Stage- I
cracks were produced in copper fatigued in
compression, have led Laird15 to conclude
that a tensile stress component is essential
to this mode of fracture and that there is
no real distinction, except of convenience,
between it and Stage II. The possibility
exists, however, that a gradual change
from Stage I to Stage II might produce
striations over the fracture area developed
during transition.
Factors influencing crack initiation
and Stage-I growth
There is little work that directly relates
the rate of Stage- I crack growth to micro-
structure. There is, however, a large bulk
of information that relates structure to
fatigue limit, fatigue/tensile strength ratio,
,132
The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
[Courtesy I Acta Met.' 31 Progression
high-temperature load. Stage-I fracture
small transgranular (H. D. Williams.157)
or endurance limit. Since in low-load,
high -cycle fatigue the initial crack is
present early in life and Stage-II fracture
also represents only a small fraction of life
to failure, it seems safe to conclude that
any factor altering fatigue strength does so
largely by influencing Stage- I crack growth.
This proposition is reinforced by the con-
clusions of Laird15 and of Ham30 that in
high-strain fatigue (Stage-II growth sig-
nificant) microstructural effects are small,
although this structure insensitivity is
partly due to the imposition of constant-
strain cycling. There is also evidence to
suggest that the mechanisms of slip-
controlled initiation and Stage- I growth
are similar and affected by structure in
much the same way. The correlation of
crack initiation and Stage- I growth with a
fatigue-strength parameter therefore seems
justified, at least to a first approximation.
Further, it is to be expected that any struc-
ture that provides a long free slip-path for
dislocation emergent at a free surface will
permit rapid crack initiation and Stage- I
crack growth.
The effect of cold work. Cold work raises
the fatigue or endurance limit of many
metals and alloys.1 There is direct evidence
of substantially slower slip-band cracking
in cold-worked nickel than in the annealed
material. 15 This was demonstrated by
measuring the deepest Stage- I crack on
unnotched specimens fatigued at the same
load for varying fractions of their nominal
total life and showing, on completely
fractured specimens, that the extent and
rate of Stage-II fracture were similar for
both conditions of the material. Laird15
has attributed the beneficial effect of cold
work to the increase of flow stress so pro-
duced, a view supported by data that sug-
marks produced by periodic variation of
surface of f3-brass crystal.
gested a slow rate offatigue-induced work-
softening in low-stress tests. This
explanation seems reasonable in those
cases where the fatigue-softening curve
for worked materials does not become
common with the fatigue-hardening curve
for an annealed specimen, the intersection
being defined by the testing conditions. In
either event the surface topography de-
veloped, and hence the degree of sub-
sequent localisation, will differ in a cold-
worked and an annealed specimen identi-
cally tested. Strain-softening is rapid in
deformed metals and alloys that readily
develop a substructure. Cold-worked
alloys in which this is difficult (low-S.F.E.
alloys Cu-Zn, Fe-Si, Cu-AI, 18-8 NiCr
austenite) do not strain-soften to a flow
stress of magnitude governed only by the
testing conditions but retain during cyclic
loading properties developed by earlier me-
chanical treatments.162 Cold work should
thus be particularly effective in retarding
crack growth and raising the fatigue
strength of low-S.F.E. alloys.
Substructure. The interaction of substruc-
ture, S.F.E., work-hardening, and ease of
cross-slip make separation of these variables
difficult, if not impossible. Extensive sub-
structure was observed in many fatigued
metals and alloys by conventional optical
methods, and several workers have reported
fatigue cracks associated with substruc-
ture.1,1l,17,35 Holden,77 from X-ray
observations, concluded that fatigue cracks
were always associated with subgrains and
Miller163,164 has attributed the reduced
rate of crack growth produced by alloying
copper with aluminium to the difficulty of
substructure formation. Unfortunately,
much of the published work has not
differentiated between Stage-I and Stage-II
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
fracture and, except for Avery and Backo- capacity is the more important factor, None of the observations on micro-
fen17 and Miller's experiments, the metals particularly in slowing down Stage- I structure/fatigue interaction suggest the
and alloys examined have had high or fracture. 15 According to Ham,l4 shori- possibility of producing structures with
medium S.F.E. Fatigue in the absence of range order, strain-ageing, and Suzuki vastly improved fatigue strength. At
continuous well-developed substructure locking produce coarse slip because of present disperse-phase strengthening of
has already been discussed in the sections dislocation unpinning, and hence reduce low-S.F.E. matrices appears the likeliest
on transmission electron microscopy. Those fatigue properties. Long-range order method of producing good fatigue-strength/
cases in which localised substructure de- inhibits cross-slip and would be expected tensile-strength ratios. This, unfortun-
veloped in active slip bands or precipitate- to restrict slip-band initiation and crack ately, does not imply either high strength
depleted zones again did not concern low- growth and so improve fatigue strength. or high absolute values of fatigue limit, or
S.F.E. alloys. Further work is therefore This has been confirmed for F e-Co- V, 168 particularly good specific properties.
necessary to demonstrate whether sub- NisMn,I68 Cu3Au,l69,170 and fj-brass single
structure is essential to Stage- I cracking. crystals. 171
The precise relation between subgrains Precipitation-hardened alloys have not-
and fracture path is not clear, nor does it ably poor fatigue-strength/tensile-strength
seem possible to decide whether local sub- ratios, lying for age-hardening aluminium
structure is developed before cracking or alloys in the range 0'2-0'3. This has been Fatigue-crack growth on planes
generated at the tip of the advancing in part attributed to the presence of large of high tensile stress
crack. inclusions102 but is principally due to pre- This mode of fracture, termed Stage II
existing or fatigue-induced precipitate-free by Forsyth,30 generally produces by far
Staeking-Jault energy. The role of S.F.E. zones, previously discussed, in which the largest area of a fatigue-fracture sur-
in controlling cross-slip and dynamically crack initiation and Stage- I growth occur face, namely" that which is normal to a
induced substructure formation has already easily. 69, 71-74
principal tensile axis in the specimen or
been mentioned. A difficulty is that reduc- Disperse phases improve the fatigue component. The surface often shows the
tion of the S.F.E. of a metal involves properties of a matrix by virtue of their classic macroscopic progression marks
alloying and hence also modifies other stability and perhaps also by the greater (tide marks, shell markings, arrest marks)33
properties, especially yield and tensile rate of work-hardening that they confer. and despite its proportionately large area
strength. The effect on fatigue behaviour High fatigue/tensile-strength ratios have the fraction of the total number of cycles
of alloying additions of: (a) aluminium been reported for nickel strengthened by a to failure that produced it may be small.
and (b) nickel to copper have recently dispersion of thoria.161 Dispersions pro- The literature suggests that ro-1oo% of a
been compared.163 Both solutes affect duced by overageing conventionally pre- specimen's life may be spent in growing a
mechanical properties similarly but alu- cipitation-hardened AI-Zn-Mg showed the Stage- II crack, the fraction depending on
minium also substantially reduces S.F .E. poor fatigue properties typical of the alloy stress level, structure, and properties of the
Copper-aluminium had better fatigue at peak hardness. The precipitate-free specimen and its geometry.15,33,117,172
properties than the copper-nickel alloys, zones adjacent to grain boundaries provided
thus demonstrating the effect of S.F.E. regions of easy crack initiation and growth,
separated from effects on mechanical or intercrystalline fracture began from the Metallographic examination of
properties. Miller, in agreement with large boundary particles produced by Stage-II fatigue fractures
earlier work17 on Cu-AI, concluded that overageing.72 Spinodal decomposition, by Sections through fatigue cracks have been
lowS.F.E. inhibited crack growth by virtue of stability of the phases produced made for many years and most show little
suppressing substructure formation. and the absence of depleted zones, gives except whether the fracture path is inter-
Laird15 has disputed this and considers material with good fatigue/tensile-strength or intragranular. Continuous observation
that crack growth is influenced by S.F.E. ratios, as has been shown for Cu-Ni-Fe.75 of growing cracks, usually in sheet or plate
because of the effect of the latter on work- Re-solution of carbide in fatigued mild specimens, has been used to determine
hardening. steel has already been mentioned; the crack-growth rates, critical crack length,
behaviour of massive and alloy carbides is and the size and shape of the plastic zone
Grain size. There is conflicting evidence complex and has been briefly discussed by at the crack tip.172 Such surface observa-
on the way fatigue behaviour is influenced Ham. 14 tions are, however, not typical of fracture
by grain size. A beneficial effect might be
expected from very fine grains since free
slip paths would be limited, and propa-
gation of a crack across a boundary would
necessitate subsequent growth in a possibly
unfavourably oriented grain. A marked
grain-size effect has been reported for u-
brass165 and a less pronounced one in u-
iron. 166 Laird15 has suggested that a
significant change in fatigue properties
with grain size should occur only in low-
S.F.E. materials in which grain boundaries
are particularly effective dislocation
barriers. This view is not supl"0rted by
recent work on copper in which a large
effect on fatigue life, related to the early
stages of cracking, was produced by vary-
ing grain dia. in the range 0.064-7.0 mm.167
[Courtesy Roy, Aircraft Estab.
Alloying. Solid solutions generally have 32 Fine striations on Stage-I
better fatigue limits than the solvent metal, fatigue-fracture surface of AI-
an effect usually attributed to increase in Zn-Mg alloy fatigued at room
temperature. Optical micro-
strength, although it has recently been graph. (Stubbington and For-
suggested that enhanced work-hardening syth. )
158

METALLURGICAL REVIEWS 133

 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder

[Courtesy Roy. Aircraft Estab.

33 Characteristic Zappfe and
Worden striations or ripple
marks on Stage-II fatigue-frac-
ture surface of an AI-Zn-Mg
alloy. Each ripple represents a
position of the advancing crack
front and each was produced
by a single load cycle. Optical
fractograph. (Stubbington and
Forsyth.'52)

behaviour in the interior of the specimen
away from the surface observed. Examina-
tion of the fracture surface at high magni-
fication using optical and electron-optical
methods has proved by far the most pene-
trating technique for studying Stage-II
fracture. . stress resulting from some cycles may be
Fracture surface observations. The initial
observations of fatigue-fracture surfaces
by optical microscopy at magnifications up
to X 1500 were made by Zappfe and
Worden,26 who noted a 'platy' structure
and also a pattern of ripples or fracture
striations (Fig. 33). Both patterns were
interpreted as being due to a mosaic
structure in the specimens, but subsequent
work, often using electron microscopy,
showed that the fracture striations repre-
sented successive positions of an advancing
crack front. Crussard suggested that each
striation represented the crack growth
produced by ten load cycles.173 Tests
employing simple programme loading (n
cycles at aa, then n' cycles at ab) showed
that each striation was produced by a
single cycle, 17 4 ,17 5 an observation confirmed
by many workers and providing the basis
for subsequent quantitati·ve work (Fig. 34).
The converse of this statement, i.e. 'that
every load cycle produces one striation' is
not necessarily valid, since the crack-tip
too small to produce an increment of crack
length, especially in programme or block
1112131415161718192021 I 2345678910 II
loading.
Forsyth et al.176 have distinguished
between two sorts of fatigue-fracture
striations:
Type-A or 'ductile' striations, each [Courtesy Amer. Soc. Test. Mat.
34 Electron fractograph of Stage-II fatigue-
consisting of a light and a dark band, fracture surface produced by programme
lying on irregular non-crystallographic loading. The nature of the programme is
plateaux (Fig. 35). indicated by the graph and it can be seen
that each cycle produces one striation.
Type- B or 'brittle' striations lying on (McMillan and Pelloux.'83)
fan-shaped crystallographic facets which
were {IOO} in corrosion-fatigue-tested
AI-Zn-Mg and hydrogen-charged iron
(Fig. 36). The facets exhibited 'river
markings' and the striations showed very [Courtesy Roy. Aircraft Estab.
36 'Brittle' or IType-B' striations on {1DO}
limited ductility. facets in AI-Zn-Mg alloy. Optical micro-
The spacing of both types of striation graph. (Stubbington.'55)

[Courtesy Roy. Aircraft

Estab.
35 'Ductile' or 'Type-A'
striations on an ir-
regular noncrystal-
<l lographic plateau in
AI-Zn-Mg. Optica\
micrograph. (Stub-
bington.'55)
134 METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder

I
I
I
I
I
J...- N.0TCH

0-250"

(0 )

SLIP LINES

[Courtesy Roy. Aircraft Estab. ONE

37 'Ductile'. then 'brittle', striations STRIATION
on a grain-boundary facet of
<1 AI-5% Mg-4% Zn alloy cor-
rosion-fatigued. Optical fracto-
graph. (Forsyth and Sampson. 177) NOTCH

increases with the stress at the crack tip;
their curvature is away from the origin of
failure and large local variations in spacing
and orientation have been observed in
immediately adjacent areas of fractures in
specimens cycled at constant load. The
plateaux or facets on which striations lie
are usually at different levels joined by
regions of ductile tearing.25,33,117,175 Both
types of striation have been reported on
grain boundaries177 (Fig. 37).
The visibility of fracture striations. The
presence of numerous well-defined stria-
tions on a fracture surface unambiguously
defines that failure was by fatigue. Their
absence does not preclude the possibility
of fatigue fracture. Invisibility of striations
on a fracture produced by fluctuating load
may arise from:
(a) Their spacing being too small to be
resolved by the observational technique
used. The smallest inter-striation spacing
reported is ,-.....;
200 A.33
(b) Insufficient ductility at the crack
tip to produce a ripple by plastic deforma-
tion large enough to be subsequently
observed.
(c) The operation of a fatigue-fracture
mode that does not produce striations.
(d) Their obliteration by damage sub-
sequent to fracture. 33,178
Additionally, a number of features have (b)
been observed on fracture surfaces that
[Courtesy Amer. Soc. Test. Mat.
can be confused with striations. These
39 Diagram showing geometry of single-
include Wallner lines,33,178 slip traces,t79 crystal copper fatigue specimen notched
fractured pearlite lamellae/80 and rub and broken in fluctuating tension. (Laird.15)
marks.178,181 Slip lines parallel to striations
have often been mistaken for additional,
more closely spaced intermediate striae,
and led to the validity of the one-striation/
one-load-cycle equivalence being ques-
tioned. Laird15 has recently fatigued a
circumferentially notched, round bar single [Courtesy Amer. Soc. Test. Mat.
crystal in push/pull ~so that Stage-II crack 40 (a) Electron fractograph showing striations
growth was from the notch root in a radial running approximately vertically and slip
direction towards the centre of the speci- traces intersecting them at a large angle.
(b) Showing slip traces and striations
men. Striation geometry on various parts parallel to each other. (Laird. IS)
of the fracture was related to the operative
slip system in the crystal. When the traces
of slip intersecting the fracture surface
were normal to the local direction of crack
growth the confusing secondary lines
parallel to the striation fronts were ob-
served (Fig. 38-40). ~When this condition

![Courtesy Amer. Soc.

, Test. Mat.
38 Electron fracto-
graph of Stage-II
fatigue fracture of
cold-worked cop-
per showing fine
<J interstriation
markings that
could be mistaken
for finer striae.
(Laird.15)
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS 135
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder

(a)

(d)

[Courtesy U.S. Office of Naval Research [Courtesy Amer. Soc. Test. Mat.
41 Electron fractograph showing change in appearance of 42 Diagrammatic representation of reported profiles of
fracture surface with change of environment. (D. Meyn fatigue-fracture striations according to several workers
quoted by M. R. Achter.185) (Laird15).

did not apply, stnatlons and slip traces
were not parallel and could easily be
distinguished from each other.
Striations have been observed on the
fatigue-fracture surfaces of AI, Be, Zn,
Fe, Ti, Mg, Ni, Mo, Ta, Zr, eu, Cr, and
Nb, several of their alloys (see Table VII
of Ref. 33), and some polymers.l82 They
were not detectable on fatigue fractures of
SAP and high-strength steel, a result
attributed to the low ductility of these
materials. It is clear from these observa-
tions that a particular crystal structure is
not a prerequisite for striation formation.
Brittle 'type- B' striations in AI-Zn-Mg
were favoured by corrosive environment
and low frequency of cycling; in iron by
the presence of hydrogen and in nickel by
cold work. Striations have been observed
on the fractures of specimen tested over a
wide range of temperatures, ranging from
0
austenitic steel at 19 K to beryllium at
533 K.33
0
Quantitative studies of fatigue-
fracture surfaces
The single-striation/single-Ioad-cycle re-
lationship was used by Forsyth and Ryder
to estimate the crack-propagation curve
for a centrally slotted aluminium alloy
sheet broken in fluctuating tension. 17 5 The
method involved estimating the average
striation spacing at intervals of crack length
and resolving the spacing in the direction
of macroscopic crack growth. Agreement
was good with direct measurements made
during the test, and this method or variants
of it have been successfully used by several
workers.33 A difficulty is that no informa-
tion on the total number of cycles to failure
can be obtained fractographically and,
unless this is independently known, it is
1:36
usually assumed that Stage-II crack growth
operated throughout the test. This does
not involve gross error in high-stress tests
of notched components, but it was shown
for high-strain tests on plain specimens of
several metals that the number of striations
on the fracture surface need represent only
a fraction of the total cycles to failure.117
The technique is thus of limited utility and,
in particular, can seldom be applied to
service failures.
A more general and valuable use of the
quantitative technique has been to employ
tests in which one variable has been altered
during Stage-II crack growth and the
effect of this change subsequently deter-
mined in terms of striation spacing or
variation. Changes of load level, frequency,
the sequence in which loads of different
magnitude were applied, and environment
have· all beeh studied by fracture-surface
examination. A recent example of this
approach was by McMillan and Pelloux,183
who varied load and loading sequence in a
carefully controlled series of tests on alu-
minium alloys. They were able to show
that crack extension occurred only during
the loading half-cycle but that striation
appearance could be modified by unloading.
The importance of peak stress and the
sequence of load application was also
demonstrated. Figure 34 from this work
includes a graphical representation of the
loading sequence used. Forsyth observed
a large increase in striation spacing and a
change from Type-A to Type- B striations on
changing the test frequency of an AI-Zn-
Mg specimen from 1800 to 20 cycles/min. 30
Similar experiments have confirmed this
effect and shown, for AI-7' 5 % Zn-2' 5 %
Mg, that its magnitude depends upon prior
heat-treatment.I84 Jacoby has recently
reviewed the application of quantitative
examination of fracture surfaces to fatigue
failure,33 and Achter has considered the
use of this method to study change in
fracture behaviour with change in environ-
ment.I85 (Fig. 41). This technique is
extremely powerful and its application
capable of great extension. Unfortunately,
most tests that have involved changes of
load level or of frequency have also entailed
alteration in the shape of the load cycle and
hence the strain rate. Additionally, the
so-called 'frequency' effect may result
from environment rather than rheological
effects at the crack tip.
The geometry of fracture striations and the
mechanism of their formation. Much atten-
tion has been devoted to determining the
precise profile of striations in order to
elucidate the mechanism of their formation.
Some reported profiles are shown diagram-
matically in Fig. 42. Hertzberg186 has
suggested that all striations are of saw-
tooth profile and that reported departures
from this form resulted from shadowing
methods or from the failure to employ
stereoscopic electron microscopy. Mc-
Millan and Pel1oux's work183 supports
this view, but they have demonstrated
how unloading effects can produce in-
equalities in the edge lengths of each
'tooth'.
The proposed formation mechanisms
include fracture-deformation sequences, 29
plastic blunting,I5 and intersecting slip
processes.186 (Fig. 43 and 44). None seems
capable of satisfactorily separating Type-
A from Type-B striations, although several
workers have questioned whether this
separation is justified on the grounds that
{IIO} cleavage in f.c.c. metals is theoreti-
cally improbable.
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder

-
CRACK ADVANCE

~lil!:1
I_ -\ PER CYCLE

(0 )
STRESS

~
(b) (e)
.~ STRESS

11IIIIII11

STRESS

[Courtesy Amer. Soc. Test. Mat.

[Courtesy Amer. Soc. Test. Mat. 44 Diagrammatic representation of the generation of
43 Diagrammatic representation of the mechanism of striation formation striations of 'saw-tooth' profile. (McMillan and
by a process of plastic blunting. (Laird.15) Pel/au x. 183)

Service failures. The use of fractographywho assumed that the substructure ob- and etching of Stage-II fractures and taper
to define failure by fatigue unambiguously
served was that existing as the crack sections have demonstrated that the de-
has proved extremely valuable in service-passed the point of observation. In alu- formation associated with each striation
failure investigations. Previous comment minium, a cell structure was observed may penetrate only 1 Mm below
1"0.1

on conclusions that can be reached when adjacent to the fracture surface after 3 X the fracture surface.25 Thus, fairly sophi-
striations ~re not present and the difficulty
106 cycles but was not present in zones sticated techniques seem necessary to
of obtaining quantitative information are2'5 mm ahead of the crack tip (Fig. 45 and reveal the correlation.
again emphasised. 46). Although the findings are likely to
have been affected by the significant im-
Thin-foil observations on Stage-II purity content, no correlation between the Microstructural effects in Stage-II
growth typical Stage-II striations and the im- crack growth
Foils parallel to and from 2 to 6 MID mediate subsurface dislocation arrange- This topic has been discussed in the reviews
below Stage-II fracture surfaces of alu- ment was reported. There seems a great of Laird,15 of Ham,l4 and of ]acohy,33
minium and aluminium alloys have been need for more extensive studies to attempt who all conclude that the effects are small.
examined by Grosskreutz and·Shaw,l87 to discover this relationship. Polishing Tests on cold-worked and annealed nickel
[Courtesy Amer. Soc. Test
Mat.
45 Dislocation morpho-
logy 6 fLm beneath a
<J Stage-II fracture sur-
face. (Grasskreutz and
Shaw.'87)

[Courtesy Amer. Soc. Test. Mat.

t>
46 Dislocation distribution
2·5 mm ahead of final
crack tip (3 x 106 cycles
at 4·60 Ibf/in2). (Gross-
kreutz and Shaw.187)
METALLURGICAL REVIEWS 137
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
demonstrated similar rates of Stage-II of stressing. 33 Common cases are sum- the fatigue-fracture regions usually exhibit
crack growth.15 The effects of second- marised diagrammatically (Fig. 48). The striations. Thinner sheets, particularly of
phase particles and inclusions is complex, cases of sheet and plate specimens are of more ductile metals and alloys, often show
since the crack may be locally retarded or particular interest, since several possibilities an initially normal area of fatigue fracture
the growth rate locally accelerated by exist. Thick specimens may show regions which then rotates about an axis parallel to
fracture of particles ahead of the main of Stage-II fatigue fracture, alternating the direction of macroscopic crack growth
front.33,188-190 (Fig. 47). In either event with bursts of tensile failure, the latter to give a fracture plane, or conjugate planes,
the crack front resumed its normal form developing a tongue-shaped crack front. at 45° to the axis of tension. Further
and the striations their characteristic spac- Final failure is then normal to the tension fatigue-crack growth is then on '45° planes'
ing over the next few cycles, so that the axis with small shear lips.29 By analogy and final catastrophic failure on a single
overall effect was small.189 Grain size has with fracture toughness this behaviour is '45° plane' by so-called 'shear'. This is
little effect on Stage-II crack growth in attributed to 'plane-strain' conditions and usually denoted as 'plane-stress' behaviour,
copper .167 Results on the relationship
between S.F.E. and crack growth have not
differentiated between Stage-land Stage-II
cracking. Laird's prediction15 of a bene-
ficial effect of low S.F.E. in suppressing
crack growth and a grain-size effect in
such materials requires experimental con-
firmation, and in any event depends upon
Stage- II processes controlled by plastic de-
formation. Low- and medium-S.F.E. ma-
terials show rather straight striations, 32,167
unlike aluminium where the striations
are retarded at the edges of the elongated
plateaux on which they lie. This effect is
attributed to the difficulty of cross-slip.

Influence of specimen geometry

and mode of stressing
It is well known that macroscopic fatigue
cracks follow planes of high tensile stress,
so that the geometry of the fracture surface
is controlled by specimen shape and mode

Thick Sheet

~~[~ ~ [~J OOYH{]

---- Thin She.t

eID~

Reversed Bendin

Alternotin Torsion

[Courtesy Boeing Co.

47 Showing local fracture at a particle ahead
of the main crack front resulting in local
acceleration of cracking. Note that the
effect of the local advance has disappeared
during the next few cycles. Electron fracto- [Courtesy N.A. T.O.-A.G.A.R.D.
graph. (Pel/oux.189) 48 Effect of geometry and stress level on fatigue-fracture topography. (Jacoby.33)
138 METALLURGICAL REVIEWS
 The metallography of fatigue: Plumbridge and Ryder
again in accordance with fracture-toughness
notation. The transition from normal to
45° fracture has been reported to involve
no change in crack-growth rate.29,33,191-193
The presence of fatigue striations on 45°fa-
tigue fracture is in dispute.33 Hertzberg194
has concluded that their formation is
mechanistically not possible, but Laird 15
has suggested that their presence is often
obscured by rubbing. There is evidence
for their existence in the cladding of alu-
minium sheet or plate, when this thin
membrane may well fracture normal to the
tensile axis even if the underlying alloy has
failed at 45° to this direction. 33 Hertz-
berg186 has reported that no fatigue
striations were observed in an aluminium
alloy sheet tested under conditions of
plane stress on any part of the fracture
(Fig. 49). Similar results have been ob-
tained with aluminium sheets of commercial
purity tested in cyclic tension, in which no
striations were found until yield across the
unbroken section resulted in a tongue-
shaped crack which then grew from sheet
centre to surface by mechanisms that
produced striations. This represents growth
under conditions of plane strain, as did
reverse-plane bend testing of the same
material, which also produced a multi-
plicity of fracture striations. Final failure
of the sheet material was by ductile frac-
ture with a large reduction in area.195 It
is suggested that a more appropriate
description of these three sorts of behaviour
is:
(a) Plane-strain fatigue sometimes alter-
nating with and terminating in plane-
strain-mode tensile fracture.
(b) Plane-strain fatigue relaxing to
plane-stress fatigue and final failure.
(c) Plane-stress fatigue becoming plane-
strain fatigue, then final separation by
ductile fracture after necking.
Each of these fracture modes seems to be
dependent upon the shape and extent of
the plastic zone at the crack tip, a topic
discussed by several authors.33,189,192 An
important feature is the implication that
fatigue-fracture striations are produced,
or at least favoured, only by plane-strain
conditions.
The effect of environment on Stage-II crack
growth. Studies of the effects of environ-
ment in propagating Stage-II cracks have
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Acknowledgements
The authors are especially indebted to
several publishers and those workers who
have provided illustrations for this paper.
Many have been generous in supplying
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one of the authors (W.J .P.) is indebted to the
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