Fatigue Limit Prediction of the

Matrix of 17-4PH Stainless Steel

Defu Nie
National Technology Research Center Based on Small Crack
on PVP Safety Engineering,
(Hefei General Machinery Research Institute),
Hefei, Anhui, 230031 China
Mechanics
e-mail: dove_ndf@sina.com.cn
The experimentally obtained fatigue limit of high strength steel is generally a value
reduced by inherent flaws, and such a value does not characterize the resistance of the
Yoshiharu Mutoh matrix of high strength steel to cyclic loading. To investigate the fatigue limit of the ma-
Nagaoka University of Technology,
trix, fatigue tests of 17-4PH stainless steel were performed. 17-4PH stainless steel
Nagaoka, Niigata 940-2188, Japan
showed a distinct dual-stage S-N curve: one stage corresponding to high stress where
e-mail: mutoh@mech.nagaokaut.ac.jp
crack initiated at the surface and another stage corresponding to low stress where crack
initiated from the subsurface inclusion (Al2O3). Based on small crack mechanics, a model
was proposed to predict the fatigue limit of the matrix of 17-4PH stainless steel and its
validity has been discussed. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4023428]

Keywords: fatigue limit, 17-4PH stainless steel, small crack

Introduction estimating fatigue limits reduced by inclusions, instead of under-

Since high pressure was successfully used as a commercial
processing method of foods in 1992, high pressure processing has
been rapidly extended to the interdisciplinary field of bioscience
and biotechnology [1–3]. Up to now, many applications remain
yet to be discovered [2,3]. Accordingly, this brings about ever-
growing demands for high pressure apparatuses. To develop a
safe, simple and convenient high pressure apparatus suitable for
different purposes, 17-4PH stainless steel is a promising candidate
material for pressure vessel due to its favorable combination of
good tensile strength and toughness, weldability, and excellent
corrosion resistance [4–6]. And the low-carbon martensitic stain-
less steel (17-4PH), hardened by fine copper-rich phase precipi-
tates, has been widely employed in various industrial fields [4–9].
High pressure apparatus in service usually experience pressur-
ization and decompression processes. Therefore, the fatigue prop-
erties of 17-4PH stainless steel are very important for the safety
design of high pressure apparatus. Research on the fatigue of
materials has spanned a time period of nearly 200 yr [10]. Many
textbooks well document that mild steels and other materials
harden by strain-aging have a fatigue limit, below which speci-
mens may be cycled indefinitely without causing failure [10–13].
However, many high strength steels do not generally exhibit a fa-
tigue limit, that is, specimens continue to fail over 107, even 108
stress cycles [14–16]. In the last two decades, studies on very high
cycle fatigue have significantly extended the knowledge in this
field [14–21]. The fatigue limit of high strength steels is closely
related to inclusions and casting defects. In many high strength
steels with inclusions and/or casting defects, there is dual-stage
stress-life (S-N) behavior: one corresponds to short life regime at
high stress where crack initiates at the surface, and another corre-
sponds to (very) long life regime at low stress where crack ini-
tiates from the subsurface inclusion or casting defect. In order to
deal with this kind of problems in practical fatigue design and
structural integrity assessment, engineers generally prefer to
adopt Murakami model [18], a simple and effective formula for
Contributed by the Pressure Vessel and Piping Division of ASME for publication
in the JOURNAL OF PRESSURE VESSEL TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received July 23, 2012;
final manuscript received December 6, 2012; published online March 18, 2013.
Assoc. Editor: Xian-Kui Zhu.
standing the complicated details of such phenomena themselves.
The formula is expressed as
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
r0w1 ¼ 1:56  ðHV þ 120Þ=ð areaÞ1=6 (1)
where r0w1 is the reduced fatigue limit due to inclusions under
fully reversed fatigue loading,pHVffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiis
ffi Vickers hardness of the ma-
trix of high strength steel and area is square root of the inclusion
area projected onto a plane perpendicular
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi to applied stress. Note
that units of r0w1 , HV, and area are MPa, kgf/mm2 and lm,
respectively. And in Eq. (1), the coefficient for internal inclusions
is 1.56 while the coefficient for surface inclusions
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi is 1.43. By
0
knowing
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi from Eq. (1), r w1 increases as area decreases. If
area approaches zero, the estimated fatigue limit will be infinite.
This is obviously invalid because r0w1 should be a finite value for
a given high strength steel. It implies that there must exist a criti-
cal inclusion size, below which r0w1 will not be influenced by
inclusions any more. And Zhang et al. [22] has reported that fa-
tigue cracks did not initiate from inclusions for 54SiCr6 steel
when the inclusion size was smaller than 1 lm. Correspondingly,
there is a maximum fatigue limit characterizing the resistance of
the matrix of high strength steel to cyclic loading. This value not
only defines the upper limit of Eq. (1), but also provides some
insights into improvements in steel processing and material qual-
ity control. However, rare work has focused on the fatigue limit
prediction of the matrix of high strength steel to date.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the fatigue behavior
of 17-4PH stainless steel and to develop a model for predicting
the fatigue limit of the matrix of high strength steel based on small
crack mechanics. This study not only is useful for engineers in
their designs of food industry, but also adds some new experimen-
tal data to the existing data pool of pressure vessel and piping
industry.
Experimental Procedure
The material used in this study is a commercial precipitation
hardening matensitic 17-4PH stainless steel in H1025 condition.
Chemical composition of this steel is C 0.04, Si 0.33, Mn 0.75,
P 0.03, S 0.01, Cr 15.48, Ni 4.74, Cu 3.32, Nb 0.40 in mass % and

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology Copyright V

C 2013 by ASME APRIL 2013, Vol. 135 / 021407-1

Downloaded From: http://pressurevesseltech.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/27/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 Fig. 1 Microstructure of 17-4PH stainless steel in H1025
condition

Fe ¼ balance. Figure 1 shows microstructure of 17-4PH stainless

steel observed by using an optical microscope. The microstructure
in H1025 condition mainly consists of tempered martensite. The
yield strength, tensile strength and Vickers hardness of this mate-
rial are 1056 MPa, 1073 MPa, and 390 kgf/mm2, respectively.
Fully reversed axial fatigue tests were carried out on an EMIC
HSFTM-1 electrodynamic vibration fatigue testing machine by Fig. 2 Schematic diagram showing dimensions of (a) smooth
using smooth specimens at a frequency of 100 Hz up to 108 specimen and (b) CT specimen (all dimensions in mm)
cycles. In order to apply small crack mechanics to analysis, fa-
tigue crack growth test was conducted on a SHIMADZU EHF-
EV010K1 servo-hydraulic fatigue testing machine by using a
compact tension (CT) specimen at a frequency of 20 Hz and a
stress ratio of 0.1. Crack length was measured by using a traveling
microscope with a resolution of 10 lm. Fatigue precrack was
introduced up to 3 mm from the starter notch, and then K-
decreasing test started by manually shedding load with crack
growth until a stress intensity range was reached at which no
crack growth was detected in 108 cycles. After that, the load was
kept constant. All the experiments were tested at room tempera-
ture in air and the wave form was sinusoidal. Figure 2 shows
dimensions of the smooth fatigue specimen and the CT specimen.
And all the specimens were prepared by grinding with emery pa-
per followed by polishing with 6, 3, and 1 lm diamond paste
before test. Fracture surfaces were observed by using a scanning
electron microscope (SEM) and an energy dispersive spectroscopy
(EDS) was used to examine composition of inclusions in fatigue
crack initiation points.
Fig. 3 Dual-stage S-N curve of 17-4PH stainless steel (smooth
specimens)
Results and Discussion
Fatigue Behavior of 17-4PH Stainless Steel. Figure 3 shows by using an EDS, as shown in Fig. 5. There are a very high alumi-
the S-N curve obtained by using the smooth specimens of 17-4PH num peak and a distinct oxygen peak from the inclusion. How-
stainless steel. The open square symbols represent that fatigue ever, the distinct aluminum peak and oxygen peak were not
cracks initiated from the specimen surfaces, while the open circles detected at the crack initiation site without inclusion (the circular
represent that fatigue cracks initiated from the subsurface inclu- dashed area in Fig. 4(b), where EDS Patten is similar to that of the
sions. The symbols with arrows denote that the specimens did not matrix of 17-4PH stainless steel. So EDS analysis indicates that
fail up to 108 cycles. It can be seen from the figure that 17-4PH the inclusions are Al2O3. Careful examination of all the fracture
stainless steel shows a distinct dual-stage S-N curve, namely at surfaces shows that the average size of inclusions, where the fa-
high stress amplitude, the location of crack initiation is on the sur- tigue cracks initiated, is about 10 lm.
face and the location transits from the surface to the subsurface
inclusion as the stress amplitude decreases. Modified Basquin Equation In high cycle fatigue regime,
To understand the fatigue behaviors of 17-4PH stainless steel Basquin equation (stress-based approach) is generally used to
more clearly, all the fracture surfaces were carefully observed by relate the stress amplitude (fully reversed and constant) to the
using a SEM. Figure 4 shows typical SEM images of fatigue frac- number of load reversals to failure, which is written as
ture surfaces at stress levels of 700 MPa and 750 MPa, respec-
tively, and insets are the high magnification fractographs of crack
initiation sites. Chemical composition of inclusions was examined ra ¼ r0f ð2Nf Þb (2)

021407-2 / Vol. 135, APRIL 2013 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://pressurevesseltech.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/27/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use


Fig. 4 Examples of fracture surface observations (a) ra 5 700
MPa and (b) ra 5 750 MPa
where ra, r0f ,
Nf, and b are, respectively, the stress amplitude,
fatigue strength coefficient, number of cycles to failure, and
fatigue strength exponent. In order to obtain these parameters for
17-4PH stainless steel, a commercial software “first OPT” was
used to fit the experimental data by choosing the “Levenberg-
Marquardt (LM) þ Universal Global Optimization (UGO)”
option. The advantage of this software is that the initial values for
the fitting parameters are not required. The two stages of the S-N
curve of 17-4PH stainless steel were fitted, respectively, and the
results are listed in Table 1. When described the S-N curve of
17-4PH stainless steel in terms of Basquin equation, the fitted
results are not very good because the stress amplitude does not
exhibit a linear relationship with fatigue life on a log–log scale,
especially for the first stage. Moreover, the fitted curve for the first
stage is always below that for the second stage up to 108 reversals.
Such a result is not rational. Since the fatigue limit will be
improved if no inclusions exist in 17-4PH stainless steel, the fitted
curve for the first stage should be above that for the second stage
in the very long life regime. So Basquin equation was modified to
describe the S-N curve of 17-4PH stainless steel:
ra ¼ r0 þ r0f ð2Nf Þb (3)
where a translation parameter (r0) was added to describe the
deviation from the linear relationship between ra and Nf on the
log–log scale. The same settings were used to fit the experimental
data. Figure 6 shows the experimental data and fitted curves based
on the modified Basquin equation, where the open symbols are
Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology
Downloaded From: http://pressurevesseltech.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/27/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
Fig. 5 EDS analysis of crack initiation sites (a) with an inclu-
sion and (b) without inclusions
Table 1 The fitting parameters for 17-4PH stainless steel
Stage r0f b
Fist (high stress) 1478 0.05
Second (low stress) 3992 0.11
experimental data and the dash lines are the fitted curves. As
depicted in Fig. 6, the experimental data agree well with the modi-
fied Basquin equation. And all the fatigue life predictions are
within a factor of 2, as shown in Fig. 7.
Fatigue Limit Prediction of the Matrix of 17-4PH Stainless
Steel. 17-4PH stainless steel has a dual-stage S-N curve: the first
stage at high stress represents resistance of the matrix to cyclic
loading and the second stage at low stress mainly characterizes
effect of inclusions on fatigue property. Fatigue limit is usually
obtained at 107 or 108 cycles (108 cycles is used in this study). In
some sense, such a value mainly reflects the influence of the inclu-
sions rather than the fatigue strength of the matrix of 17-4PH
stainless steel. From practical fatigue design and structural reli-
ability point of view, the experimentally obtained fatigue limit is
very important and hence has been well investigated. It can be
predicted by Murakami’s model, which has attracted much atten-
tion of engineers and researchers as it isffi simple and effective. Sub-
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
stituting HV ¼ 390 kgf/mm2 and area ¼ 8:86 lm in Eq. (1), the
estimated fatigue limit is equal to 553 MPa, which is 5.33%
larger than the actual value 525 MPa. However, viewed from
APRIL 2013, Vol. 135 / 021407-3
 Fig. 6 Comparison of experimental data and modified Basquin
equation
Fig. 7 Comparison of the observed and predicted lives in 17-
4PH stainless steel
metallurgical quality control and improvement in material proc-
essing, the fatigue limit of the matrix of 17-4PH stainless steel is
also important, which is the maximum expected fatigue strength
by improving the cleanness of steel. It also has advantage to fur-
ther understand the fatigue characteristic of high strength steels
and the effect of inclusions.
As for high strength steels, the experimentally obtained fatigue
limits are the reduced values due to inclusions or casting defects.
An intriguing question is how to get the fatigue limits of the
matrixes of high strength steels. Considering Murakami’s model
[18], the key point is that the inclusions and casting defects are
treated as small cracks. Moreover, many experimental results prove
that such an assumption is appropriate. So mechanics related to
small cracks should be valid for fatigue limit prediction of the ma-
trix of high strength steel. On the basis of small crack mechanics,
an intrinsic crack length (a0) is used to correlate the fatigue limit of
the matrix of high strength steel (rw) and the threshold stress inten-
sity factor range of long fatigue cracks (DKth) [23]
 
1 DKth 2
a0 ¼ (4)
4p rw
DKth is assumed to be independent on inherent flaws. Smith
assumed that the fatigue limit of specimens including small cracks
would approach rw when the small crack length (a) was shorter
than a0 whereas it would decrease with increasing a [24].
021407-4 / Vol. 135, APRIL 2013
Downloaded From: http://pressurevesseltech.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/27/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
Fig. 8 Fatigue crack growth behavior of 17-4PH stainless steel
However, Tanaka et al. [23] summarized experimental data for a
wide variety of engineering alloys and found that Smith’s model
only showed the upper border of experimental data and El Had-
dad’s model [25] was more appropriate.
In the present study, the inclusions in 17-4PH stainless steel are
regarded as small cracks and half of the average size of the inclu-
sions (ai) is treated as small crack length. Substituting a ¼ ai in El
Haddad’s model, the experimentally obtained fatigue limit (r0w1 )
can be expressed as
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
r0w1 =rw1 ¼ a0 =ða0 þ ai Þ (5)
where rw1 is the fatigue limit of the matrix of high strength steel
under fully reversed fatigue loading. For 17-4PH stainless steel,
ai ¼ 5 lm and r0w1 ¼ 525 MPa. If a0 is known, rw1 can be pre-
dicted by Eq. (5). DKth can be obtained by fatigue crack growth
testing. Figure 8 shows fatigue crack growth behavior of 17-4PH
stainless steel at a frequency of 20 Hz and a stress ratio of R ¼ 0.1.
This figure mainly shows two different regimes, namely,
near-threshold regime and Paris regime. Fatigue crack growth rate
(da/dN) steeply decreases with decreasing DK in the near-threshold
regime and finally DK reaches the threshold value (DKth ¼ 4.4
MPa m1/2) at the rate of 108 mm/cycle. The Paris regime exhibits
a linear variation of log (da/dN) with log (DK) as follows
da=dN ¼ 2:8  109 ðDKÞ3:2 (6)
In general, fatigue crack growth tests are performed by using CT
specimens at a positive stress ratio (R > 0) whereas fatigue tests
are conducted under fully reversed loading (R ¼ 1). In order to
get a0, experimental data should be converted into the same stress
ratio. Relatively, methods for modifying fatigue test data are
mature. Goodman equation (10) is used in this study
rw ¼ rw1 ð1  rm =rTS Þ
rm ¼ rw ð1 þ RÞ=ð1  RÞ (7)
where rm and rTS are the mean stress and the tensile strength of
materials, respectively. By substituting all the available data
(DKth ¼ 4.4 Mpa m1/2, r0w1 ¼ 525 MPa, ai ¼ 5 lm, rTS ¼ 1073
MPa and R ¼ 0.1) in Eqs. (4), (5), and (7), the fatigue limit of the
matrix and the intrinsic crack length of 17-4PH stainless steel are
obtained: rw1 ¼ 629 MPa and a0 ¼ 11.5 lm. rw1 ¼ 629 MPa
instead of r0w1 applied to Eq. (1) yields a critical inclusion size of
4.6 lm determining whether the fatigue limit of 17-4PH stainless
steel is influenced by the inclusions or not. This calculation was
done by using the fatigue data and the fatigue crack growth data
Transactions of the ASME
 at different stress ratios, which is a more common case. As for the
simplest case, namely all the data at the identical stress ratio,
Goodman equation can be omitted. In addition, the calculated
results suggest that the fatigue limit of 17-4PH stainless steel will
be markedly improved if the inherent flaws are well controlled
and the cleanness of steel is very important for the safety of high
pressure apparatus.
As mentioned above, the modified Basquin equation well
described the dual-stage S-N curve of 17-4PH stainless steel. If
the modified Basquin equation used for the first stage is extrapo-
lated to 108 cycles, the fatigue limit of 627 MPa is obtained,
which is almost same as the predicted value of 629 MPa based on
small crack mechanics. In fact, such a value is rational for it
should be in the range of 750 MPa (the lowest applied stress level
in the first stage of S-N curve)-525 MPa (the experimentally
obtained fatigue limit reduced by inclusions).
As is well known, Murakami model is a practical method for
engineers and researchers to assess the influence of small defects
and nonmetallic inclusions on fatigue strength, based on statistical
results of a large amount experimental data. However, this study
indicates that the limitation of Murakami model has to be consid-
ered when engineers apply it to their design.
Conclusion
Fatigue properties of 17-4PH stainless steel have been investigated
and special attention has been paid to the fatigue limit of the matrix
of 17-4PH stainless steel. The following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) (1) 17-4PH stainless steel showed a distinct dual-stage S-N
curve: the location of crack initiation was on the surface at
high stress amplitude and it transited to the subsurface
inclusion (Al2O3) as the stress amplitude decreased.
(2) The model derived from small crack mechanics has been
presented to predict the fatigue limit of the matrix of 17-
4PH stainless steel, and its validity has been discussed by
comparing with the extrapolated result of the modified Bas-
quin equation.
Acknowledgment
The present work has been supported by Research Institute
Technology Development Special Fund (No. 2012EG219272),
Anhui Science and Technology Project for Tackling Key Prob-
lems (No. 1206c0805002) and JST-Project “Development of
Technology for Promoting Food Quality.”
References
[1] Hayashi, R., 2002, “High Pressure in Bioscience and Biotechnology: Pure Sci-
ence Encompassed in Pursuit of Value,” Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1595, pp.
397–399.
Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology
Downloaded From: http://pressurevesseltech.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/27/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
[2] Balny, C., 2006, “What Lies in the Future of High-Pressure Bioscience,” Bio-
chim. Biophys. Acta, 1764, pp.632–639.
[3] Aertsen, A., Meersman, F., Hendrickx, M. E. G., Vogel, R. F., and Michiels, C.
W., 2009, “Biotechnology Under High Pressure: Applications and
Implications,” Trends Biotechnol., 27, pp. 434–411.
[4] Smith, W. F., 1993, “Structure and Properties of Engineering Alloys,” 2nd ed.,
McGraw-Hill, New York.
[5] Bressan, J. D., Daros, D. P., Sokolowski, A., Mesquita, R. A., and Barbosa, C.
A., 2008, “Influence of Hardness on the Wear Resistance of 17-4 PH Stainless
Steel Evaluated by the Pin-on-Disc Testing,” J. Mater. Process. Technol., 205,
pp. 353–359.
[6] Mirzadeh, H., and Najafizadeh, A., 2009, “Aging Kinetics of 17-4 PH Stainless
Steel,” Mater. Chem. Phys., 116, pp. 119–124.
[7] Niimi, M., Matsui, Y., Jitsukawa, S., Hoshiya, T., Tsukada, T., Ohmi, M., Mim-
ura, H., Ooka, N., and Hide, K., 1999, “Properties of Precipitation Hardened
Steel Irradiated at 323K in the Japan Materials Testing Reactor,” J. Nucl.
Mater., 271–272, pp. 92–96.
[8] Ma, F. Y., and Wang, W. H., 2006, “Fatigue Crack Propagation Estimation of
SUS630 Shaft Based on Fracture Surface Analysis Under Pitting Corrosion
Condition,” Mater. Sci. Eng., 430, pp. 1–8.
[9] Raj, S. V., Ghosn, L. J., Lerch, B. A., Hebsur, M., Cosgriff, L. M., and Fedor,
J., 2007, “Mechanical Properties of 17-4 PH Stainless Steel Foam Panels,”
Mater. Sci. Eng., 456, pp. 305–316.
[10] Suresh, S., 1998, Fatigue of Materials, 2nd ed., Cambridge, New York.
[11] Frost, N. E., Marsh, K. J., and Pook, L. P., 1974, Metal Fatigue, Clarendon,
Oxford [Eng.].
[12] Stephens, R. I., Fatemi A., and Stephens, R. R., 2000, Metal Fatigue in Engi-
neering, 2nd ed., John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.
[13] Schijve, J., 2009, Fatigue of Structures and Materials, 2nd ed., Springer, New
York.
[14] Murakami, Y., Yokoyama, N. N., and Nagata, J., 2002, “Mechanism of Fatigue
Failure in Ultralong Life Regime,” Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater. Struct., 25,
pp.735–746.
[15] Liu, Y. B., Yang, Z. G., Li, Y. D., Chen, S. M., Li, S. X., Hui, W. J., and Weng,
Y. O., 2009, “Dependence of Fatigue Strength on Inclusion Size for High-
Strength Steels in Very High Cycle Fatigue Regime,” Mater. Sci. Eng., 517, pp.
180–184.
[16] Nakajima, M., Tokaji, K., Itoga, H., and Shimizu, T., 2010, “Effect of Loading
Condition on Very High Cycle Fatigue Behavior in a High Strength Steel,” Int.
J. Fatigue, 32, pp. 475–480.
[17] Bathias, C., and Paris, P. C., 2005, Gigacycle Fatigue in Mechanical Practice,
Marcel Dekker, New York.
[18] Murakami, Y., 2002, Metal Fatigue: Effects of Small Defects and Nonmetallic
Inclusions, Elsevier, Oxford.
[19] Sakai, T., Sato, Y., and Oguma, N., 2002, “Characteristic S-N Properties of
High-Carbon-Chromium-Bearing Steel Under Axial Loading in Long-Life
Fatigue,” Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater. Struct., 25, pp. 765–773.
[20] Shiozawa, K., and Lu, L., 2002, “Very High-Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Shot-
Peened High-Carbon-Chromium Bearing Steel,” Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater.
Struct., 25, pp. 813–822.
[21] Ochi, Y., Matsumura, T., Masaki, K., and Yoshida, S., 2002, “High-Cycle
Rotating Bending Fatigue Property in Very Long-Life Regime of High-
Strength Steels,” Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater. Struct., 25, pp. 823–830.
[22] Zhang, J. M., Li, S. X., Yang, Z. G., Li, G. Y., Hui, W. J., and Weng, Y. Q.,
2007, “Influence of Inclusion Size on Fatigue Behavior of High
Strength Steels in the Gigacycle Fatigue Regime,” Int. J. Fatigue, 29, pp.
765–771.
[23] Tanaka, K., Nakai, Y., and Yamashita, M., 1981, “Fatigue Growth Threshold of
Small Cracks,” Int. J. Fracture, 17, pp. 519–533.
[24] Smith, R. A., 1977, “On the Short Crack Limitations of Fracture Mechanics,”
Int. J. Fracture, 13, pp. 717–720.
[25] EL Haddad, M. H., Topper, T. H., and Smith, K. N., 1979, “Prediction of Non
Propagating Cracks,” Eng. Fracture Mech., 11, pp. 573–584.
APRIL 2013, Vol. 135 / 021407-5