INTRODUCTION

FATIGUE IS A PROCESS OF CONTINUOUS ACCUMULATION OF STRESSES IN THE

COMPONENT UNDERGOING CYCLIC LOADS AND EVENTUALLY LEADING TO FAILURE.

THE PRIMARY FEATURE OF FATIGUE FAILURE IS THAT IT IS NOT A SUDDEN FAILURE,

BUT A FAILURE EXPERIENCED AFTER A CERTAIN NUMBER OF CYCLES UNDER CYCLIC

CONDITIONS. HENCE, FATIGUE ANALYSIS SERVICES ARE IMPORTANT IN ENGINEERING

TO DETERMINE WHETHER AN ENGINEERING COMPONENT UNDERGOING CYCLING

LOADING OR STRESS PATTERN IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO DAMAGE INITIATION AND FATIGUE

FAILURE. FATIGUE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY SINCE OVER 90

PERCENT OF MECHANICAL FAILURES OCCUR DUE TO FATIGUE FAILURE.

FATIGUE FAILURE CAN HAPPEN DUE TO VARIOUS REASONS SUCH AS RESIDUAL

STRESSES, FLOW PRESSURES, EXPOSURE TO AGGRESSIVE ENVIRONMENTS SUCH AS

OCEAN WAVES, CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENTS DUE TO ELECTROCHEMICAL REACTIONS,

TEMPERATURE ELEVATIONS, AND VARIOUS OTHER REASONS. MANY OF THE

STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS ARE THOROUGHLY TESTED FOR FATIGUE FAILURE SUCH

AS USING NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING (NDT) TO IDENTIFY INITIATION AND

PROPAGATION OF CRACKS. FATIGUE TESTING FOR OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES IN A

LABORATORY INVOLVES REPLICATING THE EXACT MECHANICAL EFFECTS FACED BY

THE MATERIALS ON SITE. THE TESTING INVOLVES REPLICATING THE FORCE AND

STRAIN AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE ACTUAL SITUATION AND STUDYING VARIOUS

FORMS OF FAILURE SUCH AS CRACK DEVELOPMENT AND CYCLES TO FAILURE.

HOWEVER, WITH LABORATORY ENVIRONMENTS, ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF TEST

CASES CAN BE REPLICATED AND STUDIED AND IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE TO PERFORM

FATIGUE TESTING ON MASSIVE STRUCTURES. THEREFORE, ADVANCED METHODS SUCH

AS FATIGUE ANALYSIS USING FEA HAVE BEEN USED TO PRODUCE RELIABLE RESULTS

FOR PREDICTING FATIGUE FAILURES IN COMPONENTS.

l. DEFINITION

FATIGUE STRENGTH

FATIGUE STRENGTH IS A KEY PROPERTY (ALONGSIDE OTHER PARAMETERS SUCH AS

IMPACT STRENGTH, FLEXURAL STRENGTH, STIFFNESS, ABRASION RESISTANCE, EASE OF

REPAIR ETC.) USED IN THE SELECTION OF APPROPRIATE PIPE MATERIALS FOR SPECIFIED

TRENCHLESS APPLICATIONS.

FATIGUE IS GENERALLY A CAUSE FOR CONCERN AND A LIMITING FACTOR IN PVC

(POLYVINYL CHLORIDE) PIPES IN POTABLE WATER SYSTEMS. IN THIS APPLICATION,

FATIGUE IS MOST COMMONLY CAUSED BY PRESSURE SURGES FROM RAPID CHANGE IN

LIQUID VELOCITIES IN THE PIPELINE DUE TO RAPID VALVE CLOSURE OR PUMP

TRIGGERING. IN CONTRAST, HDPE (HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE) PIPES ARE FLEXIBLE

AND DUCTILE MAKING THEM HIGHLY RESILIENT TO FATIGUE LOADING DUE TO SURGE

EVENTS THAT ARE COMMON IN POTABLE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS.

THE FATIGUE STRENGTH OF A MATERIAL IS DEFINED AS THE HIGHEST STRESS VALUE

THAT A MATERIAL CAN BE SUBJECTED TO FOR A SPECIFIED NUMBER OF CYCLES

WITHOUT RESULTING IN FAILURE. THIS TERM SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH

FATIGUE LIMIT, WHICH DESCRIBES THE STRESS VALUE BELOW WHICH A MATERIAL

CAN ENDURE AN INFINITE NUMBER OF STRESS CYCLES.

FATIGUE STRENGTH IS TYPICALLY USED FOR NON-METALLIC MATERIALS (SUCH AS

PLASTICS), WHICH DO NOT HAVE A WELL-DEFINED FATIGUE LIMIT.

ll. IMPORTANCE

A FATIGUE TEST HELPS DETERMINE A MATERIAL’S ABILITY TO WITHSTAND CYCLIC

FATIGUE LOADING CONDITIONS. BY DESIGN, A MATERIAL IS SELECTED TO MEET OR

EXCEED SERVICE LOADS THAT ARE ANTICIPATED IN FATIGUE TESTING APPLICATIONS.

CYCLIC FATIGUE TESTS PRODUCE REPEATED LOADING AND UNLOADING IN TENSION,

COMPRESSION, BENDING, TORSION OR COMBINATIONS OF THESE STRESSES. FATIGUE

TESTS ARE COMMONLY LOADED IN TENSION – TENSION, COMPRESSION – COMPRESSION

AND TENSION INTO COMPRESSION AND REVERSE.

 TO PERFORM A FATIGUE TEST A SAMPLE IS LOADED INTO A FATIGUE TESTER OR

FATIGUE TEST MACHINE AND LOADED USING THE PRE-DETERMINED TEST STRESS,

THEN UNLOADED TO EITHER ZERO LOAD OR AN OPPOSITE LOAD. THIS CYCLE OF

LOADING AND UNLOADING IS THEN REPEATED UNTIL THE END OF THE TEST IS

REACHED. THE TEST MAY BE RUN TO A PRE-DETERMINED NUMBER OF CYCLES OR

UNTIL THE SAMPLE HAS FAILED DEPENDING ON THE PARAMETERS OF THE TEST.

THERE ARE SEVERAL COMMON TYPES OF FATIGUE TESTING AS WELL AS TWO

COMMON FORMS: LOAD CONTROLLED HIGH CYCLE AND STRAIN CONTROLLED LOW

CYCLE FATIGUE. A HIGH CYCLE TEST TENDS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH LOADS IN THE

ELASTIC REGIME AND LOW CYCLE FATIGUE TESTS GENERALLY INVOLVE PLASTIC

DEFORMATIONS.

NEARLY ALL MATERIALS MAY EXPERIENCE FATIGUE IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

DURING THE LIFESPAN OF THEIR APPLICATION. HOWEVER, IN APPLICATIONS WHERE

FATIGUE IS A FACTOR IT IS COMMON TO FIND COMPONENTS MADE FROM METALS OR

COMPOSITES. THESE MATERIALS HAVE A HIGHER FATIGUE LIMIT THAN OTHERS

BECAUSE OF THE RIGIDITY AND DUCTILITY, WHICH ARE CHARACTERISTICS THAT TEND

TO INCREASE FATIGUE STRENGTH. OTHER MATERIALS, SUCH AS, POLYMERS, CERAMICS

AND WOOD MAY EXPERIENCE FATIGUE AND ALSO NEED TO BE TESTED TO

UNDERSTAND HOW THEY WILL RESPOND TO THESE UNIQUE STRESS COMBINATIONS.

lll. PROPERTIES

FATIGUE PROPERTIES ARE AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF

MECHANICAL

RESPONSE OF MATERIALS, AND SUFFICIENT FATIGUE RESISTANCE IS CRUCIAL FOR

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS. IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH

DAMAGE ACCUMULATION UNDER CYCLIC LOADING EVENTUALLY LEADING TO

FRACTURE.

OVER THE LAST DECADE THE FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF AL ALLOYS PROCESSED BY ECAP

(IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER THERMOMECHANICAL TREATMENTS) HAVE BEEN

STUDIED EXTENSIVELY. INDEED, ECAP PROCESSED BILLETS ARE USUALLY

SUFFICIENTLY BIG FOR

OBTAINING SAMPLES OF UFG METALS AND ALLOYS REQUIRED FOR FATIGUE TESTS. A

RECENT OVERVIEW OF THE RESULTS CAN BE FOUND IN THE WORK.

THE FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF A SINGLE FIBRE ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD DUE

TO THE DIFFICULTIES IN FATIGUE TESTING. TYPICALLY, THE DIAMETER OF A FIBRE IS

IN THE RANGE OF 5–10 ΜM, MAKING IT VERY DIFFICULT TO APPLY A TRUE AXIAL

CYCLIC STRESS TO A SINGLE FIBRE. USING FIBRE BUNDLES FOR TESTING CAN SOLVE

THIS PROBLEM TO SOME EXTENT BUT USUALLY LEADS TO ANOTHER PROBLEM,

FRICTION BETWEEN THE FIBRES

THE FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF STEEL ARE CLOSELY LINKED TO THE INCLUSION

POPULATION. IN FACT, THE FATIGUE STRENGTH OF BALL BEARINGS, OF FLAPPER

VALVES, OF MANY HIGH STRENGTHS AND SEVERAL HARDENED STEELS CAN OFTEN BE

ADEQUATELY PREDICTED FROM THE TENSILE STRENGTH AND INCLUSION

MICROSTRUCTURE.

FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF FRACTURE MECHANICS NONMETALLIC INCLUSIONS ARE

EQUIVALENT TO SMALL DEFECTS OR CRACKS. INCLUSION PARAMETERS SUCH AS SIZE,

SHAPE, AND LOCATION INFLUENCE THE FATIGUE STRENGTH BUT INCLUSION

COMPOSITION ALSO HAS AN INFLUENCE.

AN IMPORTANT PARAMETER IS THE CRITICAL INCLUSION SIZE WHICH SHOULD

GIVE A THRESHOLD VALUE FOR FATIGUE CRACK PROPAGATION AND BELOW WHICH

VALUE THE INFLUENCE OF INCLUSIONS IS NEGLIGIBLE. SUCH VALUES HAVE BEEN

CALCULATED FOR ROLLING CONTACT FATIGUE CONDITIONS AND IT IS NOW POSSIBLE

TO PREDICT HOW DANGEROUS DIFFERENT INCLUSION TYPES ARE FOR FATIGUE

FAILURE. WITH THE

ULTRASONIC SCANNING TECHNIQUE, THE CONTENT OF INCLUSIONS LARGER

THAN THE CRITICAL SIZE (50–100 ΜM) CAN NOW BE MONITORED AND FED BACK TO

DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE STEEL-MAKING PLANT. FOR BALL-BEARING STEELS

ADVANCED METHODS FOR DETECTING MACROINCLUSIONS ABOVE THE CRITICAL SIZE,

AND LADLE METALLURGY DEVELOPMENTS WITH OXYGEN CLEANLINESS VALUES

DOWN TO 4–5 PPM HAS MEANT GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN FATIGUE LIFE. IN ADDITION

TO ALUMINATE OXIDE INCLUSIONS, TITANIUM (WHICH IS INTRODUCED WITH THE

FERROCHROMIUM) ALSO FORMS UNDESIRABLE CARBIDE OR NITRIDE INCLUSIONS (SEE

NEXT SECTION).
 ROTATING BENDING FATIGUE TESTS ON HARDENED BEARING STEEL HAVE

SHOWN THAT TI(CN) INCLUSIONS AS SMALL AS 3 ΜM MAY CAUSE FATIGUE FAILURE

AND THAT THEY ARE SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER THAN THE CORRESPONDING

ALUMINATE INCLUSIONS (17 ΜM). IT SEEMS TO BE THE SHAPE AND THERMAL

PROPERTIES WHICH MAKE THE TITANIUM COMPOUNDS MORE HARMFUL THAN THE

ALUMINATES, BUT INTERNAL CRACKING OF THE ALUMINATE INCLUSIONS LEADS TO A

REDUCED FATIGUE LIFE. THEORETICAL CALCULATIONS, BY MEANS OF FINITE ELEMENT

METHODS OF THE DRIVING FORCES FOR SHORT CRACKS SUPPORT THESE RESULTS AND

ENABLE ARRANGEMENT IN ORDER OF DECREASING HARMFULNESS, THROUGH

CRACKED ALUMINATE,

lV. CHARACTERISTICS

MECHANICAL FATIGUE

FATIGUE DAMAGE DEVELOPS AS A RESULT EXPOSURE TO OF CYCLIC STRESSES

FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. IT’S WORTHY TO NOTE THAT NUMEROUS CLASSES

OF COMPONENTS (E.G. ROTATING EQUIPMENT AND PRESSURE REDUCTION VALVES)

DESIGNED FOR ALTERNATING MECHANICAL STRESSES ARE NOT USUALLY SUBJECT TO

FATIGUE FAILURE UNLESS DAMAGED BY SOME OTHER MECHANISM (E.G. FOREIGN

OBJECT IMPACT DAMAGE OR CORROSION). THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF FATIGUE CAN

GENERALLY BE CLASSIFIED AS MECHANICAL.

VIBRATION FATIGUE

VIBRATION FATIGUE IS A TYPE OF MECHANICAL FATIGUE CAUSED BY

VIBRATION OF EQUIPMENT OR PIPING DURING OPERATION. AS AN EXAMPLE,

VIBRATION FATIGUE

COULD OCCUR AS A RESULT OF OPERATING EQUIPMENT BEYOND DESIGNATED

INTEGRITY OPERATING WINDOWS. VIBRATION-INDUCED FATIGUE DAMAGE IS

TYPICALLY CAUSED BY POOR DESIGN, LACK OF SUPPORT (OR DAMPENERS), OR

EXCESSIVE SUPPORT OR STIFFNESS. THE AMPLITUDE AND FREQUENCY OF VIBRATION

ARE CRITICAL FACTORS FOR

VIBRATION FATIGUE DAMAGE THAT LEADS TO CRACK INITIATION AND CRACK

PROPAGATION.

CORROSION FATIGUE

CORROSION FATIGUE OCCURS FROM THE SIMULTANEOUS ACTIONS OF

CHEMICAL ATTACK AND MECHANICAL FATIGUE. CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENTS ARE

KNOWN FOR DETERIORATING METAL. AS CORROSION DEVELOPS, THE AREA OF

DAMAGE SERVES AS A POINT OF STRESS CONCENTRATION AND RESULTS IN THE

INITIATION OF A CRACK. THIN FILMS AND COATINGS ARE APPLIED TO PROTECT

EQUIPMENT FROM CORROSION; HOWEVER, MECHANICAL FATIGUE WILL FREQUENTLY

DAMAGE THESE FILMS AND EXPOSE THE EQUIPMENT TO THE SURROUNDING

CONDITIONS.

THERMAL FATIGUE

THERMAL FATIGUE IS SIMPLY A FAILURE THAT IS INDUCED BY CYCLIC

TEMPERATURE CHANGES. THIS MECHANISM IS MOST OFTEN ENCOUNTERED IN THE

TUBE ASSEMBLIES OF FIRED HEATERS. MECHANICAL FATIGUE MAY OR MAY NOT BE

PRESENT. IN MOST SERVICES, THERMAL FATIGUE IS CAUSED BY START-UPS AND SHUT-

DOWNS. SUDDEN TEMPERATURE CHANGES ARE REFERRED TO AS THERMAL SHOCK

AND RESULT IN IMMEDIATE FAILURE.

START-UPS AND SHUT-DOWNS INCREASE THE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO THERMAL FATIGUE.

RAPID HEATING AND COOLING RATES ALSO INCREASE SUSCEPTIBILITY. ONE RULE-OF-

THUMB INDICATES THAT THERMAL FATIGUE IS LIKELY TO DEVELOP IF THE

TEMPERATURE SWING BETWEEN EXCEEDS 200°F OPERATING TEMPERATURE AND SHUT-

DOWN.

MITIGATION MEASURES FOR THERMAL FATIGUE

CONVENTIONAL PRACTICE IS TO MINIMIZE THE RISK OF THERMAL FATIGUE BY PROPER

DESIGN AND OPERATION IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE THERMAL STRESSES AND THERMAL

CYCLING. SUCH MEASURES INCLUDE:

DESIGNS THAT MINIMIZE STRESS CONCENTRATION SITES, BLEND GRINDING OF WELD

PROFILES AND REQUIRING THAT TRANSITIONS IN THICKNESS BE GRADUAL AND

SMOOTH.

USE OF CONTROLLED RATES OF HEATING AND COOLING RATES DURING START-UP AND

SHUT-DOWN.

MINIMIZING THE FREQUENCY OF START-UPS AND SHUT-DOWNS, PARTICULARLY

“TRIPS.”

MINIMIZING DIFFERENTIAL THERMAL EXPANSION IN DISSIMILAR METAL JOINTS.

WHERE POSSIBLE, INCORPORATE FLEXIBILITY THAT WILL ACCOMMODATE

DIFFERENTIAL EXPANSION.

Vl. ADVANTAGE

FATIGUE IS A TYPE OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE PREVALENT IN CYCLICALLY

LOADED STRUCTURES. THE FATIGUE IS CHARACTERIZED BY AN INITIATION AND

GROWTH OF CRACKS THAT WILL EVENTUALLY RESULT IN A CATASTROPHIC FRACTURE

OF A MATERIAL. UNLIKE THE STRUCTURAL FAILURE CAUSED BY AN OVERLOAD,

FATIGUE DAMAGE DEVELOPS UNDER THE MAGNITUDE OF THE STRESSES BELOW THE

MATERIAL’S YIELD STRENGTH, AND THEREFORE TENDS TO COVERTLY MANIFEST

WITHOUT DEFORMING OR SHOWING OBVIOUS “WARNING SIGNS”. THE RATE AT WHICH

A FATIGUE CRACK GROWS IS DEPENDENT ON THE MATERIAL’S PROPERTIES AS WELL AS

THE INTENSITY AND CYCLE FREQUENCY OF THE APPLIED LOAD. FATIGUE TESTING IS A

CRUCIAL PROCEDURE USED BY ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS TO HELP PREDICT THE

DURABILITY OF A PART OR COMPONENT UNDER ITS OPERATING CONDITIONS. TO

APPRECIATE THE VALUE OF FATIGUE TESTING, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO FIRST UNDERSTAND

THE PHENOMENON. FATIGUE TESTING IS USED TO EVALUATE A MATERIAL’S (AND

COMPONENT’S) STRUCTURAL DURABILITY BY TESTING AND ANALYZING ITS ABILITY

TO WITHSTAND CYCLIC LOADING CONDITIONS.

DISADVANTAGE

ACCORDING TO GOST 25502–79, THE FATIGUE LIMIT IS FOUND BY TESTING NOT

LESS THAN 6–8 SPECIMENS TO DETERMINE THE HIGHEST STRESS AT WHICH THE

MATERIAL DOES NOT FRACTURE AT A PRESET NUMBER OF CYCLES (THE TEST BASE).
THE FATIGUE LIMIT FOR STEELS IS DETERMINED ON A BASE OF 5–10 MILLION CYCLES.

FOR LIGHT ALLOYS THIS BASE AMOUNTS TO 20 MILLION CYCLES.

THE FIRST SPECIMEN IN FATIGUE TESTS IS USUALLY LOADED TO A STRESS VALUE

WHICH IS EQUAL TO 0.6 OF THE VALUE OF TENSILE STRENGTH OF THE MATERIAL, ΣB,

WHILE FOR LIGHT

ALLOYS THIS STRESS IS EQUAL TO 0.4ΣB. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS A LIMITATION IN

FATIGUE TESTING.

Vll. USAGE

USUALLY THE PURPOSE OF A FATIGUE TEST IS TO DETERMINE THE LIFESPAN

THAT MAY BE EXPECTED FROM A MATERIAL SUBJECTED TO CYCLIC LOADING,

HOWEVER FATIGUE STRENGTH AND CRACK RESISTANCE ARE COMMONLY SOUGHT

VALUES AS WELL. THE FATIGUE LIFE OF A MATERIAL IS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF

CYCLES THAT A MATERIAL CAN BE SUBJECTED TO UNDER A SINGLE LOADING SCHEME.

A FATIGUE TEST IS ALSO USED FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE MAXIMUM LOAD

THAT A SAMPLE CAN WITHSTAND FOR A SPECIFIED NUMBER OF CYCLES. ALL OF THESE

CHARACTERISTICS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN ANY INDUSTRY WHERE A

MATERIAL IS SUBJECT TO FLUCTUATING INSTEAD OF CONSTANT FORCES.

References:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/fatigue-property

https://www.testresources.net/applications/test-types/fatigue-test/

https://fractory.com/material-fatigue-strength/

https://www.testdevices.com/blog/the-value-of-fatigue-testing/#:~:text=Fatigue%20testing%20is%20a

%20crucial,component%20under%20its%20operating%20conditions.
V. TABLES/FIGURES/GRAPH
FATIGUE TESTING

FATIGUE CYCLE
STRESS LIFE FATIGUE TESTING BASICS