Fatigue Crack Initiation and Propagation of Binder-Treated

Powder Metallurgy Steels

S.J. POLASIK, J.J. WILLIAMS, and N. CHAWLA

Many of the targeted applications for powder-metallurgy materials, particularly in the automotive
industry, undergo cyclic loading. It is, therefore, essential to examine the fatigue mechanisms in these
materials. The mechanisms of fatigue-crack initiation and propagation in ferrous powder-metallurgy
components have been investigated. The fatigue mechanisms are controlled primarily by the inherent
porosity present in these materials. Since most, if not all, fatigue cracks initiate and propagate at the
specimen surface, surface replication was used to determine the role of surface porosity in relation
to fatigue behavior. Surface replication provides detailed information on both initiation sites and on
the propagation path of fatigue cracks. The effect of microstructural features such as pore size and
pore shape, as well as the heterogeneous microstructure on crack deflection, was examined and is
discussed. Fracture surfaces were examined to elucidate a mechanistic understanding of fatigue
processes in these materials.

I. INTRODUCTION from enhanced bonding of particles. Additionally, there is

SINTERED powder-metallurgy components are in-
creasingly replacing wrought alloys in many applications,
due to their high performance, low cost, and ability to be
processed to near-net shapes.
The main thrust toward higher performance in powder-
metallurgy alloys has been achieved by introducing alloying
additions such as Mo, Mn, Cu, and Ni. While alloying addi-
tions increase the strength of the Fe alloy, in elemental
form they may oxidize or diffuse inhomogeneously into
the surrounding Fe particles. Introduction of the alloying
additions during melting atomization to form prealloyed Fe
particles is effective, but significantly decreases the com-
pressibility of the powders. In conventional powder-metal-
lurgy processing, “diffusion-alloyed” powders have typically
been used. This process involves bonding iron and alloying
particles through an intermediate annealing step which
allows partial diffusion and sintering of the particles to take
place, prior to pressing and sintering. Binder treatment of
the powder mixture prior to pressing and sintering is a new
and effective technique to increase the compressibility of
prealloyed powders, eliminating the diffusion-alloying step,
while still minimizing segregation.[1–5] In the binder-treated
process, a polymeric binder mechanically bonds the alloying
additions to the larger iron particles (Figure 1). The enhance-
ment in compressibility of the powder mixture is accompa-
nied by a smaller path for diffusion during sintering, which
results in enhanced densification of the sintered product.
Burnout of the binder is accomplished either by a debinding
step (at an intermediate temperature below the sintering
temperature) or by heating at a relatively slow rate until the
sintering temperature is reached. Other advantages of binder
processing include faster and more consistent flow into the
die cavity and an increased green strength, which results
S.J. POLASIK, Undergraduate Research Assistant, J.J. WILLIAMS,
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, and N. CHAWLA, Assistant Professor, are
with the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Arizona State
University, Tempe, AZ 85287-6006.
Manuscript submitted May 10, 2001.
a reduction of fine-particle dusting, resulting in more effi-
cient use of alloy powders.
Sintered ferrous materials are typically characterized by
a porous and heterogeneous microstructure which develops
from incomplete diffusion of alloying elements during sin-
tering. Due to the incomplete diffusion of alloying elements,
multiple phases are formed. The detrimental effect of poros-
ity on the mechanical properties of powder-metallurgy com-
ponents is fairly well known.[4–10] Under monotonic tensile
loading, porosity reduces the effective load-bearing cross-
sectional area and acts as a stress-concentration site for
damage, decreasing both strength and ductility.[7] One may
characterize the porosity in these materials as either intercon-
nected or isolated in nature. Isolated porosity results in more
homogeneous deformation, while interconnected porosity
causes an increase in the localization of strain at relatively
smaller sintered regions between particles. Thus, for a given
amount of porosity, interconnected porosity is more effective
in reducing macroscopic ductility.[7,9]
Porosity also significantly affects fatigue performance,
although the role of porosity in fatigue is somewhat different
than that in tension. In many investigations,[4–6,8–10] crack
initiation occurred at pores or pore clusters located at or
near the surface of the specimen. Holmes and Queeney[8]
proposed that the relatively high stress concentration at
pores, particularly surface pores, is responsible for localized
slip leading to crack initiation. In general, an angular pore
creates a higher stress concentration and stress-intensity fac-
tor than a round pore.[10] Christian and German[9] showed
that total porosity, pore size, pore shape, and pore separation
are important factors that control the fatigue behavior of
powder-metallurgy materials. Pores have also been proposed
to act as linkage sites for crack propagation through
interpore ligaments.[4,5,10]
In this study, we have examined the fatigue behavior of
a binder-treated Fe-0.85Mo-Cu-Ni alloy. Comparisons are
made with the fatigue resistance of diffusion-alloyed materi-
als of similar composition. Recent limited data indicate that
binder-treated materials have similar tensile and fatigue

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A VOLUME 33A, JANUARY 2002—73


Fig. 1—SEM micrograph of alloying additions bonded to iron particles by
the binder.
properties to those of diffusion-alloyed materials.[4,5] A thor-
ough examination of crack initiation and propagation in
these materials, particularly the behavior of short fatigue
cracks, was conducted. Short cracks range in size from a
fraction of a millimeter to several millimeters and have been
shown to propagate at much faster rates than long fatigue
cracks under the same driving force.[11] Additionally, short
cracks propagate at stress intensities well below the long-
crack stress-intensity factor, (⌬Kth). It will be shown that
short fatigue cracks are important in causing fatigue damage
and failure in these materials. By using surface replication, a
detailed and in-situ understanding of fatigue-crack initiation
and propagation processes in these materials was obtained.
Since the preferred initiation site for fatigue cracks is fre-
quently the specimen surface, surface replication is an ideal
means to study crack initiation and growth of short cracks.
The heterogeneous nature of the microstructure in these
materials results in significant crack deflection, which has
also been modeled to adequately characterize the effective
stress intensity for fatigue-crack growth.
II. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL
PROCEDURE
Powder mixtures of an Fe-0.85Mo prealloy, 1.5 pct Cu,
1.75 pct Ni, and 0.6 pct graphite were binder treated using
a proprietary process developed by Hoeganaes Corp.[1,2,3]
All powders were pressed into rectangular blanks to a green
density of 7.0 g/cm3 and sintered at 1120 ⬚C for 30 minutes
in a 90 pct N2-10 pct H2 reducing atmosphere. The as-
sintered microstructure of the powder-metallurgy alloys was
examined by etching with a 2 pct Nital solution. Digital
image-analysis techniques were used to determine the pore
morphology (pore size and shape distribution). In order to
characterize the pore structure, both the pore size and shape
distribution were determined from optical micrographs of
cross-sections of the samples. The pore size was estimated by
measuring the pore area, while pore shape was characterized
using a shape-form factor (F ):
4␲A
F⫽ 2 [1]
P
where A is the measured pore area and P is the measured
74—VOLUME 33A, JANUARY 2002
pore perimeter. For the shape-form factor, a value of “1”
denotes a perfectly round pore, and values that approach
zero denote increasingly irregular pores.
Uniform-diameter cylindrical specimens for tensile and
axial fatigue were machined from the sintered rectangular
blanks. The specimens had a diameter of 5 mm and a gage
length of 15 mm.[12] All testing was conducted on a servohy-
draulic frame. Tensile tests were conducted in strain control
at a constant strain rate of 10⫺3/s, while fatigue testing was
conducted in load control, with an R-ratio (␴min/␴max) of ⫺1
and a frequency of 40 Hz (40 cycles per second). Fatigue
specimens were hand polished, using diamond paste, to a 1
␮m finish. Surface replication was conducted by interrupting
the fatigue test and placing the sample under a relatively
small tensile load (⬃0.25 ␴max) to avoid closure of any
fatigue cracks during the replicating procedure. The entire
gage section was then bathed with acetone and subsequently
covered with cellulose acetate tape. After the solvent (ace-
tone) evaporated and the replicating tape dried, the replicas
were flattened onto double-stick tape and placed between
two microscope slides. Using an optical microscope, digital
micrographs were taken of the entire replicated surface at
various fatigue cycles. The largest crack present on the last
replica prior to failure was identified on prior replicas until
the point of crack initiation. The resolution of the surface
replicas allowed identification of cracks greater than about
15 ␮m. Details of the surface-replication technique may be
obtained elsewhere.[13,14]
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Microstructure
During sintering, multiple phases are formed due to local-
ized variations in composition. The microstructure of the Fe-
0.85Mo-1.5Cu-1.75Ni-0.6 graphite alloy, in the as-sintered
condition, is shown in Figure 2. The residual porosity from
sintering may be characterized as either primary or second-
ary (Figure 2(a)). Primary porosity consists of larger pores
which result from geometric packing of the particles or from
binder burnout. Secondary porosity is typically smaller in
nature and may be attributed to residual porosity from liquid-
phase formation and diffusion of alloying additions, such as
copper. A heterogeneous microstructure consisting of mar-
tensite, nickel-rich ferrite, and divorced pearlite (termed
“divorced” since it is not lamellar, as in conventional pearl-
ite) was observed, as shown in Figure 2(b), and nickel-rich
regions surrounding pores were also observed (Figure 2(c)).
Results of the pore-size and shape analyses are shown in
Figure 3. The pore-size and shape analyses show that the
microstructure consists of pores with sizes below 300 ␮m2
and relatively irregular shapes (shape factors are between
0.4 and 0.7). The largest fraction of pores has an area of
about 75 ␮m2. The irregularity of the pores suggests a greater
amount of local stress concentration and, subsequently, a
larger amount of potential fatigue-crack initiation sites than
in a similar material with perfectly spherical porosity.
B. Tensile Behavior
The tensile stress-strain behavior of the Fe-0.85Mo-
1.5Cu-1.75Ni-0.6 graphite alloy is shown in Figure 4. Table
I summarizes the tensile properties of this alloy. Porosity
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A
 (a)
(a)

(b)
(b)
Fig. 3—Distributions in (a) pore size and (b) pore shape in powder-metal-
lurgy alloy.

(c) Fig. 4—Tensile stress-strain behavior of the binder-treated alloy.

Fig. 2—Microstructure of powder-metallurgy material tested in as-sintered
condition: (a) primary and secondary porosity, (b) heterogeneous nature
of the microstructure, and (c) nickel-rich areas from incomplete sintering
of Ni.
clearly decreases the elastic modulus over that of wrought-
alloy steel. Macroscopic ductility due to strain localization
of the sintered neck regions is also significantly lower than

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A VOLUME 33A, JANUARY 2002—75

 Table I. Tensile Properties of Fe-0.85Mo Binder-Treated
Alloy
0.2 Pct
Proportional Offset Ultimate
Elastic Limit Yield Tensile Strain-to-
Modulus Stress Stress Strength Failure
(GPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (Pct)
121 233 526 774 1.83

that of most fully dense wrought alloys. The locally hard

phases shown in Figure 2 may also contribute to a higher
work-hardening rate and lower ductility than that exhibited
in wrought materials. The tensile strength of these materials
has also been shown to increase with Mo content.[5] An
increase in fraction of carbides with increasing Mo content
may account for this behavior. It is important to note that
the onset of microplasticity, given by the proportional-limit
stress (taken here as the point at which the stress deviates (a)
1 pct from linearity) or the stress at which the stress-strain
curve begins to deviate from linearity, takes place at a stress
much lower than the 0.2 pct offset yield stress. The
microplasticity can be attributed to the localized stress con-
centrations and yielding that takes place in sintered necks
between very closely spaced pores.[15]
Fractographic examination of tensile surfaces indicated
localized microvoid growth and coalescence at sintered
necks (Figure 5(a)). Regions where particle contact was not
present, and, thus, sintering did not take place, were also
apparent. Cleavage fracture, in what are thought to be pearl-
itic colonies, was also observed. It should be noted that
damage was more predominant in the form of localized
ductile rupture of sintered necks. Given the lower strength
and localized higher ductility of these necks, it is plausible
that it is the dominant mode of damage during tensile
deformation.

C. Fatigue Behavior
The stress vs cycles behavior of the Fe-Mo steel is shown
in Figure 6 (fatigue run-out was taken as 107 cycles). The
results of the present investigation are compared to the
results of Chawla et al.,[5] who studied an Fe-Mo alloy with
0.5 pct Mo (using similar specimen dimensions and surface-
preparation techniques to this study). A distinct increase in
fatigue strength with increasing Mo content is observed,
which, as in the case of tensile behavior, may be attributed
to a higher fraction of carbides.
Quantification of stress-strain behavior can shed some
insight into the fatigue mechanisms in these alloys, particu-
larly relating to cyclic hardening or cyclic softening. The
width of the stress-strain hysteresis loop at zero stress was
used to determine the cyclic plastic strain amplitude, and
the slope of the loop, i.e., the secant modulus, was used to
estimate fatigue damage. In this analysis, a useful parameter
to quantify the evolution of damage is the damage parame-
ter[16] (DE), defined as
E indicating cyclic hardening, followed by a gradual increase,
DE ⫽ 1 ⫺ [2]
Eo
where E is the secant modulus at any given number of cycles
(b)
Fig. 5—SEM micrographs of tensile fracture: (a) ductile rupture in localized
sinter bonds and (b) cleavage in large pearlitic grains.
and Eo is the elastic modulus of the as-sintered material.
Figure 7(a) shows the evolution of the damage parameter
for specimens in the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) and high-cycle
fatigue (HCF) regime. The number of cycles to the onset of
crack initiation of the LCF specimen, from surface-replica-
tion measurements, is denoted by Ni . The onset of crack
initiation correlates fairly well with the point at which DE
shows a noticeable increase. As expected, the extent of dam-
age was much lower in the HCF regime.
The plastic-strain amplitude seems to be much more sensi-
tive to cyclic hardening and cyclic softening (Figure 7(b))
than the damage parameter. In the LCF regime, the plastic-
strain amplitude decreases relatively early in the fatigue life,
i.e., cyclic softening, until failure takes place. Cyclic soften-
ing correlates well with the onset of crack initiation and an
increase in damage. Lindstead and Karlsson[17] conducted

76—VOLUME 33A, JANUARY 2002 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A


Fig. 6—Comparison of binder-treated alloys with 0.5 pct Mo[5] and 0.85
pct Mo. An increase in Mo results in an increase in fatigue life.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7—(a) Damage parameter and (b) plastic strain data from stress-strain
hysteresis measurements during fatigue. The specimens tested in the HCF
regime (210 MPa) exhibit cyclic hardening and gradual cyclic softening,
while specimens tested in the LCF regime (300 MPa) remain relatively
unchanged. Ni, the number of cycles to crack initiation determined from
surface replication, for the LCF specimen is indicated.
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A
Fig. 8—Ratio of cycles to initiation to cycles to failure. Note that in the
LCF regime a significant fraction of life is spent in crack propagation,
while in the HCF regime, most of the fatigue life is spent in crack initiation.
strain-controlled LCF fatigue tests on powder-metallurgy
stainless steels and observed that, for a given strain, the peak
stress in compression was higher than that in tension. This
was attributed to the inability of pores to transfer load in
tension, while in compression, collapse of the pores takes
place, and a higher degree of load transfer to the sintered
regions can take place. The early onset of cyclic hardening
was attributed to the high stress concentrations and, thus,
high localized plasticity. The localized stresses cannot be
relieved easily because of the surrounding interconnected
porosity, which causes the cyclic hardening. At lower strain
amplitudes, the size of the plastic zone is sufficiently small
to cause a gradual increase in the hardening process. In the
HCF regime, both the damage parameter and plastic-strain
amplitude remained relatively unchanged since, in this
regime, a large fraction of the total strain is elastic in nature.
As mentioned previously, one of the most important con-
trolling factors in the fatigue resistance of powder-metal-
lurgy materials is porosity. Fatigue cracks tend to initiate
near pores or pore clusters because of the higher localized
stress intensity associated with these defects. On the other
hand, microstructural heterogeneities surrounding the pores,
such as the locally stronger Ni-rich areas shown in Figure
2(c), may contribute to a decrease in the stress intensity at
the pores and increase the number of cycles to fatigue-crack
initiation. Typically, cracks initiate at pores located at or
near the surface of the specimen, because the stress intensity
is higher there than at a pore in the interior.[6] The number
of cycles required for crack initiation (Ni) was determined
from surface replication, and the fraction of the life of the
specimen spent initiating a crack (Ni/Nf) was plotted as a
function of cycles to failure (Nf) in Figure 8. This approach
provides a quantitative estimate of the fraction of fatigue life
spent in initiation and propagation. From this relationship, it
can be seen that in the LCF regime, cracks initiate very
early (15 pct) and the majority of the fatigue life is spent
in crack propagation, while in HCF, about 80 pct of the
fatigue life is spent initiating the crack. Interestingly, the
same relationship between Ni/Nf and Nf has been observed
in other systems where fatigue-crack initiation takes place
at exogeneous surface defects.[18–21] One can rationalize this
VOLUME 33A, JANUARY 2002—77
Fig. 9—Fatigue crack propagation in Fe-Mo alloy. Note the fatigue crack gradually linking between pores and following a torturous path, presumably d ue
to localized microstructural inhomogeneities (arrows indicate loading axis).

behavior by an incubation concept to describe the fatigue-

crack initiation process in these materials. At intermediate
to low stresses, crack initiation did not occur immediately
upon cycling. Rather, a period of cyclic loading, i.e., an
incubation period, was required to create a localized defor-
mation that resulted in cracking initiation at a pore or cluster
of pores. The number of cycles required to initiate the fatigue
crack appears to be a function of the maximum applied
stress, with lower stresses requiring longer incubation times
for a given pore size and shape. This is to be expected,
because the contribution to the total strain amplitude is pri-
marily elastic in nature. Defect size and shape also play a
role, as larger and more irregular defects are more susceptible
to crack initiation for a given applied stress and will naturally
lead to lower fatigue strength. (a)
After a fatigue crack has initiated at surface or subsurface
pores, it tends to propagate and grow through the interpore
ligaments, using pores as linkage sites. The evolution of
fatigue-crack growth, from surface-replication measure-
ments, is shown in Figure 9. While other investigators have
postulated crack linkage as a possible mechanism,[22,23] sur-
face replication allows in-situ monitoring of the crack initia-
tion and growth process and confirms the linkage of smaller
cracks to form a final crack that causes failure of the material.
Fatigue fractography provided additional insight into
fatigue damage. A scanning electron microscope micrograph
of a fatigue-crack initiation site is shown in Figure 10(a).
The intermittent nature of fatigue-crack growth during each
cycle can be observed through the existence of localized
fatigue striations in various fractured sinter bonds (Figure
10(b)). Striations in conventional steels and alloys are rela-
tively homogeneous and of a single orientation. The forma-
tion of striations has been attributed to plastic strains at the (b)
crack tip, which cause localized slip on planes of maximum Fig. 10—(a) Fatigue crack initiating pore on specimen surface and (b)
shear.[24] The crack front undergoes repetitive blunting and fracture surface after fatigue showing fatigue striations and localized duc-
sharpening during propagation during cyclic loading. Unlike tile rupture.

78—VOLUME 33A, JANUARY 2002 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

striations in wrought materials, however, the striations in
porous sintered materials seem to be highly localized. This
may be due to the multiple sites of favorable orientation and
size, with respect to the loading axis, that undergo blunting
and sharpening and give the step-like appearance of the
striations. Similar localized fatigue striations were also
observed by Rodzinak and Slesar.[25]
Ductile rupture is also present on the fatigue fracture
surface, as seen in Figure 10(b). The ductile failure regions
are highly localized in sinter bonds and seem to develop
from microvoid nucleation and coalescence. The localized
necking and microvoid growth, while present in the crack-
initiation stage, are predominately found in the later stages
of fatigue. Small spherical inclusions, which likely contrib-
uted to microvoid formation, were found at the bottom of
some microvoids (Figure 10(b)). The composition of the
inclusions was identified as MnS, although Fe oxides were (a)
also found. This is consistent with other authors’ observa-
tions of precipitates and oxides at the periphery of the Fe
particles and at previous particle boundaries.[6] Cleavage
fracture was also observed on the fracture surface. Since
this type of failure was seen in the tensile tests and, therefore,
in fast fracture, cleavage failure may be associated with the
fracture-surface region corresponding to the final, fast crack
propagation leading to failure. Generally, when this cleavage
fracture occurred, it was found to be in large pearlitic grains,
similar to what is shown in Figure 5(b).

D. Fatigue-Crack Growth Rate and Modeling of Crack

Deflection
The fatigue-crack growth rate of short cracks was calcu-
lated from a surface-replication measurement of fatigue
cracks. We use the approach developed by Raju and New-
man[26] for a surface crack in a cylinder (c) to calculate the (b)
stress intensity (K): Fig. 11—da/dN vs stress intensity ranges (⌬K ) as calculated using Raju
and Newman analysis[26] for (a) LCF and (b) HCF.
⌬K ⫽ F⌬␴ 冪␲ Qa [3]

where a is the crack depth, Q is the shape factor for an

ellipse (defined as 1 ⫹ 1.464(a/c)1.65 for a/c ⱕ 1), ⌬␴ is the
tensile component of the fatigue stress, and F is a boundary
correction-size factor which accounts for crack size, crack
shape, and the ratio of the crack size to specimen diameter.
Note that only the tensile component of the fatigue-stress
range is used to compute ⌬K, since the crack growth can
be attributed primarily to the tensile component of the fatigue
stress. Raju and Newman[26] calculated the values for F using
the finite-element method. The value for the a/c ratio used
for the calculations in this study was determined from the
fracture surface and was measured to be about 0.58. This
agrees well with the work of Lindstedt et al.,[10] who meas-
ured an a/c ratio of about 0.67 in a powder-metallurgy stain-
less steel.
Figure 11 shows the crack growth rate vs stress-intensity
factor in the LCF and HCF regimes. The stress intensity for
propagation of the short crack is significantly lower than
the Kth value obtained from long-crack fatigue growth of
these materials. This reinforces the importance of quantify-
ing short-fatigue-crack nucleation and growth in these mate-
rials. The value for the crack length (2c) was taken as the
horizontal projection of the crack (the length of the crack
was taken to be perpendicular to the loading axis). The
influence of crack deflection on the stress-intensity factor
in the crack was also calculated and is discussed later in
this section. The da/dN data in Figure 10 show that while
several cracks initiate and link together, some fatigue cracks
show a deceleration in crack growth rate, followed by arrest.
Conversely, some cracks are arrested, but, after a dormant
period, continue to grow. Crack arrest or deceleration may
be attributed to microstructural barriers such as grain bound-
aries, locally hard regions (such as Ni-rich regions), interac-
tion with other cracks, or even porosity. Short-crack growth
also seems to be dependent on fatigue stress, with higher
crack growth rates at higher stresses, for nominally similar
stress-intensity ranges. In addition, many of these cracks
measured through surface replication are small cracks, and
the plastic zone is of comparable size to the crack size,
requiring higher stresses for propagation. Crack deflection
may also take place due to microstructural barriers in the
material. Nickel-rich regions have been proposed as possible
microstructural obstacles for crack growth.[27,28]
Since crack deflection is significant in these materials, it
is important to address the effect of deflection on the overall

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A VOLUME 33A, JANUARY 2002—79

Fig. 12—Crack deflection profile used in the model proposed by
Suresh.[29,30]

stress intensity of the fatigue crack. We use the model devel-

oped by Suresh[29,30] to introduce an approximate measure
of deflection in the crack growth rate. The model assumes
a deflected crack profile, shown in Figure 12.
The crack travels a length of S in mode I, then deflects
at an angle of ␪ over a length of D. The deflection segment
D ⫹ S is repeated, assuming that a given segment is much
smaller than the total length of the crack and that the degree (a)
of deflection in two adjoining segments takes place in oppo-
site directions. The contribution from deflection is estimated
by the average angle and by D/(D ⫹ S), taken over the entire
crack profile. The stress-intensity range of the deflected
portion of the crack is ⌬kdef, while that of the straight segment
is ⌬KI . The effective driving force in the total segment (⌬KI)
is given by the weighted average of the effective stress-
intensity factor across the deflected length D and that across
the straight length S:
D⌬kdef ⫹ S⌬KI
⌬KI ⫽ [4]
D⫹S
where ⌬kdef ⬇ ⌬KI ((cos3 (␪ /2))2 ⫹ (sin (␪ /2) cos2
(␪ /2)2)1/2. Simplifying Eq. [5], we can obtain an expression
for ⌬KI in terms of ⌬KI:

␪
冢冣
(b)
⌬KI ⬇ ⌬KI
冢Dcos2

D⫹S
2
⫹S
冣 [5] Fig. 13—da/dN curves illustrating the higher stress intensity required to
propagate a crack at a given growth rate when deflection occurs for (a)
LCF and (b) HCF.
In a straight crack, the effective stress intensity (⌬keff) is
equal to the applied stress intensity (⌬KI,app). In order to
propagate a deflected crack at the same rate as the straight
crack, ⌬keff ⫽ ⌬KI, so ⌬KI,app may be written as a longer fraction of the total life in LCF (in which cracks
initiate at approximately 10 pct) than in HCF (in which
␪ ⫺1 initiation occurs at around 70 pct of the life span), making
⌬KI,app ⬇ ⌬keff
冢 Dcos2 冢冣
2
⫹S
冣 [6]
the crack-deflection model most useful in crack growth in
the LCF regime.
D⫹S
Measurements of S, D, and ␪ were taken from digital optical IV. CONCLUSIONS
micrographs of the surface replica just prior to failure. Figure
The following conclusions can be made concerning the
13 shows the effective stress-intensity increase required to
fatigue behavior of binder-treated Fe-0.85Mo-1.5Cu-
propagate a deflected crack at the same crack growth rate
1.75Ni-0.6 graphite alloys.
as a straight crack of equal length (measured experimentally
from surface replication). For large interpore spacings, the 1. The microstructure of the alloy consisted of a heteroge-
heterogeneous microstructure in these materials seems to neous microstructure with areas of divorced pearlite, mar-
effectively decrease the crack propagation rate. However, tensite, and nickel-rich ferrite. Two types of porosity
with a higher porosity content and smaller interpore spacing, were characterized: (1) primary porosity, due to particle
the microstructural effects on deflection and subsequent packing and binder burnout, and (2) secondary porosity
crack propagation will most likely be outweighed by the formed due to the copper particles forming a liquid phase
porosity contribution to crack deflection. The stress and and diffusing into Fe particles during sintering.
strain concentration around pores, for instance, will most 2. An increase in Mo content increases the fatigue resistance
likely influence the crack path more than microstructural of the alloy, presumably due to an increase in the fraction
features within an interpore ligament. Cracks propagate for of carbides.

80—VOLUME 33A, JANUARY 2002 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

3. During fatigue, an initial period of cyclic hardening was
followed by a period of gradual cyclic softening. This
behavior was most pronounced in the LCF regime. Addi-
tionally, the incubation period required for crack initiation
correlated very well with the onset of cyclic softening.
4. The fraction of the life required to initiate a fatigue crack,
Ni/Nf , increased with a decrease in fatigue-stress ampli-
tude. Thus, crack initiation occurred early in the life of
LCF specimens, and a majority of the fatigue life was
spent in the crack-propagation mechanism. In contrast,
since crack initiation occupied a much higher fraction of
fatigue life in the HCF regime, defect size has a higher
impact on the fatigue life, so pore size was the more
dominant factor in this regime.
5. Short fatigue cracks initiated at surface pores or pore
clusters and propagated at faster rates and lower stress
intensities than long fatigue cracks. Linkage of these
small fatigue cracks to form the final critical-size crack
caused failure, which was characterized by in-situ surface
replication. Localized microstructural obstacles resulted
in significantly torturous fatigue growth.
6. Application of a crack-deflection model provided a quan-
titative estimate to the role of crack deflection. It was
demonstrated that the effective stress intensity at the crack
tip of a deflected crack must be increased significantly
to achieve similar crack growth rates to those observed
for a straight crack of equal length.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. K.S. Narasimhan,
Hoeganaes Corp., for supplying the materials and for the
financial support for this work.
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