FATIGUE OF METALS

BY
HARISH M R
CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Factors causing fatigue failure

 Stress Cycles

 The S-N Curve

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INTRODUCTION

Fatigue failure in a bolt

Fatigue failure occurs at the outer rim

Failure of crankshaft journal
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INTRODUCTION
 Fatigue failures are widely studies because it accounts
for 90% of all service failures due to mechanical
causes.

 Fatigue failures occur when metal is subjected to a

repetitive or fluctuating stress and will fail at a stress
much lower than its tensile strength.

 Fatigue failures occur without any plastic deformation

(no warning).
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FACTORS CAUSING FATIGUE FAILURE
 A maximum tensile stress of sufficiently high value.

 A large amount of variation or fluctuation in the applied

stress.

 A sufficiently large number of cycles of the applied stress.

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF FLUCTUATING STRESS

a) Completely reversed cycle of stress (b) Repeated stress cycle

(sinusoidal)

Tensile stress +
Compressive stress -

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(c ) Irregular or random stress cycle
 STRESS CYCLES
Maximum stress, max
Nomenclature of stress
parameter in fatigue loading Minimum stress, min
Stress range
+
 or  Eq.1
 max   min
a r
 Alternating stress
  max   min
a   Eq.2
2 2
 max m
Mean stress
 max   min

 min m Eq.3
2
_ cycles
Stress ratio Amplitude ratio
 min  1R
Fatigue stress cycle R Aa  1 
 max m 8
R
THE S-N CURVE
 Engineering fatigue data is
normally represented by means
of S-N curve, a plot of stress
S against the number of
cycle, N.
 Stress can be a, max, min

 m , R or A should be
mentioned.

Fatigue limit or endurance limit is normally

defined at 107 or 108 cycles. Below this limit,
the material presumably can endure an infinite 9
number of cycle before failure.
REFERENCE
 “Fundamentals of Metal Fatigue Analysis” by
Julie A Bannantine

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 THANK YOU FOR YOUR
TIME

ANY QUESTIONS?
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