Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd
Upload
24 views

Materials Science: Fatigue Analysis

Fatigue is the weakening of a material caused by repeatedly applied loads, even if the loads are below the material's strength. It results from microscopic cracks that form at stress concentrators in the material. These cracks propagate with each cycle until a critical crack size is reached, suddenly fracturing the structure. Factors like stress concentrators, surface finish, and metallurgical properties influence fatigue life, defined as the number of cycles before failure. Fatigue life is estimated using methods based on stress, strain, or fracture mechanics to predict crack growth.

Uploaded by

Ishwarya Srikanth
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
24 views

Materials Science: Fatigue Analysis

Fatigue is the weakening of a material caused by repeatedly applied loads, even if the loads are below the material's strength. It results from microscopic cracks that form at stress concentrators in the material. These cracks propagate with each cycle until a critical crack size is reached, suddenly fracturing the structure. Factors like stress concentrators, surface finish, and metallurgical properties influence fatigue life, defined as the number of cycles before failure. Fatigue life is estimated using methods based on stress, strain, or fracture mechanics to predict crack growth.

Uploaded by

Ishwarya Srikanth
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

FATIGUE ANALYSIS

In materials science, fatigue is the weakening of a material caused by


repeatedly applied loads. It is the progressive and localised structural
damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading.

The nominal maximum stress values that cause such damage may be
much less than the strength of the material typically quoted as
the ultimate tensile stress limit, or the yield stress limit.

Fatigue occurs when a material is subjected to repeated loading and


unloading. If the loads are above a certain threshold, microscopic
cracks will begin to form at the stress concentrators such as the
surface, persistent slip bands (PSBs), and grain interfaces.

Eventually a crack will reach a critical size, the crack will propagate
suddenly, and the structure will fracture. The shape of the structure
will significantly affect the fatigue life; square holes or sharp corners
will lead to elevated local stresses where fatigue cracks can initiate.

Round holes and smooth transitions or fillets will therefore increase the
fatigue strength of the structure.

Fatigue life
ASTM defines fatigue life, Nf, as the number of stress cycles of a specified
character that a specimen sustains before failure of a specified nature
occurs.

For some materials, notably steel and titanium, there is a theoretical


value for stress amplitude below which the material will not fail for any
number of cycles, called a fatigue limit, endurance limit, or fatigue
strength.
Engineers have used any of three methods to determine the fatigue
life of a material: the stress-life method, the strain-life method, and the
linear-elastic fracture mechanics method. One method to predict
fatigue life of materials is the Uniform Material Law (UML).
UML was developed for fatigue life prediction of aluminium and
titanium alloys by the end of 20th century and extended to highstrength steels, and cast iron.

Characteristics of fatigue

Fracture of an aluminium crank arm. Dark area of striations: slow crack


growth. Bright granular area: sudden fracture.

In metal alloys, when there are no macroscopic or microscopic


discontinuities, the process starts with dislocation movements, which
eventually form persistent slip bands that become the nucleus of short
cracks.

Macroscopic and microscopic discontinuities as well as component


design features which cause stress concentrations (holes, keyways, sharp
changes of direction etc.) are common locations at which the fatigue
process begins.

Fatigue is a process that has a degree of randomness (stochastic),


often showing considerable scatter even in well controlled environments.

Fatigue is usually associated with tensile stresses but fatigue cracks


have been reported due to compressive loads.[8]

The greater the applied stress range, the shorter the life.

Fatigue life scatter tends to increase for longer fatigue lives.

Damage is cumulative. Materials do not recover when rested.

Fatigue life is influenced by a variety of factors, such


as temperature, surface finish, metallurgical microstructure, presence
of oxidizing or inert chemicals, residual
stresses,
scuffing
contact
(fretting), etc.

Some materials (e.g., some steel and titanium alloys) exhibit a


theoretical fatigue limit below which continued loading does not lead to
fatigue failure.

High cycle fatigue strength (about 104 to 108 cycles) can be described
by stress-based parameters. A load-controlled servo-hydraulic test rig is
commonly used in these tests, with frequencies of around 2050 Hz.
Other sorts of machineslike resonant magnetic machinescan also be
used, to achieve frequencies up to 250 Hz.

Low cycle fatigue (loading that typically causes failure in less than
104 cycles) is associated with localized plastic behavior in metals; thus, a
strain-based parameter should be used for fatigue life prediction in
metals. Testing is conducted with constant strain amplitudes typically at
0.015 Hz.

You might also like