Fatigue Overview

F. V. Lawrence
Single primary slip system

S
FCP 1
Fatigue Overview

! History of Fatigue
! Fatigue Overview
! The Process of Fatigue

FCP 2
Fatigue-prone Machine

FCP 3
Welded Ship - 2 sink each day

FCP 4
Service Enviromnent?

FCP 5
Determining Service Stresses

FCP 6
In Better Days

FCP 7
When is the next short course?

FCP 8
Early History
1829 Albert Effects of repeated
loads
1839 Poncelet “Fatigue”
1843 Rankine Effect of stress
concentrations
1860 Wöhler Systematic
investigations
1886 Bauschinger Reversed deformation
effects
1903 Ewing & Humfrey Nucleation of “fatigue”
cracks
1910 Basquin Endurance limit

FCP 9
1844 - Rankine

Stress Concentrations- Railroad Axles, the Versailles Accident

William John Macquorn Rankine

Born: 2 July 1820 in Edinburgh, Scotland
Died: 24 Dec 1872 in Glasgow, Scotland
FCP 10
1860 - Wöhler
10 3
Stress range, S (ksi)

2
10

1
10
Fatigue Limit
failures
run-outs

0
10 2 3 4 5 6 7
10 10 10 10 10 10
Fatigue life, N (cycles)

Stress-Life (SN) Diagrams

FCP 11
1886 - Bauschinger

Cyclic behavior of materials

Bauschinger effect

FCP 12
1903 - Ewings and Humphries

Cyclic
deformation
leads to the
development
(initiation) of
fatigue cracks….

Mosaic structure

FCP 13
Origins of Fatigue Cracks

Surface
roughening
through cyclic
plastic strains
leads to the
development
of fatigue
cracks

FCP 14
Recent Developments
1945 Miner Accumulation of
fatigue “damage”
1954 Coffin & Manson Plastic strains cause
fatigue
1961 Paris Growth of fatigue
cracks correlated with
²K
1970 Elber Crack closure
1975 Pearson Behavior of small
cracks

FCP 15
1954 - Coffin and Manson
Plastic strains
cause the
accumulation of
“fatigue
damage.”

FCP 16
1961 - Paris

Growth of fatigue
cracks related to the
range in stress
intensity factor.

da/dN = C(∆K)n

FCP 17
1970 - Elber
Critical importance of crack closure
and the phenomena which cause it.

Crack open
Crack closed

FCP 18
1975 - Pearson

Surprising
behavior
of small
fatigue
cracks

FCP 19
 1980’s - UIUC

Development of the local

strain approach.

Fatigue caused by notch-

root stresses and strains.

Fatigue life consists of

both crack nucleation
and growth.

FCP 20
Fatigue Mechanisms

! History of Fatigue
! Fatigue Overview
! The Process of Fatigue

FCP 21
Surface Effects in Fatigue
Surface finish Reducing surface roughness reduces the notch root stresses.
Smoother is better!

Designed-in Designed-in notches are a major source of fatigue problems;

notches notches are sites of stress and strain concentration.

Fabrication Fabrication defects particularly crack-like (planar) as opposed

defects to rounded (volumetric) defects are very damaging when
oriented perpendicular to the applied stress.

Absolute size Because most of fatigue life is spent in making a very small
crack a little bigger, larger bodies have shorter fatigue lives
because of the larger spatial extent of the high stresses in their
notch-root stress fields.

Aggressive Chemical attack can create pits at which fatigue cracks start.
environments Corrosion can greatly reduce the portion of fatigue life
devoted to fatigue crack initiation and + growth and thus
greatly reduce the fatigue strength at long lives.

FCP 22
Material Property Effects

Tensile, yield Higher strength materials resist plastic deformation and

strength hence have a higher fatigue strength at long lives. Most
ductile materials perform better at very short fatigue lives.

Temperature Temperature has little influence except for the ductile-to-

brittle transition in BCC metals which phenomenon leads to a
very much smaller final flaw size. At high temperatures,
creep damage may be superposed on fatigue damage.

Quality of Metallurgical defects such as inclusions, seams, internal tears,

Material and segregated elements can initiate fatigue cracks.

Rate of testing At high frequencies, the metal component may be self-heated

by the imposed plastic deformation. At low frequencies,
environmental effects may become more important.

FCP 23
Stress Effects in Fatigue

Stress range The basic cause of plastic deformation and consequently the
accumulation of fatigue damage.

Mean and Tensile mean and residual stresses aid the formation and
residual stress growth of fatigue cracks.

Stress gradients Bending is a more favorable loading condition than axial

loading because (surface initiating) fatigue cracks propagate
into lower stress environments.

FCP 24
It depends on who you are….
Example Envir. Life Failure Perspective
6
Welded bridge NaCl, variable 10 large crack Large preexisting defects
girder load histories (?), life limited by fatigue
crack growth.

Nuclear reactor H2 O, high temps, 10 5 to small crack Small preexisting defects, life
pressure vessel constant 8 limited by fatigue crack
amplitude load 10 growth.
histories
3
Automotive spot Variable load 10 to visible crack Initiation of fatigue cracks
weld in sheet histories 8 important, only limited
steel 10 fatigue crack growth
possible.

8
Engine crank Constant 10 sudden, Initiation of fatigue cracks
shaft amplitude load catastrophic important.
histories failure

FCP 25
Past Events, Future Behavior?

Design Failure Analysis

An attempt to predict the future An attempt to explain the past based on

based on expectations: anticipated evidence: metallography, fractography,
service loads, component design. computed loads, service records

Motive: save money but avoid Motive: assignment of blame, understand

premature fatigue failure. causes so future failure can be avoided.

Methods: fatigue testing, structural Methods: Fractography, materials tests,

analysis, fatigue life prediction using fracture mechanics.
empirical or analytical methods.

FCP 26
 Failure
analysis
Analysis of past
performance

Assignment of
fault: Who’s
going to buy
the new
bridge?

Silver point bridge failure

FCP 27
Failure analysis

Service life exhausted

FCP 28
Design

FCP Avoidance of future problems 29

Fatigue Mechanisms

! History of Fatigue
! Fatigue Overview
! The Process of Fatigue

FCP 30
Process of fatigue

Stage II fatigue crack Cyclic slip

Crack initiation
Stage I crack growth
Intrusions and Stage I fatigue crack Stage II crack growth
extrusions
(Surface Failure
Roughening) Persistent Slip Band
(Embryonic Stage I Fatigue Cracks)

FCP 31
Intrusions and extrusions
Extrusion

Original Surface

Intrusion One
mechanism
for the
Persistent Slip Band
development
(initiation) of
Stage I Fatigue Crack
a fatigue
crack

Gliding Dislocations

FCP 32
Intrusions and extrusions

Intrusions and
extrusions on the
surface of a Ni
specimen

FCP 33
Fatigue crack growth
S

Remote Stress, S
Smax
a. S=0
Sop , Scl

Time, t
S

Remote Stress, S
Smax
b.
Sop , Scl
S = Sop

Time, t
S

Plastic wake New plastic deformation

FCP 34
Fatigue crack growth
S

Remote Stress, S
Smax
c.
S op , Scl
S = Smax

Time, t
S

Remote Stress, S
Smax
d. S=0
Sop , Scl

Time, t
S

Plastic wake New plastic deformation

FCP 35
 Fatigue fracture surface

Scanning electron
microscope image -
striations clearly visible

Schematic drawing of
a fatigue fracture
surface

FCP 36
Paris Power Law
-6
10

I II III I Sensitive to
Log Crack Growth Rate, da/dN (m/cycle)

+
-7
10 +
+
microstructure
Paris Power Law and environment
da m +
-8 = C (∆K) +
10 dN
+ KC II Paris power Law
+
+
+
-9
10 m III Approaching
∆K th + +
+ ++ fracture when
+
+ +
-10 + Kmax ≈ KIC.
10 +
+
+
C ++ +
-11 +
10
1 10 100

Log Range in Stress Intensity Factor, ∆K (MPa√m)

FCP 37