Using the Low Cycle Fatigue approach when

Kt * nominal stress exceeds the yield strength:

a fundamental mistake!
Posted on 16 May 2020 by Johannes Homan

In my blog article What is the Difference between Low & High Cycle Fatigue? I explained
that LCF is characterized by repeated plastic deformation (i.e. in each cycle). Essential here is
that we talk about repeated plastic deformation. And that is the case if the nominal stress
level exceeds the yield strength in each cycle, meaning we have plastic deformation on macro
scale, so in the full net section of the structure.
The situation is completely different when only in a small area at a notch the yield strength is
exceeded. If so, by applying a load cycle, only in that small area you will get plastic
deformation. In the remaining net section, you will still have elastic deformation because
stresses are lower. So you will have a redistribution of stresses over the net section. During
unloding of the load, the complete distribution will be unloaded elastically, leading to a
residual stress distributon after unloading. From that point on, with further cyclic loading,
you will get elastic behaviour, i.e HCF (high cycle fatigue) and no repeated plastic
deformation!

Stress
distribution after Kt * nominal stress exceeds the yield strength
So, exceeding the yield strength locally at a notch will not lead to LCF but will merely lead to
a stress redistribution.
Description of a S-N Curve
Posted on 20 February 2018 by Johannes Homan

Fatigue properties of materials are often described using the fatigue limit or the S-N curve
(fatigue curve, Wöhler curve). The S-N curve describes the relation between cyclic stress
amplitude and number of cycles to failure. The figure below shows a typical S-N curve. On
the horizontal axis the number of cycles to failure is given on logarithmic scale. On the
vertical axis (either linear or logarithmic) the stress amplitude (sometimes the maximum
stress) of the cycle is given.
S-N curves are derived from fatigue tests. Tests are performed by applying a cyclic stress
with constant amplitude (CA) on specimens until failure of the specimen. In some cases the
test is stopped after a very large number of cycles (N>10^6). The results is then interpreted as
infinite life.
Fatigue curves are often given for Kt=1 (unnotched specimens). Those curves describe the
fatigue properties of a material. Actual structures are better described with S-N curves for
Kt>1 (notched specimens).

The S-N curve above has some characteristic features which are discussed in our free ebook