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Book Title Mechanical Fatigue of Metals
Series Title
Chapter Title Crack Propagation in the Threshold Stress Intensity Region a Short Review
Copyright Year 2019
Copyright HolderName Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Corresponding Author Family Name Ricardo
Particle
Given Name Luiz Felipe F.
Prefix
Suffix
Role
Division Metallurgical and Materials Department
Organization UFRJ, Federal University of Rio Janeiro, Cid. Universitária-Centro de
Tecnologia
Address Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-972, Brazil
Email luiz.ricardo97@poli.ufrj.br
lchr6060@gmail.com
Author Family Name Topper
Particle
Given Name Timothy H.
Prefix
Suffix
Role
Division Civil Engineering Department
Organization University of Waterloo
Address 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G, Canada
Email topper@uwaterloo.ca
Author Family Name Ricardo
Particle
Given Name Luiz Carlos H.
Prefix
Suffix
Role
Division
Organization Materials Science and Technology Center, IPEN, Nuclear and Energy
Research Institute, University of São Paulo
Address Av. Lineu Prestes, 2242 Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000,
Brazil
Email lricardo@ipen.br
Author Family Name Miranda
Particle
 Given Name Carlos Alexandre J.
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Suffix
Role
Division
Organization Nuclear Engineering Center, IPEN, Nuclear and Energy Research Institute,
University of São Paulo
Address Av. Lineu Prestes, 2242 Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000,
Brazil
Email cmiranda@ipen.br

Abstract This work presents a short review of fatigue crack propagation with emphasis on the parameters that
influence the threshold stress intensity, ΔKth. This threshold value is dependent on such variables as the
material itself, the test conditions, the R-ratio, the environment and crack closure. The crack geometry
effects are discussed as well as some crack closure models. A discussion of other parameters that influence
the threshold stress intensity regime including short crack thresholds and their respective models and their
application will be the subject of a near-future review.
Keywords Fatigue - Design - Threshold stress intensity factor - Crack propagation - Crack closure models
(separated by '-')
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Chapter 23
Crack Propagation in the Threshold
Stress Intensity Region a Short Review

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Luiz Felipe F. Ricardo, Timothy H. Topper, Luiz Carlos H. Ricardo
and Carlos Alexandre J. Miranda

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1 Abstract This work presents a short review of fatigue crack propagation with
2 emphasis on the parameters that influence the threshold stress intensity, Kth. This
3 threshold value is dependent on such variables as the material itself, the test condi-
4 tions, the R-ratio, the environment and crack closure. The crack geometry effects are
5

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discussed as well as some crack closure models. A discussion of other parameters
that influence the threshold stress intensity regime including short crack thresholds
and their respective models and their application will be the subject of a near-future
8 review. AQ1

9 Keywords Fatigue · Design · Threshold stress intensity factor · Crack

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10 propagation · Crack closure models
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L. F. F. Ricardo (B)
Metallurgical and Materials Department, UFRJ, Federal University of Rio Janeiro,
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Cid. Universitária-Centro de Tecnologia, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-972, Brazil

e-mail: luiz.ricardo97@poli.ufrj.br; lchr6060@gmail.com
T. H. Topper
Civil Engineering Department, University of
Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G, Canada
CO

e-mail: topper@uwaterloo.ca
L. C. H. Ricardo
Materials Science and Technology Center, IPEN, Nuclear and Energy Research Institute,
University of São Paulo, Av. Lineu Prestes, 2242 Cidade Universitária, São Paulo,
SP 05508-000, Brazil
e-mail: lricardo@ipen.br
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C. A. J. Miranda
Nuclear Engineering Center, IPEN, Nuclear and Energy Research Institute, University of São
Paulo, Av. Lineu Prestes, 2242 Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil
e-mail: cmiranda@ipen.br

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1

J. A. F. O. Correia et al. (eds.), Mechanical Fatigue of Metals, Structural Integrity 7,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13980-3_23

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 2 L. F. F. Ricardo et al.
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11 23.1 Introduction

12 Modern defect—tolerance design approaches to fatigue are based on the premise that
13 engineering structures are inherently flawed; the useful fatigue life then is the time
14 or the number of cycles to propagate a dominant flaw from an assumed or measured

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15 initial size to a critical dimension. In most metallic materials, catastrophic failure
16 is preceded by a substantial amount of stable crack propagation under cyclic load
17 conditions.
18 The rates at which these cracks propagate for different combinations of applied
19 stress, crack length and geometric conditions of the cracked structure, and the mech-

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20 anisms which influence the crack propagation rates under different combinations of
21 mean stress, test frequency and environment, are practical interest [1]. Crack prop-
22 agation is usually described by the relationship/curve of log da/dN versus log K
23 where a is the crack length, N is the number of cycles, and K is the range of the
24 stress-intensity factor in a loading cycle. As depicted in Fig. 23.1, one can identify
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three regions or crack growth regimes that this curve passes through, named Regions
A, B and C. The Paris power law relationship can be applied to the region B that
shows a linear variation of log da/dN versus log K. The curve is bounded by two
28 limits, the upper limit (in Region C) being the fracture toughness of the material and
29 the lower limit (in the Region A) being the threshold. Below this threshold there
is no crack growth. Several parameters/variables can have influence in this curve.
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30

31 The fatigue crack threshold is discussed by McEvily [2] as a function of a number

32 of variables, including the material, the test conditions, the R-ratio, and the envi-
33 ronment. ASTM E 647 defines the fatigue crack growth (FCG) threshold, Kth, as
34 that asymptotic value of K at which da/dN approaches zero. For most materials an
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35 operational, although arbitrary, definition of Kth is given as that K value which

36 corresponds to a fatigue crack growth rate of 10–10 m/cycle.

Fig. 23.1 Fatigue crack

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propagation regimes [2]

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Log Δ K , MPa m
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 23 Crack Propagation in the Threshold Stress Intensity Region … 3
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37 23.2 The Threshold Region

38 The earliest studies of fatigue were concerned with failure of a workpiece after a
39 number of loading cycles. At that time, researchers, most significantly Woehler [3],
40 did not isolate crack growth as a separate phenomenon, before rupture. The approach

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41 to evaluate crack growth is simple for long cracks and by passes the unknown details
42 of crack tip atomistic processes (Long cracks are those ones that start growing for a
43 given cyclic loading.). For these it is possible to draw a curve of crack propagation
44 rate (da/dN) versus the range of the alternating stress intensity (K). The curve
45 itself (Fig. 23.1) is a function of R load ratio and it is usually drawn on a log-log

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46 scale. Cracked materials are only superficially elastic. There is always plasticity in
47 a region very near the crack tip. Under LEFM this region is so small that it does
48 not affect the overall cracked components stress distribution. Larger scale plasticity
49 is explicitly described by elastic–plastic formulations such as the J-integral or the
50 crack tip opening displacement (CTOD).
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The variables K and J are, however, closely related under small scale yielding
conditions; the additional work involved in using J has not appeared to yield a com-
mensurate improvement in predictive ability under near-threshold conditions except
54 in special cases. The relative success of LEFM is illustrated by Fig. 23.2 which shows
55 the correlation of da/dN × K for experimental data for a 2024—T3 aluminum alloy
obtained by Paris et al. [4] and Paris and Erdogan [5] from various sources.
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56

57 Nowadays, with the tools of Fracture Mechanics (specifically LEFM) it is possible

58 to analyze how cracks propagate under cyclic load. Several studies try to simulate
59 how cracks propagate under in a large scale plasticity regime, however this will not
60 be mentioned in this review work. To know more about this regime one can see [6],
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61 for instance. Figure 23.1 suggests that the threshold for crack propagation may not be
62 an intrinsic part of the growth (e.g. Paris) relation. For any given material, thresholds
63 are apt to vary more with changing test conditions than do the Paris constants. But,
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Fig. 23.2 Data for 2024-T3

aluminum from various
sources used by Paris et al.
[4] and Paris and Erdogan [5]
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64 within the threshold region, extrinsic effects seem to modify the value of an intrinsic
65 threshold. These extrinsic effects have been embraced under the heading of ‘crack
66 closure’. As defined by Elber, when closure is present, the effective stress intensity
67 range is not the applied maximum stress intensity minus the applied minimum stress
68 intensity, but rather the applied maximum stress intensity minus a closure stress

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69 intensity. The growth of small cracks is even more complicated. It is not unusual
70 in the case of small cracks for crack propagation within the threshold region to be
71 fitted, as with a spline of local small-crack Paris relations defining the mean value of
72 the growth rate for the given conditions [4, 5, 7].

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73 23.3 Effect of Crack Geometry

74 Considering a small superficial crack the threshold region in metals is generally

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associated with a reversed-shear mode of growth which at least implies a mode II
component. At the same time, plasticity is largely confined to select crystallographic
planes, e.g. {111} in Fe–Ni alloys [8].
78 This gives rise to a faceted fracture surface. Since growth takes place by a shear
79 mechanism on planes inclined to the mode I stress plane, a certain amount of mode
80 II displacement is expected. If this were unreversed, as might happen in a tensile
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81 overload, registry of the peaks and troughs between the upper and lower crack faces
82 could be lost and the peaks would contact each other before the crack fully closed.
83 At stress intensity ranges near the threshold, a large oxide buildup is likely. Several
84 works on this subject are mentioned in [9, 10]. The presence of this oxide, believed
to be due to fretting, is thought to increase the crack opening stress [11–15]. At
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86 very low fatigue loads, oxide, and at higher loads, misaligned facets act as wedges
87 reducing the effective stress intensity range by preventing the crack from closing.
88 These effects are called, respectively, oxide- and roughness-induced crack closure.
89 In the region close to the fatigue threshold, the stress ratio exerts a strong effect on
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90 the crack closure level. Environmental effects similarly reach a maximum at stress
91 intensity ranges near threshold but then diminish [11, 12].

23.4 Crack Closure Models

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92

93 Since it was proposed by Elber [16] in the early 1970s, the concept of crack closure
94 has been widely used to explain the influence of R load ratio on fatigue crack growth
95 (FCG) [17, 18]. It has been realized for a long time that the degree of crack closure
was higher at lower R [19] while it may be negligible at higher R values (i.e., R > 0.7)
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97 [20–22]. As a result, instead of the conventional K, the FCG rate was correlated
98 with the effective stress intensity factor range Keff [20, 21], i.e., Keff = Kmax –
99 Kcl . Here, Kmax is maximum stress intensity factor and Kcl is the stress intensity when
100 crack is closed. Since then, several crack closure mechanisms have been defined that

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101 include the effect of R, environment, temperature and crack growth mode. Stewart
102 [23] reported that air humidity, corrosive and other gaseous environments provided
103 additive contributions to the effect of R on FCG.

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104 23.5 Conclusions

105 This paper reviewed and discussed some topics regarding the parameters that influ-
106 ence the threshold stress intensity value in crack propagation under cyclic loading.

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107 Among these parameters the effect of crack closure and R-ratio were the main focus
108 of this review. Other topics related to the threshold stress intensity regime including
109 short crack thresholds and the respective models and their applications will be the
110 subject of a future review.

111 References
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112 1. Suresh S (1991) Fatigue of materials, 1st edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
113 2. McEvily AJ (1996) Metals handbook. ASM 12:318–334
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114 3. Wöhler A (1860) Versuche zur Ermittlung der auf die Eisenbahnwagenachsen einwirkenden
115 Kräfte und die Widerstandsfähigkeit der Wagen-Achsen, Zeitschrift für Bauwesen, X, 583–616
116 4. Paris PC, Gomez MP, Anderson WE (1961) A rational analytic theory of fatigue. Trends Eng
117 13(1):9–14
118 5. Paris PC, Erdogen F (1963) A critical analysis of crack propagation laws. J Basic Eng
119 85:528–534
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120 6. Maneschy JE (1998) Integral-J para Carregamentos Cíclicos. PhD dissertation, IPEN/USP (In
121 Portuguese)
122 7. Chen EY (1996) PhD dissertation, Northwestern University
123 8. Suresh S, Ritchie R (1984) Propagation of short fatigue cracks. Int Metals Ver 29:445–474
124 9. Krenn C, Morris JW Jr, Mei Z (1997) The crystallography of fatigue crack initiation in two
125 austenitic Fe–Ni superalloys. In: Soboyejo WO, Srivatsan TS (eds) High-cycle fatigue of
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126 structural materials. The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, Philadelphia (PA, USA),
127 pp 327–337
128 10. Liaw P (1989) Long fatigue cracks—microstructural effects and closure. MRS Bull 25–35
129 11. Stewart AT (1980) The influence of environment and stress ratio on fatigue crack growth at
130 near threshold stress intensities in low alloy steels. Eng Fract Mech 13:463–478
131 12. McEvily AJ, Ritchie RO (1998) Crack closure and the fatigue-crack propagation threshold as
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132 a function of load ratio. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 21:847–855
133 13. Ford FP, Hoar TP (1973) On the mechanism of corrosion fatigue in aluminum 7 wt% magne-
134 sium. In: The microstructure and design of alloys, 3rd international conference on the strength
135 of metals, 1974, vol. 1. The Metals Society, London, UK, pp 467–471
136 14. Taylor D, Knott JK (1981) Eng Mater Struct 4(2):147–155
137 15. Dubey S, Soboyejo ABO, Soboyejo WO (1997) An investigation of the effects of stress ratio
and crack closure on the micromechanisms of fatigue crack growth in Ti–6Al–4V. Acta Mater
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139 45:2777–2787
140 16. Elber W (1971) The significance of fatigue crack closure. In: Damage tolerance in aircraft
141 structures, vol 486. ASTM STP, Lutherville-Timonium, MD, pp 230–242
142 17. Liaw PK, Leax TR, Swaminathan VP, Donald JK (1982) Influence of load ratio on near-
143 threshold fatigue crack propagation behavior. Script Metall 16:871–876

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144 18. Cooke RJ, Beevers CJ (1973) The effect of load ratio on the threshold stresses for fatigue crack
145 growth in medium carbon steels. Eng Fract Mech 5:1061–1071
146 19. Robinson JL, Beevers CJ (1973) The effects of load ratio, interstitial content, and grain size
147 on low-stress fatigue-crack propagation in a-Titanium. Met Sci 7:153–159
148 20. Walker K (1970) The effect of stress ratio during crack propagation and fatigue for 2024-T3
149 and 7075-T6 aluminum. In: Effects of environment and complex load history on fatigue life: a

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150 symposium, vol 462. ASTM STP, Lutherville-Timonium, MD, pp 1–14
151 21. Mishra MP, Packiaraj CC, Ray SK, Mannan SL, Borgstedt HU (1997) Influence of sodium
152 environment and load ratio (R) on fatigue crack growth behaviour of a type 316 LN stainless
153 steel at 813 K. Int J Pres Vessel Pip 70:77–82
154 22. Ding J, Hall R, Byrne J (2005) Effects of stress ratio and temperature on fatigue crack growth
155 in a Ti–6Al–4V alloy. Int J Fatigue 27:1551–1558

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156 23. Stewart AT (1980) The influence of environment and stress ratio on fatigue crack growth at
157 near threshold stress intensities in low-alloy steels. Eng Fract Mech 13:463–468

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