Fatigue

Fatigue of Materials

• Many materials when subjected to fluctuating

stresses, fail
• The stresses that cause failure are far below those
needed to cause fracture on single application of
load
• Fatigue failure is failure under dynamic loading
• Fatigue is the cause for more than 90% of all in
service failures in structural materials
• Fatigue failure generally occurs with little or no
warning (with catastrophic results)
 Why Fatigue is Important?

Announcements of product delays

decreases average shareholder value by
approx. 12%
Cost of
Failure
In-service:
• Launch delays
• Warranty claims
• Recalls
• Legal liability

Prototype

Design Time Scale

Ref: Simulia Introduction to FE-Safe webinar

 1950s de Havilland DH 106 Comet
Disasters

Europe lost the

lead in jet airline
industry to USA
for next 50 years

Three lost aircraft

with many lost lives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CfIkskWxn4
 Fatigue Fracture

• Fatigue crack initiation, generally at the surface

• Fatigue crack propagation region showing beach
markings
• Fast fracture region where the crack length exceeds
a critical length
 Parameters of Stress Cycles

• Cyclic stress range

𝜎 = 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝜎𝑚𝑖𝑛
• Cyclic stress amplitude
𝜎𝑎 = (𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝜎𝑚𝑖𝑛 )/2
• Mean stress
𝜎𝑚 = (𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 + 𝜎𝑚𝑖𝑛 )/2
• Stress ratio
𝑅 = 𝜎𝑚𝑖𝑛 /𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥
 Analysis of Fatigue - Approaches

• Stress Life Approach

• Oldest and most common way to treat fatigue data
• Useful when stresses and strains are mostly elastic
• Unable to distinguish between initiation and
propagation phases of fatigue
• Strain Life Approach
• Useful when there is significant amount of plastic strain
• Fatigue life is typically quite short in these conditions
• Fracture Mechanics Approach
• Use cyclic stress intensity factor as crack driver
 Stress or Strain Life?
Stress Based Method
• Most data is presented on
S-N curves
• Most suitable for high-cycle
fatigue regime
• Least accurate approach
especially for low cycle
applications
• Easiest to implement for
wide range of design
applications
Represents high cycle
applications adequately
Strain Based Method
• More applicable where
there is measurable plastic
deformation i.e. low cycle
fatigue regime
• Necessary to compound
several idealisations and
thus uncertainties exist in
results
 Experimental Testing

• Rotating Beam or Rotating Bending Test

Adapted from Fig. 10.18(a),

Callister & Rethwisch 9e.

Adapted from Fig. 6-9,

Shingley’s MED 10e.
S-N Curve

An S-N diagram plotted

from the results of
completely reversed axial
fatigue tests. Material:
UNS G41300 steel,
normalized; Sut = 116
kpsi; maximum Sut = 125
kpsi. (Data from NACA
Tech. Note 3866,
December 1966.)

Adapted from Fig. 6-10,

Shingley’s MED 10e.
S-N Curve

S-N bands for

representative aluminum
alloys, excluding wrought
alloys with Sut = 38 kpsi.
(From R. C. Juvinall,
Engineering
Considerations of Stress,
Strain and Strength.
Copyright © 1967 by The
McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc.)

Adapted from Fig. 6-11,

Shingley’s MED 10e.
 Improving Fatigue Life

S = stress amplitude
Adapted from
1. Impose compressive Fig. 10.25, Callister &
Rethwisch 9e.
surface stresses
near zero or compressive σm
(to suppress surface moderate tensile σm
Larger tensile σm
cracks from growing)
N = Cycles to failure

--Method 1: shot peening --Method 2: carburizing

shot
C-rich gas
put
surface
into
compression

2. Remove stress bad better

concentrators Fig. 10.26, Callister &
Rethwisch 9e.
bad better
Endurance Limit vs Ultimate Strength

Graph of endurance
limits versus tensile
strengths from actual
test results for a large
number of wrought irons
and steels.

Adapted from Fig. 6-17,

Shingley’s MED 10e.
Endurance Limit vs Ultimate Strength

• Based on the observations of the last figure

0.5𝑆𝑢𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑡 ≤ 200 𝑘𝑝𝑠ⅈ 1400𝑀𝑃𝑎

𝑆𝑒′ = 100 𝑘𝑝𝑠ⅈ 𝑆𝑢𝑡 > 200 𝑘𝑝𝑠ⅈ
700 𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑆𝑢𝑡 > 1400 𝑀𝑃𝑎

• Sut is the minimum tensile strength

• The prime mark on 𝑆𝑒′ in this equation refers to the
rotating-beam specimen itself (polished specimen)
 Reference

Ch 6 Fatigue Failure Resulting from Variable Loading,

Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design, 10th Edition
• Section 6.1, 6.3, 6.4, 6.7, 6.8
• Corresponding end of the chapter problems