FATIGUE UNDER COMBINED STRESSES

When fatigue failure occurs under combined stresses, the fatigue strength σa may be derived
(calculated) from the principal stresses σ1, σ2, σ3 using either Tresca or Von Mises criteria.

Tresca
Yielding occurs when:-

σ1 − σ 2 σ 2 − σ 3 σ 3 −σ1
, or reaches a critical value (fatigue strength σa)
2 2 2

σa σ1 − σ 2 σ2 −σ3 σ 3 −σ1
∴ = or or
2 2 2 2

⇒ σ a = (σ 1 − σ 2 ) or (σ 2 − σ 3 ) or (σ 3 − σ 1 )

For plane stress condition

[
σ a = (σ x − σ y )2 + 4τ 2 xy ]
1/ 2

Where σx σy and τxy are the stress components.

Von Misses
Similarly, Von Mises criterion gives:-

σa =
1
2
[(σ 1 − σ 2 ) + (σ 2 − σ 3 ) + (σ 3 − σ 1 )
2 2
]
2 1/ 2

Under plane stress conditions, this reduces to:-

[
σ a = σ 1 2 − σ 1σ 2 + σ 2 2 ]1/ 2
or [
σ a = σ x 2 − σ xσ y + σ y 2 + 3τ 2 xy ]
1/ 2

Under uni-axial fatigue conditions, failure occurs when

[
σ a = σ x 2 + 4τ 2 xy ]1/ 2
Tresca

[
σ a = σ x 2 + 3τ 2 xy ]1/ 2
Von Mises

1
 τ xy

σa
3 Von
σa
Tresca
2

σx

In the presence of combined torsional and bending, a simple relationship is available to predict
fatigue behaviour:-

Googh’s Relationship
Where:-
⎡σ ⎤
2
⎡τ ⎤
2
σb – fatigue strength in bending
⎢ ⎥ + ⎢ ⎥ =1 τT – Fatigue strength under torsion
⎣σ b ⎦ ⎣τ T ⎦ σ and τ are applied bending and torsional
stresses respectively

τ
τT
Googh’s Relation

σ
σb

2
Fatigue Crack Growth Rate

For a smooth ductile specimen subjected to repeated stress cycles, fatigue crack initiation usually
occurs on the surface by crevice formation ahead of a slip band. After initiation, the crack grows
by 2 distinct mechanisms

Stage 1
Growth by small crack advancement – confined to the slip plane on which the crack was
initiated.
With increase in crack length, the plastic zone at the tip becomes large enough to be independent
of the crystallographic nature of the material

Stage 2
Crack grows in a direction which tends to minimize the COD (crack opening displacement).
This is usually normal to the direction of the maximum principal tensile stress.

Stage 1 accounts for up to 90% of total life of a smooth specimen but since stage 2 is faster,
stage 2 produces the largest area of a fatigue fracture surface. The striation or arrest markings
are produced during stage 2 crack growth.

In reality, engineering materials contain flaws or micro-cracks which given the right conditions
would propagate and cause failure.

Fatigue life of such materials is thus governed by stage 2 crack growth (also known as marco-
crack propagation)

In elastically loaded materials, the stresses and strains in the vicinity of a crack tip are
characterized by the stress intensity factor K.

The rate of crack growth is therefore dependent on the cyclic value of K.

Paris Law relates the rate of crack growth with respect to the number of cycles to the intensity
factor ΔK through a Log-Linear relationship.

= C (ΔK )
da m

dN

C – is an empirical constant which is inversely proportional to the Young’s

Modulus
m – has a value between 3 and 4 and

ΔK = YΔσ πa (Y – Geometric correction factor)

ΔK is the difference between maximum and minimum stress intensity factors in

a fatigue loading cycle.

3
Paris law does not hold at low values of ΔK because cracks do not propagate below a
characteristic value of ΔK known as the threshold alternating stress intensity factor ΔKth

Also at high values of ΔK, the law does not hold because KIC of the material is approached and
static mechanisms of crack growth arising from cleavage or fibrous fracture may become
operational hence accelerating the crack growth rate.

da
= CΔK m
10-6 dN
da/dN (m/cycles)

10-7

KIC
ΔKth

10 2040 80 100 200

ΔK (MN/m ) +3/2

The variation of crack growth rate (da/dN) with stress intensity factor range ΔK

The graph above shows a typical relationship between da/dN and ΔK (Paris Law). Such graphs
σ min
are normally determined at a known stress ratio R = . In some materials the crack growth
σ max
is strongly dependent on the stress ratio while in others such as steel, the crack growth is almost
independent of R. The law does not hold at low values of ΔK. Actually, there is a characteristic
value value known as the threshold alternating stress intensity factor ΔKth. It is not possible to
have crack growth rates which are less than one atom spacing per cycle. Also at high values of
ΔK, the law does not hold because KIC of the material is approached and static mechanisms of
crack growth arising from cleavage or fibrous fracture may operate and accelerate crack growth
rate.

Number of Cycles to Failure.

In the analysis of fractures, of importance would be the initial and final crack lengths ai and af
respectively. The initial crack length may be a the size of a known defect, a maximum possible
pre-existing defect determined from proof testing or a crack size detection limit in a particular
non-destructive testing technique. The final crack length may correspond to the component
4
dimension, e.g wall thickness, or maybe critical crack size for brittle fracture. Using a KIC
assessment, the critical crack size may be calculated from:-

1 ⎡ K IC ⎤
ac =
π ⎢⎣ Yσ max ⎥⎦

The number of cycles (Nf) to grow from the initial crack length to the final crack length is
obtained by integrating the growth rate equation i.e.

af ai
da
N f = ∫ dN = ∫ C (ΔK ) m
ai ai

For the metals, the value of m lies between 3 and 4. Assuming a value of 3 for m and
substituting for ΔK ( ΔK = YΔσ πa ), the Number of cycles to failure may be calculated as:-
af
1 da
Nf =
CY Δσ π 3 3 3/ 2 ∫a
ai
3/ 2

1 ⎡ 1 1 ⎤
= ⎢ − ⎥
CY 3 Δσ 3π 3 / 2 ⎣⎢ (ai )
1/ 2
(a f )1 / 2 ⎦⎥
When m= 4 the number of cycles to failure is given by:-

1 ⎡1 1 ⎤
Nf = ⎢ − ⎥
CY Δσ 4π 2
4
⎢⎣ ai a f ⎥⎦

The above equations show that the value Nf is inversely proportional to Δσ3 or Δσ4 and therefore
fatigue life is strongly dependent on the stress range Δσ. Furthermore, since in design the stress
range may be specified as a fraction of the yield strength, it means that Nf is proportional to 1/σy3
or 1/σy4. Therefore, stronger materials have shorter crack propagation lives than weaker
materials.