Introduction to fatigue

Often machine members subjected to such repeated or cyclic stressing

are found to have failed even when the actual maximum stresses were below
the ultimate strength of the material, and quite frequently at stress values
even below the yield strength. The most distinguishing characteristics is that
the failure had occurred only after the stresses have been repeated a very
large number of times. Hence the failure is called fatigue failure.
According to ASTM,
The process of progressive localized permanent structural changes occurring
in a material subjected to conditions that produce fluctuating stresses at
some point or points and that may culminate in cracks or complete fracture
after a sufficient number of fluctuations.
Fatigue Failure- Mechanism
A fatigue failure begins with a small crack; the initial crack may be so
minute and can not be detected. The crack usually develops at a point of
localized stress concentration like discontinuity in the material, such as a change
in cross section, a keyway or a hole. Once a crack is initiated, the stress
concentration effect become greater and the crack propagates. Consequently the
stressed area decreases in size, the stress increase in magnitude and the crack
propagates more rapidly. Until finally, the remaining area is unable to sustain the
load and the component fails suddenly. Thus fatigue loading results in sudden,
unwarned failure.
Fatigue Failure Stages
Three stages are involved in fatigue failure namely:
• Crack initiation
• Crack propagation
• Fracture
Crack initiation
• Areas of localized stress concentrations such as fillets, notches, key ways,
bolt holes and even scratches or tool marks are potential zones for crack
initiation.
• Crack also generally originate from a geometrical discontinuity or
metallurgical stress raiser like sites of inclusions.
• As a result of the local stress concentrations at these locations, the induced
stress goes above the yield strength (in normal ductile materials) and cyclic
plastic straining results due to cyclic variations in the stresses.
• On a macro scale the average value of the induced stress might still be
below the yield strength of the material.
• During plastic straining slip occurs and (dislocation movements) results in
gliding of planes one over the other. During the cyclic stressing, slip
saturation results which makes further plastic deformation difficult
• As a consequence, intrusion and extrusion occurs creating a notch like
discontinuity in the material
Crack propagation
• Due to intrusion and extrusion, notch like discontinuity is created in
the material which further increases the stress levels and the process
continues, propagating the cracks across the grains or along the grain
boundaries, slowly increasing the crack size.
• As the size of the crack increases the cross sectional area resisting the
applied stress decreases and reaches a threshold level at which it is
insufficient to resist the applied stress.
Final fracture
• As the area becomes too insufficient to resist the induced stresses
any further a sudden fracture results in the component
• Very rapid critical crack growth occurs when the crack length reaches
a critical value. Since rapid fracture occurs quickly, there is no rapid
fracture term in the fatigue life expression.
• The fracture toughness KIC of the material is the primary factor for
rapid fracture prediction or design against fracture.
The micro mechanism of fatigue fracture
Basic features of failure appearance
• A fatigue failure, therefore, is characterized by two distinct regions.
The first of these is due to progressive development of the crack,
while the second is due to the sudden fracture. The zone of sudden
fracture is very similar in appearance to the fracture of a brittle
material, such as cast iron, that has failed in tension. The crack
propagation zone could be distinguished from a polished appearance.
A careful examination (by an experienced person) of the failed cross
section could also reveal the site of crack origin
S-N Curve
• A SN-Curve is a plot of the magnitude of an alternating stress versus
the number of cycles to failure for a given material. Typically both
the stress and number of cycles are displayed on logarithmic scales.
• Endurance Strength
 It is the maximum amount of completely reversed stress that the
material can sustain for infinite no. of cycles without fracture (infinite
life means 106 cycles)
 Endurance strength is not the property of material. Its value depends
on various factors such as surface finish, size, stress concentration,
reliability etc. Hence actual value of endurance strength of a
component is always less than the endurance strength determine
using experiments.
Corrected Endurance Strength
• It is the actual value of endurance strength and is given by:
Se =ka.kb.kc.kd.Se’
where,
• Se’ = endurance strength of the test specimen
• Ka = surface finish factor
• Kb = size factor
• Kc = reliability factor
• Kd = modified stress concentration factor
 Design against Fatigue

Completely Reversed stresses Fluctuating stresses

Infinite life Finite life Infinite life Finite life

Using endurance Using S-N • Soderberg ( Soderber/ Goodman/ Gerber/

strength diagram • Goodman ASME elliptic line ) + SN curve
• Gerber
• ASME elliptic line
For Completely Reversed Stress
a) For Infinite life:
 σmax < Se’
 σmax = Se’/FOS

Where,
σmax = Maximum stress
Se’ = Corrected endurance strength
FOS = factor of safety
b) For finite life
• S-N curve in the high cycle region is
described by the Basquin equation

N  C
a
p

where,
a is the stress amplitude,
p & C empirical constants
N is the required life corresponding to a stress
For Fluctuating Stress
• For infinite life
A. Soderberg Criterion:

B. Modified Goodman Criterion

C. Gerber Criterion

D. ASME elliptic line

Where,
Sa = Alternating Stress
Sm = Mean stress
Se = corrected endurance strength
Sut = ultimate tensile strength
Sy= yield Strength
General Classification of Fatigue Testing
Based on the three categories above, fatigue testing maybe divided
base on the objective of the test, the three categories are:
• Material type test: Test of the material type are useful for a
comparison of the behavior of different materials subjected to
repeated stresses, of the effects of various manufacturing processes,
of the behavior of material in various environment, of various simple
geometrical factors such as different sizes and shapes, of notches and
different surface finishes. It could also be used for elaborating the
effect of surface treatment such as casehardening, decarburization,
nitriding, shot-peening and plating on the fatigue properties of
different materials.
• Structural type test : This type of test may be useful for a comparison
of components made from different materials, of different design and
of structure fabricated by different procedures. They may also be
used for revealing stress concentration and for developing better
designs or better fabrication procedures.
• Actual service type test : They are tests usually used as reliability test
or quality test, mainly for fault finding or verifying a new component
in the machine or structure.
Classification of Fatigue Testing Machines
They are classified on the basis of

• Purpose
• Type of Loading
• Methods of Load Application
On the basis of purpose
 General purpose testing machine
 Special purpose testing machine
 Testing machine for small-scale parts
 Testing machine for full-size structures and assemblies
In accordance with Type of Loading
 Axial loading (Push-Pull)
 Bending type
 Torsional loading
 Combined bending and torsion
 Biaxial loading
 Multiaxial loading
On the basis of methods of Load Application
1. Spring forces and dead weights
2. Centrifugal forces
3. Hydraulic forces
4. Pneumatic forces
5. Thermal dilatation forces
6. Electro-magnetic forces.
Axial Loading
The direct-stress fatigue testing machine subjects a test specimen to a
uniform stress or strain through its cross section. For the same cross section,
an axial fatigue testing machine must be able to apply a greater force than a
static bending machine to achieve the same stress
• Load produced by mechanical deflection and variable springs and/or
masses- The simplest way of applying a constant-stress amplitude to a
specimen consists of attaching one end of a coil spring to the specimen and
imposing a reciprocating motion to the other end by means of a direct
crank drive.
If the reciprocating motion is applied directly to one end of the specimen,
the spring being omitted, a constant-strain amplitude machine will result,
provided the testing machine, including the dynamometer, is very stiff
compared to the test piece—a condition which is not always fulfilled.
• Load produced by dead weights
and/or constant spring forces-
Springs are not always reliable,
and errors in the nominal load
are easily introduced by
overstressing, temperature
effects, and inertia. The best
guarantee against such errors
appears to be to use gravity
forces from suspended weight.
By rotating the specimen, a
stationary weight, suspended at
the outer end of a lever,
produces reversed axial load in
the specimen.
• Load produced by centrifugal forces- This method of producing loads
has found wide application. One single out-of-balance weight was
rotated at a constant speed of 1500 rev/mm. The centrifugal force
could be changed in steps while the machine was stationary. In
another type, two pairs of weights rotating at a speed of 3000
rev/mm produced a load in the horizontal direction only. The load
could be changed by a phase shift while the machine was in
operation.
• Load produced by electro-magnetic
forces- Electromagnetically excited
machines have the advantage of
allowing very high frequencies. It has
an armature placed between two
magnets. One end of the specimen is
attached to the framework and the
other end to the armature which is
connected to a double cantilever
spring. The natural frequency of the
system without specimen is tuned to
resonance by changing the length of
the cantilever. The introduction of the
specimen increases the natural
frequency of the system and
consequently the machine operates
below resonance but with
compensated inertia forces.
• Load produced by hydraulic forces- Very
high loads (up to 100 tons or more) and
large dynamic amplitudes are obtainable
by means of hydraulic machines, and
various types of commercial machine are
now available. The first machines
consisted of a pulsator attached to the
conventional tensile testing equipments.
Later on, designs for the specific purpose
of fatigue testing have been evolved. The
problem of changing the load while the
machine is in operation has been solved
in two different ways. In one, the pump
consists of two identical pivoted cylinders,
and by changing the angle between them
the resultant volume fed to another
cylinder in series with the specimen is
adjusted to give the required load. Instead
of pivoting one of the cylinders, both
cylinders may have a fixed position, and
the phase is then changed by means of a
differential gear. Alternatively, the stroke
of the pump piston of a single cylinder
may be changed
• Load produced by pneumatic forces- The only machine of this type
has been proposed by Lehr. The main data are: load +100 tons, stroke
+5 mm and speed 1200 c/mm. The load is regulated with the machine
in operation by changing a volume between the pump, which works
at a constant stroke, and the cylinder attached to the specimen.
• Load produced by thermal dilatation- The device was based on the
principle of heating and cooling columns in parallel with the test
specimen. The thermal expansion and contraction were controlled by
thermocouples spot-welded to each column. The cycling speed is of
necessity very low. Two full cycles of strain were imposed per minute.
This device was used for a study of the fatigue behavior of cold
worked metal
Bending type

The most common types of fatigue machines are small bending fatigue
machines. In general, these simple, inexpensive systems allow
laboratories to conduct extensive test programs with a low equipment
investment
• Load produced by mechanical deflection- All machines belonging to
this type work on the constant-strain amplitude principle, although a
constant moment would be easily maintained in many of the
machines by an adjustment while the machine is in operation. The
simple principle of this type of machine consists of bending back and
forth in the same plane of the specimen. The forced motion of one or
of two points of the specimen is usually produced by an adjustable
crank.
• Load produced by dead weights- This way of producing bending moments
rotating in relation to the specimen has been used frequently, but does not
appear to have been used for producing fluctuating bending moments in a fixed
plane of the specimen
• Load produced by centrifugal forces- A very convenient and frequently used
method of producing repeated bending stresses in specimens consists of
mechanical oscillators attached to the test piece.
• Load produced by pneumatic forces- A machine by QUINLAN consists of
two small pistons connected to the free end of a cantilever specimen
which is vibrated at its natural frequency by air pressure. A pneumatic
column is tuned so that its resonance frequency coincides with that of
the specimen. It is of considerable interest that fatigue cracks too small
to be detected by X-ray or Zyglo tests have a measurable influence on
the frequency, which gradually decreases with the growth of the crack.
This method also allows internal cracks to be detected before they
appear at the surface
• Load produced by electro-magnetic forces- Most of the machines of this
type are based on the same principle as the preceding type, in which a
cantilever specimen or a beam is excited to vibrate in resonance. If the
specimen is supported at the nodes and vibrates in its fundamental free-
free bending mode, failure in the grip portion of the specimen is
definitely eliminated
Rotating Bending
• Load produced by mechanical deflection- If a bent wire is rotated
about its curved axis, a simple and efficient method of producing
constant strain amplitudes is obtained. If the wire arc is circular, a
constant bending moment over the length of the specimen results.
This is of advantage, if the specimen can be given such a shape that
failure does not occur in the grip portion of the specimen, but
otherwise it is desirable that the end moments be small. This problem
was solved by Haigh and Robertson who introduced the principle of
loading the test piece as a buckling column
• Load produced by dead weights and/or constant spring forces- This
type of machine employs either a rotating specimen or a rotating
load. The merit of this principle lies in the fact that all inertia forces
are easily eliminated. In its simplest form, the rotating-beam
specimen is provided at the free end with a ball bearing which is
loaded by a dead weight or a constant spring force calibrated by a
dead weight. In these machines, the bending moment varies linearly
over the length of the specimen. This may be quite acceptable if the
specimen is notched, but in an un-notched specimen a uniform stress
over the length is preferable.
Torsional loading

• Load produced by mechanical deflection and inertia forces- It uses a

crank drive acting directly on a specimen in series with a coil spring or
a torsion weight bar or even an optical system recording the
hysteresis loop and thus allowing a study of the damping at different
stages of the damage process.
A different principle was introduced by STROMEYEE
(1914) who used a crank drive connected to one end of the specimen
while flywheel producing the load was attached to the opposite end
of the specimen. Two specimens could be tested simultaneously. This
machine did not operate at resonance.
• Load produced by dead weights- This principle has not been used
very much because of the limited speed due to inertia forces. A
machine of this type, however, developed by H. F. Moore and by
Stanton and Batson. The torsional moment was produced by a
rotating cantilever beam provided with a dead weight which was
attached to one end of the specimen. A speed of 1000 rev/mm could
be used.
• Load produced by electro-magnetic forces- Several machines of this
type have been designed, all being of the resonant type. Most of
them consist of an armature acting as a flywheel connected in series
with the specimen and excited either by feeding into the stator an
electric current of a frequency close to the natural frequency of the
system.
Combined Bending and Torsion
• Load produced by centrifugal forces- Machines for the specific
purpose of combining bending and torsional loads are generally
based on centrifugal forces. A machine designed by LEHR and PEAGER
consisted of a mechanical oscillator with four rotating out-of-balance
weights which produced axial loading, while a cross-lever having
mechanical oscillators at each end provided reversed torsional
loading. This machine is a non-resonant machine.
Biaxial and Tri-axial Loading
• The majority of the combined fatigue stress tests reported have been
made by subjecting a specimen of circular cross-section to combined
bending and torsion as described above. The range of biaxial principal
stress ratios is restricted by this method to biaxial stresses of opposite
Signs. A wider range of possible stress combinations can be obtained
by subjecting tubular Specimens to internal fluctuating pressure and
static or fluctuating axial stress, or by combining torsional fatigue and
external static pressure.
Reciprocating bending test machine
• The type of S-N curve produced is identified as a tension-
compression, strain controlled fatigue data curve. This machine type
is capable of zero mean cyclic stresses by positioning the specimen
clamping vice with respect to the mean displacement position of the
Crank drive
Rotating bending testing machine
• The type of S-N curve created by this machine is identified as a
rotating-bending, stress controlled fatigue data curve. The rotating
bending test machine is used to create an S-N curve by turning the
motor at a constant revolution per minutes, or frequency. To create a
failure on the specimen, a constant-stationary force is applied on the
specimen, which creates a constant bending moment. A stationary
moment applied to a rotating specimen causes the stress at any point
on the outer surface of the specimen to go from zero to a maximum
tension stress, back to zero and finally to a compressive stress. Thus,
the stress state is one that is completely reversed in nature.
COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION
OF FATIGUE DATA
• In order to generate realistic data for fatigue analysis, the fatigue tests
are carried out on several specimens at different levels of maximum
alternating stresses. The fatigue data is plotted on a semi-log or log-
log scale in the form of S-N curve (i.e. stress vs. number of cycles to
failure curve), also known as the Wohler curve. The portion of curve
with negative slope constitutes the finite life region and represents
fatigue strength of the material for given number of stress cycles,
while the horizontal portion represents infinite life region.
• The stress level corresponding to horizontal portion (i.e. infinite life) is
known as fatigue Limit of the material. The changeover point, or the
knee, signifies the phenomenon where Crack nucleation is essentially
arrested by some microstructural features
Analysis and determination of finite life
Owing to inherent microstructural inhomogeneity in the material
properties, differences in surface finish and test condition, fatigue data
exhibit scatter. The variance of log life generally increases with
decreasing stress levels, particularly for un-notched specimens; hence,
it is necessary to take into account the statistical nature of the fatigue
data.
Various techniques are available to construct a median S-N curve and
associate lower and upper bound curves that characterize the
minimum and maximum fatigue lives at a given level of stress
amplitude
The JSME S 002 standard
• The JSME S 002 standard is one of them and much simpler in
principle to other techniques. It involves testing of two fatigue
specimens at four stress levels for finite life regions; while 6
specimens are used for determining the fatigue limit through the
staircase method (will be discussed in the next paragraph). The
recommended test sequence is shown in figure xxx, where the
numbers next to the data points represent the order for conducting
the fatigue tests. The fatigue is determined by taking the average of
the stress levels employed during the staircase test.
Staircase method
• The staircase method provides an estimate of the endurance limit by taking
into account its statistical nature. It is also known as up and down method.
It is more efficient than other methods such as the probit method because
it can reduce the number of needed for the whole text by forty percent
• In this test method, first of all, the mean endurance limit is estimated.
Following this, a specimen is tested at stress amplitude Sa slightly (about
5%) higher than the expected endurance limit. If the specimen fails before
completion of stipulated number of cycles (about 2 million cycle), then the
next specimen is tested at lower stress amplitude. However, in the event of
survival of a specimen, the test is suspended after completion of stipulated
number of cycles and the next specimen is tested at higher amplitude of
maximum alternating stress. Thus, the stress amplitude of each successive
test is based on the outcome of its previous test
 DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM
• Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that measure real
world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into
digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer. Data
acquisition systems, abbreviated by the acronyms DAS or DAQ,
typically convert analog waveforms into digital values for processing.
The components of data acquisition systems include:
• Sensors, to convert physical parameters to electrical signals.
• Signal conditioning circuitry, to convert sensor signals into a form that
can be converted to digital values.
• Analog-to-digital converters, to convert conditioned sensor signals to
digital values
• Data acquisition applications are usually controlled by software
programs developed using various general purpose programming
languages such as Assembly, BASIC, C, C++, C#, Fortran, Java, LabVIEW
Lisp, Pascal, etc. Stand-alone data acquisition systems are often
called data loggers.
• There are also open-source software packages providing all the
necessary tools to acquire data from different hardware equipment.
These tools come from the scientific community where complex
experiment requires fast, flexible and adaptable software. Those
packages are usually custom fit but more general DAQ package like
the Maximum Integrated Data Acquisition System can be easily
tailored and is used in several physics experiments worldwide.
Thank you