Factors affecting fatigue failure

 Three factors play an important role in fatigue failure:

(i) value of tensile stress (maximum),
(ii) magnitude of variation in stress,
(iii) number of cycles.
 Geometrical (specimen geometry) and microstructural aspects also play an important role in
determining fatigue life (and failure). Stress concentrators from both these sources have a
deleterious effect. Residual stress can also play a role.
 A corrosive environment can have a deleterious interplay with fatigue.

Sufficiently high maximum tensile stress

Factors necessary
to cause fatigue Large variation/fluctuation in stress
failure
Sufficiently large number of stress cycles
Types of stress cycles and parameters characterizing them
 The pattern of loading experienced by a component may be complicated involving many
frequencies and may include vibration (Fig.1 below). (If the frequency of loading is very high, it
is referred to as vibration).
 The ‘essential’ effect of such a loading can be understood by simpler loading patterns like
the sinusoidal wave (Fig.2 below). Tests involving such loading are easy to conduct and the
results obtained is easy to interpret.

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Fig.1

I. Completely reversed cycle of stress

 The simplest loading one can conceive is a sinusoidal wave pattern loading, where the
stress/load oscillates about a mean zero load/stress. The stress amplitude (a) is marked in the
figure.

Fig.2
← Compressive Tensile →

a
← Stress →

0 r
Cycles →

 r   max   min
II. Purely tensile cycles
 The stress/load oscillation may be sinusoidal, but the mean stress/load may be such that the
stress state during the entire cycle is tensile. Needless to say, for a given stress amplitude this
type of loading is more severe (as maximum stress max is min+ r). Various parameters are
defined in the equations below.

 r   max   min
 r  max   min
a  
2 2
 max   min
m  r
Tensile stress →

2
 max
Stress ratio  R  min
 max m
a 1 R
Amplitude ratio  A   Cycles → min
 m 1 R 0
III. Random stress cycles
 The stress/load oscillation may be sinusoidal, but the mean stress/load may be such that the
stress state during the entire cycle is tensile. Needless to say, for a given stress amplitude this
type of loading is more severe (as maximum stress max is min+ r).

Tensile →
← Stress →

0
Cycles →
← Compressive
S-N Curve
 Engineering fatigue data is usually plotted as a S-N curve. Here S is the stress and N the
number of cycles to failure (usually fracture). The x-axis is plotted as log(N).
 The stress plotted could be one of the following: a, max, min. Each plot is for a constant
m, R or A.
 It should be noted that the stress values plotted are nominal values and does not take into

account local stress concentrations.

 Most fatigue experiments are performed with m = 0 (e.g. rotating beam tests).
 Typically the stress value chosen for the stress is low (< y) and hence S-N curves deal
with fatigue failure at a large number of cycles (> 105 cycles). These are the high cycle
fatigue tests.
 It is to be noted that the nominal stress < y, but microscopic plasticity occurs, which
leads to the accumulation of damage.
 As obvious if the magnitude of Stress increases the fatigue life decreases.
 Low cycle fatigue (N < 104 or 105 cycles) tests are conducted in controlled cycles of
elastic + plastic strain (instead of stress control).
S-N Curve
 Broadly two kinds of S-N curves can be differentiated for two classes of materials.
(1) those where a stress below a threshold value gives a ‘very long’ life (this stress value is
called the Fatigue Limit / Endurance limit). Steel and Ti come under this category.
(2) those where a decrease in stress increases the fatigue life of the component, but no
distinct fatigue life is observed. Al, Mg, Cu come under this category.
 From a application point of view having a sharp fatigue limit is useful (as keeping service
stress below this will help with long life (i.e. large number of cycles) for the component).
400
Fatigue limit = Endurance limit

Fatigue limit
300 Mild steel
Bending stress (MPa) →

Stress below Fatigue

limit give ‘infinite life’
200
No fatigue limit  fatigue strength
is specified for and arbitrary
Aluminium alloy number of cycles (~ 108 cycles)
100
Note that number of cycles is in log scale
 Steel, Ti show fatigue limit
Number of cycles to failure (N) →  Al, Mg, Cu show no fatigue limit
0
105 106 107 108
S-N Curve: Basquin equation
 S-N curve in the high cycle region can be described by the Basquin
equation: N  C p
a
where, a is the stress amplitude, p & C empirical constants.

 The S-N curve is usually determined using 8-12 specimens. Starting with a stress of two-
thirds of the static tensile strength of the material the stress is lowered till specimens do not
fail in about 107 cycles. As expected, there is usually there is considerable scatter in the
data.
Microstructural aspects of fatigue failure
 One of the important ‘mysteries’ related to fatigue is: “how does fatigue failure occur if the
stress value used is below the yield stress?”.
 Fatigue failure occurs because of microscopic plasticity (which can occur below the yield
stress) and damage accumulation with time (i.e. number of cycles of loading).
 Four important stages of fatigue can be identified:
1 Crack initiation (in notched specimens this stage may be absent). This occurs mostly at
surfaces or sometimes at internal interfaces. Crack initiation may take place within about
10% of the total life of the component.
2 Stage-I crack growth (Slip-band crack growth): growth of crack along planes of high
shear stress. This can be viewed as essentially extension of the slip process which lead to
crack formation (something like deepening of the crack formed).
3 Stage-II crack growth: in this stage the crack grows along directions of maximum
tensile stress. Hence, crack propagation is trans-granular.
4 Ductile failure: reduction in load bearing area (due to crack propagation) leads to
ultimate failure.
 The crack which forms after stage-1 can be removed by annealing (i.e. the damage is
reversible at that stage).
 In parallel with dislocation activity, fatigue loading can give rise to an increased
concentration of vacancies (as compared to uniform loading). These vacancies can further play a role in
processes like climb, over-aging of precipitates, etc. (depending on the material and context).

Crack initiation Crack deepening Crack growth Failure

Slip and fatigue crack initiation
 When a specimen (Fig.1) is subjected to uniform loading (e.g. pure shear in Fig.2),
dislocations moving on parallel slip planes leave the free surface of crystal/grain, giving rise to
slip lines on the surface of the specimen (Fig.2). The surface steps in static loading are
typically 100-100nm high. Slip is prevalent in all grains of the specimen uniformly.
 In fatigue loading on the other hand some grains may show slip while others may not. Due to
accumulation of slip, slip bands form (within about 5% of the total number of cycles to
failure), which increase with number of cycles. The surface steps created in this case are fine
(~1nm) and further due to oscillatory loading this can lead to extrusions (Fig.3) and intrusions
(Fig.4). The intrusions can act like a notch, which is a stress concentrator and are a precursor to
a full blown crack.
Dynamic/fatigue loading
Fig.1
Fig.3
Fine scale compared to static loading

Static loading
Fig.4
Fig.2
Fatigue crack propagation
 Once a crack has formed its growth can be understood in two stages.
(i) Stage-I. Growth along slip bands due to shear stress (which lead to the formation of the
intrusions), which can be thought of as crack deepening. The extension of the crack is only a
few grain diameters during this stage at the rate of few nm per cycle.
(ii) Stage-II marks faster crack growth of microns per cycle and is dictated by the maximum
normal stress present. Striations characteristic of fatigue crack propagation are seen in this
stage (fatigue striations). Each striation is produced by one cycle of stress. Sometimes these
striations are difficult to detect and hence if striations are not found it does not imply that
fatigue crack propagation was absent. The standard mechanism used to explain this
phenomenon is shown in figure below (the tensile part of the cycle). During the compressive
portion of the cycle the crack faces tend to close and the blunted crack tends to re-sharpen.
 The important portion of the fatigue failure is the Stage-II crack growth and hence
understanding the same helps one predict the failure cycles/time and hence plan for fail safe
design (the component can be replaced before the crack grows to a critical value leading to failure: the concept of preventive maintenance).

Formation of double notch tensile part of the cycle

concentrating slip at 45 Crack tip extension and
due to tensile loading Crack widening. blunting
Fatigue crack propagation
 As we have seen stage II crack growth occupies the predominant portion of the fatigue life
of a sample/component. Empirically it is seen that the crack growth rate (da/dN) follows a
double power law equation.  a → the alternating stress
da
 A am a n  a → the crack length
dN  A,B → constants
 In terms of the total strain () this can da  m → ranges from 2-4
be expressed as:  B q
 n → ranges from 1-2
dN
 We have noted that once the crack nucleates (as has already happed in stage II), the relevant
parameter characterizing the mechanical behaviour of the material is the stress intensity
factor and not the stress (alone). So a logical plot should be between da/dN and the range of
stress intensity factors (K) experienced by the specimen.

K  K max  K min   max a   min a   r a

 A range of K (i.e. K) has to be considered as we are in fatigue loading mode.
 Use of K further gives a crucial link between fatigue and fracture mechanics.

* Note: in compression K is not defined and hence Kcompression is taken to be zero. However, the compressive part of the
loading is important from mechanistic and other points of view.
 A plot of da/dN vs K can the divided into three regions.
Region-1 → slow or negligible crack growth.
Region-2 → stable crack growth with power law behaviour (linear behaviour between crack
growth rate and log of stress intensity factor range (logK) (called Paris’ law)).
Region-3 → unstable crack growth leading to failure (as Kmax exceeds the Kc of the
material).
 We have noted that the materials we are
dealing with are ductile with appreciable
crack tip blunting.
Approximately linear
 However, Linear Elastic Fracture curve in region-2

Mechanics (LEFM) and hence ‘K’ can be

used as a characterizing parameter (as da
plastic zone sizes are often small).  C (K ) p
dN
 C → a constant in region-2
 K → (Kmax  Kmin)
 p → ~3 for steels, 3-4 Al alloys
 It is important to note that S-N curves are
usually determined with R = 1 (fully
reversed stress cycles) and (da/dN)-K
curves are determined with R = 0
(pulsating tension). Hence, comparison of
data and curves should be done carefully.
Fractography
 Often progress of fracture in due to fatigue loading is indicated in a fractograph by a series
of rings (or ‘beach marks’).
Effect of Metallurgical Variables
 Fatigue related properties are sensitive to:
(i) specimen geometry (with special reference to stress raisers)
(ii) microstructure (including residual stress and microstructural stress raisers)
(iii) surface finish.
 Smooth surface finish and compressive residual stress improve fatigue properties (i.e
increase fatigue life).
 In some cases correlation is found between properties determined from static tensile tests
(like UTS) with that determined from fatigue testing (e.g. fatigue limit). However, there is
no universality to the behaviour.
 As we have observed localization of slip is a key feature of fatigue crack nucleation. This
implies that if slip can be ‘spread out’ more uniformly (homogenization of slip) then fatigue
life with improve. This is more prevalent in low stacking fault energy (SFE) materials (like
Ag), cross-slip is more difficult (as the spacing between partials is more) and hence
obstacles cannot be overcome easily by cross-slip. The opposite is true for high SFE
materials (like Al), where cross-slip can lead to a set of parallel slip planes operating
extensively.
High SFE material
 Effect of Metallurgical Variables…

 Further, in low SFE materials, the grain size plays an important role in determining the
fatigue life. This role is important only under conditions of low stress (where number of
cycles to failure is high and stage-I cracking is predominant). Under such circumstances the
following relation is often observed: 1
( Fatigue life )  ( grain diameter ) 2

 In high SFE materials, dislocation cell structures form on deformation and these play a
more important role in stage-I cracking as compared to grain size.
 The presence of interstitial and substitutional alloying elements play an important role in
determining the S-N curve (fatigue life). Interstitial solutes, which contribute to strain aging
give rise to a fatigue limit in the S-N curve. Substitutional elements increase fatigue life
without introducing a fatigue limit.

Enhanced strain aging effect (due to increased solute

content or aging time) gives tolerance to higher stress
values, for a given fatigue life

Interstitial solute elements (like C in steel)

introduce fatigue limit due to strain aging

For a given stress, more number of cycles to failure.