Chapter 6 - Fatigue Tests - 1

ME 215
ENGINEERING MATERIALS-I
CHAPTER 6
FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF
MATERIALS
PART-1
Dr. Oğuzhan Yılmaz (Asst.Prof.)
http://www.gantep.edu.tr/~oyilmaz
• Machine parts are rarely
loaded in simple manner as
the specimens in a tensile or
torsion test where load is
usually constant or very slowly
varying
• The machine parts in real life

are often subjected to loads
and stresses that vary with
time either in magnitude or in
direction.
• In tensile (or compressive) tests of materials, loading usually starts
from zero and gradually goes up to a maximum value where
material no longer can resist the internal stresses and fails
/fractures around ultimate strength (Su) of material before the
load is removed. This type of failure is called the static failure.
• In such tests, material is loaded only once but up to the ultimate

limit (Su) of the strength. Life of the material is therefore only half
cycle of the loading.
• If we were to load the material up to a point half the
elastic limit (or ultimate strength) and then remove the
load material would not fail/fracture and a second, third
or more (n cycle) loading-unloading would be possible.
• The life of the material then would be “n” cycle of the
loading until it fractures/fails.
• In such type of loadings where the actual stresses are
usually lower than ultimate strength of the material,
failure will not happen in the first cycle of loading and
will take time.
• After a certain number of cycles of loading, material
would fail and the number of cycles to the failure would
therefore be called the life of the part.
•This kind of failures with a

certain number of life cycles is
then called the “fatigue
failure”.
The fatigue failure starts generally at stress levels
below the elastic limit of the material and
result in an unexpected fracture of the
component.
Therefore, in engineering life it is important that

we care more about fatigue failure than static
failure since most of machine parts are
required to have a certain life with stress level
well below the ultimate strength (even below
elastic strength/limit)
FATIGUE FAILURE EXAMPLES
A shaft fatigue failure
A bolt fatigue failure

Forward-backward
bending
Welded part
fatigue failure
A gear teeth fatigue failure
???
A ship body fatigue failure
Results of Fatigue Failure
- Fatigue failure account for about 80 % of part failure in
engineering and occurs in parts subjected to fluctuating loads
- Generally, fatigue fractures occur as a result of minute cracks

which usually start at some discontinuity in the material, or at
other stress concentration locations, and then gradually grow
under repeated application of load.
- As the crack grows, the stress on the load-bearing cross-section

increase until it reaches a high enough level to cause
catastrophic fracture of the part
Beach marks
Crack initiation
crack growth
smooth areas
( takes long time )
Fracture
rough areas
(sudden fracture)
Fracture surface which usually exhibits smooth areas
corresponds to the gradual crack growth stage, and
rough areas correspond to the catastrophic fracture
stage.
The smooth parts of the fracture surface usually exhibit

beach marks which occurs as a result of changes in the
magnitude of the fluctuating fatigue load.
Fatigue behavior of materials is usually described by

means of a diagram called S-N diagram which gives
the number of cycles to failure (N ) as a function of the
max applied alternating stress (Sa)
BASIC DEFINITIONS
The time dependent stresses causing fatigue failure can be
classified into two main groups:
A) Random stresses(fig. b). (no regular form or repetition exists)
B) Constant amplitude and Constant frequency stresses (fig. a) (a repeating
form of the stress exists)
BASIC DEFINITIONS
A) Random stresses:
The time variation of such stresses does not follow a definite
pattern. The amplitude of the fluctuating stress changes together
with its frequency.
A random stress is characterised by a continuous change in
amplitude and frequency so that instantaneous values have no
meaning.
BASIC DEFINITIONS
B) Constant amplitude and constant frequency stresses
These are special case of random stresses with a sinusoidal wave form.
o Alternating stresses (rotating shaft example…)
o Fluctuating stresses (no regular diagram…)
o Repeated stresses (between zero and peak value…)
BASIC DEFINITIONS
Regarding repeating (non-random) stresses there are some basic
parameters to keep in mind:
o Smax Maximum stress: The stress having the highest algebric value in
the stress cycle. Tensile stress being considered positive and
compressive stress negative.
o Smin, Minimum stress: The stress having the lowest algebric value in
the stress cycle.
Sm, Mean stress:

The average of Smax and Smin.
SM:(SMAX+SMIN)/2
Sr , Range of stress:
The difference between the max and min stresses
in one cycle.
Sr:Smax-Smin
Sa , Stress amplitude:
One half of range of stress.
Sa=(Sr/2)=[(Smax-Smin)/2]
BASIC DEFINITIONS
While the amplitude of a sinusoidal (non-
random) stress is easily measured , the
amplitude of a random stress can only be
expressed and measured as the average of
the instantaneous amplitudes over a
certain time period.
Classic examples of random stress producing
loading conditions are sea waves,
atmospheric disturbances and road
induced vibrations in ground vehicles.
FATIGUE PROCESS STAGES
. Fatigue failure process is basically a microscopic process.
. The initiation and progress of fatigue process depens upon
the microscopic variables
The fatigue process consists of various stages as follows:

o CRACK INITIATION
o STAGE 1 CRACK GROWTH
o STAGE 2 CRACK GROWTH
o FRACTURE
3
1
fracture
Crack growth
Stage 1 & 2
2
Crack
initiation 1
fracture
Crack growth
Stage 1 & 2
Crack
initiation
Crack initation:
The progressive, localized,
permanent structural
change which initiates
fatigue failure is the
‘microplasticity’.
Microplasticity is the
onset of plasticity at
microscopic level while
material is still
nominally elastic!
o The usual method of microplastic
deformation in metals is by sliding
of blocks of crystal grain over one
another, like a deck of cards.
o The extent of the plastic flow is

limited by the surrounding elastic
matrix.
o When the load or stress is removed,
back stresses arising from the elastic
matrix force the plastic deformation
to return to their orginal state.
o On high stresses, the elastic matrix,
however, cannot restore the plastic
flow and a microplastic deformation
starts at crystal grain level.
This phenomenon of microplastic
deformation is called ‘deformation by slip’
and involves three important consideration:
o Slip planes
o Resolved shear stress
o Critical Shear Stress
Stage 1 crack growth:
The persistent slip bands are embryonic fatigue cracks.
A series of intrusions and extrusions are developed during load cycling
which are peculiar to the fatigue process.
One simple explanation of crack formation that suggests itself is that
these extrusions and intrusions build up a notch
The initial cracks form along the slip planes and usually at 45
degrees to the direction of loading in tensile type applications
(due to shear stresses).
The crack growth is crystallographically oriented along the slip
plane for a short distance.
In a polycrystalline metal the stage 1 crack may extend for only a
few grain diameters before it changes to Stage 2 crack
Stage 2 crack growth:
The most important feature of the stage 2 crack is that it is tensile
stress dominated and comprises most of the crack propagation life.
• The stage 2 crack propagates in a zigzag transgranular path along
slip planes and "clevage" planes from grain to grain and maintains
a general direction perpendicular to the maximum tensile stress
o General direction of
cracks is
perpendicular to the
maximum tensile
stress as seen in a bi-
cycle body
o Fracture:
When the stage 2 crack
reaches sufficient lenght, so
that the remaining section
cannot sustain the applied
load, the specimen fractures.
fractures
FATIGUE PROCESS STAGES –fracture examples
Considering the life of parts, fatigue process may be

divided into two main catogories on the S-N curve of
metals:
- Finite life region (n<106 cycles)

o Low Cycle fatigue ( 100 cycles< n <103 cycles)
o High Cycle fatigue ( 103 cycles< n <106 cycles)
- Infinite life region (n>106 cycles)
• This is the S-N (stress versus cycle) curve used to
identify the regions of fatigue
S-N curves for
carbon steel
S-N curves for

aluminum alloy
Generally, fatigue is considered ‘high cycle fatigue’ when
the peak stresses in the material are held within the
elastic range and the fatigue life exceeds
approximately 103 cycles.
• Low-cycle fatigue occurs when stresses are above the
elastic limit of the material with life less than 103 cycles.
• This arbitrary division of fatigue life, however, may vary
from material to material, depending upon the tensile
properties.

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ME 215

• The machine parts in real life

• In such tests, material is loaded only once but up to the ultimate

•This kind of failures with a

Therefore, in engineering life it is important that

A shaft fatigue failure

A bolt fatigue failure

- Generally, fatigue fractures occur as a result of minute cracks

- As the crack grows, the stress on the load-bearing cross-section

The smooth parts of the fracture surface usually exhibit

Fatigue behavior of materials is usually described by

Sm, Mean stress:

The fatigue process consists of various stages as follows:

o The extent of the plastic flow is

Considering the life of parts, fatigue process may be

- Finite life region (n<106 cycles)

S-N curves for

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