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Fatigue life of machined components

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DOI: 10.1007/s40436-016-0168-z

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Fatigue life of machined components

A. Pramanik, A. R. Dixit,
S. Chattopadhyaya, M. S. Uddin, Yu
Dong, A. K. Basak & G. Littlefair

Advances in Manufacturing

ISSN 2095-3127

Adv. Manuf.
DOI 10.1007/s40436-016-0168-z

1 23
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1 23
 Author's personal copy
Adv. Manuf.
DOI 10.1007/s40436-016-0168-z

Fatigue life of machined components

A. Pramanik1 • A. R. Dixit2 • S. Chattopadhyaya2 • M. S. Uddin3 • Yu Dong1 •

A. K. Basak4 • G. Littlefair5

Received: 19 July 2016 / Accepted: 22 December 2016

Ó Shanghai University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017

Abstract A correlation between machining process and compressive and tensile residual stresses improve and
fatigue strength of machined components clearly exists. reduce fatigue strength, respectively. Grinding process
However, a complete picture of the knowledge on this is induces tensile residual stresses on the machined surfaces
not readily available for practical applications. This study due to high temperature generation. On the other hand,
addresses this issue by investigating the effects of milling and turning processes induce compressive residual
machining methods on fatigue life of commonly used stresses. High temperature non-conventional machining
materials, such as titanium alloys, steel, aluminium alloys generates a network of micro-cracks on the surfaces in
and nickel alloys from previous literature. Effects of addition to tensile residual stresses to subsequently reduce
turning, milling, grinding and different non-conventional fatigue strength of machined components. Embedded grits
machining processes on fatigue strength of above-men- of abrasive water jet machining degrade the fatigue per-
tioned materials have been investigated in detail with formance of components machined by this method.
correlated information. It is found that the effect of mate-
rials is not significant except steel in which phase change Keywords Traditional machining
Non-traditional
causes volume expansion, resulting in compressive/tensile machining
Fatigue strength
Surface roughness
Residual
residual stresses based on the amounts of white layers. It is stress
Phase change
very complex to identify the influence of surface roughness
on the fatigue strength of machined components in the
presence of residual stresses. The polishing process 1 Introduction
improves the surface roughness, but removes the surface
layers that contain compressive residual stresses to Materials under a fluctuating stress fail at a much lower
decrease the fatigue strength of polished specimens. The stress level than those under the static fracture stress. This
fact is particularly important when designing aerospace,
automobile and biomedical components [1–3]. It is well
& A. Pramanik known that the cracks due to fatigue usually start from free
[email protected]
surfaces as it undergoes the maximum load and environ-
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, mental effects [4, 5]. The fatigue performance of a com-
Bentley, WA 6102, Australia ponent depends on the topography/integrity of the
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian School of machined surfaces produced by different machining pro-
Mines, Dhanbad 826004, India cedures. Thus the surfaces generated from diverse
3
School of Engineering, University of South Australia, machining processes show a wide range of fatigue beha-
Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia viours [6]. Therefore, machining induced residual stresses,
4
Adelaide Microscopy, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, microstructures, microhardness and notch-like surface
SA, Australia irregularities affect the fatigue strength significantly [7, 8].
5
School of Engineering, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, The high cycle fatigue strength is the main mechanical
VIC, Australia property that is affected by machining in which rougher

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surfaces inspire the beginning of fatigue crack, especially

for notch-sensitive materials [9]. The surface microstruc-
ture includes phases, plastic deformation, tears, voids, pits,
burrs, cracks and hardness. The machined surfaces are
work-hardened severely with micro cracks. This change in
the surfaces depends on the harshness of the parameters
used during a machining process [10]. The tensile residual
stresses on the machined surfaces degrade the fatigue life
[5, 11].
Cast or wrought processes produce a near net shape, but Fig. 1 Rotating bending fatigue life of Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn-0.8%TiB2
machining processes generate final details of products. [10]
Appropriate precautions must be taken during the
machining of components to ensure expected roughness of 0.1 mm/r and 0.05 mm/r, and depth of cut of 0.3 mm are
and integrity of the machined surfaces/subsurfaces as they noted [10].
affect the service life duration significantly. There are some According to Ref. [10], turned gamma alloys contain
studies on the fatigue behaviour of machined components, high compressive residual stresses in machined surfaces
which show that a variety of materials and machining (around 600 MPa). The stresses in the longitudinal direc-
processes have different effects on fatigue strength. A clear tion were smaller than those in the transverse direction.
understanding of these effects is not yet available though it The surfaces generated from grinding also contain com-
is imperatively required to utilize machined components pressive residual stresses [15]. It is natural that the work-
more efficiently. This paper investigates the contributions pieces machined by worn tools have higher compressive
of machining parameters on the fatigue strength of various residual stresses on the surfaces [16], which reduces the
materials, such as titanium alloys, steels, aluminium alloys peak tensile stress and shows longer fatigue lives at the
and nickel alloys in the previous work. This review is given stress when compared to the specimens machined at
anticipated to bridge all the understandings obtained by 10 m/min in speed, 0.1 mm/r in feed and 0.3 mm in depth
various researchers and, scientifically and systematically of cut. However, Fig. 1 does not support the above. The
analyse those to give a complete understanding of fatigue specimens polished at 450 600 MPa and 650 MPa have
behaviour of machined components. lower fatigue life as opposed to turned specimens, as
shown in Fig. 1. This indicates that the fatigue life of
polished specimens is shorter due to little/no compressive
2 Titanium alloys residual stresses in the machined surfaces though polished
specimens are free from cracks. Unfortunately, specimens
Titanium alloys are mainly used in high-tech applications polished at 550 MPa possess the highest average fatigue
because of their excellent properties, but with high pro- life. An approximate endurance limit of 350 MPa for all
cessing cost [12, 13]. Therefore much research has been the specimens was calculated based on Fig. 1. A significant
performed on this metal alloy material. The latest research difference in endurance limit for different machining
has been dedicated to experimental investigations of the parameters was not manifested. A similar trend was noted
inherent basis of inconsistency in fatigue strengths of for Inconel 718, which exhibited endurance limits of
machined titanium alloys. A significant scatter in fatigue 420 MPa when gentle ground surfaces were compared with
data is evident specifically due to metallurgical gentle and harsh turned surfaces [17].
aspects [14].
2.2 Effect of grinding

2.1 Effect of turning Figure 2 shows flat S–N curves for high cycle four-point
bending of Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn-0.8%TiB2 processed at dif-
The S–N results of Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn-0.8%TiB2 turned at ferent conditions. The similar results are noted for elec-
different feeds and speeds are given in Fig. 1. The scatter trical discharge machined [18] and turned specimens [10].
of the results for turned specimens is quite high at all stress The fatigue strengths of fine-ground workpieces are infe-
levels, which becomes lower for polished specimens at rior to those of polished and rough-ground counterparts. It
higher stress levels. The fatigue life of turned specimens seems that tensile residual stresses take place in the
diminishes at higher stresses owing to corresponding machined surfaces, which might be due to excessive
cracks initiation. No clear trends of fatigue lives of speci- heating from the grinding process, as previously mentioned
mens machined at speeds of 10 m/min and 25 m/min, feeds by Koster and Field [19] when grinding an a/b titanium

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compared to ground and polished surfaces. Such plastic

deformation associated with the ploughing by the cutting
tool, causes compressive residual stresses. The cracks in
the machined surface generated from HSM by worn tools
explain lower run-out values [1].
In general, trans-lamellar fracture and inter-lamellar
failure are the predominant micro-mechanism of failure [18].
The deformation of the surfaces during HSM may limit the
crack growth from the lamellae borders, which restricts
failure among lamellar and increases the fatigue strength of
the components [1]. Roughness of the machined surfaces
significantly affects the fatigue strength of components. The
surface waves act as stress concentrators and initiates cracks
Fig. 2 High cycle, four-point bending, S–N curves for machined and [10]. However, the increase of fatigue strength was not
polished Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn-0.8%TiB2 surfaces [1] obvious with the increase in surface finish due to the presence
of residual stresses in the machined surfaces [1].
alloy. Characteristically, rough grinding generates higher All titanium alloy specimens experience brittle fracture,
tensile residual stresses than those of finish-grinding, thus as shown in Fig. 4 [1], which displays inter-lamellar, intra-
leading to higher fatigue life of a finished ground [1]. lamellar and trans-lamellar fracture. Inter-lamellar and
Metallographic sections show no microstructural differ- intra-lamellar transmissions yield fracture surfaces parallel
ences between polished and fine-ground surfaces. Distorted to lamellar boundaries and trans-lamellar spreads nearly in
lamellae are observed in the rough-ground and high speed the normal direction to the lamellar boundaries. Fracture
milled surfaces. commencement locations on the surface are difficult to
assess. It appears that untimely fracture at points 1 and 2
2.3 Effect of milling in Fig. 1 might be associated with the surface imperfection
or favourable alignment of neighbouring groups to facili-
Distorted lamellae were also seen in the high speed milled tate interfacial fractures.
surfaces where the depth of the distorted lamellae was up to
20 lm. Cracks were observed in single-point-turned spec-
imens [10] and in the samples after high speed milling 2.4 Effect of electrical discharge machining (EDM)
(HSM) with worn tools, depicted in Fig. 3. High speed
milled specimens show significantly higher fatigue strength EDM process of Ti-6Al-4V produces lower surface
due to the increase of subsurface microhardness and roughness (Ra = 0.2 lm) and fatigue limits (200 MPa)
deformation. The workpieces machined at the high speed [20]. However, the aggressive EDM processing parameters
have much harder and plastically deformed subsurfaces on bi-modal, annealed Ti-6Al-4V result in higher

Fig. 3 Cracks in the machined surfaces produced by HSM with a

worn tool [1] Fig. 4 Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn-0.8%TiB2 fatigue fracture surfaces [10]

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surface roughness (Ra = 11.6 lm and Rmax = 78 - fatigue life of bi-modal structure at low stresses proposes a
lm) [21]. Rotating-beam tests demonstrate severely longer micro-crack spreading phase [21].
reduced fatigue strength due to the EDM process. The
fatigue limit was less than 100 MPa for the specimens after 2.5 Comparison of different non-traditional
EDM while that of electro-polished specimens produced a machining processes
fatigue limit of approximately 550 MPa. This degradation
was attributed to both a high population of micro-cracks Figure 6 shows the S–N curves for Ti-6Al-4V samples
and tensile residual stresses on the specimen surfaces manufactured by different processes. The curves are
produced by EDM. The electro-polished specimens were comparatively straight when the number of cycles to failure
reported to have zero roughness. The endurance limit of bi- varies significantly with similar amounts of stresses. The
modal, EDM-processed specimens can be increased sig- specimens manufactured by turning have the highest run-
nificantly by stress relieving at 500 °C [22]. Fatigue out strength of 475 MPa. Electro-chemical machined
behaviour of EDM processed Ti-6Al-4V alloy consists of (ECM) samples have a marginally lower run-out strength
three types of microstructures namely, equiaxed, bimodal of 440 MPa, while the electro-discharge textured sample
and coarse lamellar, illustrated in Fig. 5. The S–N curves by low energy parameters (EDT-L) and those by high
are shown for all three microstructures of titanium alloys energy parameters (EDT-H) have considerably lower val-
after EDM is compared with electro-polishing. The fatigue ues of 357 MPa and 225 MPa, respectively [23].
behaviour of equiaxed and bi-modal microstructures after The existence of cracks that propagate into the bulk of
electro-polishing depends on the prior aging and the grain the material is the main cause of low fatigue strength of
size [23]. The fatigue endurance limit of electro-polished specimens produced by the EDT, as shown in Fig. 7a.
equi-axed and bi-modal microstructures is equal. The Very high temperature is produced in the EDT process
fatigue strength of coarse lamellar structure is much poorer (12 000 °C), which melts the metal during machining. A
than that of equi-axed or bi-modal structures [24]. Fig- molten pool of metal solidifies at the workpiece surface
ure 5b compares the fatigue performances of different after machining. This solidification process is very rapid,
microstructures processed by EDM, which shows a sig- which generates tensile residual stresses and micro-cracks
nificant decrease in the fatigue performance of all on the machined surfaces. The cracks were not constrained
microstructures after EDM. This is due to the notch sen- to the recast white layers, but prolonged into the material
sitivity of titanium alloys, perhaps brittle surface layers and beneath [26]. These cracks tended to follow lamellae and
micro-cracks generated from the EDM. It is also shown colony boundaries without much resistance to the spread of
that the effect of EDM processed microstructure on the fatigue cracks [27]. Comparatively rough surfaces
high cycle fatigue strength is small. The commencement of (Ra = 1.43 lm) of ECM specimens were generated by a
cracks in rotating bending is generally controlled by the discerning etching of distinct lamellae within individual
quality and topography of machined surfaces [25]. Better colonies, as shown in Fig. 7b. Apparently there were no
fatigue performance at high stress amplitudes is noted for cracks on the surfaces generated by ECM. However, the
the coarse lamellar structure due to slower crack propa- selectively etched lamellae act as stress concentration
gation, which is caused by the deviations of the crack tip points and the adherence of distinct lamellae offers the
from the average transmission plane. The longer high cycle minor resistance to the crack commencement. On the other

Fig. 5 S–N curves of Ti-6Al-4V alloy with different microstructures after a electro-polishing and b EDM [23]

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of inter-lamellar plate within lamellae colonies that were

oriented at a certain angle to the applied load. In this case,
the crack propagated at surfaces and internal sites. A longer
fatigue life was demonstrated by the turned specimens as it
required more cycles to propagate cracks through the
compressive residual stress layers [26].
The fabrication of metallic components using EDM
generally creates residual tensile stresses within the surface
layers, because it shrinks during cooling while being
Fig. 6 S–N curves for turned, ECM and EDT specimens [26] restrained by the adjacent cooler interior material. This
effect is exacerbated by the low thermal conductivity of
titanium. Tensile residual stresses in Ti-6Al-4V plate
machined by micro-EDM can be as high as 350 MPa at
depths of up to 12 lm [28]. In addition, it can be 250 MPa
at depths of up to approximately 40 lm in titanium-alloy
bars [29]. These levels of measured residual stresses are a
significant fraction of the fatigue limit, which directly
contribute to the reduction of the fatigue strength.
It is well-known that surface finish can influence the
fatigue life of materials quite strongly. Influential param-
eters available in wire EDM of Ti-6Al-4V include elec-
trode materials, electrical discharge time and current.
These parameters affect the surface roughness and recast-
layer thickness, which ultimately contributes to the fatigue
performance [30]. The average recast-layer thickness could
be reduced from nearly 100 lm to 5 lm by reducing both
the pulse duration and current with the aid of aluminum
wire instead of graphite or copper. The corresponding
reduction of surface roughness was from almost 10 lm to
1 lm. The surface micro-cracks density could decrease
with the increase in pulse current and decrease in pulse
duration [31]. Substantial improvement in the quality of
EDM surfaces can be achieved using ‘‘minimum damage
generator technology’’ [32], where pulse waveform and
frequency vary in addition to electrical current. Average
surface roughness below 0.5 lm and negligible thickness
of recast layer can be achieved for both Inconel 718 and Ti-
6Al-4V specimens using this technology [22]. During high-
cycle fatigue of many metals, the majority of cyclic life-
time (up to 90%) is consumed during the creation of an
initial flaw, or sub-critical crack [33]. The presence of
micro-cracks in brittle, thermally-processed surface lay-
ers—typical of EDM processing—creates ripe for pre-ex-
isting flaws to exist [34]. In such cases, it is expected that
the lifetime of parts placed into cyclic stress conditions can
Fig. 7 a Crack morphology of EDT specimens; b selective etching
of the workpiece produced by ECM; c crack morphology of turned
be abbreviated, relative to nominally similar components in
specimens [26] absence of such defects.
Tensile fatigue strength of specimens turned, ground
with ‘‘low stress’’ and mechanically polished, and electro-
hand, there are small shallow cracks (\5 lm deep) in the polished varies by more than one order of magnitude at a
turned specimens, as exhibited in Fig. 7c, and these cracks given stress level. This suggests that a ‘‘short-life’’ mode of
do not spread during fatigue tests. Crack origination on the fatigue crack initiation evolves at near-surface alpha grains
specimens produced by turning occurred due to the failure that are suppressed by polishing process [35]. Table 1

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Table 1 Effect of machining on fatigue strength of titanium alloys

Reference and test type Machining process Conclusion

Ref. [10] Turned at speeds of 10 m/min and 25 m/min, feeds The scatter of the results for the turned specimens is
Rotary bending fatigue test of 0.1 mm/r and 0.05 mm/r and depth of cut of quite high at all stress levels. The fatigue life of
0.3 mm are noted turned specimens diminishes at higher stresses
because of the cracks initiation at higher stresses.
No clear trends of the fatigue lives of samples are
noted
Ref. [1] Ground specimens were machined on a surface A reduction in fatigue life was noted due to finish
Four-point bend (tension- grinding unit with conventional SiC abrasive grinding compared to that of rough grinding and
tension) fatigue test wheels. Milled specimens were produced by four- polishing. The fatigue strength was substantially
flute, coated, cemented tungsten carbide ball nose increased by milling in spite of surface cracks and
end tools deformed lamella. It was likely that this was due to
compressive residual stresses near the surface and/
or deformation of the lamellae restricting crack
growth
Ref. [23] EDM with graphite electrodes and using hydrocarbon Very low fatigue endurance of electro-eroded (EDM
Rotary bending fatigue test oil as dielectric liquid. High peak current of 29 A processed) specimens. This was caused by tensile
was employed. The samples were electrolytically stresses in near-surface regions, pre-existing micro-
polished at -20 °C and removed 100 lm from the cracks and high surface roughness. The fatigue
surfaces after machining limit was less than 100 MPa for the samples after
EDM while that of electro-polished specimens
produced a fatigue limit of approximately
550 MPa. Both transcrystalline and atypical faceted
fractures were initiated
Ref. [22] Specimens produced by EDM were treated by EDM process reduces fatigue strength by 15%–30%
Tension-tension fatigue test (i) bead blasting using 50 lm silica beads from a when compared to that machined conventionally.
where cyclic loading used a 2.4 mm in diameter nozzle at 400 kPa, (ii) This strength degradation is attributed to the
sinusoidal waveform at 10 Hz electrochemically polished using nitric acid based presence of stress-concentrating defects within the
solution to remove 20 lm layer from all surfaces, EDM recast layers. Specimens fabricated with the
(iii) electrochemically polished and thermal stress- EDM process were shown to create the roughest
relieved at 594 °C for 2h, and (iv) chemically surfaces. Post-processing with either
milled using a nitric acid based solution to remove electrochemical polishing or bead blasting was
10–20 lm from all surfaces demonstrated to alleviate the deleterious effects of
EDM, thereby restoring the intrinsic fatigue
behaviour, as indicated by the crack initiation at
interior locations
Ref. [26] The turned samples were made under operating The presence of cracks penetrating into the bulk of
Tension-tension fatigue test conditions that caused the minimal surface damage. fatigue specimens, in combination with the
The ECM specimens were initially turned oversize presence of tensile residual stresses, resulted in the
and subsequently machined to remove 250 lm substantially reduced fatigue life of the EDT
from the test surfaces. Two levels of EDT operating specimens compared to those that had been turned
energy were selected, one using EDT-H to provide and ECMed. The lower life of EDT-H, as compared
specimens with deep cracks and one using EDT-L to EDT-L specimens, reflected the presence of
to produce shallow cracks deeper cracks and higher tensile residual stresses. It
was likely that the higher fatigue life of turned
specimens was due to the highly compressive
residual stresses present in the machined surfaces

summarises the major studies on the effect of machining on 3.1 Effect of turning
fatigue strength of titanium alloys.
Thiele et al. [38] studied the influences of workpiece
hardness on residual stresses of hardened AISI 52100 steel
3 Stainless steel surface produced by finish hard turning. For the considered
experimental conditions and cutting edge geometry, it was
Machining of steels alters the surface layers of work pieces, noted that the axial stress component for the workpiece
which produces surfaces that are harder/softer than those of with higher hardness was more compressive. The
bulk materials [36, 37]. microstructural analysis reveals that three basic

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microstructural patterns exist on the workpiece surface outperforms that of surface roughness [5, 40]. Figure 8
such as continuous white, intermittent white and dark shows the influence of nose radius on S–N curve for
layers. These layers are created by heating and successive 34CrNiMo6 steel. It clearly indicates that the fatigue
cooling of machined surfaces during the machining pro- strength of the components produced by turning increases
cess. The white layers are created by heating the samples with the decrease in nose radius.
above the a-c phase transformation temperature and suc- Lower feed causes the surface residual stress to swing
cessive quick cooling during the cutting process. Dark towards the compression, which influences the fatigue
layers are composed of over-tempered martensite with easy behaviour significantly. The trend towards higher tensile
etching and are typically located beneath continuous white stresses due to the increase of temperature during
layers and, below and adjacent to intermittent white layers. machining at higher feed [41]. A crack that starts beneath
The interior surfaces of the workpieces are tempered the machined surfaces might propagate until a compressive
martensites. Surface residual stresses in the axial and hoop stress region where the crack will be retarded till the
directions are associated with individual microstructural relaxation of stresses. The higher feed generates a tensile
patterns. Specifically, compressive residual stresses in the residual stress zone, and therefore the crack propagates
hoop and axial directions are evident when the workpiece’s until rupture. If the probability to initiate cracks from the
surfaces contain continuous white layers [39]. The main surface increases, the crack initiation will occur first in
cause of compressive residual stress formation in samples samples produced by small feed, which then propagates till
exhibiting continuous white layers to contribute volume the compressive stress zone. The samples with higher
expansion is phase transformation. During machining, the compressive residual stresses on the surfaces require a
tempered martensite in the workpiece surface transforms to longer time to initiate and spread a crack from the surfaces
austenite. Rapid cooling causes the generation of an [42]. The cracks with depth of up to 5 lm in the surfaces
untempered martensite, which attempts to inflate. The produced by turning can be compensated for by compres-
interior workpiece material places the surface layers in sive residual stresses, which further decreases the applied
compressive residual stresses. Samples that show dark tensile stress. In a similar manner, turning becomes more
layers on the workpiece surfaces normally correlate with favourable than grinding with respect to the fatigue beha-
tensile residual stresses in the hoop and axial directions. By viour of hardened bearing steel [39]. HSM with the proper
considering the thermal expansion and subsequent cooling machining conditions might increase fatigue strength [1].
of the workpiece surfaces, constrained by the workpiece This process causes higher plastic deformation/strain
interior, the correlation between formation of dark layers hardening and lower temperatures, which generates com-
and tensile residual stress could be explained. Thermal pressive residual stresses at/adjacent to the machined sur-
gradient produced by the cutting process causes the surface faces [7].
layers to expand more than inner layers, eventually leading The effect of the cutting edge geometry of turning tools
to plastic deformation. Upon cooling, the surface layers on the fatigue life was investigated by Sasahara [43]. The
attempt to shrink to a length smaller than the interior lay- residual stresses in the hoop direction in the surface
ers, and are placed in residual tension to maintain equi- machined by chamfered cutting edge were more
librium. Finally, surface layers consisting of intermittent
white layers may undergo tensile or compressive stresses
depending on the amount of existing white layers. Large
amounts of intermittent white layers correlate with com-
pressive residual stress in the hoop and axial directions or
vice versa [38].
Javidi et al. [5] investigated the correlation between
turning parameters, surface integrity and fatigue properties
of 0.34% carbon steel type 34CrNiMo6 (quenched and
tempered). A larger feed gives a quicker machining but a
higher surface roughness. The larger nose radius generates
lower surface roughness but an extremely long nose radius
may induce vibration affinities, unacceptable chip breaking
and higher tool wear owing to inadequate cutting edge
engagement. An increase in the nose radius of the insert
reduces the compressive residual stresses. Higher com-
pressive residual stress induces longer fatigue life and the Fig. 8 S–N curves of samples turned with inserts of different nose
influence of residual stresses on fatigue behaviour radius [5]

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compressive than those of the machined surfaces produced other through the machining processes. The distribution
by sharp cutting edges. However, the variation of hoop profiles of residual stresses and hardness also influence the
residual stresses is minor between surfaces machined by fatigue life. The residual stresses and the surface hardness
the chamfered and sharp edge tools. The smaller corner can be regulated through the proper selection of feed rate,
radius of chamfered tools increases the hardness of corner radius and cutting edge radius during a machining
machined surfaces, which indicates that the plastic defor- process. The residual stress becomes nearly zero and the
mation of the machined surfaces increases with decreasing surface hardness hardly changes when the corner radius of
the corner radius. This is another reason of the wide vari- cutting tool is small. Machining by cutting tools with a
ation for the fatigue life of the specimens with identical smaller corner radius at the low feed rate increases the
surface roughness. Effects of hardness and axial residual fatigue life of the machined components. Therefore, the
stresses on fatigue life at different edge preparation and correlation between residual stresses and the surface
cutting conditions are given in Fig. 9. The fatigue life hardness might be evaluated to identify optimum machin-
nearby point A is short where the tensile residual stresses ing parameters [40, 43].
and lower surface hardness are noted. Conversely, the The increase of cutting edge radius reduces the real rake
fatigue life nearby point B is longer where the axial angle on the way to the negative values [40]. Hence, the
residual stress is close to neutral and the hardness is larger influence of larger edge radius is comparable to a negative
than 290 HV. Higher compressive residual stresses and rake angle (i.e., inducing compressive residual stresses
hardness that are identical to those of point A are noted underneath the machined surfaces). Abhang and
around the point C where fatigue life is higher than that Hameedullah [44] argued that the contact area for heat
around point A. Therefore, high compressive residual dissipation increased as the radius of tool nose increased,
stresses and high surface hardness are necessary for longer which generated lower tensile residual stresses on the
fatigue life, as shown in the region D in Fig. 9 [43]. machined surfaces as the local temperature along the cut-
All normal residual stress components in the finish hard ting edge decreased. However, with the increase in contact
turned through-hardened AISI 52100 steel become more area, the friction between tool and workpiece is enhanced
compressive with rise of cutting edge hone at a constant as well, which increases the heat generation owing to the
feed rate. The stresses in the radial direction are generally friction and contributes to higher tensile residual stresses.
smaller than the other stress components [38]. The prin- Simultaneously, lower tool/part pressure per area decreases
cipal stresses produced by each edge preparation are plastic deformation as the contact area increases. Hence,
somewhat different, despite the similarities in the normal the increase of tool nose radius infers increased tempera-
stress components [38]. The fatigue life increases with the tures due to the friction and lower plastic deformation, thus
increase of surface hardness due to the increase of the yield resulting in more tensile surface residual stresses [40].
strengths of surface layers by the work hardening. The Garcia and Moisan [45] concluded that the higher cut-
work hardening and the residual stress depend on each ting speed tended to induce tensile residual stresses, but the
tendency is not certain as to the peak width for AISI 4340
steel. Increased cutting speed enhances the local tempera-
ture close to the cutting edge, which promotes tensile
residual stresses (thermal stresses) on the machined sur-
faces. If the generated temperature is higher at the surfaces
and the depth of heat infiltration is lower, the martensite
transformation in quenching is likely to occur, which
facilitates the generation of the compressive residual
stresses.
Rech and Moisan [46] and M’Saoubi et al. [47] used
coated tools with stable cutting parameters (i.e., reduced
cutting forces and better chip formation), which generated
less tensile residual stresses because of better tribological
behaviour (i.e., lower friction and lower heat generation
during machining). However, the coating of inferior ther-
mal conductivity hinders the machining heat from
degrading the cutting tool and extends the tool life, but
Fig. 9 Effects of axial residual stresses and hardness on fatigue life at
tends to transmit higher amounts of heat to the workpieces.
different edge preparation and cutting conditions (where R and F
represent the roughness and the feed rate, respectively, S indicates This heating of the workpieces could be accounted for
sharp edges and C means chamfered edges) [43] tensile residual stresses when using coated tools [45].

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Tool wear is unavoidable during machining process, different processes are given in Fig. 10 [53] with various
which makes cutting tools blunt. Thus the wear of the tool surfaces of specimens clearly shown. Those are: (i) hard
increases the heat generation and thus the increase of turned surfaces with continuous white layers (HTWL), (ii)
residual stresses. Dry machining increases the heat gener- hard turned surfaces with no white layers (HTnoWL), (iii)
ation in the contact areas [48]. Measured residual stresses ground surfaces (G), (iv) hard turned surfaces (uninter-
on the surfaces dry machined with worn tools may exceed rupted white layer) with super finish (HTSF), and
the yield strength of SAE 4340 steel. This is due to sever (v) ground surfaces with super finish (GSF). The hard
plastic deformation and very high strain hardening of the turned specimens showed better performance in all cases
machined surfaces. In the same fashion, heating from the when compared with ground counterparts. The average
friction might change the phase and generate residual fatigue life of HTWL specimens is 56 867 cycles as
stresses. Hardening of machined surface layers is influ- opposed to 27 360 cycles for the G specimens based on a
enced by elastic and plastic behaviour of materials, thermal traditional assessment. In reality, the poorest HTWL
expansion coefficient and similar physical properties [48]. specimens have a fatigue life of 16 106 cycles, which goes
The machining conditions influence the endurance limits of beyond the average life of G specimens when the outlier is
the threaded SAE 4340 steel over a wide range. The most removed. The average value for the HTnoWL surfaces is
noteworthy thread machining factor to influence the fatigue similar to that of G specimens (24 657 versus 27 360
behaviour is tool wear, which is followed by the machining cycles) even in the absence of white layer. In the same
speed. However, the radial feed and thread cutting method manner, the average fatigue life of the HTSF specimens
are less influential. Residual stresses and strain hardening (323 897 cycles) appears to be far higher than that of GSF
are needed to be considered for the design purposes that counterparts (19 427). The discrepancy in the fatigue
depend on the material and machining parameters [48]. behaviour is higher and such distribution is characteristic
The residual stresses on the machined surfaces rest on of high cycle fatigue testing. The harsh manufacturing
the materials being machined and on the cutting conditions parameters and discrepancies in tooling are two additional
[49]. Akyildiz and Livatvali [50] demonstrated that the sources of this variation [53].
machining conditions such as cutting speed, feed rate, and It is well accepted that the increase of compressive
tool nose radius had great effect on the fatigue behaviour residual stresses substantially increases the fatigue life with
and surface quality of machined components [51, 52]. A such a relation that does not exist between surface finish
complete knowledge on the influence of surface topogra- and fatigue life. This indicates that the most significant
phy on the fatigue behaviour can only be obtained by dissimilarity between the surface integrity of specimens is
investigating residual stress-free specimens and specimens the dissimilarity in the residual stress profiles. In the
where no phase changes occur. Unluckily, stress relieving absence of obvious surface defects, the fatigue perfor-
treatments after machining processes alters the metallur- mance of the specimens is ascribed to residual stress pro-
gical state on the machined surface. Mantle and Aspinwall files, in which the fatigue life increases with the increase in
[10] studied the fatigue behaviour of stress free En19 steel compressive residual stress. This tendency is expected
(equivalent to AISI 4140) and found that comparatively between the HTnoWL and G specimens along with the
low surface roughness (Ra 0.5–1.4 lm, Rt 7–14 lm) gen- HTSF and GSF counterparts. Nevertheless, the fatigue
erated by modest grinding decreases the fatigue life com- behaviour of HTWL specimens indicates that the existence
pare to that of polished specimens where the surface of white layers does not change this tendency. This shows
roughness (Ra 0.1–0.3 lm, Rt 3–5 lm) is further low. The that the influence of the hard turning method on the fatigue
surfaces produced by grinding show higher fatigue strength behaviour of specimens is determined mainly by the
than that of milled surfaces with identical surface finish
(Ra, Rt). This resulted from the rounded feed marks gen-
erated by milling, which initiated premature cracks in the
normal direction to the axis of samples. It was suggested
that the roughness parameters such as Rt and Rz, were
more suitable indicators of fatigue behaviour than Ra as
they revealed the ‘‘worst’’ flaws existing on the machined
surfaces.

3.2 Effect of grinding

The fatigue strengths from tension-tension tests of through-

hardened AISI 52100 steel (60–62 HRC) machined by Fig. 10 Axial high cycle fatigue life results [53]

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subsequent profiles of residual stresses [53]. Figure 11

plots the effect of the surface residual stresses in the axial
direction on the average fatigue life. The figure demon-
strates that the fatigue life of machined specimens is
approximately linearly proportional to the compressive
residual stresses of machined surfaces.
Rolling contact fatigue tests were performed to study
the consequence of precision hard turning and grinding on
the fatigue life by Matsumoto et al. [54]. The change of
the surface microstructures after grinding along with hard
turning during the process of making bearings with opti-
mum conditions was not manifested. The most important
dissimilarity between ground bearings and hard turned
bearings after super finishing was the residual stress
Fig. 12 Residual stresses along the depth of machined surfaces for
profile and depth of compressive residual stresses. Fig- different machining processes [54]
ure 12 compares the residual stress profile in the ground
and then super finished surfaces to that in the hard turned
and super finished surfaces. After grinding and super depth of cut and feed rate produced better (&30%) surface
finishing, a higher compressive residual stress is induced roughness than that of ground surface. Turned and ground
near the surfaces, which is yet reduced sharply as the surfaces are not thermally damaged, while grinding tem-
distance increases along the depth from the machined perature has a much deeper excursion on the subsurfaces. It
surfaces. In contrast, the residual stresses extend to higher is evidently shown that the subsurfaces have two different
depth from the machined surfaces after hard turning and zones categorised by a strain hardened zone in near sur-
super finishing. Matsumoto et al. [54] reported significant faces and a thermally affected zone in the subsurfaces (not
local plastic deformation around micro-cracks during softened enough as compared to bulk hardness). White
fatigue tests. A clear relation between the depths at which layers do not belong to the strain hardened zone. It is not
butterflies (this region has the appearance of butterfly darker than the bulk material and the thermally affected
wings when viewed in cross sections) were noted and the zone encountered in hard turning, as shown in Fig. 13. The
fatigue life was distinguished, namely the deeper the dissimilarity of the two zones is just ascribed to their dif-
butterflies, the longer the fatigue life. Therefore, deeper ferent resistance to etching due to the variation in grain
compressive residual stress generated by hard turning is deformation and size [55].
advantageous [54]. The variation of hardness at different depths may be
The basic dissimilarities in the integrity of hard turned influenced by different interactions between material
and ground surfaces and the successive influence on rolling phases and indenters. The fundamental mechanism for the
contact fatigue behaviour were studied by Hashimoto et al. harder ground surfaces/subsurfaces is most likely due to
[55]. It was reported that the turning process with a smaller the size effect induced by the very high strain gradient
during the grinding process. The lower down feed in
grinding incurs very high strain gradient on near surfaces,
however comparatively high depth of cut in turning may
significantly decrease the size effect. The super finished
turned surfaces may have 100% more fatigue life than
those of G specimens with similar surface roughness. The
facts that contribute to the inconsistency in fatigue
behaviour are the distinct surface structures and properties
generated in the processes [55]. According to the results
of different studies, it can be concluded that the main
dissimilarity between hard turning and grinding is that
hard turning may induce deeper ‘‘surface’’ compressive
residual stresses despite the provision of similar or better
surface finish, form and accuracy. Thus, the dissimilar
features of residual stresses induced by hard turning and
grinding influence the fatigue behaviour of machined
Fig. 11 Fatigue life vs. surface residual stress in the axial direction
[53] components in rolling contact [56].

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Fig. 13 Hard turned and ground surfaces [55]

3.3 Effect of milling

The effects of grinding and fly cutting (single point mil-

ling) methods on the fatigue behaviour of hardened AISI
4340 steel and their relation to surface integrity were
studied by Matsumoto et al. [54, 57]. It was noted that the
residual stresses produced by the milling process were
mostly compressive. The compressive stresses are well
known to improve fatigue strength in some cases. Three
residual stress distributions on the machined surfaces
measured parallel to the machining direction are shown in
Fig. 14. The specimens were produced by grinding in the
direction of the length of the specimen, fly cutting with
feeding in the direction perpendicular to the length of the
specimen, and fly cutting with feeding in the direction of Fig. 14 Residual stresses measured in the direction of machining
the length of the specimen. All specimens carried com- process [57]
pressive residual stresses except the top layer of machined
surfaces milled perpendicular to length. The residual stress There are three sources that are responsible for creating
distribution produced by grinding had a high peak com- residual stresses on the machined surfaces. There is a
pressive residual stress on the machined surfaces. The martensitic phase transformation in the near surface
stress on ground surfaces was shallow with a very steep structures, yielding surface or near surface elements due to
gradient, while as for the others it reached much deeper. It thermal stresses caused by machining heat, and uneven
appears that the residual stresses produced by grinding lie plastic deformation of surface or subsurface elements.
in a very shallow depth and might not have a noticeable Under usual situations, when there is no excessive tool
influence on the fatigue limit. Conversely, the higher and wear or abusive machining practice, very little martensitic
deeper compressive residual stresses on the fly cut surfaces formation is observed in the machined surface layer of
increased the fatigue limit in this investigation. It should hardened steel [58]. The existence of untempered marten-
also be noted that the residual stresses in the deeper layers site on the subsurfaces produces a compressive residual
become a more important factor, when the nucleation of a stress due to its larger volume. On the other hand, if the
crack starts from inclusions in the subsurfaces. The temperature rises in that the machining process does not
investigation on the cross sectional structures of three reach the a-c transformation temperature, further temper-
machined surfaces indicates that there is no distinct struc- ing can take place. If the further tempering takes place,
tural change on the machined surfaces. The measured more martensite is transformed into ferrite and cementite,
roughness of the ground surfaces had the largest maximum thus volume reduction near the surfaces takes place. This
height Rmax and the lowest endurance limit of fatigue [57]. result is a tensile residual stress on the surfaces. The

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surface residual stresses on all machined surfaces are also machined surfaces undermine fatigue behaviour of speci-
compressive and if there is any tempering, its influence on mens produced by the EDM. Samples produced by the
the residual stresses could be minor. EDM and milling have similar fatigue properties because
of the reduction of residual stresses from substantial
cycling of strain hardening in low cycle fatigue tests. The
3.4 Effect of non-conventional machining spread of fatigue cracks in bulk materials is a key factor to
regulate the fatigue behaviour of specimens produced by
EDM is a high energy density non-contact method [59], in the EDM and milling in that the hardening embrittlement
which layered structures on the machined surfaces are of changed layers from both methods is nearly undistin-
generated due to melting and quick solidification of guishable. The residual stresses on the machined surfaces
materials. The EDM of tool steels [60] creates three have greater influence on the high cycle fatigue properties
noticeable layers, (i) a ‘‘white layer’’ near the surface, with [64], in which 35% reduction of endurance limit (at 106
a dendritic structure resulting from the resolidification of cycles) is shown for specimens by the EDM treatment
metal melted during the EDM, (ii) a quenched layer with a rather than milling treatment [60].
martensitic structure just beneath the white layer, and (iii) a Figure 15 depicts the S–N curves from the axial fatigue
transition zone between the quenched layer and the base tests on AISI 301 membranes produced using diverse
material. The EDM specimens demonstrate a higher sur- manufacturing methods. The results are significantly scat-
face hardening compared to conventionally machined tered despite clear common trends. The membranes pro-
(milled) specimens because of the near-surface phase duced by stamping have a considerably better fatigue life
changes and increased amounts of carbon. Under this cir- than those produced from laser-cut and abrasive water-jet
cumstance, tensile stress is produced adjacent to the sur- cut. The top stress to failure of stamped membranes is 15%
faces. A network of micro-cracks is also observed on the higher than that of other processes for 1 million cycles of
surfaces. This scatter of cracks changes significantly with fatigue life. The influence of stress concentration is pre-
any types of applied stresses. The cracks initiate, propagate dominantly significant at the low cycle fatigue behaviour.
freely and form an uninterrupted network, which leads to At low cycle fatigue levels (i.e., where the stress is high),
untimely failure of the specimens manufactured by the the effect of this stress concentration is particularly
EDM compared to specimens manufactured by milling to important as can be seen from the lower fatigue life of the
generate better surface integrity and finish. laser-cut membranes as shown in Fig. 15a. Nonetheless, the
The metallurgical alterations of machined surfaces in high cycle fatigue properties of the membranes produced
the near-surface layers occur due to the sparks that extre- by LBM and AWJM are almost similar. Though the sam-
mely heat locally (up to 10 000 °C) in a very short time ples produced by AWJM and LBM (0°) show identical
(6 ls), and the successive cooling by the dielectric fluid fatigue behaviour, the fatigue life of specimens from LBM
and transfer of heat into the bulk material [61]. The thermal (90°) is twice that of samples produced by LBM (0°) at
flux evaporates and melts the samples in order to generate identical stress. Figure 11b demonstrates the fatigue
craters of different sizes and shapes on the surfaces. Thus behaviour of stamped, EDM and EDM-shot peened mem-
an irregular surface profile is generated from this process. branes. The stress to failure for 5 million cycles and low
The heating effect changes the machined surfaces, and the cycle behaviour are almost identical for stamped and
melted material goes through a ‘‘quenched’’, then to a EDM-shot peened membranes. The membranes produced
‘‘tempered’’, and to the unaffected bulk material. The from the EDM have 20% lower fatigue streng for 5 million
changes on the machined surfaces are influenced by ther- cycles than those of stamped membranes. Similarly,
mal behaviour of machined material and its capacity to stamped membranes demonstrate higher fatigue strength
harden [62]. The changes in hardness occur because of that that of EDM at the low cycle [65].
chemical and thermal effects [63] including the increase in It is proposed that micro-cracks on the machined sur-
carbon content and martensitic formation in the quenched faces with higher surface finish (e.g., polished surfaces),
layer. The disintegration of the dielectric causes diffusion start from slip bands or at grain boundaries [8, 66, 67].
of carbon results. The strains are caused by the thermal Nevertheless, micro-notches were generated through
effects and phase transformation after the EDM induces machining processes (e.g., grinding, turning and milling),
tensile residual stresses on the machined surface. These concentrated stresses and localised plastic strain with the
stresses are partially relaxed at the surfaces because of the application of stresses. This happens in a discrete grain as a
cracks produced from the EDM. The diffusion of hydrogen slip band that outlines the route of shear cracks [6]. Sie-
into the machined surfaces after the disintegration of the bel [68] found that the highest depth (Rt) of surface profile
dielectric fluid causes near-surface embrittlement. Gener- generated from machining processes was the most impor-
ally the cracks and tensile residual stress distribution on the tant roughness factor to influence the fatigue behaviour of

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Fig. 15 S–N curves for AISI 301: a stamped, LBM and AWJM membranes and b stamped, EDM and EDM-SP membranes [65]

machined components. The decrease of fatigue endurance 4 Other materials

limit is proportional to log (Rt) when the maximum depth
of the surface profile is larger than a certain critical groove Bayoumi and Abdellatif [69] interrelated different surface
depth. The critical groove depth is 1–2 lm for tempered roughness variables to the fatigue endurance limit of an
steels and 4–6 lm for annealed steels, as demonstrated aluminium alloy where Ra and Rq rather than spatial vari-
in Fig. 16. It is possible to eliminate the effect of surface able had a guiding effect on endurance limit. The influence
finish on fatigue behaviour of machined components by of surface finish on the S–N curve and endurance limit is
inducing compressive residual stresses on the surface presented in Fig. 17, which shows that surface roughness
through post-machining mechanical treatment [7]. Table 2 has full control on the fatigue life for machined aluminium
summarises the major studies on the effect of machining on alloy components. The samples with lower surface rough-
fatigue strength of stainless steel. ness give higher fatigue strength at low as well as high
cycle strengths. The endurance limit also reduces with the
increase of surface roughness. The influence of residual
stress is insignificant due to the removal of top surface of
sample through polishing processes. The influence of the
surface roughness hybrid parameters Dq (root mean square
slope) and kq (spacing between local peaks and valleys) on
fatigue endurance limit is less than that of the arithmetic
mean surface finish Ra. The shape of grooves as well as
maximum height (Rt) of the surface profile are critical as
the both factors inspire stress concentrations [70] and ini-
tiate crack under fatigue conditions [7]. Surface residual
stress is often a better display of fatigue behaviour than
surface features when the surface roughness Ra is in range
of 2.5–5 lm. This influence decreases with the increase of
temperature because of the easing of residual stress with
thermal exposure [71]. These are not due to the change of
surface finish, but because of modifications of the integrity
on the machined surfaces owing to the machining operation
[19].
Fig. 16 Effect of maximum depth of surface profile on the fatigue Non-traditional machining methods influence workpiece
strength of various steels in repeated tension [68] surface integrity in different ways, and hence the fatigue

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Table 2 Effect of machining on fatigue strength of stainless steel

Reference and test type Machining process Conclusion

Ref. [5] Turning was performed in wet condition using The residual stress becomes more compressive
Rotating bending fatigue tests at 3 800 r/min inserts with 0.2 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.8 mm in as the feed rate increases. An increase of the
nose radius where feeds were 0.05 mm/r, nose radius of the insert reduces the
0.1 mm/r, 0.2 mm/r, 0.3 mm/r, 0.4 mm/r, compressive residual stresses. An increase of
the depth of cut was 0.5 mm and the speed compressive residual stress increases the
was 80 m/min fatigue life of turned specimens
Ref. [39] Dry turning was performed at the speed of Superior fatigue strength was obtained with
Axial fatigue test on a 100 kN 200 m/min, feed rate of 0.06 mm/r and the turned specimens, particularly with
amslervibrophore at stress ratio 0.1 depth of cut of 0.5 mm PCBN cutting tools which produced the
Cylindrical grinding was performed at wheel finest surface finish
speed of 23 m/s, work speed of 8 m/min,
infeed of 0.25 mm/pass and transverse of
0.13 mm/r using a consort alumina wheel
and water soluble oil coolant
Ref. [43] Turning at feed rates of 0.05 mm/r, 0.1 mm/r, Higher fatigue life to the machined
Rotating bending fatigue test 0.2 mm/r and 0.4 mm/r, corner radius of components can be achieved than that of
0.2 mm and 0.8 mm, tool edge chamfer and virgin materials if compressive residual
sharp, depth of cut of 0.2 mm, cutting speed stresses and high hardness within surface
of 100 m/min layers can be induced by the cutting process.
This can be obtained at a low feed rate, a
small corner radius and a chamfered cutting
edge tool
Ref. [50] The effects of cutting speed, radial feed, tool Large variations of endurance limits of
A four-point rotary bending fatigue test wear, and two different cutting methods on threaded specimens depend on machining
the fatigue strength of threaded specimens conditions. The most significant factor is
were investigated for thread precision and tool wear and the second strongest factor is
tool life. The ‘‘compound straight’’ and cutting speed while the radial feed and
‘‘compound swivelled’’ thread cutting thread cutting method were less influential.
methods were used Thus, it is necessary to consider machining
conditions for the fatigue design of precision
threaded parts
Ref. [53] Fatigue test specimens were (i) hard turned Hard turned specimens exhibited at least as
Tension-tension axial fatigue tests with load surfaces with continuous white layers, (ii) high a fatigue life as the baseline ground
ratio of 0.1 at 300 MPa single maximum hard turned surfaces with no white layers, specimens. The white layers present on the
stress with 8 Hz frequency. (iii) ground surfaces (G), (iv) hard turned surfaces of the hard turned specimens had no
surfaces (i.e., continuous white layers) with conclusive impact on the axial fatigue
super-finish, and (v) ground surfaces with performance. The super finishing improved
super-finish. The cutting speed of 122 m/min, the performance of the hard turned
feed rate of 0.127 mm/r, depth of cut of specimens by an order of magnitude while
51 lm and 255 lm, cutting edge radill of producing only marginal improvements in
25 lm Hone and 70 lm Hone the ground specimens. The fatigue life was
directly proportional to both the surface
compressive residual stress and the
maximum compressive residual stress in the
specimen
Ref. [54] Hard turning was done using a high precision Hard turned and super-finished bearings had at
Two fatigue tests were conducted using small CNC lathe to create a bearing race profile. least as long fatigue life as ground and
taper roller bearing assemblies of a 120 mm A CBN cutting tool with a 10° and 0.2 mm super-finished bearings. In one test, it was
outside diameter for the first test and large chamfer was used. No tool edge honing was better than ground and super-finished
taper roller bearings of a 450 mm outside applied bearings. The depth of compressive residual
diameter for the second test The other group of bearings was ground. All stresses is the major difference between hard
the race surfaces were super-finished turned and ground surfaces. Depth of cut
does not produce a significant effect on
residual stresses for precision hard turning.
The primary deformation zone has a
secondary effect on residual stresses. Feed
rate only changes residual stress near the
surface, but not in a deep layer. Tool edge
geometry is the dominant factor for
determining the residual stress profile

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Fig. 17 Influence of surface roughness on a S–N curves and b endurance limit for aluminium alloys [69]

AWJM mainly depends on the non-thermal mechanism

of material removal, which occurs through the impacts of
discrete grits suspended inside the fluid. Hence the method
usually introduces compressive residual stresses on the
machined surfaces, which contributes to better fatigue
behaviour. Unfortunately, the machined surfaces frequently
contain embedded grits [65, 73], usually with the diameter
of 10–50 lm, which, if combined with a lower surface
finish, may lead to stress concentration and considerably
worsen fatigue performance [65].

5 Conclusions

The research on the influence of machining on fatigue

behaviour is still at early stage. The fatigue strength of the
machined components depends on the workpiece material,
Fig. 18 S–N curves for Inconel 718 membranes: stamped, LBM, machining type and conditions. So far, the information in
EDM and EDM-SP [65]
this research area is available only for very few alloys, such
as titanium, steel, aluminium and nickel alloys. Based on
behaviour, subjected to the mechanism material removal.
our holistic review, the following key points can be sum-
Figure 18 presents the influence of different non-conven-
marised from the above investigations:
tional machining on S–N curves for Inconel 718 [65]. In
the EDM process, the machined surface is often described (i) There is no clear trend on the effects of feed
by a heat affected zone with an upper hard, brittle and rate and speed on the fatigue strength of
recast layers containing cracks and micro-cracks located turned titanium alloys. The polishing process
normal to the machined surface. The machined surfaces improves the surface roughness, but removes
also contain tensile residual stresses due to the thermal the surface layers with compressive residual
shrink age on the subsurfaces. Worse fatigue behaviour is stresses. This decreases the fatigue strength of
achieved from the combination of these facts [18, 65, 72]. polished specimens accordingly.
An identical circumstance is frequently noted from LBM, (ii) The effects of residual stresses on the
where thermal shrinkage of machined subsurfaces owing to machined surfaces is more pronounced than
the rapid solidification also incorporates unwanted tensile that of surface roughness. The compressive
residual stresses [7]. residual stresses improve the fatigue strength

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and tensile stress reduces the fatigue strength plastic deformation within the machined sur-
by facilitating the crack growth. face layer becomes more pronounced.
(iii) Grinding process induces tensile residual (viii) Steel surfaces generated from grinding have
stresses on the machined surfaces due to the weaker fatigue performance when compared
generation of high temperature. However to that of turning and milling for the similar
milling process yields compressive residual reasons as noted for titanium alloys.
stresses on the machined surfaces though (ix) Non-conventional machining such as EDM
surface roughness is worse in this case. Thus, and laser machining generates a network of
a higher fatigue strength is achieved on the micro-cracks in addition to tensile residual
workpieces produced by the milling process. stresses on the surfaces of all the materials.
(iv) Fatigue failure of titanium alloys is primarily This network of cracks changes substantially
due to the brittle fracture, in which the whatever the level of applied stresses. The
fracture surfaces show inter-lamellar, intra- cracks initiate and propagate, and form a
lamellar and trans-lamellar fracture continuous network, leading to the premature
formations. failure of the specimens prepared by the
(v) EDM reduces the fatigue strength of titanium EDM, as opposed to those prepared by
alloys due to the high population of micro- traditional machining processes with better
cracks and the presence of tensile residual surface integrity and lower roughness.
stresses in recast layers. However, the electro- (x) AWJM produces compressive residual stres-
polishing improves the fatigue life by remov- ses on the Inconel 718 machined surfaces.
ing the recast layers. However, the machined surfaces often contain
(vi) Phase change is very common during the embedded grits that can act as stress concen-
machining of steel, which contributes to the tration sites to significantly degrade fatigue
formation of residual stresses on the machined performance if combined with a high work-
surfaces. Due to the turning process, com- piece surface roughness.
pressive residual stresses in the axial and hoop
directions are noted when there are continu-
ous white layers, which contribute to volume
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