1

Fracture:
Metals
& Alloys
M11EKM
Dr Phil Swanson
MF220
p.swanson@coventry.ac.uk
Fatigue crack & subsequent fast fracture surface
Origin is an inclusion. Crack grew under
cyclic loading until it reached critical size, prior to
fast fracture
Fatigue crack initiation & growth in steel casting
Crack initiation at internal shrinkage porosity
in steel casting. Visible beach marks indicate periodic
crack arrest points
Ryan Spirit of St Louis replica crash
Coventry Airshow May 2003
Fatigue failure at a weld adjoining a wing tie
bar and undercarriage leg junction
Cracking from multiple weld defects
(shrinkage & gas porosity + oxide inclusions )
DH 106 Comet 1: Several crashes due to
fatigue cracks in pressurised stressed skin.
Cracks initiated from rivet holes adjacent to
square windows (stress concentration)
Fracture modes:
Ductile
Extensive plastic deformation
prior to fracture
Extensive energy absorption:
Tough
Brittle
Little/no plastic deformation
prior to fracture
Low toughness
Creep
High temperature & pro-
longed stressing
Gradual accumulation of
plastic strain under load with
time at elevated temp
Fatigue
Progressive crack growth
under cyclic stressing
Crack initiates at surface or
internal defect
Ductile vs. Brittle: Stress-strain characteristics
Fatigue fracture
surface:
Marine diesel engine
crankshaft
Smooth area is the crack
growth region
Rough smaller surface
corresponds to final
ductile overload
Origin of crack
2
Ductile failure
a) Necking
localised thinning after yield
b) Cavity Formation
Inclusions pull away from metal
matrix producing voids/cavities.
Material in-between cavities is
subject to excessive work-hardening
c) Coalescence of adjacent cavities
to form a crack
d) Crack propagation in plain strain
(3D stress system)
e) Fracture. fracture surface usually
shows:
Shear lips at section periphery
Dull voided central section
Torn-voided ductile fracture
in low alloy steel x2500
Characteristic cup & cone
ductile failure test piece
Creep
Gradual accumulation of
plastic strain with time at
constant load or stress
Elevated temperature phenomena
(above RCT)
Mechanisms
Grain boundary sliding
Dislocation climb
Void formation @ grain boundaries
Diffusion contributes to all the above
mechanisms
Creep is a function of :
Time
Temperature
Stress
Microstructure
Primary Creep
Strain rate decreases: due to work-hardening
Secondary Creep
Steady state: a balance between
work-hardening and thermally induced
diffusional recovery
Tertiary Creep
Void formation and grain boundary
sliding accelerate rupture
Typical creep strain vs. time profile
3
Creep mechanisms
Dislocations can climb over obstacles via diffusion
Obstacles: Precipitates, Dispersoids, Dislocation pile ups/entanglements
Grain boundary sliding
Grains rotation to align close packed preferred
slip planes with maximum shear stress
Stress directed atomic diffusion
promotes grain elongation.
Diffusion contributes to both climb, boundary sliding & void formation
Dislocations can
climb up and down
Creep mechanisms
Voids on transverse grain boundaries accelerate
creep rate
Creation of voids at an inclusion trapped
at the grain boundary
Creation of a void at a triple point where
three grains are in contact
Ferritic stainless steel ruptured at 600 C:
Grain boundaries exhibiting dimples on g.b. and g.b. slip
Creep cavities formed at grain boundaries in
an austentic stainless steel
4
Creep:
Ductile rupture at elevated temperature
- grain boundary cracking & voids
Grain boundary voids form at
boundary triple points and on boundaries
at 90 deg to applied stress

app

app
Grain boundary voids
Formed at 600C in
Ni based alloy
(Nimonic 105)
Brittle Fracture
Occurs with no appreciable plastic
deformation, typically crack propagates from
a defect or stress concentration
Crack propagation is very fast (~2000 m/s)
Crack propagates nearly perpendicular to the
direction of the applied stress
Crack often propagates by cleavage
breaking of atomic bonds along specific
crystallographic planes (cleavage planes).
Typically brittle fractures occurs at stresses
below the yield stress, the crack being
initiated at a defect with the material
Brittle fracture in a mild steel
Flat cleavage fracture surface in high alloy steel
5
Brittle Fracture
2
1
0
2
|
|

\
|
=
t
Tip
a

Griffth showed that the stress at the crack tip can
be found from the expression

0
= Applied stress

t
= Crack tip radius
For a through thickness crack
length 2a in an infinite thin
plate (plane stress conditions)
a
E

2
=
E = Elastic modulus
= Surface energy
= Fracture stress
As stress increases stored elastic energy is sufficient to initiate
instantaneous crack propagation
Griffith used an elastic energy balance
to calculate.
Brittle (Fast) Fracture
Griffith approach only works with a
perfectly elastic material (i.e. no
crack tip plasticity)
In metals there is always localised
crack tip plasticity as
tip
>
y
The Griffith criteria can be modified
to account for localised plastic
yielding by substituting
G
1c
for 2 ( = crack surface energy)
G
1c
= Energy absorbed in generating
unit area of crack (J.m
-2
)
G
1c
= Fracture Toughness or critical
strain energy release rate. It is a
measure of the amount of plastic
work that must be done before the
crack extends
Crack tip plastic zone
visualisation through a thick section body
Surface: 2D stressing, plane stress (greater plasticity)
Interior: 3D stressing, plane strain (minimal plasticity)
) 1 .( .
.
2
1

=
a
G E
c
Modified Griffith
Eqn for plane strain
Plastic zone is large in the vicinity of
surface (plane stress)
Plastic zone is
Small in bulk
material
(plane strain)
6
Stress Intensity Approach to Fast Fracture
K
1c
represents the critical value of the stress intensity factor (K) for fast fracture,
that is. K
1c
= Plain Strain Fracture Toughness
(Stress intensity factor K is mathematically related to strain energy release rate, G)
The expression for K
1c
is written as:
Y = Geometry factor =
E
Kc
Gc
2
=
c F ic
a Y K . . . =
|

\
|
W
a
f
Penny shaped crack
Edge crack
Y values for simple shapes are
tabulated, for complex shapes they need
to be determined by finite element
techniques
K
c
= Plane stress fracture toughness (thin sheet)
K
1c
= Plane strain fracture toughness (thick plate)
K
c
> K
1c
K
1c
is the minimum value of the fracture toughness
corresponding to plane strain (thick plate- 3D stresses)
Y =
Y = 1
Internal crack
w
w

2
E
K
G
c
c
) 1 (
2
1
2
1

=
E
Kc
Gc
2
=
Crack initiation due to micro-structural
phenomena
Elastic incompatibility between
adjacent grains can cause crack initiation
at interface (grain boundary)
Often if adjacent grains are:
Different phases (structure & composition)
Different crystallographic orientation
Elastic modulus of adjacent grains which
Differ in structure and/or composition
will differ
Blocking of a slip plane
by a hard second phase particle
can generate sufficiently high
stress as to nucleate a crack.
Crack orientation depends on
matrix crystal structure and
cohesion strength at interface
with hard second phase particle
In amorphous polymers,
subject to sufficient stresses
the disorganised molecular
tangle becomes aligned as
orientated filaments in direction
of max stress...voids nucleate
in-between fibrous filaments.
Further stressing causes void
coalescence and crack formation
7
Crack initiation due to micro-structural
phenomena
Ductile solids containing, rigid
particles (e.g. inclusions), may suffer
fracture at inclusion interface, generating
voidsshear and deformation of
material between voids causes very high
localised plastic straining and void
growthleading to void coalescence
(diffusion at high temps can accelerate this)
At sufficiently high temps,
deformation of poly-crystalline
materials (& some semi-crystalline
polymers), can occur by boundary
sliding.
Cracks often initiate at boundary
triple points
Cyclic loading can cause
local deformation on preferred
slip planes within individual
Grains.
Grains at surface are especially
vulnerable.
Adjacent slip steps sliding back
& forth can generate surface
striations that can initiate a crack
Slip bands
Fatigue
Low cycle fatigue (high strain fatigue):
Failure occurs in less than 10
4
cycles

max
>
Y
and the process is under strain control.
Thermal stresses frequently give rise to low cycle thermal fatigue failures.
High cycle fatigue:
Failure occurs in more than 10
4
cycles

max
<
Y
and the process is under stress control.
This is the most usual type & applies to the majority of engineering
applications.
A simple fatigue stress cyclic can be
described by a sine wave
Parameters for describing cyclic loading
Stress range: =
max
-
mi)
Stress amplitude:
a
= (
max
-
min
)
Mean stress:
m
= (
max
+
min
)
Load ratio: R =
min
/
max
A failure mechanism where repeated cyclic stressing
causes progressive crack growth and eventual failure by fracture of
the remaining sound material
8
FATIGUE
Fatigue of un-cracked components
No pre-existing cracks initiation controlled
Gear teeth, crankshafts, axles
Fatigue of cracked components
Cracks pre-exist propagation controlled fracture
Large welded structures, bridges, pressure vessels
Fracture Mechanics
High cycle Fatigue
Max stress below yield, > 10
4
cycles to failure
Rotating or vibrating systems
(wheels axles, engine components)
Basquin LawS/N approach
Low cycle Fatigue
Max stress above yield, < 10
4
cycles to failure
Airframes (fighters), nuclear components,
components subject to occasional overload
Coffin Mason..S/N approach
Ductile fatigue crack propagation surface
(striations) in Nickel alloy (650C)
Cyclic loading: S/N Curves
Endurance limit (allowable stress
amplitude) is usually quoted for a
fatigue life of 10
7
cycles
Standard tests on polished test pieces
loaded in;
Tension
Torsion
Reversed bending
One of the standard depictions of a materials fatigue performance
is the experimentally derived S/N curve
Plots allowable stress amplitude vs. number of cycles to failure
The line displayed on S/N plot corresponds to a failure probability of 50% (P=0.5)
S/N curves usually derived at a mean stress (
m
) = 0
Endurance limits for non zero mean stresses can be calculated using
equations produced by Goodman, Gerber or Soderburg

a0
= Endurance Limit usually quoted for N= 10
7
cycles
9
S/N Curves: Distribution of data
S/N method
Uses blanket safety factors to account for features such as:
-poor surface finish
-stress concentrations
-welds
The use of safety factors leads to inefficient over-design (heavy)
Cannot deal satisfactorily with cracked components
Two main types of S/N curves
Fatigue Life curve
(Most materials)
Fatigue Limit curve
(Steels & certain Cu alloys Only)
For most materials, the allowable
stress amplitude gradually decreases
with increasing number of cycles
Endurance limit quoted at N= 10
7
cycles
Endurance limit

a0

m
= 0

m
= 0
Steels show a Fatigue Limit
If the stress amplitude is less than
fatigue limit, then fatigue life is theoretically
infinite (given P values)
Can destroy fatigue limit by:
-Overstressing
-Over heating
-Corrosion
P= 0.5
P= 0.5
Fatigue limit in
steels & Cu alloys
is a
consequence
of their
excellent
work-hardening
capability
10
Fatigue Cycle
Reminder:
Stress range: =
max
-
min
Stress amplitude:
a
= (
max
-
min
)
Mean stress:
m
= (
max
+
min
)
Load ratio: R =
min
/
max
Usual to quote fatigue stresses as:

m

a
Loading frequency: Hz (cycles/sec)
Cyclic stress profile modelled on sine curve
Methods available to deal with more complex
loading cycles e.g.
Miners Rulebasic
Rainflow analysiscomplex
For metals the waveform shape and
loading frequency have little effect
For polymers the waveform shape and
loading frequency are important
Polymers:
Thermal insulators plus high internal friction
Higher loading frequencies cause reduction in
fatigue strength due to heat build up; can cause
local melting in extreme cases
S/N Curves
)
`

=
=
=
TS
m
a a
y
m
a a
m
m

1 |
1 |
0
0
Derived from many experimental tests
using polished, stress free test pieces
Usually S/N curves are generated at zero
mean stress
Methods to correct for non zero mean
Stress:
Endurance limit often quoted at N = 10
7
cycles

a0
= allowable stress amplitude at zero
mean stress

a0
Soberberg equation
Goodman equation

|
|

\
|
=
)
`

=
=
=
=
2
0
0
0
1 |
1 |
1 |
y
m
a a
TS
m
a a
y
m
a a
m
m
m

Gerber equation
11
Comparison of different correction methods
for
a0
For a material with an endurance limit of
a0
= 500 MPa, calculate (using the
three different equations given previously) the allowable stress amplitude,

a
when the mean stress is raised to 100 MPa and comment on which
correction method would be the safest
Given: Tensile strength = 1000 MPa, Yield Strength = 750 MPa
Design factors to address fatigue
Reduction of stress concentrations by:
Using well blended, generous radii at changes of sections
Improving surface finish (no coarse machining marks)
Using cleaner material without inclusions
Ensuring low porosity and other defect levels at the surface
Compressive residual stress from shot peening or heat treatment e.g. carburising.
Metallurgical defects can detract from fatigue strength
Shrinkage porosity that occurs during solidification
Trapped gas bubbles
The accumulation of non-metallic impurities in the melt
Insufficient bonding of the grains in sintered materials (powder metallurgy)
12
Crack Initiation & Propagation
Crack Initiation:
-Usually from a defect
-Most common at free surfaces
-Can be initiated in the absence of a
defect by dislocation interactions
Propagation: Two stages
Stage 1:
-Crack growth on crystal planes
subject to high shear stresses
-Crack changes direction from grain to
grain following planes of highest shear
stress
Stage 2:
-Crack growth independent of
crystallographic orientation
-Propagation rate much faster than
stage 1

Stage I Stage II
Stage I slip
line cracks
Crack Propagation
Stages 1 and 2:
In reality stage 1 only occupies a small portion of the
fracture surface

Crack Propagation:
SEM image
Nickel alloy (Inconel 718), Fatigue tested at 600 C
C
.
P
.
C.P.
Fatigue crack propagation surface
revealing stage 1 of crack propagation:
Crack growth changes direction in
adjacent grains following crystal planes
on which the shear stress is highest
Striations: increments of crack growth
per loading cycle.
Only visible at high magnification (SEM)
13
Fatigue corrosion
of a shot-peened automotive
suspension spring
Crack initiated at peened layer-core interface
High Cycle: Fatigue Fracture Surfaces
Fatigue fracture surfaces are typified
by the schematic diagram below
Fast fracture face
(rough surface)
a
c
origin
fatigue
fracture
face
(smooth)
Beach marks
Radials
Crack growth from origin, typically
surface defect
Beach marks are visible with naked eye,
caused by periodic crack arrest or
minor changes in crack direction
Radials may be visible, caused by joining
together of lengths of crack fronton different
crystal planes
Striations are present between the beach
marks but only visible at high magnification
Crack grows from origin, across the section, until it reaches critical size (a
c
),
then final fracture occurs
Final fracture
surface
14
Fatigue failure surfaces
Fatigue failure in rotating shaft
Originating at stress concentration
Crack growth across > 90% of section
Eventual ductile overload (rupture)
Shaft was subject to low stresses (small
final overload area)
Fatigue failure in rotating shaft
originating at surface
Crack growth across 10% of section
Ductile overload failure surface covers
90% of section
Shaft was subject to high stresses (large
final overload area)
Crack Tip Behaviour
-High Cycle
Small plastic zone at crack tip
Towards
max
crack opening
reaches max displacement, locally
expanding the plastic zone
This creates new crack surface
area
As cycle reverses crack goes into
compression and the newly
formed crack surface folds forward
advancing the crack tip
Maximum applied stress below
yield stress
At crack tip local stress exceeds
yield
15
Crack Tip Behaviour
-Low Cycle
Large plastic zone at crack tip
Inclusions in large crack tip plastic
zone separate from surrounding
metal grain
Void nucleation & growth as stress
reaches
max
Voids coalesce to extend crack
Maximum applied stress above
yield stress
Whole sample is plastic in highest
stress part of the cycle
Miners Rule: Cumulative damage
An empirical method to assess the fatigue life of a component that is stressed at
several stress amplitudes
Miners Rule expresses the number of cycles at a particular stress amplitude (n) as a
fraction of the Fatigue life (N) at that stress amplitude
1

i
fi
i
N
n
For a stress spectrum compose of 3 stress amplitudes 1
3
3
2
2
1
1
+ +

N
n
N
n
N
n
n
1
= Numbers of cycles at stress amplitude level 1
N
1
= Fatigue life at stress amplitude level 1
etc
It can been viewed that is the fraction of the fatigue life used up at stress
amplitude level 1 1
1
N
n
Miners Rule should not be used for Critical components without experimental testing
in the actual service atmosphere
It does not take into account work-hardening in the plastic zone ahead of the crack;
Stresses that in isolation would cause damage, may not do so if the follow a higher stress
amplitude that has caused crack tip work hardening
16
Calculation
An alloy tie bar is subject to a regular stress cycle at 1 Hz, maximum stress = 300 MPa,
minimum stress = 50 MPa. Alloy tensile strength = 900 MPa
If the endurance limit
a0
(for a failure probability of P = 0.001) at 10
7
cycles = 450 MPa
1. Calculate the allowable stress amplitude
2. How long will it take to reach its maximum safe service life
Fracture Mechanics Approach
Fracture Mechanics
Modern heavily analytical method based on stress intensity factor (K ) and Plain Strain
Fracture Toughness (K
1c
)
Paris Law:
) . . . ( a Y K =
m
K A
dN
da
= .
Crack growth rate
A and m are experimentally
determined material constants
m = 2 - 7
Change in stress intensity factor
over the stress cycle
Can deal with complex geometries via use of Y factor,
Although for complex shapes, Y needs to be determined by FE methods
Can calculate remaining fatigue life of cracked components
Complex but use is justified for critical components
( )

=
f
i
a
a
m m
m m
da
a Y A
N
2 2
1

=
max
-
min
a Y K . . . =
Steady state
Crack growth
regime
17
Crack Growth Rate:
Can determine from fatigue
fracture surface
Scanning electron microscope
(SEM) analysis can measure the
increment of crack growth per
cycle, the distance between
subsequent striations
dN
da
:Crack growth per loading cycle
Crack path follows path of
least resistance through material.
Lengths of crack front
on adjacent planes can join together
Crack growth surface from austenitic
stainless steel screw fastener
dN
da
dN
da
Crack growth rate vs. K
m
K A
dN
da
= .
For steel shown
A = 1.62 x 10
-12
m.(MN.m
-3/2
)
3.2
m = 3.2
A and m are experimentally
derived material constants
Steady state
growth
K
th
K
th
= Threshold K
below which no
crack growth occurs
A B C
Crack growth regimes: A, B,C
A: Slow
B: Steady state
C: High Note:
Origin
suppressed
18
Crack Growth in Regime A
(around threshold)
Concept of the threshold stress intensity factor K
th
:
When K is close to K
th
, the rate of crack growth is so slow that the
crack is often assumed to be growing in an undetectable rate
An operational definition for K
th
often used is that if the rate of crack
growth is 10
-8
mm/cycle (10
-11
m/cycle) or less the conditions are
assumed to be at or below K
th
An important point is that these extremely slow crack growth rates represent
an average crack advance of less than one atomic spacing per cycle !?
How is this possible? What actually occurs is that there are many cycles
with no crack advance?
What actually occurs is that there are many cycles with no crack advance
Crack Growth in Regime B
(Paris Law: steady state)
a Y K . . . =
m
K A
dN
da
= .
m
K A
da
dN

=
.
In regime B, the crack growth can be described by:
Re-arranging & Integrating this expression enables, N
f
(cycles to failure) to be calculated

2 2
. . . .
1
m m
m m
a Y
a
A

Substitute
N
f
=
N
f
=

f
o
a
a
m m
m m
a
a
Y A
2 2
.
. . .. .
1

Integrate between initial crack size (a
o
) and final (critical) crack size, a
f
da a
Y A
f
o
a
a
m
m
m m

2
2
.
. . .. .
1

=
=
(
(
(
(

2
1
2
1
.
. . .. .
1
2
1
2
1
2
m
a
m
a
Y A
m
o
m
f
m
m m

N
f
=
(
(
(
(

2
1
.
. . .. .
1
2
1
0
2
1
2
m
a a
Y A
m m
f
m
m m

19
Crack Growth in Regime B
(Paris Law: steady state)
If m>2
If m= 2
N
f
=
(
(
(
(

2
1
.
. . .. .
1
2
1
0
2
1
2
m
a a
Y A
m m
f
m
m m

(
(

|
|

\
|

0
2 2
ln
. . .. .
1
a
a
Y A
f

N
f
=
If
min
is compressive (i.e. negative), use
min
= 0
(as crack will not open in compression)
Often a
0
= crack detection confidence limit and a
f
= critical crack size for fast fracture (a
c
)

1
2
|
|

\
|
=
Y
K
a
IC
c Remember
Example
A structural component made from a high strength Al alloy is subject to cyclic loading,
with
max
= 210 MPa and
min
= 70 MPa: K
1c
= 25 MN.m
-3/2
The NDT detection limit = 2 mm and Y = 1.2
Calculate the number of cycles to failure assuming that there is a Edge crack present
at the limit of detection
Given:
Units of A = 6.87 x10
-12
m. (MN.m
-3/2
)
-3
3 12
. 10 87 . 6 K x
dN
da
=

20
Crack Detection and Fracture
How do we determine the initial crack length?
Cracks can detected using various techniques, ranging from simple
visual inspection to more sophisticated techniques based on ultrasonic
or X-rays. If no cracks are detected by our inspection, we must assume
that a crack just at the resolution of our detected system exists.
How do we determine the final crack length?
We know that eventually the crack can grow to a length at which the
material fails immediately, i.e. K
max
K
1c
A very important principle that comes from this analysis: even if a
component has a detected crack, it need not be removed from service!
Using this frame work, the remaining life time can be assessed!
This is called crack-tolerant or damage-tolerant design approach.

1
2
|
|

\
|
=
Y
K
a
IC
c
Fatigue Design
Determine typical service stress spectra
Estimate useful fatigue life based on laboratory tests or analyses
plus add factor of safety
At the end of the expected life, the component is retired from service, even
if no failure has occurred and the component has considerable residual life
Emphasis on prevention of crack initiation (good quality material, surface
finish, surface treatment, design to eliminate stress concentrations)
For critical applications design should include multiple load paths so even if
an individual member of a component fails, there should be sufficient
structural integrity to operate safely
Mandatory periodic inspection
21
S/N vs. Fracture Mechanics
S/N curves have been used for
many years and much data have
been collected.
It is simple to use, provided all the
necessary safety factors are
known.
It is a widely accepted and
understood technique.
However, it can lead to very
conservative use of material due
to the many safety factors
involved.
Its major drawback is that it
cannot satisfactorily deal with
cracked components and thus
cannot be used to assess the
remaining life of cracked
components or set defect
detection limits for inspection.
The LEFM approach is relatively
new and thus materials data might
not be readily available.
It is not easy to use as its
principles must be well
understood if errors are not to be
made.
The Y factor for complex shapes
must be calculated by finite or
boundary element techniques.
However it can give designs which
make optimum use of material. It
can deal with cracked
components both by assessing
remaining fatigue life and by
setting defect detection limits.
In general the S/N method is
cheaper and quicker and is used
for inexpensive and non-critical
structures while the more
expensive and time consuming
LEFM approach is used for safety
critical or expensive components.
Appendix
Ryan Crash
Coventry Air Show 2003
Replica of Spirit of St
Louis crashes just
after take off
Right wing folds
backward during a
gentle right turn at 300ft
Prior to take of aircraft
was subject to buffeting
due to propwash from
adjacent larger aircraft
22
Tubular steel wishbone
strut (in red) mounted
from lower edge of
fuselage
braced to upper fuselage
by diagonal bracing strut
(yellow)
locates & supports upper
end of right landing gear
shock strut (blue)
Also supports lower end
of forward wing strut
(green)
Wishbone strut is welded
at its apex.
strut extends outboard
beyond apex where it is
welded to diagonal
bracing strut that is itself
attached to upper
fuselage
What Happened?
23
Fracture Surfaces
Fatigue crack originated in weld in vicinity of
wishbone apex
Weld was exposed & painted with primer
Weld metal adjacent to failure location showed
evidence of slag inclusions, shrinkage
porosity, gas porosity & oxide inclusions
Out-board strut section failure surface
In-board strut section failure surface
Appendix
Low cycle Fatigue
fracture of bicycle gear
derailleur pulley
Fatigue striations on fractured
thread on bike gear connector
Fatigue
failure @
threaded
hole
24
Striations visible propagated on failed thread.
Many inclusion dimples plus visible striations
Higher mag.
Final overload
Striations plus secondary cracking in Al bike gear connector threaded hole
25
Affect of stress amplitude on fatigue
striations (in Al alloy)
Al alloy (7475): Increase in striation spacing due to
increase in applied stress amplitude
Al alloy: centre of image shows a band of
more widely spaced striations due to 45 cycles
of higher stress amplitude loading
High cycle fatigue of un-cracked components
High cycle fatigue life (N
f
) is
related to cyclic stress range ()
by the Basquin equation
Where b and C
1
are experimentally
derived constants
Typical b values 0.07-0.13

a
= (/2)
Dividing by the Elastic modulus
and taking logs gives:
1
. C N
b
f
=
E
C
N b
f el
1
log log log + =
High cycle fatigue behaviour of un-cracked components is controlled by crack initiation
This relationships applies to:
Un-cracked components subject to high cycle fatigue (
max
<
y
)
Stressed at constant stress amplitude about a mean stress of zero