I n tJ F ati gue8 No 1 (1986) pp 23-27

A s t udy of c u mu l a t i v e f at i gue
d a ma g e i n t i t ani um 6AI--4V al l oy
S. Jeel ani , S. Gh e b r e me d h i n and M. Mus i al
Experimental data were obtai ned usi ng t i t ani um 6AI - 4V al l oy under stress ratios of
- 1 , 0 and - o o . A st udy of cumul ati ve fati gue damage using Mi ner' s and Kramer's
equati ons for stress ratios of - 1 and 0 for l ow- hi gh, l ow- hi gh mixed, hi gh- l ow, and
hi gh- l ow mixed stress sequences has revealed close agreement bet ween the theoretical
and experimental values of f at i gue da ma ge and f at i gue life. Kramer's equat i on predicts
less conservative and more realistic cumul ati ve fati gue damage than does t he popul arl y
used Mi ner' s rule.
K e y w o r d s : f at i gue; f at i gue damage accumul at i on; f at i gue da ma ge prediction; stress
sequence; Ti - 6AI - 4V al l oy
Failure of structural component s in service is invariably due
t o fatigue, creep and stress corrosion. Fatigue failure is the
consequence o f repeated or fluctuating loads whi ch may vary
over a wide range exerted on a part or a system. Such
failure invariably starts at the surface in the f or m o f a crack
and propagat es t o the core of the component until sudden
rupt ure occurs. When t he stress ampl i t ude is const ant and
the variation is cyclic, the life o f the component can be
det ermi ned using the st andard SIN (applied stress vs fatigue
life) di agram available in the literature. Such a det ermi nat i on
is impossible when the stress amplitude is not const ant (eg
block loading).
Mi ner and Pal mgren I were the first t o pr opose the
cumulative fatigue damage rule known as Mi ner' s rule for
the prediction o f failure o f a component subjected t o stresses
of varyi ng amplitude ove r a given set of cyclic blocks. I f
0"1, 0-2, 0- 3"" represent the stress amplitudes applied t o a
part and nt, n2, n3. . . represent the cor r espondi ng number
of cycles, Mi ner' s rule may be stated as:
1"/1 ? / 2 /'13
- - N2 I ~' 3N- - +~- +v : - + . . . . 1 (1)
where N1, N2, N3 . . . are the number o f cycles t o failure
obt ai ned f r om the S/N di agram at stresses 0"1, 0-2, 0" 3' "
respectively. Various ot her theories r s have been pr oposed
but none of these can accurately predict fatigue damage for
most o f the commonl y encount ered loading situations.
Mi ner' s theory, whi ch is the most commonl y used, does
not take i nt o account the previ ous hi st ory o f the material
in multilevel loading.
It has been suggest ed t hat when a material is fatigued,
the damage is confi ned in the surface layer in the f or m
of wor k hardening. 9m3 As the number o f cycles or the stress
amplitude increases, there is an increase in the surface layer
stress. As the fatigue damage accumulates, the surface layer
stress attains a critical value and a crack is formed indepen-
dent o f the stress amplitude, leading t o fatigue failure.
Kr amer 9 has suggest ed t hat cumulative fatigue damage can
be expressed in terms of the rate o f increase in the surface
layer stress wi t h t he number of cycles. Since the critical
0142- 1123/ 86/ 010023- 05 S3.00
Int J Fatigue January 1986
surface stress is const ant f or a gi ven material, it is onl y
necessary t o determine the cont ri but i on t o the surface stress
due t o fatiguing at a gi ven stress f or a gi ven number of
cycles and t o sum up such cont ri but i ons. Therefore,
asl D (2)
where a, and o-s* are the surface layer stress and critical
surface layer stress, respectively, and D is the cumulative
damage. The failure will occur when D equals one. Kr amer
furt her extended his investigation 10 and pr oposed the failure
equat i on in the fol l owi ng form:
, <
Y I 3 ag (0" 2~P f' (0" 1'~ pf'f2
+ . . . . ( 3 )
where p = - t/m (m is the slope of the S/N di agram whi ch
is of the f or m 0- = C N m and fl = &. p and fl are material
constants and the f s represent damage histories in the
previ ous stress sequences:
~Pn 1
f , -
The purpose of the present investigation was t o obtain
fatigue data for titanium 6A1-4V alloy and t o compare the
experimental values o f cumulative fatigue damage and fatigue
life with those predicted using Mi ner' s and Kr amer ' s
equations.
E x p e r i m e n t a l d e t a i l s
Ti t ani um alloy (6Al4 V) was used in this investigation. This
material is extensively used in the aerospace i ndust ry because
of its superior properties such as hi gh st rengt h-t o-wei ght
ratio and corrosi on resistance. Tables z and 2 show the
1986 But t erwort h & Co (P ubl i shers) kt d
2 3
Ta bl e 1 . Ch e m i c a l c o m p o s i t i o n o f t i t a n i u m 6 A I - 4 V a l l o y ( w e i g h t %)
Ti AI V C Fe N2 H Y Others
Bal 6. 5 4 0. 08 0. 2 5 0. 08 0. 01 5 0. 005 0. 4
Ta bl e 2 . Me c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s o f t i t a n i u m 6 A I - 4 V a l l o y
Ultimate Modulus of Modulus of Modulus of
tensile Yield Shear e l a s t i c i t y e l a s t i c i t y e l a s t i c i t y
strength strength s t r e n g t h Po i s s o n ' s in tension in compression (torsional)
( M Pa) ( M Pa) ( M Pa) ratio (G Pa) (G Pa) (G Pa)
1 1 2 0 1 050 6 44 0.31 112 1 1 4 43 . 4
chemi cal compos i t i on and mechani cal pr oper t i es of t he al l oy
l ot used. The desi gn of t he fat i gue speci men is shown in
Fi g. i . The speci mens were machi ned f r om ext r uded sol i d
bar of Iz. 7 mm di amet er. The gauge sect i on was f or med
on Tensi l kut and Tensi l gr i nd machi nes. The Tensi l kut was
used t o t ake a r ough cut wi t h a t wo flute mi l l i ng cut t er,
whi l e t he Tensi l gr i nd was used t o finish gr i ndi ng t he speci-
men wi t h a x2o gr i t si l i con car bi de wheel. The speci mens
were t hen bat ch heat - t r eat ed under t he f ol l owi ng condi t i ons:
sol ut i oni zi ng - - 968C f or 2 h
quenchi ng - - wat er quench
a g i n g - 538C for l h
cool i ng - - ai r cool .
The gauge sect i on of t he speci men was t hen mechani cal l y
pol i shed wi t h i 8 o - i zoo gr i t silicon carbi de paper s t o reduce
t he t ool mar ks and ot her surface i rregul ari t i es. Thi s was
f ol l owed by el ect r opol i shi ng t o obt ai n an even surface finish
usi ng t he f ol l owi ng condi t i ons: TM
e l e c t r o l y t e - 59% met hanol , 35% n- but anol , 6%
per chl or i c aci d
bat h t emper at ur e - - 3oC
st i rrer speed - - 4 t o 5 r evol ut i ons per mi n
vol t age (current) z5 t o 20 V 0 . 2 - I . 5 A)
t i me - 3 rain.
Af t er el ect r opol i shi ng, t he speci mens were exami ned under
a mi cr oscope for ci rcumferent i al scrat ches and ot her stress
raisers.
Fat i gue tests wer e conduct ed on a di r ect t ensi on com-
pressi on machi ne equi pped wi t h an aut omat i c hydr aul i c l oad
mai nt ai ner. The dat a for t he SIN di agr am were gener at ed
for the stress ratios (R) of - i , o and - oo, where:
mi ni mum stress
R- - -
maxi mum stress
The t est i ng of t he speci mens t o generat e cumul at i ve
fat i gue dat a was done in f our stages. I n t he first, second
and t hi r d stages t he l oads and t he number o f cycles appl i ed
at each l oad were pr edet er mi ned. I n t he f our t h st age t he
I. . - 28. soo- + - - - 32. ooo- - + - - 28. ooo
~ , , 3 . 1 7 5 _ . L
I. , - , , . t 8 . 1 2 5 ~ t
Fig. 1 Fat i gue speci men. Al l di mens i ons i n mm
l oad was presel ect ed and t he t est was cont i nued unt i l t he
speci men failed. Test s wer e conduct ed wi t h l ow- t o- hi gh, l ow-
t o- hi gh mi xed, hi gh- t o- l ow and hi gh- t o- l ow mi xed stress
sequences. Al l t he tests were conduct ed in t he elastic range
of t he mat eri al .
D i s c u s s i o n o f r e s u l t s
A consi der abl e amount of dat a was gener at ed concer ni ng
cumul at i ve fat i gue damage in t i t ani um 6A1-4V al l oy at vari -
ous stress ratios. I n t he f ol l owi ng, onl y sel ect ed dat a represen-
t at i ve of t he resul t s in general are present ed. Compl et e dat a
may be f ound in Reference 14.
The fat i gue stress ampl i t ude vs fat i gue life (S/N) curves
pl ot t ed for stress rat i os of - x , o and - co are shown in
Fi g. z. The const ant - f at i gue life di agr am shown in Fi g. 3
was obt ai ned usi ng t he SIN curves.
Tabl e 3 shows t he cumul at i ve fat i gue dat a for t he com-
pl et el y r ever sed stress condi t i on, R = - i , for t he l ow- hi gh,
l o w- h i g h mi xed, h i g h - l o w and h i g h - l o w mi xed stress
sequences. The number of cycles shown agai nst each stress
level is t he aver age of t he val ues of at least five i dent i cal
tests. For speci men i , t he stress was 465 MPa in t he first
st age for zoo ooo cycles, 6o5 MPa in t he second st age for
5o ooo cycles, 75z MPa for 2o ooo cycles in t he t hi r d stage;
finally, t he speci men was st ressed at 8oo MPa unt i l failure
in t he f our t h stage. The number of cycles pr edi ct ed usi ng
Kr a me r ' s equat i on for failure t o occur is also shown in t he
f our t h stage. Speci mens I - 3 wer e t est ed wi t h l o w- h i g h
sequences, speci ment s 4- 6 were t est ed wi t h l o w- h i g h mi xed
sequences, speci mens 7- 9 were t est ed wi t h h i g h - l o w stress
sequences, and speci mens I o - i 2 were t est ed wi t h h i g h - l o w
l o 4
A
:10
3
co
o~
102 I I
104 105 1 06 107
Number o f cycles t o failure
Fig. 2 S/Ncurves f or t i t ani um ( 6 AI - 4 V) al l oy
24 I nt J Fat i gue Januar y 1986
a .
= =
E
:3
.E.
x
=
=E
- 1 . 0
1 1 2 0 ~
9 8 0 -
8 40 -
7 00 - -
56 0 -
42 0 -
2 8 0 - -
1 40 - -
- ' 1 2 0
- 0. 7 50 - 0 . 5 0 0 - 0. 2 50
I I I
- 9 8 0 - 7 00 - 42 0
28G
Fig. 3 Const ant -f at i gue life di agram f or t i t ani um ( 6AI - 4V) al l oy
R
0 0. 2 50
2 8 0
0. 500 0. 7 50 1. 0
8 40
7 00
1.20
; OI " q ~ 1 1 4 0 ' ~ 1 / / ~ / ' / / I I - I
- 1 40 0 1 40 42 0 7 00 9 8 0 1 1 2 0
Mi ni mum stress (MPa)
mixed stress sequences. I t can be seen t hat there is a close
agreement bet ween the experimental and predicted values
of fatigue life for the specimens tested under all the stress
sequences used in this investigation.
Table 4 shows the cumul at i ve fatigue lives det ermi ned
using Kr amer ' s as well as Mi ner' s equat i on for the specimens
report ed in Table 3. The table shows the total number of
cycles t o failure obt ai ned experimentally and theoretically
using Kr amer ' s equation. I t can be seen t hat for all the
stress sequences used in this wor k, Kr amer ' s equat i on pre-
dicts cumulative fatigue damage closer t o uni t y than does
Mi ner' s rule.
Table 5 shows the cumulative fatigue data generated
using a stress ratio of o.oo, k tension only. For specimen
i the stress used was 465 MPa for 467 200 cycles in the
first stage, 605 MPa f or 18 9 ZOO cycles in the second stage,
73z MPa in the third stage for lO 4 500 cycles, and finally
the specimen was stressed at 800 MPa until failure occurred
at 66 ooo cycles in the fourt h stage. The stress sequences
used in this investigation are shown in the extreme ri ght -hand
col umn of the table. The experimental value o f fatigue life
agrees well wi t h that obt ai ned using Kr amer ' s equat i on for
all the tests report ed in this table. Table 6 shows the cumula-
tive fatigue damage and total fatigue life obt ai ned experimen-
tally and predicted using Kr amer ' s equation. Once again
it can be seen that Kr amer ' s equat i on predicts cumulative
T a b l e 3 . C u m u l a t i v e f a t i g u e d a t a f o r a s t r e s s r a t i o o f - 1 ( m a t e r i a l T i - 6 A I - 4 V )
Cumul at i ve stress
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 a
Specimen Stress Cycles Stress Cycles St r e s s Cycles St r e s s Number of cycles
number ( MPa ) ( MPa ) ( MPa ) ( MPa ) Experimental Kr amer
Stress
sequence b
1 465 200 000 605 50 000 732 20 000 800 13 600 13 991
2 455 200 000 595 50 000 700 20 000 875 9 700 9 601
3 400 200 000 630 30 000 770 10 000 840 9 500 9 355
4 455 200 000 700 20 000 595 50 000 770 22 900 23 051
5 490 1 50 000 630 30 000 560 50 000 770 52 100 51 276
6 420 400 000 595 50 000 490 200 000 700 127 300 125 497
7 840 400 7 00 50 000 560 20 000 630 70 600 73 752
8 770 500 630 50 000 560 200 000 420 690 800 727 009
9 700 800 630 50 000 560 100 000 4.90 252 100 253 711
10 700 8 0 0 0 490 500000 595 100000 420 259400 261 376
11 770 500 630 70 000 700 80 000 560 6 100 6 712
12 630 7 0000 445 100000 560 7 0000 420 7 20300 7 10190
L- H
L- H
L- H
L - H- M
L - H- M
L - H- M
H- L
H- L
H- L
H- L - M
H- L - M
H- L - M
Specimen stressed unt i l failure
bL-H = l ow- hi gh; L - H- M = l ow- hi gh mi xed; H- L = hi gh- l ow; H- L - M = h i g h - l o w mixed
I n t J F a t i g u e J a n u a r y 1 9 8 6 2 5
T a b l e 4 . C u m u l a t i v e f a t i g u e d a m a g e f o r a s t r e s s r a t i o o f - 1 ( m a t e r i a l T i - 6 A I - 4 V )
Speci men N F ( Exp) St ress s e -
number Dr, Kramer" D t, Mi n e r NF ( Exp) b NF ( Theor y) c NF ( Theor y) quence d
1 1. 0048 1. 3073 283 600 283 440 1. 0119 L - H
2 1. 0052 1. 4049 279 700 279 601 1. 0103 L - H
3 1.0071 1. 2488 249 500 249 354 1.01 56 L - H
4 0. 9970 1. 2873 292 900 293 051 0. 9935 L - H- M
5 1. 0094 1.1 919 282 100 281 276 1.01 61 L - H- M
6 1. 0077 1. 2684 777 300 775 497 1. 0144 L - H- M
7 0. 9984 0. 8139 141 000 144 152 0. 9573 L - H- M
8 0. 9832 0. 6734 941 300 977 509 0. 9502 L - H- M
9 0. 9978 0. 7865 402 900 404 511 0.9931 L - H- M
10 0. 999 1. 0064 867 400 869 376 0. 9924 L - H- M
11 1.31 39 1. 6247 156 600 127 212 0. 9088 L - H- M
12 1. 0036 0. 8398 960 300 950 190 1.01 42 L - H- M
"Dr = f~ + f2 + f3 + f4 is the total cumulative fatigue damage
bN F (Exp) is the total number of cycles to failure
NF (Theory) is the total number of cycles to failure using Kramer's equation
dL-H = low-high; L-H-M = low-high mixed; H-L = high-low; H-L-M = high-low mixed
T a b l e 5. C u m u l a t i v e f a t i g u e d a t a f o r a s t r e s s r a t i o o f 0 . 0 ( m a t e r i a l T i - 6 A I - 4 V )
Cumulativ e stress
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
Specimen Stress Cycles Stress Cycles Stress Cycles St r ess Nu mb e r of cycles Stress
number (MP a) (MP a) (MP a) (MP a) Experimental K r a me r sequence b
1 465 467 200 605 189 200 732 104 500 800 66 000 65 906 L-L-H
2 455 635 800 595 232 200 700 5 500 875 45100 45 024 L-H
3 490 467 200 630 189 200 770 1 900 840 55 000 54 975 L-H
4 455 610 000 700 29 500 595 32 400 770 135 300 135 473 L-H-M
5 490 467 200 630 189 200 560 289 000 770 190 500 194 503 L-H-M
6 420 813 500 595 232 300 490 467 200 700 491 300 514 917 L-H-M
7 840 4 800 700 45 600 560 149 000 630 6 325 800 6 527 888 H-L
8 770 6 100 630 189 200 640 457 200 560 9 521 800 4 493159 H-L
9 700 32 500 630 189 200 640 89 000 490 2 002 500 2 002 687 H-L
10 700 49 500 490 667 200 595 322 300 420 2 540 400 2 567 950 H-L-M
11 770 1 900 630 108 200 700 29 500 560 1 050 200 1 051 832 H-L-M
12 630 239 200 445 635 800 560 359 000 420 2 243 000 2 243 396 H-L-M
Specimen stressed until failure
%-H = low-high; L-H-M = low-high mixed; H-L = high-low; H-L-M = high-low mixed
T a b l e 6. C u m u l a t i v e f a t i g u e d a m a g e f o r a s t r e s s r a t i o o f 0.O ( m a t e r i a l T i - 6 A I - 4 V )
Speci men N F ( Exp) St ress s e-
number D t, Kramer a D t, Mi ner NF ( Exp) b NF ( Theor y) c NF ( Theor y) quence d
1 1. 005 1. 2865 826 900 826 806 1.001 L - H
2 1.011 1.0591 918 700 918 624 1. 0000 L - H
3 1. 0002 1. 0607 713 300 713 275 1. 0000 L - H
4 0. 9989 1. 0696 807 200 807 373 0. 99 L - H- M
5 0. 9906 1. 1735 1 1 3 5 9 0 0 1 1 3 9 9 0 3 0. 99 L - H- M
6 0. 9733 1. 1209 2 004 300 2 026 917 0. 988 L - H- M
7 0. 9994 0.7791 6 525 200 6 727 288 0. 9699 H- L
8 1. 003 0. 7732 5 184 300 5 155 659 1. 005 H- L
9 0. 9953 0. 9087 2 313 200 2 331 387 0. 992 H- L
10 0. 9962 0. 8310 3 589 400 3 616 950 0. 9923 H- L - M
11 0. 9988 0. 9199 1 189 800 1 191 432 0. 9986 H- L - M
12 0. 999 0. 8347 3 477 000 3 477 396 0. 99 H- L - M
" Dr = f~ + f2 + f3 + f4 is the total cumulative fatigue damage
bN F (Exp) is the total number of cycles to failure
cN F (Theory) is the total number of cycles to failure using Kramer's equation
dL-H = low-high; L-H-M = low-high mixed; H-L - high-low; H-L-M = high-low mixed
2 6 I nt J Fat i gue J anuar y 1986
damage closer to unity than does Miner' s equation, and that
there is a close agreement between the total number of fatigue
cycles obtained experimentally and that predicted using
Kr amer ' s equation.
For stress ratios of - x and zero, Kramer' s equation
seems to be more applicable than Miner' s rule. I t is suggested
that experimental data be generated for the commonl y used
stress ratios and sequences for various materials to draw
conclusions concerning the general applicability of this
approach. The application of the constant-fatigue life diagram
shown in Fig. 3 is very extensive in design and analysis.
It can be used for determining the mean, average and equiva-
lent stresses for a given set of maxi mum and mi ni mum
stresses and stress ratios and vice versa. TM
Conc l us i ons
The following conclusions are drawn from the results of
the investigation.
~. For the stress ratios of - x and o, there is a close
agreement between the fatigue lives determined experi-
mentally and those predicted using Kr amer ' s equation
for the l ow-hi gh, l ow- hi gh mixed, hi gh- l ow and
hi gh- l ow mixed stress sequences.
2. The value of cumulative fatigue damage predicted
using Kr amer ' s equation is in good agreement with
that obtained experimentally for all the stress sequences
used in this investigation.
3. Kramer' s equation predicts less conservative and more
realistic cumulative fatigue damage than does the
popularly used Miner' s rule.
Ac k n o w l e d g e m e n t s
The authors express their gratitude to the NASA-Marshall
Space Flight Centre for providing support for this work
t hrough grant NAG8-zo.
Re f e r e nc e s
1. Mi ner , M. A. 'Cumulative damage in fatigue' J Appl Mech
12 (1945) p 159
2. I . anger, B. F. ' Fa t i g u e f ai l ur e f r om stress cycles of varying
amplitude" Trans ASME, J Appl Mech 59 (1937) p A160
3. Mi l l er , K. J. 'An experimental linear cumulative damage law'
JSt r ai nAnal 5 No 3 (1970) p 177
4. Gr over , H. J. 'An observation concerning the cycle ratio
in cumulative damage' Symp on Fatigue of Aircraft Structures,
ASTM STP 274 (American Society f or Testing and Materials,
1960) p 120
5. Mar c o, S. M. a n d S t a r k e y , W. K. ' A concept of fatigue
damage" Trans ASME76 (1954) p 627
6. Shanl ey, D. R. ' A theory of fatigue based on unbending
during reversed slip' Report (Rand Corporation, 1952) p 350
7. Cor t en, H. T. and Dol an, T. J. 'Cumulative fatigue damage'
Proc I nt Conf on the Fatigue of Metals (Institution of Mecha-
nical Engineers and American Society of Mechanical Engi-
neers, New Y ork, 1956) pp 235-246
8. Fr eudent hal , A. M. and Hel l er , R. A. 'Stress interaction
in fatigue and a cumulative damage rule' Report AF44(616)-
3982 (Wright-P atterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH, USA,
1959)
9. Kr amer , I. R. ' A mechanism of fatigue failure" Metal/Trans
5 (1974) p 1735
10. Kr amer , I. R. 'P rediction of cumulative fatigue damage' Proc
2nd I nt Conf on the Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Bos-
ton, MA, USA, 16-22 August 1976 (American Society f or
Metals, Metals P ark, OH, USA, 1976) pp 812-816
11. Har r i es, D. R. a n d S m i t h , G. C. " Fatigue damage and
crack formation in pure aluminium" J Inst Met 88 (1960)
pp 182-185
12. Ki m, W. H. and Lai rd, C. 'The role of cyclic hardening
in crack nucleation at high strain amplitude' Mater Sci Engng
33 (1978) pp 225-231
13. K u h l m a n n - W i l s d o r f , D. a n d L a i r d , C. ' Di s l o c a t i o n
behavior in fatigue, P art V, Breakdown of l oop patches and
f or mat i on of persistent slip bands and of di s l oc a t i on cells'
Mater Sci Engng 46 (1980) pp 209-219
14. Ghebr emedhi n, S. ' High cycle fatigue data on Ti -6AI -4V
alloy' M S thesis (Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Tuskegee Institute, AL, USA 1954)
Au t h o r s
The authors are with the School of Engineering and Archi-
tecture, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL 36o88, USA.
Inquiries should be directed to Dr Jeelani in the first instance.
I n t J F a t i g u e J a n u a r y 1 9 8 6 2 7