International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijfatigue

The effect of steady torsion on fatigue crack growth in shafts

M. Fonte a,*, L. Reis b, F. Romeiro c, B. Li b, M. Freitas b
b

a
Nautical School, 2780-572 Paco de Arcos, Portugal
IST-Technical University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1096 Lisbon, Portugal
c
ESTGL, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal

Received 19 March 2005; received in revised form 29 May 2005; accepted 8 June 2005
Available online 28 November 2005

Abstract
Most of catastrophic mechanical failures in power rotor shafts occur under cyclic bending combined with steady torsion: Mode I (DKI)
combined with Mode III (KIII). An analysis of the influence of steady torsion loading on fatigue crack growth rates in shafts is presented for short
as well as long cracks. Long cracks growth tests have been carried out on cylindrical specimens in DIN Ck45k steel for two types of testing: rotary
or alternating bending combined with steady torsion in order to simulate real conditions on power rotor shafts. The growth and shape evolution of
semi-elliptical surface cracks, starting from the cylindrical specimen surface, has been measured for several loading conditions and both testing
types. Short crack growth tests have been carried out on specimens of the same material DIN Ck45k, under alternating bending combined with
steady torsion. The short crack growth rates obtained are compared with long crack growth rates. Results have shown a significant reduction of the
crack growth rates when a steady torsion Mode III is superimposed to cyclic Mode I. A 3D Finite Element analysis has also shown that Stress
Intensity Factor values at the corner crack surface depend on the steady torsion value and the direction of the applied torque.
q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Multiaxial fatigue; Short and long crack growth; Rotary and alternating bending; Steady torsion; Cyclic mode I and steady mode III

1. Introduction
Mechanical failures in rotor power shafts generally occur
under cyclic bending, Mode I (DKI), combined with steady
torsion, Mode III (KIII). A large number of power plant systems
present a general steady torsion combined with cyclic bending
stress due to the self-weight bending during the rotation or
possible misalignment between journal bearings. In the case of
rotor shafts (for example, those used in electric power plants,
propeller shafts of screw ships, or any other rotary loadtransmission devices), the lifetime spent between crack
initiation and final fracture is of capital importance to improve
the inspection intervals and maintenance procedures.
Many examples of fatigue crack growth under Mode I
loading have shown that linear elastic fracture mechanics
(LEFM) theory is increasingly being applied to the practical
engineering problems, including material selection, design and
analysis of engineering structures. Fracture mechanics

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: fonte@enautica.pt (M. Fonte), mfreitas@dem.ist.utl.pt
(M. Freitas).

0142-1123/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2005.06.051

concepts can be used to develop procedures for controlling

fracture in real engineering components. The fracture control
plans require the knowledge of the residual strength of the
cracked structures (or engineering components), and also the
rate of the crack growth. This is exercised by means of regular
inspections, being the safe guaranteed by detecting the crack
before it becomes dangerous. The damage tolerance method is
often applied in order to ensure that the structures do not fail by
fracture, and can safely be used within the limitations of
specified fracture control plan, establishing the inspection
procedures in a rational way.
A significant improvement in techniques for estimation of
remaining lifetime of pre-cracked components has also been
made in the last decades. However, most of the investigations
on fatigue crack growth is performed in the case of Mode I
condition, i.e. rotary bending or cyclic axial loading, but this is
a simplification of the problem. Indeed there is always a torsion
effect in shafts due to the power transmission.
Many researchers have studied the influence of a static
Mode III loading on cyclic Mode I for circumferential notched
shafts mainly since 80s (Hourlier and Pineau [1], Akhurst and
Lindley [2], Pook [3]). Yates and Miller [4,5] carried out
experiments through a servo-hydraulic fatigue machine fitted
with a torsion-bending loading frame, where mixed-mode
(DKICDKIII) fatigue tests were performed. Tschegg [6,7]

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M. Fonte et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

contributed to clarify the influence of steady or cycle Mode III

on fatigue crack propagation behaviour when combined with
Mode I loading. Shiratori et al. [8] and Carpinteri [9,10] have
presented Stress Intensity Factors (SIF) for semi-elliptical
cracks in round bars under tension and bending. Freitas and
Francois [11] carried out an analysis of fatigue crack growth in
rotary bend specimens and railway axles.
The fundamental postulate of LEFM is that the behaviour
of a crack (i.e. whether it grows or not, and how fast it grows)
is determined by one parameter, the Stress Intensity Factor
(SIF). This factor, which is a function of the applied loading
and the geometry of the cracked component, has been
evaluated for many hundreds of structural configurations
and by different methods. Most of the available solutions to
the crack problems have been collected in handbooks for
engineers and designers [8].
However, in case of the rotary bending, proposed Stress
Intensity Factors (SIFs) are not directly applicable to the
fatigue crack growth analysis because the fatigue crack front
continuously changes during a load cycle. The value of
maximum SIF is not reached at the same rotation angle for all
the points along the crack front profile. It is well-known that
crack initiation process in rotor shafts has generally an origin
on the specimen surface and, then, crack grows with a semielliptical shape.
In order to study the growth of a semi-elliptical fatigue
crack in a shaft under bending and steady torsion, two special
testing machines were designed and constructed [12,14].
As is well-known, a dominant fraction of the total fatigue
life may be spent in the growth of short cracks (less than
approximately 12 mm). Short cracks generally grow below
the threshold and faster than what is predicted for long cracks
by LEFM [15]. In the literature, two types of short cracks are
defined: microstructural and mechanical short cracks. This
study treats with mechanical short cracks (0.12.0 mm). The
nucleation and growth problem of short cracks has conventionally been treated in the context of the so-called fatigue
crack initiation approaches, which are phenomenological
stress-life and strain-life equations [16]. Substantial effort has
recently been directed to model the short crack growth
behavior [1721], since an improved ability to predict short
crack growth behavior under multiaxial stress conditions
would be very useful for fatigue design evaluations. It has
been recognized in the literature that studies on both crack path
morphology and fatigue life are essential for understanding the
damage process and improving fatigue life predictions.
Recently, more attention has been paid to study the fatigue
crack path in addition to fatigue life. In the present research
work, a replicas method is applied to the monitoring of the
crack initiation and short crack growth behavior in both smooth
and notched specimens under cyclic bending/steady torsion
loading.
2. Material and experimental procedures
The material studied is the DIN Ck45k steel in the
normalised condition and the grain size is about 10 mm.

Table 1
Chemical composition of Ck45k steel (weight %)
C

Si

Mn

Cr

Ni

Mo

Cu

0.45

0.21

0.56

0.018

0.024

0.10

0.05

0.01

0.10

The chemical composition and mechanical properties are

shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. Specimens were
obtained from 25 mm diameter bars, and all the specimens for
short crack growth tests were electro-polished in order to
relieve the residual stresses. As is mentioned above, the present
paper deals with mechanical short cracks (crack length equal to
about 0.12 mm), not with microstructural short cracks.
Experiments were performed through two fatigue testing
machines which were designed and constructed to model the
real conditions of shafts in service [12]. One fatigue machine
performed rotary bending with or without steady torsion, and
the other one performed alternating bending (plane reversed
bending) under controlled deflection [1214]. Further, for the
experimental work on short cracks, a framework assembled on
a servo-hydraulic machine, which performed alternating
bending under controlled loading, was used [22].
Fatigue crack growth experiments under rotary and
alternating bending (constant deflection imposed) were carried
out on cylindrical specimens with 10, 12 and 14 mm diameter
in order to know the crack growth size effect. A chordal notch
was made on the cylindrical surface, with 3 mm length and
0.2 mm depth, a V-notch angle of 608 and a notch root radius
!0.1 mm.
Specimens were pre-cracked under bending using a constant
stress (at notch root) equal to 200 MPa. This value was selected
in order to have about 400,000 cycles from the crack initiation
and the instant when the crack depth b reaches the centre of the
specimen (see Fig. 1). Three torsion stress levels (TsZ50,100
and 140 MPa) were used in order to study the effect of torsion
on fatigue crack growth rates [12].
An optical microscope at a magnification of 80! was
employed to detect the fatigue crack initiation and to measure
the arc crack front length 2s (total length of the arc crack front
on the cylindrical specimen surface, according to Shiratori
nomenclature [8] and Fig. 1). The experimental reading was
performed by using a tape divided in millimetres, placed near
the chordal notch and around the proof zone of the specimen
surface. Special attention and care was done to the
misalignment problems to avoid vibrations and undesired
bending moments which would have produced additional
stresses. Fatigue tests in the case of rotary and alternating
bending under controlled deflection were carried out at
1450 rpm, 24 Hz, at room temperature. In alternating bending,
the frequency was about 12 Hz. Surface cracks were detected
Table 2
Mechanical properties of Ck45k steel
Tensile strength
Yield strength
Elongation
Youngs modulus
Hardness

Ru (MPa)
Rp0.2, monotonic (MPa)
A (%)
E (GPa)
HV

660
410
23
208
195

M. Fonte et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

611

the Irwins elastic energy release rate parameters [24] for the
three loading modes:
2 1=2

DKeq Z Gtotal E1=2 Z DKI2 C DKII2 C 1 C vDKIII

(2)

where Gtotal is the total strain energy release, E is the Young

modulus,

Fig. 1. Geometric parameters of semi-elliptical surface cracks.

by taking acetate replicas at the point of maximum theoretical

stress, at regular intervals, until the crack length reaches
23 mm.
In rotary and alternating bending, fatigue crack growth
measurements were done in a continuous process at constant
intervals using an optical microscope and a stroboscope till the
crack depth reaches 3/4 r, in previous works [12,14]. After
testing, all the specimens were broken by impact bending for
examination through an optical and scanning electron
microscope (SEM), in order to observe the fatigue crack
growth surfaces and the crack shape in specimens under two
different loading conditions: Mode I (DKI) and mixed-mode
(DKICKIII).
3. Mixed mode crack propagation under multiaxial loading
3.1. Short and long cracks
Most of the fatigue crack growth studies have been done for
a single-mode loading, and usually are performed under Mode
I loading condition. Unfortunately, single-mode loading
seldom occurs in practice, and cracks are not normal to the
maximum principal stress direction in many cases. The
multiaxial mixed-mode fatigue crack growth is an occurrence
common to many engineering structures and components.
For long cracks, the propagation mechanisms are often
analysed using the LEFM approach. Under combined axial and
torsion loading, the surface corner of the semi-elliptical crack
is subjected to mixed Mode ICMode II, whereas it is subjected
to mixed mode (Mode I and Mode III) at point of maximum
depth [13,14,16].
For mixed-mode loading, the fatigue crack growth rate may
be expressed by the Paris law, where the SIF range is replaced
by an equivalent SIF range, DKeq:
da
Z CDKeq m
dN

(1)

where C and m are constants (to be determined experimentally)

depending on the several parameters such as the material,
R-ratio, DK(ZKmaxKKmin), Kmax, threshold SIF (DKth),
microstructure, environment, etc.
There are many approaches proposed to define the
equivalent SIF range DKeq for mixed-mode loadings. One of
them was proposed by Hua [23], based on the addition of

DKI Z Y1 Dspa1=2

(3)

DKII Z Y2 Dtpa1=2

(4)

DKIII Z Y3 Dtpa1=2

(5)

and Y1, Y2, Y3 are geometry factors (for Mode I, Mode II and
Mode III, respectively), depending on the crack aspect ratio,
the Poissons ratio, the parametric angle F (Fig. 1) and the
loading conditions.
For short cracks, the mixed-mode models proposed for long
cracks are inappropriate, because the SIF, K, can only be used
when the plastic zone size is small compared to the crack
length and structure dimensions. However, substantial effort
has recently been directed to model the short crack growth
behaviour [1921], where the elasticplastic loading conditions are significant. For elasticplastic loading conditions, a
strain intensity factor, DKI(3), is often used, as is shown in Ref.
[21]. Any equivalent stress intensity factor can be used as a
strain intensity by appropriately replacing the normal stress and
shear stress terms with ED3 and GDg, respectively. This allows
an effective strain intensity factor, DKeq(3), to be written in
terms of the strain amplitudes and crack geometry factors.
In this paper, a model based on the ASME code approach is
proposed by considering the additional hardening and,
correcting the strain range parameter for non-proportional
loading path, an effective strain-based intensity factor range is
given by:
p
DKNP Z E1 C aFNP D3eq pa
(6)
where FNP is the non-proportionality factor for the loading
path, FNP ZRb/Ra, Ra and Rb are the major and minor radius of
the Minimum Circumscribed Ellipse circumscribing the multiaxial loading path, respectively. a is a material constant related
to additional hardening [25], D3eq is the strain range parameter
calculated by the ASME code approach:

1
p D3x KD3y 2 C D3y KD3z 2
D3eq Z
1 C v 2
(7)


1=2
CD3z KD3x 2 C 6 D32xy C D32yz C D32xz
Eq. (6) can be used to correlate the short crack growth rate.
3.2. Fatigue crack growth parameters
The crack geometry parameters in cylindrical specimens are
here characterized according to the Shiratori nomenclature [8],
i.e. the half-length of the arc crack front is denoted by s and the
minor semi-ellipse axis corresponding to the maximum crack
depth is denoted by b, see Fig. 1. The crack depth b against the

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M. Fonte et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

arc crack front length 2s relationship does agree with some

expressions found in previous experimental works carried out
for pure rotary bending and mixed-mode [1114], with some
deviations for the largest applied torques. However, the
equation is valid for the crack depth b up to r/2 [12].
Assuming that cracks have always an elliptical shape, point
A at deepest crack depth and points B and C where the crack
intersects the external surface, are the most important ones
(see Fig. 1). The semi-ellipse axes are determined according to
the expression bZ2s/p experimentally obtained [11], and the
Eq. (8) deducted in Refs. [1214]:
r sin q
a Z q
2
1K br 2 1Kcos q2

(8)

3.3. Stress intensity factors

An important research field of fracture mechanics is the
accurate evaluation of the Stress Intensity Factors (SIFs). In the
present paper, a three-dimensional finite-element analysis is
used to obtain Mode I and Mode III SIFs along the front of
semi-elliptical surface cracks in shafts subjected to bending,
torsion and bending-torsion simultaneously. The surface crack
is on a normal plane to the axis of the shaft (Fig. 2).
A numerical analysis has been carried out using the threedimensional (3D) finite element method (FEM) through the
commercial COSMOS/M program (version 1.75A), for round
bars subjected to bending and torsion. Only several Mode I
solutions are available in Raju and Newman [26], Shiratori [8]
Murakami [27] and Carpinteri [28,29], where the SIFs were
determined by different techniques (finite elements, body
forces, weight functions, etc.). Different crack geometry
parameters (either crack depth b or half-arc crack length s)
were used.
Due to the presence of the torsion loading, the symmetry
conditions are not obvious, and the whole shaft geometry with
the semi-elliptical crack placed at the mid-distance of the
applied loading has to be modelled (Fig. 2(b)). The shaft sizes
are 80 mm diameter and 120 mm total length. The 3D FEM
analysis is carried out by employing 20-node isoparametric
quadratic solid elements. The stress square-root singularity is
modelled by shifting the finite element mid-side nodes near the

crack front to quarter-point positions. The finite element mesh

presents a total of 3168 elements and 15,000 nodes
approximately, depending on the ellipse case considered.
Calculations are performed in two steps: firstly, SIFs are
computed for pure bending and compared with available
results [8,2527] in order to validate the proposed model; then,
SIFs are computed for torsion and mixed-mode (bendingC
torsion) loading.
The arc crack length (2s) parameter has been chosen here
because it was experimentally evaluated in fatigue crack
growth tests [1114] and considered in Shiratori et al. [8].
Therefore, the Mode I Stress Intensity Factor KI for any point
along the surface crack is obtained from the following
equation:


p
b b
; ; f Bs ps
KI Z FI
(9)
r a
with
FI Z

KI
K
p Z
Bs ps K0

(10)

where BS is the remote applied bending stress, s is the half-arc

length on the cylindrical surface, and FI is the boundary
correction factor (or dimensionless SIF) for Mode I. The factor
FI is a function of the elliptical crack shape (b/a), the relative
crack depth (b/r) and the position along the crack front, defined
by the parametric angle F, as is shown in Fig. 1.
As is mentioned before, there are no available results related
to the SIFs of semi-elliptical surface cracks in round bars
subjected to torsion. Therefore, no comparison is here
presented. The SIF KIII is obtained using the same geometric
parameters employed for Mode I (bending):


p
b b
; ; f Ts ps
KIII Z FIII
(11)
r a
where Ts is the remote applied torsion stress in the shaft, s is the
half-arc length on the cylindrical surface, and FIII is the
boundary correction factor for Mode III. Such a factor is a
function of the elliptical crack shape (b/a), the relative crack
depth (b/r), the shaft diameter D, and the position along the
crack front, defined by the parametric angle F (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 2. Finite element mesh: (a) normal plane of eight semi-elliptical surface cracks; (b) the whole round bar with the semi-elliptical crack No. 7 at the middle
position.

M. Fonte et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

613

Fig. 3. Fatigue crack path by the replicas method.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Crack initiation and short crack growth
For the experimental tests on short cracks, a framework
assembled on a servo-hydraulic machine has been used to
perform alternating bending under controlled loading. Replicas method is used to monitor the crack initiation on the
notched specimens subjected to multiaxial loading (cyclic
bendingCsteady torsion), and that allows us to detect short
cracks. The life spent to reach a crack length equal to 0.1 mm is
considered as the crack initiation life, and the crack growth
from 0.1 up to 2.0 mm is considered as the mechanical short

crack growth. Fig. 3 shows some short crack growth results by

applying the replicas method.
Several micro-cracks usually appear on the specimen with
one of them later becoming the dominant. The higher the
applied stresses (both bending and torsion) are, the greater the
number of micro-cracks observed during the crack initiation is.
Linking of micro-cracks sometimes leads to a sudden increase
of their surface lengths and to the major crack to failure. Once
monitored the crack initiation and short crack growth, then the
short crack growth rate is evaluated.
Fig. 4 shows the experimental results related to the arc crack
length 2s against the number of cycles for short cracks (!
2.5 mm) under bending (205 MPa) combined with torsion (420
and 450 MPa). Fig. 5 shows the fatigue crack growth (FCG)
rate against the arc crack length 2s under alternating bending
(205 MPa) combined with different values of torsion (420 and
450 MPa) for short cracks. Experimental results for long cracks
in Mode I and Mode (ICIII), under alternating bending
(200 MPa) and alternating bending combined with torsion (100
and 200 MPa), are also shown for comparison. Fig. 6 presents
the FCG rate against DKNP according to Eq. (6).
4.2. Fatigue crack growth for long cracks
Two machines were used for the experimental testing: one
for rotary bending combined with torsion, and another one for
alternating bending under controlled deflection. Controlled
10-3

Mode (I), Bs=200,Ts=0 MPa

Mode (I+III), Bs=200,Ts=100 MPa
Mode (I+III), Bs=205,Ts=200 MPa
Mode (I+III), Bs=205,Ts=420 MPa
Mode (I+III), Bs=205,Ts=420 MPa
Mode (I+III), Bs=205,Ts=450 MPa

2.5

arc crack length. 2s [mm]

2.0

d(2s)/dN [mm/cycle]

Mode(I+III), Bs=205,Ts=450 MPa

Mode(I+III), Bs=205,Ts=420 MPa
Mode(I+III), Bs=205,Ts=420 MPa

1.5

1.0

10-4

Mode I

Mode(I+III)

As is well-known, when analysing a 3D crack, numerical

problems may arise at free boundaries, as is shown by
Carpinteri and Brighenti [29] and Pook [30]. The use of
quarter point finite elements (square-root singularity) does not
produce reliable results in a boundary layer at points B and C
(see Fig. 1). This effect is confined to only a small zone and,
within this region, it is only possible to define KI, KII and KIII in
an asymptotic sense [30]. Corner point values of SIF in FEM
analyses are extrapolations whose values depend on the finite
element size and the method used. Therefore, we can consider
two nodes (B* and C*) close to points B and C in order to obtain
the approximate KI, KII, KIII results, and this is a procedure that
is usually followed in FEM analyses. Therefore, some results at
points B* and C* are presented in the following.

Mode (I+III)

10-5

0.5
10-6

Mode (I+III)
0.0
200000

0.1
250000

300000

350000

400000

450000

10

arc crack length 2s [mm]

Number of cycles
Fig. 4. Fatigue crack growth in the short crack regime.

Fig. 5. Fatigue crack growth rate vs. arc crack length 2s in Mode (ICIII) for
short cracks and in Mode I and Mode (ICIII) for long cracks.

614

M. Fonte et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

1E-7

d(2s)/dN [mm/cycle]

ds/dN [m/cycle]

Mode(I+III), Bs=205MPa,Ts=420MPa
FIT Line

1E-8

ds/dN=3x10

-10

( K

-4

10

Mode I

Mode (I+III)

0,93

NPI

-5

10

1E-9
10

20

30
1/2

KNP [MPa m

40

50

deflection means that the local effective stress at the crack tip
(for a remote bending stress of 200 MPa) or the driving force
decrease as fatigue crack propagates. This situation is similar to
that in a shaft with a misalignment between journal bearings.
In rotating bending, due to the fact that fatigue surface crack
continuously rotates during the cyclic loading, the crack can
grow up to final rupture. In alternating or reversed bending
under controlled deflection, the fatigue crack growth rate
decreases and generally stops for the crack depth b equal to
about r, being r the shaft radius.
Experimental results are reported in Fig. 710. Fig. 7 shows
the fatigue crack growth (FCG) for rotary bending and rotary
bending combined with steady torsion, whereas Fig. 8 displays
the FCG rate against the arc crack length 2s. A significant effect
of steady torsion on FCG rate for two levels of torsion, TsZ50
and 100 MPa, is observed. Results show that FCG rate in rotary
bending decreases with the level of steady torsion.
The evolution of the arc crack length (fast and slow) is
shown in Fig. 9 for a specimen (14 mm diameter) under
alternating bending combined with steady torsion (BsZ
200 MPa and TsZ200 MPa). The torsion level clearly shows

4.3. FEM analysis

Fig. 11 shows the SIF values (FI, see Eq. (10)) for eight
semi-elliptical surface cracks (qZ10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70,
808, see Figs. 1 and 2), in a round bar under bending combined
with torsion. The dimensionless SIF curve (FI at points B and
C) for pure bending is between the two curves TB* and TC*
which represent the increase or decrease (due to torsion) of SIF
(FI) at points B and C, respectively, for different values of the
parameter b/r. The dimensionless SIFs are not exactly obtained
at B and C points but close to them, as is discussed before, and
10.0

Mode (I+III)

14
12
10
8

Mode I, D=14, Bs=200 MPa

Mode(I+III),D=14,Ts=50 MPa
Mode(I+III),D=10,Ts=100 MPa

4
2

Half arc crack length [mm]

Mode I

20

the significant effect on the reduction of FCG rate and on the

fatigue crack front profile rotation. Once again, as is also
shown in Fig. 8, the FCG rates decrease with increasing torsion
under Mode (ICIII). Fig. 10 shows the fatigue crack growth
rate against the SIF (KI) in rotary bending and in alternating
bending (plane reversed bending) for Mode I and Mode (ICIII)
loading.

Mode I

Fast growth
Slow growth
Mode I

9.0

16

15

Fig. 8. Fatigue crack growth rate 2s/dN vs. arc crack length 2s in rotary
bending.

20
18

10

arc crack length 2s [mm]

Fig. 6. Fatigue crack growth rates vs. DKNP in Mode (ICIII) for short cracks.

arc crack length 2S [mm]

FIT line Mode I

Mode I
Mode I
Mode (I+III)
Mode (I+III)
FIT line (I+III)

8.0

Mode (I+III)

7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0

50.000

100.000 150.000 200.000 250.000 300.000 350.000

Number of cycles
Fig. 7. Arc crack length 2s vs. number of cycles in rotary bending for long
cracks.

50

100

150

200

250

300

Thousands of cycles
Fig. 9. FCG curves showing the evolution of the arc crack length in alternating
bending combined with torsion.

M. Fonte et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

FB dimensionless Stress Intensity Factor FI due to pure

bending,
FT dimensionless Stress Intensity Factor FI due to pure
torsion,
Ts remote torsion stress,
BS remote bending stress.

10 -6
-9

3.2

ds/dN=5.1x10 (KI )

ds/dN [m/cycle]

10 -7

10

Mode I (rotary)
Mode I (alternate)
FIT Mode I (rotary)
Mode (I+III)(altern)
FIT Mode(I+III)
Mode (I+III)(altern)

-8

10 -9
10

15

20

25

30

KI [MPa m1/2]
Fig. 10. Fatigue crack growth rate vs. KI in rotary and alternating bending.

represent the total KI due to bending and torsion at points B and

C, depending on the direction of the applied torsion loading.
Fig. 12 shows the deformed mesh for the semi-elliptical crack
front No.5 (see Fig. 2(a)) under Mode I (a), Mode III (b) and
under mixed-mode (ICIII) loading (c). The mesh deformation
due to torsion at B and C points of the semi-elliptical surface
crack is shown in Fig. 12(b) and (c).
Taking into account the curves of Fig. 11, obtained for the
eight semi-elliptical surface cracks, it is possible to obtain the
Stress Intensity Factors FI in round bars, at points B* and C*,
under mixed-mode (ICIII), by the following polynomial
equation (employing the least squares method):
FI Z FB GFT Z 0:6230K0:0620x C 0:0069x2 G

Ts
Bs

!0:0211 C 0:0020x C 0:0002x2

(12)

where:
xZ

b
r

1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7

TB * = B * + T *

K / Ko

0.6

B* C*

0.5
0.4

TC * = C * T *

TC*

0.3

T*
B*-C*

0.2
0.1

TB*

0.0
0.1

0.2

0.3

615

0.4

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

b/r
Fig. 11. Geometric factors FI (KI/Ko) at points B and C, for different semielliptical cracks under Mode I and mixed-mode (ICIII).

The torsion origins Mode I and Mode II at points B and C,

and Mode III at point A [13]. Therefore, the torsion loading
does not affect the Mode I Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) at the
deepest point A, but it affects the SIF KI at points B and C,
depending on the direction of torsion. The mixed-mode (ICIII)
SIF can be estimated by the proposed Eq. (12).
The FEM analysis and experimental testing have clearly
showed why the axis of the semi-elliptical crack front profile
rotates during the crack growth, for shafts subjected to fully
reversed or rotary bending under steady torsion.
Fig. 9 shows three curves: one of them represents the halfarc crack length under pure alternating bending (BsZ
200 MPa); the other two curves represent the half-arc crack
lengths for each side of the symmetry axis (fast and slow
fatigue crack growth) at points B and C under alternating
bending (BsZ200 MPa) combined with steady torsion (TsZ
200 MPa). Further, this figure shows the fatigue crack surface
of a specimen (DZ14 mm) subjected to this Mode (ICIII)
loading. In rotary bending, or alternating bending, the semielliptical crack grows symmetrically. Under mixed-mode (IC
III), the crack grows asymmetrically and rotates with an angle
which increases with the steady torsion value. The existence of
different SIF KI at points B and C, obtained from a 3D finite
element analysis [13], explains the fatigue crack growth
behaviour in power shafts.
The evolution and shape of the semi-elliptical surface
cracks in specimens was observed for two different fatigue
loading conditions: pure Mode I and mixed-mode (ICIII). For
rotary bending (pure Mode I), the crack surfaces are flat and the
semi-elliptical crack front profiles are regular and symmetrical.
In mixed-mode (DKICKIII), the crack surfaces showed a
brilliant fracture surface (highly reflective) and a helical shape
with an angle a proportional to the steady torsion.
Results showed that, when Mode III is superimposed to
Mode I, the lifetime between the crack initiation and the final
fracture is longer than that for pure Mode I, and that is a
significant benefit in engineering practice. The 3D finite
element analysis has clearly shown the influence of the steady
torsion on the SIFs at points B and C when it is superimposed to
bending. Results have also shown that the torsion moment
origins Mode I at corner points B and C which can explain why
the fatigue crack growth rate is different at the two sides of the
symmetry axis during the fatigue crack growth.
A significant reduction of the fatigue crack growth rate is
found when the steady torsion is present. It means that the
applied loading is reduced to a smaller effective crack driving
force at the crack tip as a result of a steady Mode III load
application. In addition, the zig-zag crack path observed on the
cylindrical surface of the specimens and also on the crack
surface, due to the torsion effect, is a significant safety factor

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M. Fonte et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

Fig. 12. Deformed mesh for bending (a), torsion (b) and combined bending and torsion (c) in a round bar and for a given semi-elliptical surface crack.

Fig. 13. SEM morphology of the crack surface due to torsion: (a) factory roof with a pronounced rubbed effect near the notch; (b) factory roof closed to the crack tip.

which decreases the FCG rate [1214]. The SEM fatigue crack
growth morphology shows a factory roof (see Fig. 13(b))
which explains the zig-zag crack path and the effect of friction
between the crack surfaces due to the torsion. The deformed
mesh shown in Fig. 12(b) leads to the friction effect in
Fig. 13(a).
It is also observed that the crack initiation period is
significantly delayed by the steady torsion level when it is
superimposed to Mode I loading. This means that values of Kth
especially increase with increasing KII, and agree with the
conclusions by Tschegg [7]. For long cracks, Tschegg et al. [6]
have also suggested that, during compression phase of fatigue,
the loading close to the crack tip is lower than that close to the
notch root, and that means that, in rotary bending, the R-value
continuously changes with increasing the crack depth. Under
rotary bending conditions, this is valid for point A (Fig. 1 and
Fig. 2(a)), but not for points B and C. These points alternatively
experience the same nominal maximum and minimum values
of the stress bending, since the beginning up to the end of
testing.
Steady Mode III (KIII) cannot contribute alone to fatigue
crack growth but, due to the plane stress effect in presence of
cyclic Mode I (DKI), it does induce a significant plastic zone
size at the crack front, mainly at the interception of crack front
with cylindrical surface (points B and C). This fact seems to be
the major contribution to decreasing of crack growth rates and
even more important than friction or fretting debris. Moreover,
the fatigue crack growth follows a micrograph twisted line

which is revealed by the ridges observed on SEM fractographs,

known as factory roof or saw tooth observed by facets of type A
[1], Fig. 13(b).
5. Conclusions
1. The effects of multiaxial fatigue loading on crack path and
fatigue lives have been studied and replicas method allows
a good monitoring of crack initiation lives and short crack
growth rates under multiaxial fatigue loading conditions.
The proposed strain intensity factor range based on the
corrected strain range parameters produces a satisfactory
correlation of the surface crack growth rate data.
2. A superimposed steady Mode III loading to a crack growing in
cyclic Mode I leads to a significant fatigue crack growth
retardation. Crack growth rates decrease with increasing
Mode III for cyclic Mode I (DKI)Cstatic Mode III (KIII)
loading.
3. The DK effective at points B and C of the semi-elliptical
cracks, during fatigue crack growth, depends on the direction
of the steady torque applied, which is shown by different arc
crack lengths observed on each side of the cylindrical surface,
and is also shown through FEM analyses.
4. The FEM analyses have shown that the SIF values at corner
points B and C are different and depend on the direction of the
steady torque. This explains why the fatigue crack front
profile rotates during the fatigue crack propagation when a
steady torsion is applied.

M. Fonte et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 28 (2006) 609617

Acknowledgements
Financial supports from the Fundacao para a Ciencia e
Tecnologia (FCT) is acknowledged.
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