Design of Machine Elements I

ME 3240
Lecture 1
Hctor M. Rodrguez, PhD, PE
(Edited by Dr. A. Cecchini, SP16)
Mechanical Engineering Department
Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico

Ch. 6: Failures from Variable Loading

Introduction to Fatigue Analysis

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Introduction to Fatigue in Metals

Loading produces stresses that are variable, repeated, alternating, or
fluctuating.
Maximum stresses well below yield strength.

Failure occurs after many stress cycles.

No visible warning in advance of failure.

Failure is by sudden ultimate fracture

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Introduction to Fatigue in Metals

Stage I: Initiation of micro-crack due to cyclic plastic deformation (A).
Stage II: Progresses to macro-crack that repeatedly opens and closes, creating
bands called beach marks (B).
Stage III: Crack has propagated far enough that remaining material is insufficient to
carry the load, and fails by simple ultimate failure (C).

Stage I

Stage II

Stage III

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Fatigue failure is due to crack formation and propagation

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Introduction to Fatigue in Metals

Fatigue striations

Cyclic loading
representation

Source: Machine Design: An Integrated Approach (4th), R.L. Norton, Prentice Hall, 2011.

Spacing on striations (marks) corresponds to cyclic loading pattern

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Introduction to Fatigue in Metals

Effect of rotation (shafts)

Source: http://www.asminternational.org/pdf/spotlights/jfap0502p011.pd

Source: Machine Design: An Integrated Approach (4th), R.L. Norton, Prentice Hall, 2011.

Crack propagation opposed to shaft rotation

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Schematics of Fatigue Fracture Surfaces

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Rodrguez 2012

Schematics of Fatigue Fracture Surfaces

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Rodrguez 2012

Schematics of Fatigue Fracture Surfaces

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Rodrguez 2012

Schematics of Fatigue Fracture Surfaces

Source: http://www.asminternational.org/pdf/spotlights/jfap0502p011.pd

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Fatigue Fracture Examples

AISI 4320 drive shaft
B crack initiation at stress concentration in keyway.
C Final brittle failure.

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Crack initiation at stress concentration

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Fatigue Fracture Examples

Fatigue failure initiating at mismatched grease holes
Sharp corners (at arrows) provided stress concentrations.

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Crack initiation at sharp corners (stress concentration)

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Fatigue Fracture Examples

Fatigue failure of piston rod of an alloy steel steam hammer
Loaded axially.
Crack initiated at a forging flake internal to the part.
Internal crack grew outward symmetrically.

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Crack initiation due to material flaw

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Fatigue-Life Methods
Three major fatigue life models:
1. Stress-life Method
Least accurate, particularly for low cycle applications.
Most traditional, easiest to implement.
Mainly used for high-cycle fatigue (HCF) applications (N>103 cycles).
2. Strain-life method
Detailed analysis of plastic deformation at localized regions.
Several idealizations lead to uncertainties in results.
Mainly used for low-cycle fatigue (LCF) applications (N103 cycles).

3. Linear-elastic fracture mechanics method

Assumes crack exists.
Predicts crack growth with respect to stress intensity.
Our focus will be on the Stress-life method
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Stress-Life Method: Fatigue Strength

Specimens subjected to repeated stress while counting failure cycles.
R.R. Moore high-speed rotating-beam machine (most common).

Subjects specimen to pure bending with no transverse shear.

Completely reversed stress cycling (tension-compression fluctuation).
Specimen is carefully machined and polished.

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

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Stress-Life Method: Fatigue Strength

Number of cycles to failure at varying stress levels (log-log scale).
For steels, a knee occurs near 106 cycles.

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Strength corresponding to the knee is called endurance limit Se

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Stress-Life Method: Steel Fatigue Strength

Finite life between 103 - 106 cycles.
Low cycle fatigue < 103 cycles (quasi-static).

Yielding usually occurs before fatigue below 103 cycles.

Stress below Se predicts infinite life.

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Stress-Life Method: Nonferrous Strength

Fatigue strength Sf is reported at a specific number of cycles.
Typical S-N diagram for aluminums.

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Nonferrous metals often do not have an endurance limit

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Stress-Life Method: Design-Specific Testing

Source: Machine Design: An Integrated Approach (4th), R.L. Norton, Prentice Hall, 2011.

Fatigue test can be established for mechanical components

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Strain-Life Method

The best approach yet advanced to explain the nature of fatigue failure.

The approach can be used to estimate fatigue strength.

Several idealizations are made introducing uncertainties in the results.

Fatigue failure almost always begins at a local discontinuity (notch, crack,

or any other area of stress concentration).

When stress at discontinuity exceeds elastic limit, plastic strain occurs.

If a fatigue failure is to occur, there must exist cyclic plastic strain.

Used for LCF applications under high loads/high temperature conditions

(e.g., gas turbines).

Detailed analysis of plastic deformation at localized regions

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Strain-Life Method

Experimental results have shown that the elastic limit of iron and steel
change, either up or down, by cyclic variations of stress.

This effect can be observed by using a cyclic stress-strain plot under

controlled cyclic strain.

Detailed analysis of plastic deformation at localized regions

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Strain-Life Method
True stress-true strain hysteresis loops for five stress reversals:

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Cyclic plastic strain can change elastic limit, leading to fatigue

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Strain-Life Method
The life to failure (in reversals) is related to the strain amplitude as follows:

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

SAE 1020 hot-rolled steel

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Strain-Life Method

To explain the graph we first define the following terms:

Fatigue ductility coefficient, F is the true strain corresponding to fatigue

failure in one reversal.

Fatigue strength coefficient, F is the true stress corresponding to fatigue

failure in one reversal.

Fatigue ductility exponent c is the slope of the plastic-strain line.

Fatigue strength exponent b is the slope of the elastic-strain line.

Both exponents c and b have negative values.

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Strain-Life Method

From the true stress-true strain hysteresis loop:

= +

=
+
2
2
2

The equation of the plastic-strain line is:

log 2 = log + log 2

= 2
2

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Strain-Life Method

The equation of the elastic-strain line is:

log 2 = log + log 2

=
2
2

Therefore the total strain amplitude is:

=
2
2

+ 2

Manson-Coffin relationship between fatigue life and total strain

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Linear-Elastic Fracture Mechanics Method

Stage I: Assumes crack initiation has occurred.
Stage II: Predicts crack growth in with respect to stress intensity.
Stage III: Ultimate fracture occurs when crack is sufficiently long that the

stress intensity factor reaches fracture toughness (KI = Kic).

Fracture when stress intensity reaches fracture toughness

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Linear-Elastic Fracture Mechanics Method

The stress intensity range per cycle is given by:
=

For an initial crack size ai, the crack will propagate as a function of the
number of stress cycles (N) and the stress range.

>

>

Crack will propagate as a function of stress range

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Linear-Elastic Fracture Mechanics Method

When the rate of crack growth per cycle (da/dN) is plotted versus K:

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Stage II data are linear in log-log sale (LEFM)

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Linear-Elastic Fracture Mechanics Method

LEFM method is a simplified procedure for estimating the remaining life
of a cyclically stressed part after discovery of a crack (plane strain).
Assuming a crack is discovered early in Stage II, the crack growth can be

approximated by the Paris equation:

where C and m are empirical material constant and KI = (a)1/2.

1
= =

Nf is the estimated number of cycles to produce a failure after ai is formed

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Stress-Life Method: Fatigue Strength

Number of cycles to failure at varying stress levels (log-log scale)
Endurance limit is estimated as a fraction of tensile strength.

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Strength corresponding to the knee is called endurance limit Se

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Endurance Limit
Se represents the endurance limit for a rotating-beam test specimen

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Significant statistical variation in data

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Endurance Limit
Simplified estimate for steels for the rotating-beam specimen, S'e:

0.5
=
100

200
> 200

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

Quick estimate for preliminary and prototype design

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Fatigue Strength: HCF Range

The goal is to develop methods of approximation of the S-N curve in the
high-cycle region.

In log-log scale, HCF data becomes linear.

The fatigue strength of a test specimen at a specific number of cycles is:

At 103 cycles:

=
= 2
2

= 2 103

Where f is a fraction of Sut given by:

=
2 103

S-N estimate for 103 to 106 cycles

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Fatigue Strength: HCF Range

The SAE approximation for steels (HB 500) relates:
= + 50
= + 345
To find b, we substitute the endurance strength (Se) and the
corresponding cycles (Ne) into the following equation: = 2

= 2

log = log 2

log
=
log 2
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Fatigue Strength: HCF Range

For example if Sut = 105 ksi, then:
= 105 + 50 = 155
Approximating Se = 0.5 Sut = 52.5 ksi at Ne = 106 cycles, we can
estimate b as:

log 155 52.5

=
= 0.0746
log 2 106
= 155 2

0.0746

An finally calculate f as:

155
=
2 103
105

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0.0746

= 0.837

36

Fatigue Strength: HCF Range

This process of finding f can be repeated for various ultimate strengths:
Sf/Sut fraction at 103 cycles

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

S-N estimate for 103 to 106 cycles

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Fatigue Strength: HCF Range

For an actual mechanical component the fatigue strength is given by:
=

Where N is cycles to failure and constants a and b are defined by points

(103, Sf = f Sut) and (106,Se)

= log
3

If a completely reversed stress rev is given, the number of cycles to

failure can be expressed as:

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1/

38

Fatigue Strength

Sf= f Sut

Sf=0.5Sut

Source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design (9th)

S-N line from limited information

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