ENMT617034 : FRACTURE MECHANICS AND FAILURE ANALYSIS

Fatigue Fracture

Prof. Dr. Ir. Anne Zulfia, M.Sc.

Departemen Metalurgi & Material

Fakultas Teknik Universitas Indonesia

Fatigue Failure
It has been recognized that a metal subjected to a
repetitive or fluctuating stress will fail at a stress
much lower than that required to cause failure on a
single application of load. Failures occurring under
conditions of dynamic loading are called fatigue
failures.
Fatigue failure is characterized by three stages

Crack Initiation

Crack Propagation

Final Fracture
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Fatigue: general characteristics

Primary design criterion in rotating parts.
Fatigue as a name for the phenomenon based on
the notion of a material becoming tired, i.e.
failing at less than its nominal strength.
Cyclical strain (stress) leads to fatigue failure.
Occurs in metals and polymers but rarely in
ceramics.
Also an issue for static parts, e.g. bridges.
Cyclic loading stress limit<static stress capability.
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Fatigue: general characteristics

Most applications of structural materials involve cyclic
loading; any net tensile stress leads to fatigue.
Fatigue failure surfaces have three characteristic
features:
A (near-)surface defect as the origin of the crack
Striations corresponding to slow, intermittent crack growth
Dull, fibrous brittle fracture surface (rapid growth).

Life of structural components generally limited by cyclic

loading, not static strength.
Most environmental factors shorten life.
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Fatigue; Catastrophic and Insidious

Failure that occurs due to a dynamic and fluctuating stress.
Constitutes 90% of all metal failures.
Polymers and some ceramics can fatigue.
Brittle-like in nature even in normally ductile materials.
Crack propagates normal to the applied load.

Fatigue Failure
It has been recognized that a metal subjected to a
repetitive or fluctuating stress will fail at a stress
much lower than that required to cause failure on a
single application of load. Failures occurring under
conditions of dynamic loading are called fatigue
failures.
Fatigue failure is characterized by three stages

Crack Initiation

Crack Propagation

Final Fracture

Jack hammer
component, shows no
yielding before fracture.

Crack initiation site

Fracture zone
Propagation zone, striation

1.0-in. diameter steel pins from

agricultural equipment.
Material; AISI/SAE
4140 low allow carbon
steel

Fracture surface of a failed bolt.

The fracture surface exhibited
beach marks, which is
characteristic of a fatigue failure.

Fracture Surface Characteristics

Mode of fracture

Ductile

Brittle Intergranular

Typical surface characteristics

Cup and Cone
Dimples
Dull Surface
Inclusion at the bottom of the dimple
Shiny
Grain Boundary cracking

Brittle Transgranular

Shiny
Cleavage fractures
Flat

Fatigue

Beachmarks
Striations (SEM)
Initiation sites
Propagation zone
Final fracture zone

Fatigue Failure Type of Fluctuating Stresses

a = max
max = - min

Alternating stress

min = 0
a = m = max / 2

max min
a =
2

Mean stress
max + min
m
2
=
10

Fatigue Failure, S-N Curve

Test specimen geometry for R.R.
Moore rotating beam machine. The
surface is polished in the axial
direction. A constant bending load is
applied.
Typical testing apparatus, pure bending
Motor

Load

Rotating beam machine applies fully reverse

bending stress

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S-N Curves
S-N [stress-number of cycles to failure] curve defines locus
of cycles-to-failure for given cyclic stress.
Rotating-beam fatigue test is standard; also alternating
tension-compression.
Plot stress versus the
[Hertzberg]
log(number of cycles
to failure), log(Nf).
For frequencies < 200Hz,
metals are insensitive to
frequency; fatigue life in
polymers is frequency
dependent.
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Fatigue testing, S-N curve

a

mean 3 > mean 2 > mean 1

mean 1
mean 2
mean 3

The greater the number of

cycles in the loading history,
the smaller the stress that
the material can withstand
without failure.

log Nf

Note the presence of a

fatigue limit in many
steels and its absence
in aluminum alloys.
[Dieter]

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Endurance Limits
Some materials exhibit endurance limits, i.e. a stress
below which the life is infinite:
Steels typically show an endurance limit, = 40% of yield; this is
typically associated with the presence of a solute (carbon,
nitrogen) that pines dislocations and prevents dislocation
motion at small displacements or strains (which is apparent in
an upper yield point).
Aluminum alloys do not show endurance limits; this is related to
the absence of dislocation-pinning solutes.

At large Nf, the lifetime is dominated by

nucleation.
Therefore strengthening the surface (shot peening) is
beneficial to delay crack nucleation and extend life.
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Fatigue Failure, S-N Curve

N < 103

N > 103

Finite
life

Infinite
life

S
e

Se = endurance limit of the

specimen
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Relationship Between Endurance Limit and

Ultimate Strength
Steel

Steel
Se =

0.5Sut

Sut 200 ksi (1400 MPa)

100 ksi

Sut > 200 ksi

700 MPa Sut > 1400 MPa

Cast iron

Se =

0.4Sut

Sut < 60 ksi (400 MPa)

24 ksi

Sut 60 ksi

160 MPa

Sut < 400 MPa

Cast iron

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Relationship Between Endurance Limit and

Ultimate Strength
Aluminum

Aluminum alloys

Se =

0.4Sut

Sut < 48 ksi (330 MPa)

Sut 48 ksi
19 ksi
130 MPa Sut 330 MPa
For N = 5x108 cycle

Copper alloys

Copper alloys
Se =

0.4Sut

Sut < 40 ksi (280 MPa)

Sut 40 ksi
14 ksi
100 MPa Sut 280 MPa
For N = 5x108 cycle
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Correction Factors for Specimens Endurance Limit

For materials exhibiting a knee in the S-N curve at 106 cycles

Se
= endurance limit of
the specimen
(infinite life > 106)

Se = endurance limit of the actual

component (infinite life > 106)
S

Se

103

106

For materials that do not exhibit a knee in the S-N curve, the
infinite life taken at 5x108 cycles
Sf = fatigue strength of the specimen (infinite life > 5x108)
Sf

= fatigue strength of the actual component (infinite life > 5x108)

S
103

Sf
5x108 N

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Fatigue Crack Propagation

Crack Nucleation stress intensification at
crack tip.
Stress intensity crack propagation (growth);
- stage I growth on shear planes (45),
strong influence of microstructure
- stage II growth normal to tensile load (90)
weak influence of microstructure
Crack propagation catastrophic, or ductile
failure at crack length dependent on boundary
conditions, fracture toughness.
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Fatigue Crack Nucleation

Flaws, cracks, voids can all act as crack
nucleation sites, especially at the surface.
Therefore, smooth surfaces increase the time
to nucleation; notches, stress risers decrease
fatigue life.
Dislocation activity (slip) can also nucleate
fatigue cracks.

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Alternating Stress Diagrams

[Dieter]

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Definitions: Stress Ratios

Alternating Stress a
Mean stress m = (max +min)/2.
Pure sine wave Mean stress=0.
Stress ratio R = max/min.
For m = 0, R=-1
Amplitude ratio A = (1-R)/(1+R).
Statistical approach shows significant
distribution in Nf for given stress.
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Mean Stress
Alternating stress a = (max-min)/2.
Raising the mean stress (m) decreases Nf.
Various relations between R = 0 limit and the
ultimate (or yield) stress are known as Soderberg
(linear to yield stress), Goodman (linear to ultimate)
and Gerber (parabolic to ultimate).
a

endurance limit at zero mean stress

m ean

a fat1

tensile strength
mean

tensile strength

Fatigue Crack Propagation

Crack Length := a.
Number of cycles := N
Crack Growth Rate := da/dN
Amplitude of Stress Intensity := K = c.
Define three stages of crack growth, I, II and III,
in a plot of da/dN versus K.
Stage II crack growth: application of linear elastic fracture mechanics.
Can consider the crack growth rate to be related to the applied stress
intensity.
Crack growth rate somewhat insensitive to R (if R<0) in Stage II [
Environmental effects can be dramatic, e.g. H in Fe, in increasing crack
growth rates.

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Fatigue Crack Propagation

Three stages of crack
growth, I, II and III.
Stage I: transition to a
finite crack growth rate
from no propagation
below a threshold value
of K.
Stage II: power law
dependence of crack
growth rate on K.
Stage III: acceleration of
growth rate with K,
approaching catastrophic
fracture.

da/dN
I
II

Kc
III

Kth

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*Paris Law
Paris Law:

dc
m
A(K)
dN

m ~ 3 (steel); m ~ 4 (aluminum).
Threshold ~ Stage I
The threshold represents an endurance limit.
For ceramics, threshold is close to KIC.
Crack growth rate increases with R (for R>0).

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*Striations- mechanism
Striations occur by development of slip bands in each
cycle, followed by tip blunting, followed by closure.
Can integrate the growth rate to obtain cycles as
related to cyclic stress-strain behavior. [Eqs. 12.6-12.8]

cf

dc
N II
c0 dc/ dN

cf

dc
N II
m
m
A

c0

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*Striations, contd.
Provided that m>2 and is constant, can integrate.

A1 m 1m / 2 1m / 2
NII
c0
cf
(m / 2) 1

If the initial crack length is much less than the final length, c0<cf,
then approximate thus:
Can use this to predict fatigue life based on known crack

A1 m 1m / 2
NII
c0
(m / 2) 1

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Damage Tolerant Design

Calculate expected growth rates from dc/dN data.
Perform NDE on all flight-critical components.
If crack is found, calculate the expected life of the
component.
Replace, rebuild if too close to life limit.
Endurance limits.

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Geometrical effects
Notches decrease fatigue life through stress
concentration.
Increasing specimen size lowers fatigue life.
Surface roughness lowers life, again through stress
concentration.
Moderate compressive stress at the surface increases
life (shot peening); it is harder to nucleate a crack when
the local stress state opposes crack opening.
Corrosive environment lowers life; corrosion either
increases the rate at which material is removed from
the crack tip and/or it produces material on the crack
surfaces that forces the crack open (e.g. oxidation).
Failure mechanisms
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Microstructure-Fatigue Relationships
What are the important issues in microstructure-fatigue
relationships?
Answer: three major factors.
1: geometry of the specimen (previous slide); anything on the
surface that is a site of stress concentration will promote crack
formation (shorten the time required for nucleation of cracks).
2: defects in the material; anything inside the material that can
reduce the stress and/or strain required to nucleate a crack
(shorten the time required for nucleation of cracks).
3: dislocation slip characteristics; if dislocation glide is confined to
particular slip planes (called planar slip) then dislocations can
pile up at any grain boundary or phase boundary. The head of
the pile-up is a stress concentration which can initiate a crack.

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Defects in Materials

Descriptions of defects in materials at the sophomore level focuses,

appropriately on intrinsic defects (vacancies, dislocations). For the materials
engineer, however, defects include extrinsic defects such as voids, inclusions,
grain boundary films, and other types of undesirable second phases.
Voids are introduced either by gas evolution in solidification or by incomplete
sintering in powder consolidation.
Inclusions are second phases entrained in a material during solidification. In
metals, inclusions are generally oxides from the surface of the metal melt, or a
slag.
Grain boundary films are common in ceramics as glassy films from impurities.
In aluminum alloys, there is a hierachy of names for second phase particles;
inclusions are unwanted oxides (e.g. Al2O3); dispersoids are intermetallic
particles that, once precipitated, are thermodynamically stable (e.g. AlFeSi
compounds); precipitates are intermetallic particles that can be dissolved or
precipiated depending on temperature (e.g. AlCu compounds).

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Metallurgical Control: fine particles

Tendency to localization of flow is deleterious to the initiation
of fatigue cracks, e.g. Al-7050 with non-shearable vs.
shearable precipitates (Stage I in a da/dN plot). Also Al-Cu-Mg
with shearable precipitates but non-shearable dispersoids, vs.
only shearable ppts.

graph courtesy of J.
Staley, Alcoa
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Coarse particle effect on fatigue

Inclusions nucleate cracks cleanliness (w.r.t.
coarse particles) improves fatigue life, e.g.
7475 improved by lower Fe+Si compared to
7075:
0.12Fe in 7475, compared to 0.5Fe in 7075;
0.1Si in 7475, compared to 0.4Si in 7075.

graph courtesy of J.
Staley, Alcoa
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Alloy steel heat treatment

Increasing hardness tends to raise the endurance limit for
high cycle fatigue. This is largely a function of the
resistance to fatigue crack formation (Stage I in a plot of
da/dN).
Mobile solutes that pin
dislocations fatigue
limit, e.g. carbon in steel

[Dieter]

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Casting porosity affects fatigue

Gravity cast
versus
squeeze cast
versus
wrought
Al-7010

[Polmear]

Casting tends to result in porosity. Pores are effective sites for nucleation of
fatigue cracks. Castings thus tend to have lower fatigue resistance (as
measured by S-N curves) than wrought materials.
Casting technologies, such as squeeze casting, that reduce porosity tend to
eliminate this difference.
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*Fatigue in Polymers
Many differences from metals
Cyclic stress-strain behavior often exhibits softening;
also affected by visco-elastic effects; crazing in the
tensile portion produces asymmetries,
S-N curves exhibit three regions, with steeply
decreasing region II,
Nearness to Tg results in strong temperature
sensitivity.

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Fatigue: summary
Critical to practical use of structural materials.
Fatigue affects most structural components, even
apparently statically loaded ones.
Well characterized empirically.
Connection between dislocation behavior and fatigue
life offers exciting research opportunities, i.e.
physically based models are lacking!

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