International Journal of Fatigue xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

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International Journal of Fatigue

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijfatigue

A tribute to Claude Bathias – Highlights of his pioneering work

in Gigacycle Fatigue
Haël Mughrabi a,⇑, Stephen D. Antolovich b,c
a
University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
b
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-2920, USA
c
Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2920, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Current fundamental academic research in the field of Gigacycle Fatigue, now frequently referred to as
Received 13 February 2016 Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF), is strongly related to the pioneering work of Professor Claude Bathias
Received in revised form 13 April 2016 during the last two decades. Claude Bathias passed away in April 2015. In the present paper, dedicated
Accepted 17 April 2016
to his memory, his most important contributions in conducting and initiating fatigue studies in the area
Available online xxxx
of Gigacycle Fatigue are highlighted. In light of what is known today about the details of fatigue beha-
viour in the range of up to 1010 cycles and more, the pivotal role of Claude Bathias cannot be overesti-
Keywords:
mated. He was among the first to demonstrate, in painstaking ultrasonic fatigue studies, that a fatigue
Gigacycle fatigue
Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF)
limit in the traditional sense does not exist in the Gigacycle regime. In his subsequent work on different
Fatigue limit materials, he substantiated his earlier findings experimentally and, in close collaboration with Paul Paris,
Fish-eye quantitatively described the mechanisms of subsurface and surface VHCF failures, originating from inclu-
Crack initiation sions. Together they showed that, in the VHCF range, most of the fatigue life is spent in crack initiation
Crack propagation and not in propagation. Claude Bathias’ work stimulated worldwide research and was instrumental in the
Ultrasonic fatigue testing emergence and development of the current new field of Very High Cycle Fatigue.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction of what he called ‘‘Gigacycle Fatigue” which is now mainly referred

to as Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF).1 Typically, in VHCF, failures
The present contribution is dedicated to the memory of Profes- occur after about 108 cycles or more. In the following, the leading
sor Claude Bathias who passed away on April 8, 2015. Over the past role of Claude Bathias as an outstanding personality and researcher
almost 50 years, Claude Bathias made many notable contributions and his pioneering contributions in the field of VHCF will be
in the field of metal fatigue. After retirement from his position as highlighted.
Professor ‘‘Classe Exceptionnelle” at the Conservatoire National
des Arts et Métiers in Paris, he continued working full-time as a
2. The role of Claude Bathias in initiating focused academic
Professor Emeritus at the Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La
research in Very High Cycle Fatigue
Défense. During his active time, he has supervised more than 60
doctoral theses. The work of Claude Bathias and his collaborators
Since the early fundamental pioneering work on metal fatigue
is documented in more than 200 papers and in books which he
by Wöhler [4] and Bauschinger [5] in the late 19th century, there
authored or co-authored [1,2]. While most work of Claude Bathias
was agreement that, at least in the case of steels, a fatigue or
concerned fatigue of metals, his scope was much wider, as exem-
endurance limit exists in the sense that repeated loading of a
plified by the chapters ‘‘Fatigue of composites” and ‘‘Fatigue of
metallic component will not ultimately lead to failure, provided
polymers and elastomers” which he wrote in a book that he co-
that the loading amplitude remains below a critical value. Based
edited with André Pineau [3].
thereupon, the fatigue limit, typically defined in the HCF (high
In the last 20 years, in particular, Claude Bathias played a key
cycle fatigue) range for about Nf
107 cycles to failure, was widely
role in initiating and promoting research in the relatively new field
used as a criterion for the design of components that were

⇑ Corresponding author. 1
Here, the term VHCF will be used subsequently, although one of the authors
E-mail addresses: hael.mughrabi@fau.de (H. Mughrabi), stevea@gatech.edu (H.M.) had used the term ‘‘Ultrahigh Cycle Fatigue: UHCF” for reasons of consistency
(S.D. Antolovich). in all of his earlier publications in the field of VHCF.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.04.020
0142-1123/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Mughrabi H, Antolovich SD. A tribute to Claude Bathias – Highlights of his pioneering work in Gigacycle Fatigue. Int J
Fatigue (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.04.020
2 H. Mughrabi, S.D. Antolovich / International Journal of Fatigue xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
subjected to alternating loads. On the other hand, in vibrating or
rotating machine components, e.g. in pumps, combustion engine
cylinders or also in roller bearings and axles of high-speed trains,
failures can also occur after much larger numbers of cycles in the
range of 108–109 or higher. In such cases, failures had sometimes
been encountered after repeated loadings below the nominal fati-
gue limit [6,7]. However, these findings did not find much aca-
demic interest until the end of the last century.
It was Claude Bathias, with Stefanie Stanzl-Tschegg as Co-chair,
who organized in 1998 the International Conference ‘‘Euromech
382: Fatigue Life in Gigacycle Regime”, that was held in Paris, com-
pare Fig. 1. This was the first conference which was dedicated to
the topic of VHCF. As shown schematically in the emblem of this
conference, recalled in Fig. 2, the central question to be addressed
was whether and in what range a fatigue limit exists [8]. Although
it was a rather small conference with only about 80 participants,
this conference had a large impact. In retrospect, this conference
must be considered as the starting point of focused academic
research in metal fatigue failures after very high numbers of cycles
to failure in the range of Nf
108 cycles or more. This conference
initiated the subsequently established series of the still on-going
international VHCF-conferences, and Claude Bathias’ 1998 confer-
ence was subsequently renamed as the first conference in the ser-
ies (VHCF-1).
Typically, fatigue studies in the VHCF regime are performed at
ultrasonic frequencies which allow fatigue tests up to very large
numbers of cycles in a reasonable time. For example, 109 cycles
can be obtained within about 14 h at an ultrasonic test frequency
of 20 kHz, compared to almost 30,000 h at a conventional fre-
quency of 10 Hz. After the pioneering work of Mason [9], ultrasonic
fatigue testing had been applied increasingly since the 1970s, for
example in Japan by Awatani and co-workers [10–12] and in Aus-
tria by the research groups of Weiss [13–15] and, in particular,
Stanzl-Tschegg [16–18]. In some of these earlier ultrasonic fatigue
studies, fatigue life S–N data (plots of stress amplitude versus Nf)
had been obtained. At that time, the question whether a fatigue
limit exists in the VHCF regime was not the key issue. In fact, in
most cases the S–N data obtained did not go beyond about 108
cycles to failure and thus did not go deep enough into the VHCF
Fig. 1. Announcement of the Euromech 382 Conference: Fatigue Life in Gigacycle
Regime (later called VHCF-1).
Fig. 2. Emblem of the Euromech 382 Conference: Fatigue Life in Gigacycle Regime
(later called VHCF-1). S: Stress, Nr: Number of cycles to failure, subscript r: rupture,
i.e. fracture.
Please cite this article in press as: Mughrabi H, Antolovich SD. A tribute to Claude Bathias – Highlights of his pioneering work in Gigacycle Fatigue. Int J
Fatigue (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.04.020
regime. Originally, the main goals of ultrasonic fatigue tests had
been to perform time-saving fatigue studies, to study the effects
of high frequencies on the fatigue process, and to check, whether
fatigue life data at ultrasonic frequencies were comparable to data
at conventional frequencies [see, e.g. 11,12,15]. When Claude Bath-
ias started his work in ultrasonic fatigue testing, his primary inter-
est was to investigate whether a fatigue limit exists in the VHCF
range of about 1010 cycles to failure [19]. This research, supported
by notable contributions, mainly by Japanese researchers, e.g. [20–
22], cast doubt on the existence of a fatigue limit in the VHCF
range. It is to Claude Bathias’ credit to have initiated this still on-
going development.
3. The impact of Claude Bathias’ contributions to the conference
VHCF-1
At the VHCF-1 conference, the validity of the concept of a fati-
gue limit was discussed critically for the first time, as reflected in
the subsequently published papers, see [8]. Several examples of
premature unanticipated failures, in particular in high-strength
steels, that occurred after very high numbers of cycles at loading
amplitudes below the ‘‘traditional” fatigue limit were presented.
At that time, the mechanisms responsible for these failures were
disputed. However, it was clear that, in the case of high-strength
materials, in particular HSLA-steels, surface failures occurred in
the HCF regime and that there was a transition to subsurface so-
called ‘‘fish-eye” fractures originating from non-metallic inclusions
or other heterogeneities in the VHCF range [20–22]. Fig. 3, from the
original work of Bathias, [19], shows the appearance of a fish-eye
fracture surface in a high-strength chromium-molybdenum steel
at low (Fig. 3a) and at higher magnification (Fig. 3b). The work of
Claude Bathias and his co-workers at the conference and later
focused mainly on the following issues:
(1) the experimental demonstration that the concept of a fati-
gue limit in the traditional sense does not apply in the VHCF
regime [19,23], and
(2) the clarification of the mechanisms of fatigue crack initiation
and propagation and the governing metallurgical factors in
cases of fish-eye failure in VHCF [24–26], and
(3) the assessment of the relative portions of fatigue life spent in
the initiation and propagation of cracks originating from
fish-eyes [26–30], and
(4) the advocation of the use of ultrasonic fatigue testing tech-
niques in different types of VHCF studies [31–35].
3.1. ‘‘There is no infinite fatigue life in metallic materials” (Claude
Bathias [19])
At VHCF-1, Claude Bathias presented a lecture with the title
mentioned above. Based on ultrasonic fatigue tests on aluminium
matrix composites, a high-strength steel, differently aged titanium
alloys and a nickel-base superalloy, Bathias concluded that ‘‘the
concept of an infinite fatigue life on an asymptotic S–N curve is
not correct”. At the same time, he cautioned, pointing out that, in
ultrasonic fatigue, ‘‘effects of frequency and heat dissipation could
be suspected” but assumed that, in his work, these effects were
probably small. As an example, the S–N plot of the superalloy UDI-
MET 500, extending up to almost 1010 cycles, is shown in Fig. 4.
Claude Bathias’ provocative statement ‘‘There is no infinite fatigue
life in metallic materials” was supported by other contributions at
the conference, for example [20–22], and enkindled the central
controversy on whether the ‘‘traditional” HCF fatigue limit is no
longer valid, when considering fatigue failures in the VHCF regime.
 H. Mughrabi, S.D. Antolovich / International Journal of Fatigue xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 3

Fig. 3. Fish-eye failure in a high-strength chromium-molybdenum steel. (a) low magnification micrograph showing fracture surface originating from fish-eye. (b) fish-eye
region observed at higher magnification. Adapted from Bathias [19]. Note that the inclusion is surrounded by an initiation region, a region where a short crack grows and
finally a region in which the crack growth is governed by the usual Paris law of crack propagation. For details, see Section 5. With permission of John Wiley & Sons.

800
700 20 kHz In later more detailed fracture mechanics analyses of crack
MAXIMUM STRESS (MPa)

20 Hz growth from defects/inclusions, in close collaboration with Paul

600
500
400
300
200
100
104 105 106 107 108
CYCLES TO FAILURE
Fig. 4. S–N plot of the superalloy Udimet 500, at two different frequencies and up to
1010 cycles. From Bathias [19]. With permission of John Wiley & Sons.
3.2. The importance of fatigue crack initiation in VHCF
Also at VHCF-1, in a paper by Wang et al. [26], Claude Bathias
and his research group were the first to discuss critically the rela-
tive importance of fatigue crack initiation and propagation for fati-
gue failures observed on two high-strength spring steels at
numbers of cycles to failure in excess of 107. These authors based
their considerations on the concept that ‘‘at high stress levels, fati-
gue life is determined primarily by crack growth, while at low
stress levels, most of life is consumed by the process of crack initi-
ation”. To substantiate their expectation, the authors proceeded in
a somewhat unusual way. Quite generally, the total fatigue life Nf
can be divided formally into the crack initiation life Ni and the
crack growth life Np:
Nf ¼ Ni þ Np
Now, it is well known that the onset of crack initiation is very dif-
ficult to define and to determine and depends moreover on the res-
olution of observation. On the other hand, the propagation of a
crack till failure can be characterized more precisely in terms of
fracture mechanics. Hence, with a plausible assumption about the
initial crack size at an internal inclusion, and making use of Mura-
kami’s expression for the stress intensity factor range DK in terms
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
of his area concept [36], the authors could make an analysis of
the fraction of fatigue life spent during crack growth and thus deter-
mined Np. They concluded that the major fraction of fatigue life,
namely about 99%, was spent during crack initiation, implying that
the fatigue life was essentially determined by crack initiation in the
VHCF regime. Subsequent work by others, as summarized by Mugh-
rabi at the conference VHCF-5 [37], substantiated this finding that,
in VHCF, fatigue crack initiation generally governs fatigue life.
Paris, Claude Bathias and co-workers confirmed the important
result that crack growth from either an internal inclusion or a sur-
face inclusion occupies only a very small fraction of fatigue life
[27–30]. A summary of this interesting fracture mechanics
approach is presented in Section 5. The fruitful collaboration
between Claude Bathias and Paul Paris is also reflected in their
joint publication of the book ‘‘Gigacycle Fatigue in Mechanical
109 1010
Practice” which was probably the first monograph on the topic
VHCF [1].
4. Claude Bathias’ view of fatigue crack initiation in LCF, HCF
and VHCF
Shortly after VHCF-1, Claude Bathias advanced a rather simple
qualitative explanation why surface failures are dominant in the
HCF range, whereas in the transition from the HCF to the VHCF
regimes a change occurs to dominant subsurface fish-eye failures
[38], thus dividing the S-N data into different parts. Bathias com-
pared the situation for fatigue crack initiation in the LCF, HCF
and VHCF ranges, as shown schematically in Fig. 5. At high loading
amplitudes (LCF), there will usually be many crack initiation sites
at the surface, originating from dislocation slip. At lower loading
amplitudes (HCF), there will be similar crack initiation sites at
the surface but fewer in number than under LCF conditions. At still
lower loading amplitudes (VHCF), there will be almost no crack ini-
tiation sites at the surface, and almost no crack growth from the
surface into the interior. However, if cracks have been formed at
ð1Þ inclusions in the interior, these cracks can grow. Although such
cracks will grow outward very slowly, they can become life-
determining, provided that there are no faster growing surface
Fig. 5. Claude Bathias’ view how and where cracks initiate preferentially in LCF,
HCF and VHCF. Adapted from Bathias et al. [38].

Please cite this article in press as: Mughrabi H, Antolovich SD. A tribute to Claude Bathias – Highlights of his pioneering work in Gigacycle Fatigue. Int J
Fatigue (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.04.020
4 H. Mughrabi, S.D. Antolovich / International Journal of Fatigue xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
Fig. 6. Schematic summary view of fatigue life diagram of materials which fail by
fish-eye fracture at inclusions, with LCF, HCF and VHCF ranges (UHCF  VHCF) and
with subdivisions between HCF and VHCF and between surface and internal
cracking. After [39]. Note that, in this schematic representation, the loading
amplitude can be either the stress amplitude Dr/2 or the plastic strain amplitude
Depl/2.
cracks. Of course, such cracks, originating from interior inclusions,
can also form in the LCF and HCF ranges. However, they will not be
life-determining, as long as there are cracks that grow faster from
the surface into the interior.
This simple view provides a very satisfactory picture of crack
initiation and growth and makes it plausible that, at fatigue lives
of the order of 107, there is a transition from predominantly surface
to mainly subsurface failures. The modes of failure in the three
regimes can be considered as the basis for an understanding of
the shape of the fatigue life curve. Based on earlier studies
[20,21,39], a schematic fatigue life plot can be obtained, as shown
in Fig. 6, with the three ranges LCF, HCF and UHCF, i.e. VHCF, and
the indication of a fourth range IV which leaves open the possibil-
ity of an ultimate fatigue limit in the VHCF range.
5. Crack initiation and propagation in the Gigacycle Fatigue
régime
5.1. Microstructural effects
Different mechanisms of failure have been observed in the
Gigacyle régime. This can be understood in both mechanistic and
geometric terms. The trade-off between surface-related mecha-
nisms and sub-surface mechanisms has been discussed previously,
see also Section 4, in terms of the ‘‘fast” mechanisms disappearing
at low stresses shifting the damage mechanism to those processes
which would not be seen at higher stresses and/or strains giving
rise, in many cases to sub-surface initiation. Extensive mechanistic
work has been carried out in various steels as discussed in a recent
paper [30]. For softer ferritic materials, such as Armco Iron
(350 MPa), the inhomogeneous deformation at the surface gives
rise to accumulated cyclic deformation in the form of PSBs and ulti-
mate failure [39,40]. In this case, there is no mechanistic difference
between the Gigacyle and mega cycle régimes and initiation can be
predicted on the basis of cyclic irreversibility. However, for very
high strength steels, the situation is quite different. A so-called
‘‘fish-eye” region is frequently found in the interior and then a
region with a different appearance and faster crack growth rate.
An example of a fish-eye with crack initiation and propagation
regions has been shown in Fig. 3b. In Fig. 7, a schematic of the
‘‘fish-eye” region showing the regions in which crack growth dom-
inates is shown.
Since the applied stresses are low in Gigacycle fatigue, a stress
concentrator is needed to initiate a crack. Based on volume argu-
ments, the probability of finding a critical stress raiser is more
likely to be found in the bulk of the material than at the surface,
as long as the density of inclusions does not exceed a critical value.
Please cite this article in press as: Mughrabi H, Antolovich SD. A tribute to Claude Bathias – Highlights of his pioneering work in Gigacycle Fatigue. Int J
Fatigue (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.04.020
Fig. 7. Schematic of the ‘‘fish-eye” region showing the regions in which crack
growth dominates. Adapted from [30].
Two approaches to understanding the competition between sur-
face and sub-surface cracking from a quantitative perspective have
been suggested, compare [39,41]. These approaches quantify the
intuitive notions that the probability for surface initiation is low
and decreases with increasing specimen size and/or with decreas-
ing inclusion size, the so-called ‘‘volume effect”. Of course, details
of the microstructure play an important role as well. For example,
Fig. 8 illustrates initiation in a high strength steel with an inclusion
located at a triple point. The efficacy of this region is related to the
elastic (and plastic) inhomogeneities associated with the triple
point and the further increase in strain concentration resulting
from the inclusion (see, e.g. [42] for a more detailed discussion of
these effects).
5.2. Crack initiation and crack growth in the Gigacycle Fatigue Régime
The limitations of the Wöhler approach (which does not differ-
entiate between initiation and propagation) became very obvious
in the aerospace industry where, for example, numerous pre-
existing cracks are present at rivets. With the introduction of LEFM
by Paul C. Paris and his colleagues to fatigue problems [43], a major
breakthrough in computing the life of pre-cracked structural com-
ponents was brought about. However, there remains the question
of propagation vs. initiation in applications in which there is no
pre-existing crack. In such cases, defects such as inclusions may
be present and, depending on their composition, size, distribution,
ductility, and interfacial strength, they may crack at any point in
the fatigue cycle. For purposes of lifing approaches as well as for
material development, it is important to know whether the life is
determined by crack initiation, crack propagation or some signifi-
cant fraction of each. To obtain a convincing solution to this crucial
question, Claude Bathias sought the collaboration with Paul Paris.
Together, in a very fruitful collaboration, they succeeded to solve
the problem by a fracture mechanics approach. To start, it is conve-
nient to consider various stages of cracking:
 Initiation of a small crack of size aint and early growth to ao
where ao is the crack size at which well-defined small crack
growth laws can be applied.
 Growth of this small crack ao to ai, ai being the crack length
beyond which long crack growth laws apply.
 Crack growth from ai to af, using well-established long crack
growth rate equations. The final crack size, af, is determined
by the fracture toughness and load/crack geometry using tradi-
tional fracture mechanics
Growth of small cracks to a large crack has been considered in
detail elsewhere [1,27] for different cases. The crack growth por-
 H. Mughrabi, S.D. Antolovich / International Journal of Fatigue xxx (2016) xxx–xxx 5

Fig. 8. Crack initiation in the Gigacycle régime at the prior austenite grain boundaries of a steel. EBSD image shows the different orientations [30].

tion of the life was calculated using laws for small cracks and long
cracks in terms of the nominal value of DK. The computational
scheme is illustrated in Fig. 9.
The crack growth rate equations shown in the figure were
developed in various reports [27,44–46]. They are:
 a2
da a
¼b ðvery short crack growth from aint to ao Þ ð2Þ
dN ao

 
da DK eff 3
¼ b pffiffiffi ðtraditional short crackÞ ð3Þ
dN E b

da
¼ CðDK eff Þ3 ðclassical long crack Paris equationÞ
dN
In Eq. (2), a is a very large number consistent with the very high
slope in the near-threshold régime. Integration of Eq. (2), given
the small range of applicable crack growth, gives a very small num-
ber and is usually ignored.
In these equations, b is the magnitude of the Burgers vector, E is
Young’s modulus, DKo is the threshold for fatigue crack propaga-
tion, DKeff is the effective stress intensity parameter which takes
into account crack closure (closure is ignored in this case) and C
is a material constant. The term x in Fig. 9 is experimentally deter-
mined to be about 3.
For typical stresses, inclusion sizes and geometries, integration
of Eqs. (4) and 5, over the appropriate crack intervals, shows that
only about 106 cycles are spent in all propagation (short plus long
cracks). Given that Gigacycle fatigue lives are typically on the order
of 109 cycles, only 0.1% of the life is spent in crack propagation. It is
of interest to note that Marines-Garcia et al. applied similar consid-
erations to the initiation of cracks at surface inclusions and showed
that initiation is also life-controlling in this case [27]. Thus, the
Gigacycle fatigue problem may be unambiguously considered to be
related to crack initiation and perhaps a very small amount of early
crack growth. This result is one of the most significant conclusions
in the Gigacycle fatigue field. This result was obtained by collabo-
ration among investigators from diverse disciplines, having differ-
ent strengths, and coming from three different countries and is a
ð4Þ
Fig. 9. Schematic calculation of the life of a part in the Gigacycle régime. The
initiation (and some small amount of initial crack growth) take place from aint to ao
after which traditional short and long crack growth laws are applied to determine
the total number of cycles spent in propagation. The nature of crack propagation in
each segment of the crack growth rate curve is indicated. (Diagram adapted from
Ref. [30]).
perfect example of Claude Bathias’ inclusive, multi-disciplinary,
international approach.
This critical finding provides a strong motivation to develop a
clear understanding of crack initiation processes in the Gigacycle
régime. Such an understanding should provide a basis for more
accurate lifing methodologies and lead to improved materials for
life extension. An important implicit result is that, that, contrary
to many solid mechanics approaches in which ‘‘damage” is consid-
ered to be the existence of a crack, it is more usefully viewed as a
continuous process in which the extension of an observable crack
is but one point on this continuum. Indeed, as discussed in this
paper, those damage processes that lead to the formation of a crack
may in fact be of primary importance in determining the life.

Please cite this article in press as: Mughrabi H, Antolovich SD. A tribute to Claude Bathias – Highlights of his pioneering work in Gigacycle Fatigue. Int J
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6 H. Mughrabi, S.D. Antolovich / International Journal of Fatigue xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
6. The advancement of applications of ultrasonic fatigue testing
over a wide range of conditions by Claude Bathias
When Claude Bathias began to conduct his first ultrasonic fati-
gue tests, the technique had been well established but had not
been used extensively to investigate the fatigue behaviour and fail-
ure mechanisms under different cyclic loading conditions of cyclic
loading in the VHCF regime. The objectives of Claude Bathias were
(1) to advocate the use of ultrasonic fatigue testing and (2) to apply
the technique in a wide range of different loading conditions,
always focusing on the specific aspects of VHCF. For this purpose,
Claude Bathias designed and built different types of fatigue testing
equipment during the last 15–20 years. In order to make such
equipment also available commercially to others, he collaborated
with two companies who then offered ultrasonic equipment for
sale. As a result, about a dozen ultrasonic test machines that were
originally designed by Claude Bathias were sold to users in France
and in other countries. In his own VHCF-research, Claude Bathias
used a variety of different ultrasonic fatigue testing devices [31].
With his collaborators, he employed specifically designed testing
units to conduct, for example, ultrasonic VHCF studies in torsional
fatigue [32], three-point bending fatigue [33], fretting fatigue [34]
and corrosion fatigue [35]. The extensive activities of Claude Bath-
ias have contributed significantly to the wider use of ultrasonic
fatigue testing and have substantially enriched the more recent lit-
erature in the VHCF field.
7. The pivotal role of Claude Bathias in the DISFAT project
In the years 2009 to 2014, four academic institutions and the
Technical Center for Mechanical Industry (CETIM) in France made
a combined comprehensive effort to study in more detail the VHCF
behaviour of single-phase fcc and bcc metals (copper and a-brass,
a-iron), in particular making use of an analysis of the heat dissipa-
tion during cyclic straining as an indication of cyclic slip irre-
versibility. In this elaborate project, chaired by Véronique Favier,
called DISFAT (Dissipation en fatigue), which was funded by the
National French Agency, researchers who had previously worked
with Claude Bathias played important roles. Claude Bathias him-
self, with his experience in initiating VHCF research internationally
and also in France, played a pivotal role in the formulation of the
goals of the project and giving continued advice and guidance dur-
ing the project. The interesting results obtained in the project were
documented in 4 doctoral dissertations, and the project was suc-
cessfully concluded shortly before Claude Bathias passed away.
Based on the research performed within the DISFAT project, Claude
Bathias discussed the different types of heat dissipation that occur,
depending on the microstructure of the material under investiga-
tion, and the coupling to the damage process in two of his last pub-
lications [47,48].
8. The legacy of Claude Bathias
Claude Bathias will be remembered by those who knew him
and collaborated with him as a true colleague and a gentleman
who very generously provided support and useful advice. Many
former associates and students of Claude Bathias who are now in
responsible positions in France and in other countries will continue
to benefit from their experience with Claude Bathias and will
ensure that the spirit of Claude Bathias will be carried further.
The scientific achievements of Claude Bathias, documented in pub-
lications, books and conference proceedings, will continue to have
an impact on the VHCF community in their ongoing research
efforts. The VHCF conference series that Claude Bathias initiated
remains very much alive and will be continued with the forthcom-
Please cite this article in press as: Mughrabi H, Antolovich SD. A tribute to Claude Bathias – Highlights of his pioneering work in Gigacycle Fatigue. Int J
Fatigue (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.04.020
ing conference VHCF-7 in Dresden in 2017, almost 20 years after
VHCF-1 in 1998. Last not least, an impressive number of memo-
rable contributions, related closely to the work of Claude Bathias
are documented in this Special Issue of the International Journal
of Fatigue to which many notable colleagues have contributed.
References
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Dekker; 2004.
[2] Bathias C, Pineau A, editors. Fatigue of materials and structures. London: ISTE
and New York: John Wiley and Sons; 2010.
[3] Bathias C. Fatigue limit in metals. London: ISTE and New York: John Wiley and
Sons; 2014.
[4] Wöhler A. Über die Festigkeitsversuche mit Eisen und Stahl. Z. f. Bauwesen
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Fatigue (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.04.020
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