Fatigue rapture

Failure under Fluctuating Stress

Creep rapture
Muhammad Umair Bukhari

Engr.umair.bukhari@gmail.com
www.bzuiam.webs.com
03136050151
 Fatigue
Failure under fluctuating stress
The failure of metal under alternating stresses is
known as Fatigue.
Under fluctuating / cyclic stresses, failure can occur
at lower loads than under a static load.
90% of all failures of metallic structures (bridges,
aircraft, machine components, etc.)
Fatigue failure is brittle-like –
even in normally ductile materials. Thus sudden
and catastrophic!
 Fatigue: Cyclic Stresses
Characterized by maximum, minimum and mean
Range of stress, stress amplitude, and stress ratio
Mean stress m = (max + min) / 2
Range of stress r = (max - min)
Stress amplitude a = r/2 = (max - min) / 2
Stress ratio R = min / max

Convention: tensile stresses  positive

compressive stresses  negative
 Fatigue: S—N curves (I)

Rotating-bending test  S-N curves

S (stress) vs. N (number of cycles to failure)

Low cycle fatigue: small # of cycles
high loads, plastic and elastic deformation

High cycle fatigue: large # of cycles

low loads, elastic deformation (N > 105)
 Fatigue: S—N curves (II)

Fatigue limit (some Fe and Ti alloys)

S—N curve becomes horizontal at large N
Stress amplitude below which the material never fails,
no matter how large the number of cycles is
 Fatigue: S—N curves (III)

Most alloys: S decreases with N.

Fatigue strength: Stress at which fracture occurs after
specified number of cycles (e.g. 107)
Fatigue life: Number of cycles to fail at specified stress
level
 Fatigue: Crack initiation+ propagation (I)
Three stages:
1. crack initiation in the areas of stress concentration (near
stress raisers)
2. incremental crack propagation
3. rapid crack propagation after crack reaches critical size
The total number of cycles to failure is the sum of cycles at the first
and the second stages:
Nf = Ni + Np

Nf : Number of cycles to failure

Ni : Number of cycles for crack initiation
Np : Number of cycles for crack propagation
High cycle fatigue (low loads): Ni is relatively high. With increasing
stress level, Ni decreases and Np dominates
 Fatigue: Crack initiation and propagation (II)
 Crack initiation: Quality of surface and sites of stress concentration
(microcracks, scratches, indents, interior corners, dislocation slip steps,
etc.).
 Crack propagation
 I: Slow propagation along crystal
planes with high resolved shear
stress. Involves a few grains.
Flat fracture surface
 II: Fast propagation perpendicular
to applied stress.
Crack grows by repetitive blunting
and sharpening process at crack tip.
Rough fracture surface.
 Crack eventually reaches critical dimension and propagates very
rapidly
 Factors that affect fatigue life
 Magnitude of stress
 Quality of the surface
Solutions:
 Polish surface
 Introduce compressive stresses (compensate for applied tensile
stresses) into surface layer.
Shot Peening -- fire small shot into surface
High-tech - ion implantation, laser peening.
 Case Hardening: Steel - create C- or N- rich outer layer by atomic
diffusion from surface
Harder outer layer introduces compressive
stresses
 Optimize geometry
Avoid internal corners, notches etc.
 Factors affecting fatigue life
Environmental effects
 Thermal Fatigue. Thermal cycling causes expansion and
contraction, hence thermal stress.
Solutions:
 change design!
 use materials with low thermal expansion coefficients
 Corrosion fatigue. Chemical reactions induce pits which act as
stress raisers. Corrosion also enhances crack propagation.
Solutions:
 decrease corrosiveness of medium
 add protective surface coating
 add residual compressive stresses
 The Macroscopic Character of Fatigue Failure

 Because of the manner in which the fracture develops, the

surfaces of a fatigue fracture are divided into two areas
with distinctly different appearances.
 In most cases, the surface will have a polished or burnished
appearance in the region where the crack grew slowly.
 In the last stage, the surfaces developed are rough and
irregular.
Fractograph of fatigue failure in SAE 1050 pin, induction hardened to a depth
of 5 mm ( 3/16 in.) and surface hardness of 55 HRC. Core hardness: 21 HRC.
Fatigue initiated inside the grease hole at the metallurgical notch created by
the very sharp case-core hardness gradient.
Schematic representation of fatigue fracture surface marks produced on
smooth and notched components with circular cross sections under various
loading conditions.
 Creep
Time-dependent deformation due to
constant load at high temperature
(> 0.4 Tm)
Examples: turbine blades, steam generators.

Creep test:

Furnace

Creep testing
Stages of creep
 Stages of creep

1. Instantaneous deformation, mainly elastic.

2. Primary/transient creep. Slope of strain vs. time
decreases with time: work-hardening
3. Secondary/steady-state creep. Rate of straining
constant: work-hardening and recovery.
4. Tertiary. Rapidly accelerating strain rate up to failure:
formation of internal cracks, voids, grain boundary
separation, necking, etc.
 Parameters of creep behavior
Secondary/steady-state creep:
Longest duration
Long-life applications

 s   / t (creep rate)
Time to rupture ( rupture lifetime, tr):
Important for short-life creep
/t

tr
 Creep: stress and temperature effects
With increasing stress or temperature:
 The instantaneous strain increases
 The steady-state creep rate increases
 The time to rupture decreases
 Creep: stress and temperature effects
Stress/temperature dependence of the steady-state creep rate can be
illustrated by
 Mechanisms of Creep
Different mechanisms act in different materials and under different
loading and temperature conditions:

 Dislocation Glide
 Dislocation Creep
 Diffusion Creep
 Grain boundary sliding
Different mechanisms  different n, Qc.

Grain boundary diffusion Dislocation glide and climb

 Mechanisms of Creep

Dislocation glide- Involves dislocations moving along

slip planes and overcoming barriers by thermal
activation. This mechanism occurs at high stress
levels.

Dislocation creep- Involves the movement of

dislocations which overcome barriers by thermally
assisted mechanisms involving the diffusion of
vacancies or interstitials.
 Mechanisms of Creep

Diffusion creep- Involves the flow of vacancies and

interstitials through a crystal under the influence
of applied stress. This mechanism occurs at high
temperatures and low stress levels.

Grain boundary sliding- Involves the sliding of

grains past each other.