Aerospace Structural Design

MAE 4281

Fatigue

David Fleming
Associate Professor
Aerospace Engineering
Historical Perspective
de Havilland Comet
First jet passenger transport, first
operational flight 1952

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/de-havilland-comet-1a.htm

http://www.bamuseum.com/50-60.html
de Havilland Comet 1 suffered several
crashes

March 1953 crash on take-off
May 1953 broke-up in flight
initially blamed on severe weather
1954: two more losses
disintegrated in flight over water
grounded

Major effort to investigate Comet 1
incidents became a landmark in fracture
mechanics
recovery of remains from underseas
accelerated fatigue testing of surviving
airframe

Marriott, Stewart, and Sharpe, Air Disasters, Barnes & Noble Books, 1999.
de Havilland Comet 1 testing: Failure of
pressurized cabin after only about 9000
flight hours:

Metal fatigue, initiation from square window
corner (severe stress concentration)

Incomplete
understanding of
fracture mechanics
Material performance
not well characterized
http://www.bamuseum.com/50-60.html
Stress concentrations related to
accelerated crack initiation and growth
Marriott, Stewart, and Sharpe, Air Disasters, Barnes & Noble Books, 1999.
http://www.bamuseum.com/50-60.html
A Contemporary Look at Fatigue
Table 1 Frequency of Failure Mechanisms
S. J. Findlay and N. D. Harrison, Why Aircraft Fail, Materials Today, Vol. 5 (11), November 2002.
Number of Accidents
Fixed Wing Rotary Wing
Bolt, stud or screw 108 32
Fastener hole or other hole 72 12
Fillet, radius or sharp notch 57 22
Weld 53 3
Corrosion 43 19
Thread (other than bolt or stud) 32 4
Manufacturing defect or tool mark 27 9
Scratch, nick or dent 26 2
Fretting 13 10
Surface of subsurface flaw 6 3
Improper heat treatment 4 2
Maintenance-induced crack 4 --
Work-hardened area 2 --
Wear 2 7

Percentage of Failures
Engineering Components Aircraft Components
Corrosion 29 16
Fatigue 25 55
Brittle Fracture 16 --
Overload 11 14
High Temperature Corrosion 7 2
SCC/Corrosion Fatigue/HE 6 7
Creep 3 --
Wear/Abrasion/Erosion 3 6

S. J. Findlay and N. D. Harrison, Why Aircraft Fail, Materials Today, Vol. 5
(11), November 2002.
Characterization of constant amplitude
cyclic loading based on mean stress and
stress amplitude
Constant amplitude loading




Various equivalent ways of representing the loading:
S
max,
S
min
Note that fatigue people use the notation S

S
m
(mean stress), S
a
(stress amplitude note, as with wave
this is half of the difference between S
max,
and S
min
)
R-ratio R = S
min
/ S
max
.
R = 1: fully reversed
R = 0: zero-to-max
Constant amplitude fatigue testing: a
common testing method is rotating beam
test
Rotating beam fatigue (R= 1) is most common.







May use hydraulic testing apparatus with
appropriate controller for other R ratios.
N.E. Dowling,
Mechanical Behavior of
Materials, 2/e, Prentice-
Hall, 1999.
S-N diagram describes relationship
between stress amplitude and fatigue life
Count number of cycles to failure, N
f
(or simply N), for a
various constant amplitude load states
Results are conventionally plotted for tests with a single R-
ratio, in the form of the Stress Amplitude S
a
of the vertical
axis, and the corresponding N
f
on the horizontal axis
Conventional to use logarithmic scale on the N axis.
Collins, J.A., Failure
of Materials in
Mechanical Design,
2/e, Wiley, 1993.
Low-Cycle and High-Cycle fatigue define
different regimes of fatigue loading
Low-cycle Fatigue
For large stress amplitudes, plastic deformations occur,
resulting in low fatigue life (typically below 10
4
or 10
5
cycles)

High-cycle Fatigue
Strain remains primarily in the elastic range during loading.

Behavior is quite different in these two regimes. For most
engineering design, high-cycle behavior is required, and we
will therefore emphasize this behavior in MAE 4284. Most
S-N diagrams show only the high-cycle behavior and many
mathematical characterizations of constant-amplitude fatigue
are also valid only for high-cycle fatigue

S-N Curves may be represented by fitted
equations
Curve fit representations of S-N data are sometimes used for
analytical convenience.
Validity of the different curve fits depends on the nature of the
physical response.
For example:


A, B are curve-fitting constants.
[In this case, only high cycle fatigue is considered.]
B
f a
AN S =
Modified from:
Collins, J.A., Failure
of Materials in
Mechanical Design,
2/e, Wiley, 1993.
There is typically a lot of scatter in
fatigue test data

response is strongly influenced by internal defect
states, particularly as regards the initiation of fatigue
crack initiation
Ideally, confidence limits are reported along with the
fatigue data, resulting in S-N-P (P for probability) curves.
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e, Prentice-Hall, 1999.
Collins, J.A., Failure of Materials in Mechanical Design, 2/e, Wiley, 1993.
Endurance Limit describes a stress
amplitude below which fatigue life
appears to be infinite
Some (not all!) materials
exhibit a minimum stress
amplitude below which
fatigue damage does not
appear to occur (within the
limits of patience in testing
10
8
cycles at 10 Hz 116
days!).
Boresi, A. P. et al, Advanced Mechanics of
Materials, 5/e, Wiley, 1993.
No endurance limit evident
for this aluminum alloy
Endurance Limit can be used as part of
simple design process for fatigue safety
design part such that stress remains below
the endurance limit.
also called Fatigue Limit

Easy to implement, but not so useful for us:
Aluminum alloys do not exhibit endurance
limit
Tends to produce very conservative (i.e.
heavy) designs.


Applying S-N data requires consideration
of how the mean stress influences
behavior
So, we have looked at test data for fatigue life for initially undamaged specimens
subject to constant-amplitude loading. A couple of problems with using this
Test data is likely to be available for only a
limited number of test conditions (typically R
= 1 only), but in service a different R ratio
may be used. Do we have to retest for each
different R?
In reality, loading is not uniform amplitude.
How do we handle variable amplitude cases?

R-ratio R = Smin/ Smax.
Constant Life curve illustrates combinations
of mean stress and stress amplitude that
produce a given fatigue life, N
f

Constant Life
Diagram showing
curves for various
N
f
illustrates
Mean Stress (R-
Ratio) Effects

Simply takes data
from S-N curves for
various R ratios and
plots them in a
different format.
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e, Prentice-Hall, 1999.
Define
a,0
as the fully-reversed stress
amplitude: stress amplitude to produce a
given N
f
when the mean stress is zero
(Note that
a,0
is a
function of N
f
)

Now normalize the
stress amplitude axis on
the constant life diagram
by
a,0
produces an
interesting result:
Data for different fatigue
life, N
f,
tend to collapse
onto a single curve.
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e, Prentice-
Hall, 1999.
Normalized Amplitude Constant-Life
Diagram
Normalize the curve
further by
normalizing the
mean stress by the
ultimate strength.

Fitting a line to the
resulting curve gives
a means to estimate
N
f
for any constant
amplitude loading
Megson
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
m
ult
m
a
a
S
S
S
S
1
0 ,
Goodman Relation assumes a linear
relationship between and
If we make a curve fit to the data
on the normalized constant life
diagram, then we get a
relationship between the stress
amplitude to produce failure at a
given life in zero-mean-stress
and nonzero-mean-stress cases.

Important:
Here S
a,0
is the fully-reversed
stress amplitude giving same
fatigue life as some other (S
m
S
a
)
constant amplitude state
1
1
0 ,
0 ,
= +
=
ult
m
a
a
ult
m
a
a
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
or
0 , a
a
S
S
ult
m
S
S
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e,
Prentice-Hall, 1999.
Goodman Relation
So what good is this?
We can use the Goodman relation to
determine a stress amplitude S
a,0
that
results in an equivalent life to a given non-
zero mean stress cases (S
a
, S
m
) that we are
studying.
Existing experimental data (in the form of a
S-N diagram or an equivalent curve fit) may
be available for the fully-reversed (R = 1,
zero mean stress case). Thus for a given
S
a,0
the fatigue life N
f
is known.

Thus we can predict the fatigue life for our
nonzero mean stress case using only
empirical data from the fully-reversed case.
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
=
ult
m
a
a
ult
m
a
a
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
1
1
0 ,
0 ,
Collins, J.A., Failure of
Materials in Mechanical
Design, 2/e, Wiley, 1993.
S
a,0

N
f

R= 1
Is the Goodman relation a good fit?
Look at experimental data.
Relatively low ductility metals
(e.g. high-strength steel) make
good match with Goodman
relation
For high ductility metals (see
curve), Goodman may be overly
conservative.
For brittle metals (e.g. cast iron),
Goodman may be
nonconservative and should not
be used.
Also note that Goodman is
typically nonconservative for
compressive mean stresses. A
common approach when using
Goodman is to use the following :


N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e, Prentice-
Hall, 1999.
0 ; 1
0 ,
< =
m
a
a
S
S
S
if
Alternate Approaches
Modified Goodman
relation: replace ultimate
strength S
ult
with a
corrected value.
Alternate curve fits to the
normalized constant life
diagram. (Must verify that
the relation used is
appropriate for the material
in question.)
Gerber:
1
2
0 ,
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
ult
m
a
a
S
S
S
S
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e,
Prentice-Hall, 1999.
Modified
Goodman
Gerber
Goodman
Variable Amplitude Loading
Consider hypothetical case of load
experienced by a lower wing skin during
flight.
How many times could we repeat this operational
cycle before fatigue failure of that part?
Palmgren-Miner rule provides a simple
approach to variable amplitude loading

So-called Miners Rule

Not necessarily the most accurate (fracture
mechanics approaches may yield better
results.)
Palmgren-Miner Rule is based on an
assumption of linear damage
accumulation
Assumes each load cycle of a certain type uses up the
life of the structure at the same rate as any other load
cycle of that type (regardless of the prior loading
history, the sequence of load types, etc.)

These assumptions arent quite true, of course.
Palmgren-Miner Rule
Say a cycle with a mean stress and stress amplitude that S-N data
show has a life N
f
= 10
6
occurs. We will assume that that one
cycle uses up 1/10
6
of the total life of the part. Miners rule then
says that if we count up the life of the part used up by each cycle
as it comes, then failure will come when the result adds up to one.

For convenience, we may do our counting based on grouping
together cycles of a given size. Then, Miners rule may be
expressed as:



j N N
j n
N
n
f j
j
j
j
type cycles of life fatigue amplitude constant
type of cycles of number
1 : if failure Fatigue
=
=
=

Cycle counting
Determine typical loading profile for the part in question
previous operational history
engineering judgment
For miners rule, the order of cycles doesnt matter, so
computer algorithms may be used to count the cycles and
lump them together.
Palmgren-Miner Rule
If cycles are counted for one operational
cycle, then an alternate form of Miners rule
can be used to express the number of
operational cycles before failure, B
f
:

j N N
j n
N
n
B
f j
j
j
j
f
type cycle for , life, fatigue
cycle op. one in type of cycles of number
cycle
l operationa
=
=
=

1
1
Example
Dowling
Palmgren-Miner Rule
Comments:
Not highly accurate (but fatigue life
prediction is filled with uncertainty,
generally)
Fracture mechanics approach give better
results
Fracture Mechanics Approach to Fatigue
Consider briefly a more physical look at how
fatigue cracks develop and propagate
through a material.

Three stages of fatigue crack growth
Stage 1: Initiation
Motion of internal defects during cyclic
loading results in the initiation of a
crack like flaw.
For example, Cottrell-Hull Mechanism
based on dislocation motion
Comments:
Typically a very slow process
Stress concentrations, even
highly localized defects such as
surface nicks or internal
inclusions can significantly
accelerate initiation
Substantial scatter in the
behavior due to sensitivity to
internal defect state
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials
D.K. Felbeck and A.G. Atkins, Strength and Fracture
of Engineering Solids, Prentice-Hall, 1996.
Stage 2: Fatigue Crack Growth
Once a sufficiently large, crack-
like flaw is produced, the
physics of crack growth is
dominated by the stress field
around the crack tip.
Various mechanisms exist for
different materials
Faster than Stage 1 crack growth
Process results in characteristic
striations on cross-section
D.K. Felbeck and A.G. Atkins, Strength and Fracture
of Engineering Solids, Prentice-Hall, 1996.
D. Broek, Elementary Engineering Fracture
Mechanics, Kluwer, 1986
J.M. Barsom, S.T. Rolfe, Fracture and Fatigue
Control in Structures, 3/e, ASTM, 1999.
During Stage 2 crack growth, cyclic loading produces
beach marks that are very helpful for failure analysis

Closer view of the fracture surface at the
inboard end of the lower spar cap of the
right wing rear spar. Unlabeled arrows
indicate the location of two offset drilled
holes.
Closer view of the fatigue region in the
horizontal leg of the lower spar cap of the
rear spar. Unlabeled brackets indicate
fatigue origin areas at the surfaces of the
fastener hole, and dashed lines indicate the
extent of the fatigue region visible on the
fracture surface.
Figures, captions from NTSB (www.ntsb.gov)
AP Photo
Chalks Ocean
Airways G-73T
Crash, Dec.
2005
Stage 3: Unstable Crack Growth (Final
Fracture)
Stage 3 is not really a fatigue process.
Eventually the crack grows large enough such
that K
I
= K
c
. (Call the crack length when this
condition is reached the critical crack length
a
c
).
Then unstable crack growth occurs leading to
(essentially) instantaneous fracture.
Sample Fracture Surfaces illustrate the
three stages of crack growth
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e, Prentice-Hall, 1999.
Crack growth analysis: predict growth a
crack from a given initial configuration
Find crack length for a given defect as a
function of time (or equivalently
number of loading cycles).
Because of the difficulties with initiation
(large scatter, difficulty in quantifying
initial damage state) some starting
crack size a
0
is assumed. This may be
based on the limits of the sensitivity
of inspection equipment used to
search for initial flaws
Typically, assume an initial flaw
size, a
0
, equal to the largest
undetectable crack size.
Crack growth analysis requires data on
crack growth rates as a function of
loading
Analysis is focused on Stage II crack growth
S-N data will not be useful for this, as crack
growth is not monitored during such testing.
Crack growth test using a specimen with
a preexisting crack loaded cyclically
while monitoring crack growth
Conduct constant amplitude
fatigue test (e.g. CT
specimen): measure crack
length as a function of
number of cycles da/dN,
Crack Growth Rate.
Data are usually expressed as a
function of K, the range of
stress intensities (note K is
a function of crack length for
constant stress amplitude)
Typically plotted on log-log
axes
Sarafin
Crack Growth Data
Typical data are shown.
Many (not all) materials
have a lower threshold
value of K
At very high K crack
growth rates increase
dramatically (unstable
crack growth)

For intermediate K
many materials have a
linear crack growth curve
(on log-log axes)
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e, Prentice-Hall, 1999.
Paris Law: linear curve fit of crack
growth data during Region 2.
( )
loading) geometry, , (
Constants Material : ,
d
d
a f K
n C
K C
N
a
n
= A
A =
Crack growth may be predicted based
on Paris Law
Using the Paris Law, we are in a position to
predict crack growth for a given starting
crack size, load history.
Can give a prediction of fatigue life.
a
c
: critical crack
size corresponding to
ultimate collapse of the part
a
0
: initial crack size
Safe-Life Analysis
From Megson (p. 257)
In the [safe-life] approach, the structure is designed to have a
minimum life during which it is known that no catastrophic
damage will occur. At the end of this life, the structure must be
replaced even though there may be no detectable signs of
fatigue.

From Sarafin (p. 391)
A part satisfies safe-life criteria when we do NDE to screen out
cracks above a particular size and then show by analysis or
test that an assumed crack of that size will not grow to failure
when subjected to the cyclic and sustained loads encountered
during four complete service lifetimes.
One complete service lifetime includes all significant loading
events that occur after the NDE. The scatter factor of four is
to account for variability
In aircraft, typically this is applied to parts with critical single-point failures, such as
landing gear, or rotating engine components. It is difficult to get necessary data and
many tests are required to get a statistical understanding of failure characteristics, and
even so there is strong sensitivity to details such as tool marks, etc
Fail-Safe Design
Requires residual strength after failure of
certain primary components sufficient to
allow safe flight
either damage part can tolerate a partial fracture or
there is a secondary load path that can do the job
Typical example: fuselage in transport aircraft design to support 40inch
long fatigue crack.
Fail-Safe
Design
Features
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e, Prentice-Hall, 1999.
Damage-Tolerant Design
Accepts that cracks are inevitable, but
establish procedures to make sure that they
can be found and repaired before the
integrity of the structure is compromised.
Fracture Control

Fracture control options (modified from Broek, Practical use of
Fracture Mechanics, Kluwer, 1989):
Safe-life design, replacement or retirement after computed
life. [May lead to a heavier part than the following]
Fail-safe design, structure can tolerate certain large
defects, repair upon occurrence of partial failure
Periodic inspection, repair upon crack detection
Periodic proof testing, repair upon failure of proof test




Inspection
Inspect part before entering service
Conduct crack growth analysis based on sensitivity
of inspection
Set inspection schedule according to the life divided
by some (typically large) factor of safety
Upon reaching the inspection time, reinspect the
part:
No crack detected: reenter service, using same inspection
interval
Crack detected: repair or replace part
Some Complications
R-Ratio effects on Crack Growth Rates (can be accounted for
with methods analogous to those used with the Goodman
relation)
Paris Law may be replaced with more accurate curve fits.
Details of load history can significantly influence analysis
retardation
Other effect should be considered such as corrosion (stress
corrosion cracking), creep, other environmental effects.
One should expect a lot of uncertainty in fatigue analysis and act
accordingly.
Retardation
N.E. Dowling, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 2/e, Prentice-Hall, 1999.