Advanced Mechanical Design

by
Dr. Syed Ismail

Designing for fluctuating uniaxial stresses

In fluctuating stresses, mean stresses are not zero and these must be taken
into account when determining the safety factor.

Line CF defines fatigue failure in

combination with tensile mean
stress and is
The line AG defines yielding in compression
and is
Line

BC

defines

combination

with

fatigue

failure

compressive

mean

stress and is
Line GE defines yielding in tension and
is

in

Applying Stress-Concentration Effects with Fluctuating Stresses

The alternating component of stress is treated the same way as it was for the Case of
fully reversed stress. That is, the geometric stress-concentration factor Kt, is found. the
material's notch sensitivity q is determined, and these are used in the below equation to
find a fatigue stress-concentration factor Kf.

The local value of a, is then found from equation

The mean component of stress m is treated differently depending on the ductility or
brittleness of the material
If the material is brittle, then the full value of the geometric stress concentration Kt, is
usually applied to the nominal mean stress (m)nom to obtain the local mean stress m at
the notch using equation

If the material is ductile. Dowling suggests one of three approaches based on

Juvinall depending on the relationship of the maximum local stresses to the
yield strength of the ductile material.
For nonzero mean stresses, both authors (Juvinall or Budynas) employ local
notch stress amplitudes and mean stresses

Where max = a + m exceeds the yield strength o, local yielding is

expected.

A mean stress fatigue-concentration factor

Kfm is defined based on the level of local
mean stress m at the stress concentration
versus the yield strength. Figure shows a
generalized fluctuating-stress situation.
Figure (b) depicts localized yielding that may occur around a stress
concentration. For this analysis an elastic-perfectly plastic stress-strain
relationship is assumed as shown in part (c).

Three possibilities exist based on the relationship between max and the
material's yield strength y.
max < y no yielding occurs (see Figure (d)) and the
full value of Kf is used for Kfm.

If max > y but | min l < y, local yielding occurs on

the first cycle (Figure (e)), after which the maximum
stress cannot exceed y.

The local stress at the concentration is relieved and a lower value of Kfm can
be used as defined in Figure 6-45g, which plots the relationship between Kfm
and max.

The third possibility is that the stress range exceeds 2 y

causing reversed yielding as shown in Figure 6-45f. The
maximum and minimum stresses now equal y, and the
mean stress becomes zero, making Kfm = 0.

The absolute values are used to account for either compressive or tensile
situations. The value of the local mean stress m for use in the modifiedGoodman diagram is then found from below equation with Kfm substituted for Kf.
Note that the stress-concentration factors should be applied to the nominal
applied stresses, be they normal or shear stress.

The local applied stresses (with their fatigue stress-concentration effects

included) are used to calculate the alternating and mean von Mises stresses.
This calculation is done separately for the alternating and mean components
'a and 'm (See equations). We will use these von Mises components to find
the safety factor.

Determining the Safety Factor with Fluctuating Stresses

The safety factor for any fluctuating-stress state depends on the manner in
which the mean and alternating components can vary with respect to one
another in service. There are four possible cases to consider:
1. The alternating stress will remain
essentially constant over the life of
the part but the mean stress can
increase under service conditions.
(Line YQ in Figure 6-46a.)
FOR CASE 1 failure occurs at point Q and the safety factor is the ratio of the
lines YQ/YZ. To express this mathematically, we can solve equation 6.16(d) for
the value of 'm@Q and divide that by 'm@Z.

The mean stress will remain essentially

constant over the life of the part but the
alternating stress can increase under
service conditions. (Line XP in Figure b.)

FOR CASE 2 failure occurs at point P and the safety factor is the ratio of the lines
XP/XZ. To express this mathematically, we can solve equation 6.l6(c) for the
value of 'a@p and divide that by 'a@z

3 Both alternating and mean stress components can increase under service
conditions but their ratio will remain constant. (Line OR in Figure C.)

FOR CASE 3 failure occurs at point R and the safety factor is the ratio of the lines
OR/OZ or by similar triangles, either of the ratios 'm@R / 'm@Z or 'a@R / 'a@Z. To
express this mathematically. we can solve equations 6.16(c) and the equation of
line OR simultaneously for the value of 'm@ R and divide that by 'm@Z

4 Both alternating and mean stress components can increase under service conditions but
there is no known relationship between their amounts of increase (Line ZS in Figure d.)

FOR CASE 4 in which the future relationship between the mean and alternating stress
components is either random or unknown, the point S on the failure line closest to the stress
state at Z can be taken as a conservative estimate of the failure point.
Line ZS is normal to CD, so its equation can be written and solved simultaneously with that of
the line CD to find the coordinates of point S and the length ZS, which are

To establish a ratio for the safety factor, swing point S about point Z to be
coincident with line OZS ' at point S'. The safety factor is the ratio OS' / OZ.

Case 4 gives a more conservative safety factor than case 3. The same
approach can be used to obtain safety-factor expressions for stresscomponent combinations in the left half-plane of the modified-Goodman
diagram.
Also, if the diagram is drawn to scale, rough estimates of the safety factors can
be scaled from it.

Design Steps for Fluctuating Stresses

A set of design steps similar to those listed for the fully reversed case can be
defined for the case of fluctuating stresses:
Problem