The effect of gas nitriding on fatigue

behaviour in titanium alloys

Hideaki Shibata*, Keiro TokajF, Takeshi Ogawa* and Chiaki Hori*
*Gifu Prefectural Metal Research Institute, 1288 Oze, Seki, Japan
*Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu, Japan
(Received 19 November 1993)
The fatigue behaviour of gas-nitrided Ti-6AI-4V alloy and Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3A1 alloy has been studied
under rotating bending, and the results obtained were compared with those for annealed or untreated
materials on the basis of detailed observations of crack initiation, growth and fracture surfaces.
Nitriding was performed using smooth specimens for 4 h and 15 h at 850 C in Ti-6Al-4V alloy and
for 20 h and 60 h at 750 C in Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3A1 alloy in pure nitrogen gas. The depths of the
nitrided layers obtained were approximately 25 ~m and 65/~m for the former, and 130/~m and
200/~m for the latter. In Ti-6AI-4V, the fatigue lives of the material nitrided for 4 h were shorter
than those of the corresponding annealed material, but the fatigue limit was increased. However,
fatigue strength was reduced by nitriding for 15 h. Similar results were obtained in Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al:
fatigue strength was decreased by nitriding for 20 h, and the fatigue lives of the material nitrided for
60 h were shorter than those of the annealed material, but the fatigue limit was slightly increased.
The reduction in fatigue strength of the nitrided materials in both alloys was primarily attributed to
premature crack initiation in the nitrided layer. The role of the nitrided layer in crack initiation is
also discussed in terms of results for pure titanium in a previous report.
(Keywords: fatigue strength; gas nitriding; titanium alloys; crack initiation; crack growth; fractography)

Pure titanium and titanium alloys have the disadvantages of a high coefficient of friction and poor wear
resistance 1. In order to improve such tribological
properties, a variety of surface engineering techniques
have been successfully applied ~-7. Of these techniques,
gas nitriding is considered to be the most promising
method available for engineering applications because
it can easily form a harder nitriding layer on the
surface of the materials. By this method substantial
improvement in wear resistance can be achieved ~-3,5,
but the fatigue strength and fracture mechanism of
nitrided materials have not been clarified.
Recently the authors have studied the fatigue
behaviour of nitrided materials based on a pure
titanium and have indicated that the fatigue strength
was improved by gas nitriding compared with the
corresponding annealed materials 8. For widespread
applications of nitriding to critical machine components, it is necessary to investigate systematically the
fatigue behaviour of nitrided materials of titanium
alloys.
In the present study, rotating bending fatigue
tests were conducted on Ti-6A1-4V alloy and T i 15Mo-5Zr-3A1 alloy, which were nitrided at 850 C
and 750 C respectively for given nitriding periods.
The fatigue strengths obtained were compared with
those of the annealed or untreated materials. Based
on detailed observations of crack initiation, crack
growth and fracture surfaces, the effect of gas nitriding
on fatigue behaviour is discussed.
0142-1123/94/060370-07
1994 Butterworth-HeinemannLtd

370 Fatigue, 1994, Vol 16, August

M A T E R I A L S AND P R O C E D U R E S
The materials used are T i - 6 A I - 4 V alloy and
T i - 1 5 M o - 5 Z r - 3 A I alloy. Their chemical compositions
are listed in Table 1.
The nitrided layers can be much deeper with
increasing nitriding temperature. However, nitriding
at higher temperatures, in particular above the transformation temperature, should be avoided because
remarkable grain growth in the core material takes
place during the nitriding process 8. In this study,
therefore, 850 C for T i - 6 A I - 4 V and 750 C for
T i - 1 5 M o - 5 Z r - 3 A 1 were used as nitriding temperatures, and thus the depth of the nitrided layer was
controlled by varying the nitriding period. Nitriding
was performed in an electric furnace, which was
evacuated before heating up to nitriding temperatures;
then nitrogen gas with a purity of 99.99% was admitted
into it. Specimens were maintained for a given nitriding
period under a constant nitrogen gas pressure of
0.13 MPa. Prior to fatigue tests, the depth of the
obtained nitrided layers was examined by hardness
measurements, and is shown in Figure 1 as a function
of nitriding period. As can be seen from the figure,
the nitrided layers become deeper with increasing
nitriding period. Similar results have been reported
for pure titanium by Yoshida and Isono z and for
Ti-SAI-2.5Sn by Mitchell and Brotherton 5. From the
results of Figure 1, nitriding periods of 4 h and 15 h
for
Ti-6AI-4V
and
20 h
and
60 h
for
T i - 1 5 M o - 5 Z r - 3 A I were chosen.

Effect of gas nitriding on fatigue in titanium alloys: H. Shibata et al.

Table 1 Chemical compositions (wt.%)
Alloy
Ti-6A1-4V
Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI

AI

6.27
3.01

4.27

Mo

Zr

Fe

Ti

0.185
0.114

0.003
0.0045

<0.001

5.05

0.206
0.042

0.015

14.51

0.0055
<0.001

bal.
bal.

80

Tests were conducted on a 98 N m rotating bending

fatigue testing machine operating at a frequency of
57 Hz in laboratory air. Crack initiation and growth
were monitored by replicating the specimen surface.
The fracture surfaces were examined using a scanning
electron microscope (SEM).

Ti-6AI-4V alloy
Nitriding temperature

60

~ 40

"0

"6 20
-

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Microstructure of nitrided layer

IIIill]

10
Time

20

15

T h

E 250
200

15o

"O

100
e-

//

"6

50

"~

e..6)

Nitr'~'ng temperature

750~

/
I

10

20

30

40

Time

50

60

70

b
Figure 1 Variations of depth of nitrided layer with nitriding period:
(a) T i - 6 A I - 4 V ; (b) T i - 1 5 M o - 5 Z r - 3 A l

Smooth specimens with 8 mm diameter and 10 mm

gauge length were machined and then mechanically
polished by emery paper. Subsequently, they were
electropolished, and were heat-treated and nitrided as
follows.
For Ti-6AI-4V:
(1) solution-treated at 950 C for 1 h, followed by
ageing at 540C for 4 h (STA);
(2) annealed at 850C for 4 h in vaccum (A4);
(3) nitrided at 850C for 4 h (N4);
(4) annealed at 850C for 15 h (AI5); and
(5) nitrided at 850C for 15 h (N15).
For Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI:
(1) annealed at 750C for 20 h (A20);
(2) nitrided at 750C for 20 h (N20);
(3) annealed at 750C for 60 h (A60); and
(4) nitrided at 750C for 60 h (N60).
The mechanical properties are given in Table 2. In
Ti-6AI-4V, monotonic strengths are slightly decreased
by nitriding for 4 h, but are increased by nitriding for
15 h, while in Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI they are considerably
reduced.

The microstructures of the nitrided materials in

Ti-6AI-4V and Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI are shown in
Figures 2 and 3 respectively. The surface of the nitrided
specimens for both alloys has a golden colour as
observed for pure titanium in previous report 8. The
intensity of the gold coloration increases with increasing
nitriding period. The nitrided layer consists of two
parts; the very thin surface layer is the compound TiN
and the thicker second layer is a nitrogen-stabilized
solid solution.
Figure 4 indicates the normalized hardness on the
cross-section of the nitrided specimens, Hv/Hvo, as a
function of the distance from the specimen surface,
where Hvo is the Vickers hardness of the core material.
Hardness increases within 25/zm from the surface for
the 4 h nitrided material and 65/xm for the 15 h
nitrided material in Ti-6AI-4V (Figure 4a), and
130 ~m for the 20 h nitrided material and 200/zm
for the 60 h nitrided material in Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI
(Figure 4b). These depths are referred to as the
nitrided layer. One further point to be noted from
Figure 4 is the increased hardness of the nitrided
layers with increase in nitriding period. As the Hvo
values are 309-324 for Ti-6AI-4V alloy and 362-380
for Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3A1 alloy independent of nitriding
period, the hardness on the specimen surface could
be expected to attain more than 1000 Hv.

Fatigue strength
The S-N diagrams are shown in Figure 5 and the
fatigue limits obtained are listed in Table 3. In
Ti-6A1-4V, the fatigue strength of the annealed
materials is independent of annealing period. It is
found that the fatigue lives of the 4 h nitrided material
(N4) are shorter than those of the corresponding
annealed material (A4), but the fatigue limit is slightly
increased. In contrast, the fatigue strength of the 15 h
nitrided material (N15) is reduced compared with the
annealed material (A15) and is lower than that of the
4 h nitrided material, indicating that the harder, deeper
nitrided layer has a detrimental effect on the fatigue
strength. Similar results are obtained in Ti15Mo-5Zr-3AI alloy: the fatigue strength of the 20 h
nitrided material (N20) is decreased compared with
the annealed material (A20), while the fatigue lives
of the 60 h nitrided material (N60) are shorter than
those of the annealed material (A60), but the fatigue
Fatigue, 1994, Vol 16, August

371

Effect of gas nitriding on fatigue in titanium alloys: H. Shibata et al.

Table 2

Mechanical properties

Alloys
Ti-6AI-4V

Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI

Treatment

0.2%
proof
stress, cro2
(MPa)

Tensile
strength, crB
(MPa)

Breaking
strength
on final
area, ~rT
(MPa)

STA
A4
N4
A15
NI5

1132
927
890
900
925

1238
971
943
950
974

1518
1365
1206
1320
1338

A20
N20
A60
N60

957
871
975
875

1015
916
1001
901

1923
1671
1941
1579

Elongation, ~b

(%)

Reduction
of area,

(%)

9
7

40
49
40
48
45

11

7
13
13

41
46
40
47

11

13
12

4~
Ti-6AI-4V alloy

~g
"1-

N4

"l-

N9

U~

[] N15

t-

N20

t~
tN_

Figure 2 Microstructures of nitrided Ti-6AI-4V: (a) nitriding for

4 h (N4); (b) nitriding for 15 h (N15)

E
o
z

1
0

50

100

150

Distance from surface d

/1 m

2.4
Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI alloy

2.2
-1-

,~]~
"~
"1- 2.0]

0 N4

/ ~

Figure 3 Microstructures of nitrided Ti- 15Mo-5Zr-3AI: (a) nitriding for 20 h (N20); (b) nitriding for 60 h (N60)

a)
c

t"-

1.8
1.6

.20

,\ \

[].,o

%\

x~ 1.4
.__

limit is slightly increased. It has been reported that

fatigue strength is reduced by nitriding in
Ti-6A1-4V 1,5,6, and the present results also show the
decrease of fatigue strength in titanium alloys by
nitriding.
The fatigue results for the specimens whose surface
was removed by electropolishing are represented in
Figure 5a. It is apparent that the fatigue lives gradually
approach the life of the annealed material (A15) as
the amount of removal is increased. As the amount
of removal corresponds to partial removal of the TiN
layer (2/zm), complete removal of the TiN layer
(4/xm), and removal of half the nitrided layer (30/~m)
372

Fatigue, 1994, Vol 16, August

.e 1.2
o
z

1.0
0.~

50

100
150
200
250
Distance from surface d /~ m

300

b
Hardness profiles of nitrided materials: (a) Ti-6AI-4V;
(b) Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI

Figure 4

Effect of gas nitriding on fatigue in titanium alloys: H. Shibata et al.

900
Ti-6AI-4V alloy
Rotatingbending
(R=-I)

m 800

o-=
700

2pm

"10

Ti-6AI-4V allOy
Rotatingbending
o =570MPa (R=-1)
ZXA4

t.'~. %

t~
O4

4/zm

T
!
|

N15

Surface removal
for N15/(5/Jm) ~

a.
E 60G

_]

L..
O

~ 500

N15
Surfaceremovalfor N15

400
i

, ,,.,,I

.,,.,,I

10 4

103

00
i

. ,,,,,I

10 5

,.i.,

10 7

10 6

Number of cycles to failure

Nf

3
4
5
6
7
Number of cycles N 104

800

Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI alloy
Rotatingbending
(R=-I)

~; 700

O
[]

600

E
E 7

A20
A60
N20
N60

500

(3---*
t~

400

82
g

.....

10 4

. . . . . .

10 s

,a,,,,l

. . . . . . .

10 6

Number of cycles to failure

10 7

A20
N20
A60
N60

j,
1

Number of cycles

Nf

104

b
Figure 5
Table

[]

Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI alloy
Rotating bending
o =500MPa
(R=-I)

S-N

diagrams: (a) Ti-6AI-4V; (b) Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI

Figure 6 Relationshipsbetween surface crack length and number

of cycles: (a) Ti-6AI-4V; (b) Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al

3 Fatiguelimits

Alloy
Ti-6AI-4V

Yi-15Mo-5Zr-3Al

Treatment

Fatigue limit, Cw
(MPa)

STA
A4
N4
A15
A20
N20
A60
N60

720
510
555
490
450
375
350
375

respectively, the TiN layer and the harder nitrided

layer just below the surface are considered to be
strongly related to the decrease in fatigue strength of
the nitrided materials.

Role of the nitrided layer in crack initiation

Surface crack length 2c is represented in Figure 6
as a function of the number of cycles. In T i - 6 A I - 4 V ,
the initiation resistance in the nitrided materials is

lowered compared with the annealed materials: in

particular, the N15 specimen shows a considerable
decrease in crack initiation resistance. Similarly, the
initiation resistance of the nitrided materials in
T i - 1 5 M o - 5 Z r - 3 A I is decreased. However, note that
the specimen whose surface was removed by 5/~m
indicates the same crack initiation resistance as the
corresponding annealed specimen (Figure 6a). This
result suggests that the TiN layer and the harder
nitrided layer just below the surface are strongly
related to premature crack initiation in the nitrided
materials.
It was found from observation of the specimen
surface that the nitrided materials show unusual
crack initiation behaviour. In the N15 specimen
of T i - 6 A I - 4 V , although no crack was observed at
N = 1.0 x 104, a crack of 2c = 498/~m was initiated
after only 103 cycles. In order to confirm the reproducibility of the behaviour, the same observation was made
on a different specimen. A crack of 2c -- 1390/zm was
initiated at N = 9 103. However, no crack was
observed at N = 8 x 103. For the latter specimen, the
appearance of the crack in a section of the specimen

Fatigue, 1994, Vol 16, August

373

Effect of gas nitriding on fatigue in titanium alloys: H. Shibata et al.

F i g u r e 7 Macroscopic appearance of a crack in the section of

specimen nitrided for 15 h in T i - 6 A I - 4 V (2c = 1390 p.m, a = 133

p.m)
is shown in Figure 7. It can be seen from the figure
that the crack reached the core material, but its depth
a is only 133/zm; thus the aspect ratio a/c is extremely
small. The same phenomenon was observed in
Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3A1. These observations suggest that a
crack is initiated suddenly at a relatively large size or
grows rapidly in the surface layer. As this crack grew
into the core material and led to the final fracture,
premature crack initiation is primarily responsible for
the reduction in fatigue strength for the nitrided
materials.
There was a considerable difference in crack morphology on the specimen surface between the annealed
and nitrided materials. Cracks in the annealed materials
exhibit an extremely tortuous path due to the effect
of microstructure, while cracks in the nitrided materials
reveal a straight morphology without any deflections.

decrease with increasing surface crack length in the

annealed materials, while they are extremely small in
the N15 specimen immediately after crack initiation,
then increase rapidly with increasing surface crack
length and coincide with those of the annealed materials
in the region of the crack length of 2c~>3.2 mm.
The relationships between surface crack growth rate
dc/dN and maximum stress intensity factor (Kmax)C,
and crack growth rate into the bulk, da/dN, and
( g m a x ) A a r e represented in Figure 9. As the aspect
ratios in the N15 specimen were very difficult to obtain
for small crack size, it was assumed that they were
constant in that region, as shown by the broken line
in Figure 8. The aspect ratios for the N15 specimen
and the annealed materials were used for the N4
specimen and the specimen whose surface was removed
by electropolishing, respectively. The stress intensity
factor was calculated using an analytical solution by
Shiratori et al. 9 As can be seen from the figure, the
crack growth rates into the bulk, da/dN, are the same
for the nitrided and annealed materials (Figure 9b),
but the surface crack growth rates, dc/dN, for the
nitrided materials are significantly faster than those
for the annealed materials, indicating that the hard
nitrided layer can accelerate crack growth, which is
more noticeable at smaller crack size (Figure 9a).

SEM fractography
As a typical example, SEM images of the fracture
surfaces in Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI are shown in Figure
10. There is a clear difference between the nitrided
and annealed materials. In the annealed material,
radial markings from the crack initiation site are
observed and thus the crack is considered to grow
concentrically. In the nitrided material, markings
perpendicular to the specimen surface are observed,
indicating that the crack suddenly initiated at a
relatively large size and grew into the bulk. These
features in SEM appearance of the fracture surfaces
were also obtained in Ti-6A1-4V.

Crack growth behaviour

DISCUSSION

The aspect ratio is shown in Figure 8 as a function

of surface crack length for Ti-6AI-4V. The a/c values

As shown in Figure 5, although the fatigue limits were

slightly improved by nitriding, the overall fatigue
strength of the nitrided titanium alloys was reduced
compared with the corresponding annealed materials.
It has been reported that the fatigue strength of
Ti-6AI-4V alloy is decreased by nitriding 1,5'6. However, the reason for the reduction in fatigue strength
has not been clarified, because the emphasis was
placed on the improvement of wear resistance. Furthermore, the conditions under which the fatigue strength
of the reference comparison was obtained were unclear.
As nitriding has to perform for a long period at high
temperatures, the microstructure of the core materials
can be changed thereby. In general, the strength of
titanium alloys is sensitive to microstructure, and thus
when the effect of the nitrided layer is discussed,
comparison should be made with material subjected
to the same heat history as the nitrided materials. In
the present study, as the results for the nitrided
materials are compared with those of the corresponding
annealed materials with identical mierostructure and
grain size, the effect of nitriding can be evaluated
exactly. If the fatigue strength of the nitrided materials

1.0
o
o

"~

0.8
0.6
1)

~ 0.4
/

0.2

zx A4
[] A15

,J
---"

N15

10

Surface crack length 2c mm

Figure 8 Relationship
length in T i - 6 A I - 4 V

374

between

aspect

ratio and s u r f a c e

Fatigue, 1994, Vol 16, August

crack

Effect of gas nitriding on fatigue in titanium alloys: H. Shibata et al.

(9

~ 10-2
E
E
z

10-3

Ti-6AI-4V alloy
Rotating bending (R=-I)
cr =570MPa
zx

[]

A4
N4
A15
N15
Surface removal
for N15 (51z m)

(9

10-;
E
E

z"10 10-3

. . []

Ti-6AI-4V alloy
Rotating bending (R=-I)
cr =570MPa
A A4
N4
[] A15
N15
O Surface removal
for N15 (5/z m)

r-~
(9

10-4
t-

10 -5
0

"#

Ill

(9

10-4
t-"

,,,,,I

,,,,,I

[]

10-6

,,,,,

0.5 1
5 10
50
Maximum stress intensity factor
(Kmax)A MPa~m

C~

10-5

[]

10-~).

r-l

0.

i i nil

* * I 111

I i i

0,5 1
5 10
50
Maximum stress intensityfactor
(Kmax)C MPa~m

Figure 9 Crack growth behaviour in Ti-6AI-4V: (a) specimen surface; (b) deepest point

.........

Figure 10 SEM images of fracture surface in Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI:

(a) annealed material (A 60); (b) nitrided material (N 60)

is compared with that of STA, which is one of the

recommended heat treatments for Ti-6AI-4V, then
the nitrided materials show a large reduction (Figure

5a).

It is evident from the results for the specimen whose

surface was gradually removed by electropolishing that
the TiN layer and the harder solid-solution layer below
the specimen surface are strongly related to the
reduction in fatigue strength. Furthermore, the specimen's crack initiation behaviour was almost the same
as for the annealed materials (Figure 6) and the crack
shape just after crack initiation was extremely shallow
(Figure 7). Therefore, these results also indicate that
the nitrided layer is related to premature and unusual
crack initiation behaviour, which is responsible for the
reduction in fatigue strength of the nitrided materials,
in addition to the enhanced crack growth at early
stage.
The inferior crack initiation resistance of the nitrided
materials may be primarily attributed to the difference

in deformation between the nitrided layer and the

core material. As titanium alloys such as Ti-6AI-4V
and Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3A1 have high strengths and low
elastic modulus, very large elastic deformation occurs
during fatigue testing. The elastic modulus of the TiN
layer is two to six times that of the core materials,
and thus the TiN layer is under severe deformation
and subjected to high stress. When localized fatigue
deformation takes place at the surface of the core
material, brittle cracking results in the TiN layer and
the harder solid-solution layer. This is the unusual
crack initiation behaviour observed in the nitrided
materials. Therefore, the shape of a crack, once
initiated, becomes very shallow and subsequent growth
into the bulk occurs rapidly, because the crack shape
is stable (Figure 8).
For pure titanium in a previous report, the fatigue
crack initiaion of nitrided materials was delayed
compared with that of annealed materials, and this
was the main cause of improved fatigue strengths . The
strength of pure titanium was considerable lower than
that of Ti-6AI-4V or Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI, and thus
elastic deformation during fatigue test was small. In
this case, the nitrided layer can prevent the initiation
of slips and consequently enhance the initiation resistance of fatigue cracks. Therefore, it is concluded that
the role of the nitrided layer in crack initiation can
depend on the strength of materials.
CONCLUSIONS
Rotating bending fatigue tests were performed on
Ti-6AI-4V and Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al alloy, which were
nitrided at 850 C and 750 C respectively for given

Fatigue, 1994, Vol 16, August

375

Effect of gas nitriding on fatigue in titanium alloys: H. Shibata et al.

nitrided periods. The results obtained were compared
with those for annealed or untreated materials, and
the effect of nitriding on fatigue strength was discussed
on the basis of detailed observations on crack initiation,
crack growth and fracture surfaces. The following
conclusions can be made.
(1) The depth and hardness of the nitrided layer
increased with increasing nitriding period. The
depths of the nitrided layers obtained were 25/.~m
and 65/~m for 4 h and 15 h nitriding periods in
Ti-6AI-4V, and 130/zm and 200/zm for 20 h and
60 h nitriding periods in Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI.
(2) The fatigue limit was slightly improved by nitriding
for 4 h in Ti-6AI-4V and for 6 0 h in
Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI, while the fatigue strength was
reduced by nitriding for 15 h in the former alloy
and for 20 h in the latter.
(3) Premature fatigue crack initiation took place in
the nitrided materials; i.e. the initiation resistance
was significantly decreased by nitriding. Surface
observation indicated that in the nitrided materials
cracks were initiated suddenly with a relatively
large size.
(4) The reduction in fatigue strength of the nitrided
materials was primarily attributed to premature
fatigue crack initiation.
(5) The crack growth behaviour into the bulk in the
nitrided material was similar to that of the annealed
materials, while the growth rates at the specimen
surface, which directly reflected the effect of the
nitrided layer, were enhanced, especially at smaller
crack size.

376 Fatigue, 1994, Vol 16, August

(6) The role of the nitrided layer in fatigue crack

initiation depended on the strength of materials:
that is, the crack initiation resistance was lowered
by the nitrided layer if the strength of the
core material was high, as in Ti-6AI-4V and
Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3AI alloy, but was enhanced if the
strength was low, as in pure titanium.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank H. Sekiya, Y. Matsunaga
and C. Asahara for the nitriding treatment performed
in Gifu Prefectural Metal Research Institute. Thanks
are also due to Y. Kamiya and G. Hisamatsu for
assistance with the experiments.
REFERENCES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Bell, T., Bergmann, H. W, Lanagan, J., Morton, P.H. and

Staines, A.M. Surf. Eng. 1986, 2, 133
Yoshida,S. and Isono, J. Kikaishikensho-shoho 1956, 10, 78
(in Japanese)
Nakano,K., Yamamoto, S., Kobayashi, H. and Takamura,
A. Trans. Jpn Inst. Met. 1960, 24, 500 (in Japanese)
Takamura,A. Trans. Jpn Inst. Met 1960, 24, 565 (in Japanese)
Mitchell,E. and Brotherton, P.J.J. Inst. Met. 1965, 93, 381.
Mordike,B.L. and Bergmann, H.W. Mater. Res. Soc, Symp.
Proc. 1986, 58, 335
Vardiman,R.G. and Kant, R.A.J. Appl. Phys. 1982, 53,
690
Tokaji,K., Ogawa, T. and Shibata, H. Int. J. Fatigue 1994,
16, 331
Shiratori,M., Miyoshi,T., Sakai, Y. and Zhang, G.R. Trans.
Jpn Soc. Mech. Eng. 1987, 53, 779 (in Japanese)