International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321

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International Journal of Fatigue

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

Fatigue behavior and modeling of short fiber reinforced polymer

composites: A literature review
Seyyedvahid Mortazavian, Ali Fatemi ⇑
Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, The University of Toledo, 2801 West Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH 43606, USA

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

Article history: Applications of short fiber reinforced polymer composites (SFRPCs) have been rapidly increasing and
Received 7 July 2014 most of the components made of these materials are subjected to cyclic loading. Therefore, their fatigue
Received in revised form 25 September behavior and modeling have been of much interest in recent years. This literature review presents a broad
2014
review of the many factors influencing cyclic deformation, fatigue behavior, and damage development in
Accepted 9 October 2014
Available online 19 October 2014
SFRPCs. These include microstructural related effects as well as effects related to loading condition and
their service environment. Microstructural related effects include those related to fiber length, content
and orientation, surface treatment, and failure mechanisms. Cyclic deformation and softening, viscous
Keywords:
Short fiber polymer composite
characteristics, and dissipative response used to characterize and model their fatigue damage behavior
Thermoplastic and accumulation are discussed. The effects of stress concentrations and their gradient on fatigue behav-
Fatigue ior are also discussed, due to their significant influence. The effects related to the loading condition
Cyclic loading include mean stress effects which may be accompanied by cyclic creep, variable amplitude loading,
Deformation and multiaxial stress effects. Since fatigue behavior is substantially influenced by the testing frequency
with self-heating as the primary consequence of increased frequency, this effect is also investigated. Envi-
ronmental effects considered include the effects of moisture content and temperature, as well as thermo-
mechanical fatigue behavior. The effect of welded joints in manufactured components made of SFRPCs
and fatigue analysis and life estimation techniques used for such components are also included.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction discontinuous fiber composite depends on fiber length and orien-

Industrial application of short fiber reinforced polymer compos-
ites (SFRPCs) is rapidly growing due to their remarkable properties.
The capability to be molded in complex geometries, low manufac-
turing cost, high production rate, and significantly low weight to
strength ratio are among the interesting features of these compos-
ites. Fiber reinforced polymer composites are fabricated with con-
tinuous or discontinuous fiber reinforcements. Continuous fiber
composites have superior strength and stiffness over discontinu-
ous fiber composites. However, discontinuous fiber composites
are much less expensive to manufacture, are suitable for rapid
and high volume manufacturing, and are more easily reprocessed.
Discontinuous fibers with length of about 2 cm are referred to
as long fiber reinforcements and fibers with approximate length
on the order of 1 mm are categorized as short fiber reinforcements
[1]. Short fiber composites are more suitable for reprocessing com-
pared with long fiber composites. The mechanical performance of a
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +419 530 8213.
E-mail addresses: seyyedvahid.mortazavian@utoledo.edu (S. Mortazavian),
afatemi@eng.utoledo.edu (A. Fatemi).
tation distributions. To maximize mechanical properties, optimum
nominal fiber length to diameter ratio should be selected.
Injection molding is a cost effective and high volume processing
technique for SFRPCs. A fiber weight fraction of 20–40% and vol-
ume fraction of 10–25% is typically utilized, depending on the
length of the fibers and requirements. Glass, carbon, and boron
are some typical fiber reinforcements. Among these, glass is the
most common fiber and is being employed in almost 95% of fiber
reinforced plastics [1] due to its low cost, high strength, high
chemical resistance, and insulating properties. However, glass
fibers have low modulus, high density and hardness, and low fati-
gue strength. S-glass and E-glass are the two commonly used glass
fiber reinforcements. S-glass has a higher content of silica and
higher tensile strength, modulus, and fatigue performance, as com-
pared to E-glass [1]. The advantages of carbon fibers over glass
fibers are their higher strength and modulus, more dimensional
stability due to their low coefficient of thermal expansion, higher
thermal conductivity and fatigue strength. Low impact strength
is a disadvantage of carbon fibers. Boron fibers have good resis-
tance to buckling due to their large diameter. The modulus of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2014.10.005
0142-1123/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
298 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321

Nomenclature

a maximal relative stiffness loss Tg glass transition temperature

b characteristic energy density DT temperature change
c specific heat capacity Win inelastic strain energy density
d fiber diameter W_d dissipated energy density per unit time
D fatigue damage DW strain energy density range
E apparent stiffness Y thermodynamic force
E0 initial stiffness a material damage constant
E0 storage modulus b material damage constant
E00 loss modulus e strain
E⁄ stiffness in the 10th cycle ed strain amplitude
f cyclic frequency em0 mean strain rate
Hs,av average hysteretic energy loss for structural change h fiber orientation angle or stabilized temperature rise
K heat transfer coefficient heq equivalent temperature
Kt stress concentration factor q mass density
L specimen length r stress
lc critical fiber length r1 maximum absolute principal stress
n, N number of applied cycles r1,a normal stress in fiber direction
Q specific heat loss r1,fat longitudinal fatigue strength
R stress ratio r2,fat transverse fatigue strength
Sa, ra stress amplitude r3 minimum absolute principal stress
Sc creep rupture strength ra,n nominal stress amplitude
Sm, rm mean stress rf tensile fatigue limit
Smax, rmax maximum stress rfu fiber tensile strength
SNf fully-reversed fatigue strength rfat fatigue strength
Su, St, rUTS tensile strength rnom nominal stress
DS stress range s12,fat shear fatigue strength
DSED strain energy density range sa,n nominal shear stress amplitude
t time seq characteristic time
T temperature sf shear fatigue limit
tf fatigue lifetime sy shear stress at fiber–matrix interface

boron fibers is above glass and below carbon fibers, although they
are more costly than carbon fibers.
Thermoplastics and thermosets are the two main categories of
polymeric materials. Cross-linking in between individual mole-
cules of thermosets significantly changes their properties, as com-
pared with thermoplastics. Thermosets cannot be melted by heat.
Thermal stability, chemical and creep resistance are some advanta-
ges of thermosets and long fabrication time and low ductility are
their drawbacks [2]. In thermoplastics the polymer chains are not
chemically attached and they are held by secondary bonds or inter-
molecular forces. Therefore, with heating or cooling, weak second-
ary bonds can temporary break or restore in a new configuration,
resulting in reprocessability of thermoplastics. Higher impact
strength and ductility and shorter fabrication time are advantages
of thermoplastics over thermosets [2].
Polyamide (PA), polypropylene (PP), and thermoplastic polyes-
ters such as polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) are the most common thermoplastics, and
epoxy and thermoset polyesters are the most frequently used ther-
mosets. PAs are the most common thermoplastics processed with
short fiber reinforcement. High tensile strength, impact strength
and modulus, as well as improved bondability and ease of process-
ing are of characteristics of PAs. Dimensional instability and reduc-
tion of properties due to moisture absorption are the main
disadvantages of these thermoplastics. PP is a low weight polymer
with low degree of water absorption. It has good chemical resis-
tance and good insulator properties. One of the main difficulties
with PP is its low temperature brittleness where at 0 °C it becomes
brittle. PBT has high strength and stiffness, good dimensional sta-
bility, low water absorption, chemical resistivity, and good pro-
cessability. PET has high strength and modulus but low ductility.
It is widely used for packaging of materials and it is characterized
as a low gas and solvent permeable polymer [3,4].
In fiber composites, the boundary between fiber and matrix is
called the interface where a gradient of properties exists. Specific
mechanical properties can be obtained in the interface by treating
a subsurface with a silane, also called a coupling agent. Covalent
bonds can be formed by reaction of silane, which has an inorganic
composition, with either the finished polymer or in the copolymer-
ization process [5].
In automotive applications, under the hood is the harshest envi-
ronmental condition for plastic-based materials. During the nor-
mal working of the engine, the temperature reaches up to 130 °C,
which might be dropped down to 40 °C in winter. Plastic materi-
als undergo significant inelastic deformations at high temperatures
and, conversely, they behave in a brittle manner with considerable
increase in strength and stiffness at temperatures below the glass
transition temperature. Addition of fillers such as talc and rubber
impact modifiers significantly affects mechanical properties of
unfilled (or neat) plastic materials at all temperatures.
Cyclic loading occurs in most engineering applications and the
great majority of mechanical failures are attributed to this type
of loading. The cyclic behavior of SFRPCs has been discussed in sev-
eral studies. Due to the complexity and a high number of parame-
ters which affect the microstructure of these materials, cyclic
behavior has traditionally been evaluated through experiments,
although empirical relations have also been developed in a few
works.
Self-heating occurs under cyclic loading and makes character-
ization of SFRPCs under such loading challenging. Self-heating pri-
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321 299

marily depends on the viscoelastic nature of the matrix and is also

related to the frictional heating. Surface contact under crack clo-
sure condition in fatigue crack growth process and friction
between the fiber and the matrix are the main sources of frictional
heating in SFRPCs.
Geometric discontinuities such as holes, sharp corners, and
changes in the cross section area increase the local intensity of
the stress field. The stress field can be either uniaxial or multiaxial
with constant or variable loading amplitude. The aforementioned
conditions are common under service loads and their effects need
to be evaluated to avoid or minimize probability of fatigue failure.
This review aims to compile the information from the literature
on fatigue behavior of SFRPCs. This includes microstructural related
factors, damage development and modeling, loading conditions,
environmental effects, and fatigue of components. Cyclic deforma-
tion behavior of these materials is first discussed. The anisotropy
developed in the material during the fabrication process as well as
fiber length, surface treatment and variation and their effects on
fatigue performance are then considered. Fatigue damage mecha-
nisms and evolution from both macro-mechanical and micro-
mechanical points of view are discussed next. The effect of stress
ratio and mean stress models, as well as cycling frequency effect
on fatigue behavior of SFRPCs are then discussed. Other effects dis-
cussed in this review include those of stress concentrations, accu-
mulation of fatigue damage under variable amplitude loading, and
multiaxial states of stress. This is followed by a discussion of envi-
ronmental effects including humidity or moisture and temperature,
as well as thermo-mechanical fatigue. Fatigue behavior of some
components made of SFRPCs is also briefly reviewed. The emphasis
of this review is on fatigue crack initiation behavior of synthetic
short fiber reinforced polymer composites, mainly processed with
injection molding and mostly used in automotive applications due
to their cost effective and high volume production features.

2. Cyclic deformation behavior
In studying the cyclic behavior of materials, it is common to
develop a cyclic stress–strain curve. A set of stabilized hysteresis
loops at different strain amplitudes is typically used to establish
this curve [6]. Wang and Chim [7] investigated cyclic deformation
behavior of short glass fiber polyester composite with random fiber
orientation under tension–tension loading. Due to initiation and
growth of microcracks during cycling, a stable hysteresis loop
was not reached and continuous cyclic softening was observed,
as shown in Fig. 1(a). Cyclic stress–strain curves were obtained
at different cycles, as shown in Fig. 1(b). In matrix-dominant areas
with less dispersed fibers, cracks were formed normal to the load-
ing direction. In fiber-dominant areas, cracks were detected in
matrix and along the interfacial bonding for aligned and off-axis
fibers, respectively.
Launay et al. [8] studied cyclic behavior of a short glass fiber
reinforced polyamide-6.6. Sinusoidal displacement amplitude in a
tensile mode resulting in strain less than 0.1% was applied to the
specimens machined in the mold flow direction. Viscoelastic
parameters including the storage modulus and the phase-lag were
recorded for a wide range of frequencies (0–500 Hz) and tempera-
ture (50 to 250 °C). Viscous characteristics increased as the fre-
quency increased and no dissipative peak was observed.
Temperature strongly influenced the viscoelastic behavior with
two dissipative peaks. The first peak was at the glass transition
temperature of the material and the second peak was due to fusion
of the crystalline phase at about 250 °C. Cyclic creep and tension
relaxation recovery tests were also performed to evaluate long
term viscosity effects. The Armstrong–Frederick kinematic harden-
ing law was fitted to the data to predict the residual plastic strains.
Fig. 1. Stress-controlled cyclic deformation response (a) and variation of cyclic
stress–strain curve with cycling (b) for a randomly oriented short glass fiber
polyester composite [7].
Cyclic deformation behavior was also evaluated in [8] through
conducting cyclic tension–tension stress- and strain-controlled
tests. Due to stress relaxation mechanism, a compressive stress
developed in the strain-controlled test, although it was under the
tension–tension straining condition. With decreasing the stress
rate in stress-controlled tests, larger hysteresis loops were observed
due to short term viscosity. Cyclic softening occurred in both stress-
and strain-controlled tests. This phenomenon was attributed to
physical sources such as transformation of semi-crystalline matrix,
formation of voids at the fiber ends or matrix, and fiber–matrix deb-
onding. Apparent stiffness evolution as a measure of cyclic soften-
ing was correlated with inelastic energy density as:
E ¼ E0 ½1  að1  eW in =b Þ ð1Þ
where E0 is the initial stiffness, E is the apparent stiffness, a is the
maximal relative stiffness loss (%), b is a characteristic energy den-
sity, and Win is the inelastic strain energy density.
Launay et al. [9] developed a nonlinear constitutive model for
cyclic behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 based
on the theory of standard generalized materials. This theory is
described by the elastic energy density and a dissipation potential
with the application in finite strain elastoplasticity [10,11]. Evolu-
tion of the mechanical response during the fatigue cycles showed
that 20 cycles is sufficient for stabilization of some macroscopic
quantities such as the viscoplastic strain increment and the
300 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
dissipated energy density. The model was validated for different
loading histories and fiber orientations.
Janzen and Ehrenstein [12] characterized cyclic stress and strain
sensitivity of short glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthal-
ate specimens with axis in the mold flow direction with fiber con-
tents ranging between 15 and 44 wt%. Stepwise load-controlled
and strain-controlled tests were conducted under R = 0.01 condi-
tion. Damping was defined as the ratio of the lost or dissipated
energy (i.e. the area of hysteresis loop) to the strain energy. The
dissipated energy mechanisms include viscoelastic deformation,
crack formation and grow, and friction and wear. Damping was
plotted against the maximum applied stress and maximum applied
strain in load-controlled and strain-controlled tests, respectively.
At lower stress/strain levels, damping increased linearly with
stress/strain. Increasing the maximum applied stress/strain, damp-
ing increased abruptly at a specific stress/strain level. This level
was characterized as cyclic stress/strain sensitivity. The stress sen-
sitivity increased with fiber weight fraction, but the strain sensitiv-
ity showed a decrease with increasing the fiber weight fraction.
3. Anisotropy effects due to fiber orientation
The injection molding process is widely used to produce
SFRPCs. During the injecting process, the complex flow field in
the cavity controls the orientation of fibers and introduces anisot-
ropy in SFRPCs [13]. Factors influencing the orientation distribu-
tion of fibers consist of the geometry of fibers (i.e. fiber aspect
ratio and cross section geometry), the viscoelastic behavior of
matrix which depends on glass transition, melt and mold temper-
atures, and shape or geometry of the component [14]. Orientation
distribution of fibers is one of the main parameters influencing the
mechanical properties of SFRPCs.
A common technique in evaluating the effect of anisotropy is to
use test specimens in different locations and at different orienta-
tions with respect to the injection molding flow direction. Anisot-
ropy can also be evaluated by characterizing the orientation
distribution of fibers throughout the thickness. Vélez-García [15]
evaluated the orientation distribution of fibers in injection molded
short glass fiber polymers using surface imaging techniques. A
detailed sample preparation procedure was developed to avoid dis-
turbing the fibers and to obtain high quality images from polished
surfaces.
Horst and Spoormaker [16] evaluated axial load-controlled fati-
gue behavior of a short glass fiber polyamide-6. Tension–tension
tests were performed under the stress ratio of R = 0.1 with speci-
mens in the mold flow direction. They found the fatigue strength
to depend on the location of the specimen in the injection molded
plaques. Fatigue strength increased about 50% from the middle to
the edge of the rectangular plaques. This effect was attributed to
different orientation distributions of fibers in the edge and middle
of the injection mold plaques. A shell and core morphology exists
in injection molded SFRPCs where the mid-thickness (core layer)
is between two near the wall layers (shell layers). In the core layer
the majority of fibers are oriented perpendicular to the mold flow
direction, while in the shell layers fibers are mainly oriented in line
with the mold flow direction, as seen in Fig. 2 from [17]. It was also
observed that the core layer is thinner in specimens taken from the
edge of a plaque compared to specimens taken from the middle.
The formation of core layer is due to uniform profile of velocity
in this layer and no shear orientation which results in displace-
ment of polymer melt perpendicular to the mold flow direction
[18]. It was found that, regardless of the specimen location, the
fatigue strength is directly proportional to the tensile strength.
Arif et al. [19] employed the X-ray micro-computed tomogra-
phy technique to evaluate the fiber orientation distribution of
short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6. Three sets of layers
were observed across the thickness of the material, consisting of
surface, shell, and core layers. In the surface layers fiber orientation
was slightly random. Shell layers, as the dominant layers, showed
highly oriented fibers in the mold flow direction. A thin core layer
was also formed which most of its fibers were perpendicular to the
mold flow direction. In axial load-controlled fatigue test of speci-
mens machined perpendicular to the mold flow direction and
tested under the R = 0.1 condition, damage mainly developed in
the interfacial bonding of the fiber and the matrix, although matrix
microcracks were dominant at the core layer.
Zago and Springer [20] investigated axial fatigue behavior of a
short glass fiber co-polyamide with samples machined in the mold
flow direction. Fatigue strengths normalized by the tensile
strength were similar for both 2 mm and 4 mm thickness samples,
as shown in Fig. 3. They collapsed fatigue strengths normalized by
the tensile strength for this material and other SFRPCs from the lit-
erature on a master equation, given by:
Sa
¼ A  B log Nf ð2Þ
Su
where A and B are constants which depend on R ratio with A = 1.078
and B = 0.133 for the R = 0 loading condition and A = 0.986 and
B = 0.136 for the R = 1 loading condition.
Yau and Chou [21] evaluated bending fatigue behavior of sev-
eral randomly oriented short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics.
Considered thermoplastics included polyetherimide (PEI), poly-
ether sulphone (PES), and PEEK and were reinforced by 30 wt%
short glass fibers. Specimens were tested under the fully-reversed
load-controlled condition. Tensile strength of PEI was higher than
PEEK and PES. However, fatigue strength of PEEK was considerably
higher than PEI and PES composites and no correlation was found
between fatigue strength and tensile strength of these composites.
Zhou and Mallick [22] studied the effect of specimen orienta-
tion on axial fatigue of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6.
Stress-controlled tests were conducted under R = 0.1 condition on
both longitudinal and transverse specimens. Fatigue strength in
the transverse direction was about 50% lower than that in the lon-
gitudinal direction, as shown in Fig. 4.
Cosmi and Bernasconi [23] conducted an experimental study on
axial fatigue behavior of edge-notched specimens made of short
glass fiber polyamide-6. Load-controlled fatigue tests were carried
out under the R = 0.1 condition with mold direction longitudinal
and transverse to the specimen axis. The longitudinal specimens
showed higher fatigue strength than the transverse specimens, as
shown in Fig. 5. The cell method [24] was applied over a 5 mm por-
tion of specimen gage section in the vicinity of the notch to
develop a relationship between the fiber orientation and the elastic
material properties. Material properties in each cell of the mesh
were scaled based on properties of fiber and matrix and elastic
material properties were computed by simulation.
Guster et al. [25] studied axial fatigue behavior of a composite
made of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6T/6I using stress-
controlled tests under the R = 0.1 condition on longitudinal and
transverse specimens at several temperatures. Fatigue strength in
the transverse specimen was significantly lower than the fatigue
strength of the longitudinal specimens at each temperature. The
slopes of the S–N curves were also steeper in the transverse sam-
ples, as compared to the longitudinal samples at each temperature,
as can be seen from Fig. 6.
Brunbauer et al. [26] studied effects of fiber orientation on ten-
sile and bending fatigue behaviors of short glass fiber reinforced
polyamide-6.6 with specimen axis in 0° and 90° directions with
respect to the mold flow direction. As specimen angle increased
from 0° to 90° and temperature increased from 23 °C to 150 °C, fati-
gue strength decreased. Specimen with a gage length of 80 mm
showed higher fatigue strength as compared with specimen with
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
Fig. 2. SEM micrograph of fracture surface (a) with higher magnification of shell layer (b) and core layer (c) for a short carbon fiber composite [17].
Fig. 3. Stress amplitude normalized by tensile strength versus cycles to failure for a
short glass fiber co-polyamide using 2 mm and 4 mm thickness specimens
machined in the mold flow direction and tested under R = 0 condition [20].
20 mm gage length, due to more fiber alignment in load direction.
Slope of S–N curves was found to be independent of temperature,
specimen angle and geometry. Due to the stress gradient effect,
flexural fatigue strength was 40% higher than tensile fatigue
strength.
Wang et al. [27] studied the effect of specimen size on axial
R = 0.1 load-controlled fatigue behavior of random short glass fiber
epoxy composite. Specimens of nine different sizes with test sec-
tions ranging from 7.5 to 22.5 cm in length and 1.25 to 5 cm in
width were tested. Shorter and wider specimens with length to
specimen width ratio of equal or less than three provided higher
fatigue strength.
De Monte et al. [28] investigated load-controlled axial fatigue
behavior of a short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6. Tension–
tension loads were applied under R = 1 and R = 0 conditions to
1 mm and 3 mm thickness specimens machined in 0°, 30°, and
301
Fig. 4. Effect of the specimen orientation and weld line on fatigue behavior of short
glass fiber polyamide-6.6 tested at room temperature under R = 0.1 loading
condition [22].
90° directions. Material anisotropy was not evident for the 3 mm
thickness samples, whereas by increasing the specimen off-axis
angle, a significant fatigue strength reduction was observed in
the 1 mm thickness samples. This effect was observed for both
fully-reversed and R = 0 conditions, as shown in Fig. 7 for the
R = 0 condition. The anisotropic material response was found to
be less pronounced under cyclic loading rather than quasi-static
loading. This effect was even more significant with increasing the
specimen thickness. The authors also explain the possible cause
of this phenomenon to be that in the high cycle regime, damage
302 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
Fig. 5. Effects of the injection molding direction on fatigue behavior of notched
short glass fiber polyamide-6 specimens under R = 0.1 loading condition [23].
Fig. 6. Effects of testing temperature and specimen orientation on fatigue behavior
of a short glass fiber polyamide-6T/6I obtained from tests under R = 0.1 loading
condition [25]. k1 values on the graph are reciprocals of the slope of S–N lines.
process is controlled by the weakest region across the thickness
(i.e. the core layer). As a result, the entire cross section does not
uniformly influence the damage process under cyclic loading.
However, Bernasconi et al. [29] found a significant anisotropy
effect in 3.2 mm thickness specimens made of short glass fiber
reinforced polyamide-6 (see Fig. 8(a)).
Bernasconi et al. [29] performed an experimental study on axial
fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6 using
load-controlled fatigue tests under R = 0.1 condition. Specimens
were machined in different directions relative to the mold flow
direction (0°, 30°, 60°, and 90°). The fatigue strength decreased with
increasing the specimen angle and the S–N curves were nearly par-
allel for different orientation angles, as seen from Fig. 8(a). Fatigue
strengths were proportional to the corresponding tensile strength
values. A good correlation of data at different mold flow directions
was obtained by normalizing with the tensile strength, as can be
seen from Fig. 8(b). They suggested the use of Tsai–Hill criterion
[30] to relate fatigue strength to the specimen orientation:
"
2 4 2
#12
cos2 ðhÞðcos2 ðhÞ  sin ðhÞÞ sin ðhÞ cos2 ðhÞ sin ðhÞ
rfat ðhÞ ¼ þ 2 þ ð3Þ
r21;fat ðNÞ r2;fat ðNÞ s212;fat ðNÞ
where r1,fat(N), r2,fat(N), and s12,fat(N) are the experimental fatigue
strengths for a specimen life of N cycles. r1,fat(N) and r2,fat(N) were
Fig. 7. Effect of the specimen orientation on fatigue behavior of 1 mm thickness (a)
and 3 mm thickness (b) specimens of short glass fiber polyamide-6.6 tested at room
temperature under R = 0 loading condition [28].
determined by the S–N curves for specimens taken in 0° and 90°,
respectively, and s12,fat(N) was obtained by minimizing the devia-
tion of calculations for 30° or 60° fatigue strengths utilizing Eq.
(3), as seen in Fig. 8(c). De Monte et al. [28] also fitted the Tsai–Hill
criterion to their fatigue data of short glass fiber reinforced polyam-
ide-6.6 tested at three different fiber orientations with respect to
the mold flow direction.
4. Fiber length, surface treatment and variation effects
In short fiber composites, the applied load transfers from the
matrix to the fibers through the fiber ends and the fiber–matrix
interface. The transferability of the load from the matrix to the
fiber strongly depends on the fiber length. The critical fiber length,
lc, at and beyond which the maximum fiber stress is achievable is
defined as [30]:
rfu d
lc ¼ ð4Þ
2sy
where rfu is the tensile strength of the fiber, d is the diameter of the
fiber, and sy is the shear stress at the cylindrical fiber–matrix inter-
face. For composites with fibers shorter than the critical length, the
fiber may not be stressed but concentrate the local stress in the
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321 303

age fiber lengths in the ranges of 0.16–0.28 mm and 1.18–1.37 mm.

For these composites, the critical fiber length is in the range of 0.6–
1.1 mm. For each of the considered materials, in LCF regime, the
longer fiber composite displayed superior axial fatigue strength
than the shorter fiber composite, since the stress level was high
enough to induce fiber breakage. However, in HCF regime, axial fati-
gue strengths of short and long fiber composites were the same,
because under low stresses the failure is mainly characterized by
matrix or fiber–matrix debonding. Influence of the fiber length on
flexural fatigue behavior was observed in both low and high cycle
regions, with superior fatigue strength for the longer fiber compos-
ites. Under the flexural fatigue condition, various levels of fiber
breakage and fiber debonding were observed due to tensile and
compression stresses at the outer regions of the specimens.
Lavengood and Gulbransen [32] evaluated the effect of fiber
aspect ratio on three point flexural fatigue behaviors of a short
boron fiber epoxy composite stressed in the mold flow direction.
Fatigue life was shown to be strongly dependent on the fiber aspect
ratio with fatigue life rapidly increasing with increasing the aspect
ratio up to of 200, and then reaching a plateau, as shown in Fig. 9.
Matrix crazing was found to originate at the fiber ends and grow
along the fiber interface. In addition to crazing, fiber brittle failure
in 45° direction with respect to fiber length was also observed.
Meneghetti et al. [33] studied the effect of fiber length on axial
fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP).
Fully-reversed load-controlled fatigue tests were conducted with
two different nominal fiber lengths of 1 mm and 10 mm. The mea-
surement of fiber length was performed after molding process by
using a metrological computed tomography system and average
fiber lengths of 0.72 and 3.43 mm were reported. Degradation of
fiber length after processing was attributed to interaction between
fibers and matrix, screw, barrel, nozzle, runners and gates. Fatigue
strength of the short fiber PP was higher than the long fiber PP due
to more scattered fiber orientation for longer fiber specimens.
Scanning electron microscopy indicated fiber–matrix deboning as
the predominant fatigue damage mechanism for both the short
and the long fiber composites.
Subramanian and Senthilvelan [34] investigated the effect of
fiber length on hysteresis heating of a short glass fiber polypropyl-
ene composite. Axial displacement-controlled tests were carried
out under R = 0 condition in the mold flow direction. Two compos-
ites with average fiber lengths of 0.28 and 1.38 mm were considered.

Fig. 8. Effect of specimen orientation on fatigue behavior (a), fatigue data

normalized by tensile strength (b), and Tsai–Hill criterion and fatigue data as a
function of fiber orientation angle (c) for 3.2 mm thickness samples of short glass
fiber reinforced polyamide-6 under R = 0.1 loading condition [29].

matrix. The initial length of fibers can be reduced during the mold-
ing process depending on the chosen fiber type and length, the fiber
volume fraction, the geometry of mold, and the processing condi-
tion. Grove and Kim [31] conducted an experimental study on axial
and flexural fatigue behaviors of a short glass fiber polyamide-6 and
Fig. 9. Fatigue life versus fiber aspect ratio for applied stresses of 60%, 70%, 80% and
a short glass fiber polypropylene with fibers in the mold flow direc- 90% of the tensile strength for a short boron fiber epoxy composite with specimens
tion. Each of these materials was fabricated with two different aver- machined in the mold flow direction [32].
304 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
For neat thermoplastics, the temperature rise is only due to the hys-
teresis heating in the matrix. For reinforced thermoplastics, the
presence of fibers and fiber–matrix interfaces increases the gener-
ated heat in composites due to stress concentration effect at the fiber
ends and friction between fiber and matrix. In a fixed volume of
material, a composite with lower average fiber length has larger
number of fiber ends as compared to a composite with higher aver-
age fiber length. As a result, higher temperature rise due to the fric-
tional heating was observed in the composite with shorter fiber
length, compared to the composite with longer fiber length.
Takahara et al. [35] studied fully-reversed axial strain-con-
trolled fatigue behavior of a neat and 30 wt% randomly oriented
short glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate. The effect
of fiber surface modification was evaluated utilizing a silane cou-
pling agent. Surface modified glass fiber composite displayed
higher fatigue strength than the unmodified glass fiber composite
by 15%. This effect was attributed to the strengthening of weak
interfacial bonding in the surface unmodified glass fiber composite.
The generated heat under fatigue loading was always higher in the
composite with surface unmodified glass fibers compared to the
composite with surface modified glass fibers. This was attributed
to more fiber–matrix debonding resulting from the concentration
of the stress near surface unmodified fibers.
Yamashita et al. [36] studied effect of fiber surface treatment
consuming an amino silane coupling agent on fully-reversed axial
strain-controlled fatigue strength of short glass fiber reinforced
polyamide-6. It was concluded that the short glass fibers with
unmodified surface act as stress concentrators and reduce the fati-
gue life of the composite.
Mandell et al. [37] investigated effects of matrix and interface
properties on axial fatigue behavior of short glass fiber and short
carbon fiber thermoplastic composites. Performances of a brittle
matrix system, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), and two ductile matrix
systems, polyamide-6.6 (PA 6.6) and polyether ether ketone
(PEEK), were studied. Specimen axis was in the mold flow direction
and they were tested under R = 0.1 load-controlled condition. In
glass fiber PPS composite with good interfacial bonding, behavior
was fiber dominated, while in carbon fiber PPS behavior of com-
posite was dominated by matrix. They also concluded that in a
ductile matrix, yielding or necking of the matrix is the major failure
mechanism and, thereby, ductile matrix is dominant in fatigue
behavior of composites with perfect interfacial bonding, such as
PA6.6, with either glass or carbon fibers. S–N fatigue data of neat
Fig. 10. Normalized S–N data for an unreinforced polyamide-6.6, a short glass fiber
polyamide-6.6, and a short carbon fiber polyamide-6.6 obtained from tests under
R = 0.1 loading condition at frequencies of 1–2 Hz [37].
and glass and carbon fiber PA6.6 composites collapsed on a single
curve (see Fig. 10) when normalized with tensile strength. Fatigue
fracture surface of glass fiber PEEK composite indicated a poorly
bonded system. S–N data of this composite converged to the fati-
gue strength of neat PEEK in HCF regime, but significant difference
in LCF regime was observed. Converge of fatigue strength in HCF
was attributed to loss of glass fiber reinforcements due to the
breaking of interfacial bonding. Polysulfone matrix and its glass
and carbon reinforced composites showed a transition in S–N
curves due to different failure mechanisms at high and low stress
levels. In HCF and LCF regimes, failure mechanism was character-
ized by crazing and matrix yielding, respectively.
In the study of Janzen and Ehrenstein [12] on R = 0.01 fatigue of
short glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate specimens
with axis in the mold flow direction mentioned earlier, effects of
fiber content was studied. LCF strength increased with increasing
the fiber weight fraction from 15 to 44 wt%. However, in HCF
regime, fatigue strengths were nearly the same for different fiber
contents. The ratio of shell to core layer thicknesses were 7.3,
5.6, and 3 for 15, 27, and 44 wt% fiber, respectively. As the fiber
content increased the fiber alignment in shell layers increased.
Fotouh and Wolodko [38] studied axial load-controlled fatigue
behavior of short hemp fiber with high density polyethylene com-
posite. Specimens axis was in the injection molding direction and
tests were performed under R = 0.1 condition. Increasing the fiber
content from 0 to 40 wt%, the S–N line slope was nearly constant
and fatigue strength improved slightly. Hence, fatigue behavior
was matrix dominant and S–N curves were normalized by the ten-
sile strength. An empirical fatigue life estimation model was devel-
oped considering the effects of frequency, stress ratio, fiber volume
fraction, and moisture.
5. Micro-damage mechanisms
Under axial or bending fatigue loading, similar fatigue damage
mechanisms have been reported in different studies. Matrix rup-
ture, fiber debonding, and crazing are the most common fatigue
failure mechanisms in SFRPCs. These mechanisms cause initiation
and growth of micro- and macro-cracks prior to fracture.
Zhou et al. [39] conducted an experimental study on four-point
bending fatigue behavior of short glass fibers with a blend of poly-
phenylene ether ketone and polyphenylene sulfide. Specimens
with axis along the fiber direction were tested under R = 0.1, 0.3,
and 0.5 load-controlled conditions. In S–N curves, a shift in the
slope between low and high cycle regimes was observed. This shift
was attributed to a transition in the fatigue failure mechanism. At
high stress levels, failure was mainly due to matrix rupture or fiber
debonding, whereas at low stress levels crack propagation caused
the failure. No influence of frequency was observed in the fre-
quency range of 0.89–7 Hz.
In the study of Horst and Spoormaker [16] on axial load-con-
trolled fatigue testing of a short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-
6 under the R = 0.1 condition on specimens in the mold flow direc-
tion mentioned previously, material behaved in a ductile manner
due to 1.5% absorbed water after about one year. Under cyclic load-
ing, fiber ends debonding occurred due to the presence of stress
concentrations and shear stresses at the fiber ends. As a result of
unloading of fiber ends, load increases on the matrix. Because the
lateral contraction of matrix is restricted due to the bonding with
surrounded fibers, the interface undergoes tensile stresses. There-
fore, they concluded the tensile strength of the interface is of
importance, in addition to the shear strength of the interface.
Casado et al. [40] assessed fatigue damage mechanism of a short
glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 through surface roughness
evolution. Specimens were machined in the mold flow direction
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
and tested under axial load-controlled tension–tension condition.
Evolutions of both the deformation rate and surface roughness
were recorded throughout the test. Three different stages were
identified. Stage I was characterized by a decrease of the strain rate
with no development of crazing. A constant strain rate along with
uniform development of crazes and an increase of strain rate with
formation of the main crack were considered as stages II and III,
respectively. Fatigue damage evolution was quantified by measur-
ing the degree of specimen surface roughness. As the stress ampli-
tude decreased, the level of roughness increased due to increased
craze formations at lower stress levels. A linear proportional rela-
tionship between the temperature rise and the surface roughness
was also observed.
Hitchen and Ogin [41] investigated fatigue damage mechanism
of a mold flow oriented short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6 in
axial load-controlled tests under the R = 0.1 condition. The core–
shell morphology was clearly visible throughout the 1 mm speci-
men thickness where the shell comprised 80% of the thickness of
the specimen. Samples containing both shell and core layers
showed a modulus reduction throughout the test. A lower modulus
reduction was revealed for samples machined from the shell layer.
It was, therefore, concluded that the overall modulus reduction is a
consequence of damage in both layers. Formation of cracks was
evident in the core layer, but no such cracks were observed in
the shell layers. These cracks were perpendicular to the loading
direction and propagated to the core–shell boundary, where they
stopped. The stop of crack growth in the boundary was related to
the oriented fibers in shell layers restricting the growth of cracks.
Microscopy of the shell layers showed a limited number of frac-
tured fibers. Since unreinforced polyamide-6 did not show any
stiffness reduction under cyclic loading, it was concluded that fiber
fracture or matrix failure could not be the cause of damage evolu-
tion in shell layers. The accumulation of damage in this layer was
attributed to fiber–matrix debonding.
Kabir et al. [42] proposed that short fiber composite fatigue fail-
ure occurs as a result of the accumulation of statistically distrib-
uted flaws in both fiber and interfacial bonding. They suggested a
fatigue damage model based on the statistical microscopic Weibull
damage law. The evolution of damage was quantified and com-
pared with the experimental data of a randomly oriented short
glass fiber reinforced polypropylene. Even though matrix cracking
was not considered as a failure mechanism, good agreement was
found between the model and the experimental results.
In the study of Brunbauer et al. [26] on effects of fiber orienta-
tion on R = 0.1 axial and bending fatigue behavior of short glass
fiber polyamide-6.6 mentioned earlier, matrix brittle failure and
fiber pull-out were observed in mold flow oriented samples,
whereas in samples perpendicular to the mold flow direction brit-
tle fracture surface was observed. Also, as temperature increased, a
more crazed and fibril structure was observed.
6. Fatigue damage development and modeling
Various mechanical parameters based on dissipative response of
SFRPCs have been used to characterize and model damage accumu-
lation and fatigue life estimation under cyclic loading. Progressions
of the hysteresis loop, strain energy, nonlinear viscoelasticity, and
hysteretic energy dissipation are the typical mechanical parameters
used.
6.1. Evolution of hysteresis loop
Changes in the shape of the stress–strain hysteresis loop indi-
cate a thermodynamically irreversible damage in the material.
Evolutions of either the size or the slope of hysteresis loop are
305
common changes that occur in composite materials. The Wang
and Chim study mentioned earlier [7], investigated cyclic degrada-
tion in random short glass fiber polyester composite. Continuing
the cyclic loading caused crack initiation and growth and conse-
quently increase in the size of hysteresis loops (see Fig. 1(a)). Based
on the experimental results, a damage parameter was introduced
to quantify the fatigue damage as:
E
D¼1 ð5Þ
E
where E⁄ is the stiffness of the 10th cycle and E is the stiffness in
cycle N. A linear relationship between the rate of damage and fati-
gue life was obtained in log–log scale, expressed as:
dD
¼ AðDÞNB ð6Þ
dN
where B is the slope of the curve which was found to have a poly-
nomial relationship with maximum stress, and A is related to the
damage rate in a reference state during cycling. Fatigue life is then
obtained by integrating Eq. (6).
In the study of De Monte et al. [28] mentioned earlier, stiffness
degradation in a short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 was
also used for fatigue damage evolution. Under the fully-reversed
loading condition, variations of tensile and compressive moduli
with applied cycles are different. This is due to more damage
occurring in tensile mode than in compression. They also mention
that, in some cases, the hysteresis loops cannot fully characterize
the fatigue damage progression because fatigue is a local phenom-
enon and the hysteresis loops are measured in the middle part of
the specimen.
Wang et al. [43] developed a constitutive equation for effective
elastic properties of the damaged material based on self-consistent
mechanics theory, which is an approximate method for treating an
inhomogeneous system. In determining the effective elastic prop-
erties of the damaged material, probability density functions for
crack length and orientation are used. The effective elastic proper-
ties are then substituted in Eq. (5) to obtain the fatigue damage
parameter. A good agreement between the theory and experiments
was obtained.
Wang et al. [44] evaluated shear fatigue degradation in random
short glass fiber reinforced polyester. Load-controlled tests were
performed on a double V-shaped notched specimen under pure
shear fatigue loading. As the number of cycles increased, the slope
of hysteresis loops decreased and their size enlarged. A shear fati-
gue damage parameter was then developed, similar to Eq. (5), by
substituting the shear modulus for the Young’s modulus.
Klimkeit et al. [45] evaluated the fatigue damage propagation in
a short glass fiber reinforced with a blend of polybutylene tere-
phthalate and polyethylene terephthalate. Specimens were
machined in the longitudinal and transverse directions. Axial
load-controlled fatigue tests were conducted under R = 0.1 and
R = 1 conditions. In the longitudinal direction, the evolution of
hysteresis loops at R = 1 was nearly unaffected by the fatigue
loading, although a small drop of stiffness was observed in the
transverse direction. In the case of R = 0.1 loading, the hysteresis
loops translated along the strain axis, reflecting considerable cyclic
creep, which was more pronounced in the transverse direction.
Cyclic stiffness decreased, while the mean strain and damping
increased with continued cycling. They observed that the fatigue
life was not governed by the propagation of a single macroscopic
crack, as a single crack appeared in the last 5% of the total life.
Micro-cracking at fiber ends and around the fibers were predomi-
nant failure mechanisms observed in the material. These mecha-
nisms result from the stress concentrations at the fiber ends and
the spatial distribution of fibers in the matrix.
306 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
Hour and Sehitoglu [46] studied the fatigue damage develop-
ment of a short glass fiber composite with a mix of polyester, cal-
cium carbonate, and some other additives. Axial strain-controlled
tests were conducted under R = 0 condition and axial load-con-
trolled loading conditions were used under R = 0 and R = 0.46
conditions. Significant scatter was observed in strain-controlled
tests, compared to the load-controlled tests. This was attributed
to stress relaxation in the first few cycles of strain-controlled tests,
the level of which varied in different tests under the same loading
conditions. The evolution of hysteresis loops for axial stress versus
axial, lateral, and thickness strains indicated anisotropic character-
istics of the damage accumulation in such materials. In stress-con-
trolled tests, the thickness strain was initially compressive and
gradually increased in the tensile direction. Therefore, the thick-
ness strain was found to have direct relationship with the damage
state in the material.
Hoppel [47] evaluated fatigue modulus reduction of a short
glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic under axial load-controlled
R = 0.1 condition. ‘‘Fatigue modulus’’ was defined as the slope of
a line from the maximum stress–strain point to the origin. Fatigue
damage (moduli reductions) was accumulated at three stages char-
acterized by a rapid damage growth, a steady state damage growth,
and a rapid damage growth prior to failure.
Esmaeillou et al. [48] studied fatigue damage development of a
short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 under axial stress-con-
trolled R = 0.1 cyclic loading conditions. Evolution of Young’s mod-
ulus along with the specimen surface temperature showed three
stages during the fatigue life. These three stages consisted of a
decrease in the modulus with an increase in the temperature, pla-
teaus for both the modulus and the temperature, and a drop in the
modulus with elevating the temperature. It was concluded that
fatigue damage development was possible only after stabilization
of the temperature and modulus. The last two stages disappeared
with increasing the level of applied stress and thermal failure
was observed. Micro-ductile areas were observed around the fibers
from scanning electron microscopy of the fractured surfaces. The
size of these micro-ductile areas was related to the maximum
applied stress and these areas disappeared at higher stresses.
In the study of Meneghetti et al. [33] mentioned earlier, under
R = 1 loading condition the stiffness reduction occurred mainly
in tension and stiffness was nearly constant in compression. The
area inside the midlife hysteresis loop, as a measure of total
mechanical energy loss in the material, was utilized to correlate
the stress-life data. This parameter synthesized data in a single
scatter band. The hysteresis energy loss was found to be almost
the same for frequencies of 3 and 22 Hz. As a result, the dissipated
energy due to viscoelasticity was negligible relative to the total
hysteresis energy.
6.2. Strain energy
Strain energy is a common parameter for qualifying damage of
homogeneous isotropic materials such as metallic alloys and elas-
tomers. Lazzarin and Zambardi [49] suggested a strain energy den-
sity (SED) based method for estimating fatigue life of a linear
elastic isotropic material by averaging the SED over a control vol-
ume. This method was extended to SFRPCs [50]. It was assumed
that high cycle fatigue failure occurs if the average SED over a con-
trol volume around the notch tip under a linear elastic field
exceeds a critical value. Due to the presence of notch in specimens
the state of stress is multiaxial and the distribution of SED was
computed by FEA. Fatigue data from load-controlled notched tests
of short glass fiber polyamide-6.6 with five different notch radii
and two different load ratios [51] collapsed on a narrow scatter
band by using this parameter, as shown in Fig. 11.
Fig. 11. Axial fatigue data of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 at room
temperature [51] rearranged in terms of averaged strain energy density over a
control volume [50].
Ladeveze and LeDantec [52] developed a phenomenological
fatigue damage model for laminate composites in the framework
of continuum damage mechanics. The parameter introduced ear-
lier in Eq. (5) in terms of stiffness reduction to characterize damage
accumulation of material was used in terms of elastic strain
energy. This model was extended to SFRPCs by Nouri et al. [53].
In short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics the fatigue damage
evolution occurs under three stages. In the first stage, a high stiff-
ness reduction occurs during the initial cycles due to the formation
of matrix micro-voids. In the second stage, the coalescence of
microcracks takes place which gives a gradual stiffness reduction
of the material. In the last stage, fiber fracture and macroscopic
crack propagation occurs, resulting in a rapid stiffness reduction
and leading to final fracture. Therefore, damage rate in SFRPCs
was assumed to be the sum of two components, one power law
and one exponential law, to capture all the three stages. The devel-
oped model was able to describe all three stages for tensile and
shear damages. Longitudinal, transverse, and shear damage param-
eters of this model were identified from experimental data col-
lected from axial strain-controlled behavior of short glass fiber
reinforced polyamide-6 under the R = 0.3 condition [54,55].
Avanzini et al. [56] applied the Nouri et al. damage model for a
polyether ether ketone reinforced by carbon micro-fibers by add-
ing graphite and PTFE as fillers. Axial load-controlled fatigue tests
were performed under R = 0 condition. The orthotropic model pro-
posed by Nouri et al. was simplified to a one damage state variable
(Y) and one damage, D, evolution:
D ¼ a lnðNÞY bð1YÞ ð7Þ
where coefficients a and b are the material damage constants and Y
is the thermodynamic force. A good correlation of the model and
the experimental data was shown.
6.3. Nonlinear viscoelasticity
Polymeric materials exhibit a time dependent or viscoelastic
response to mechanical loading. At lower stress levels viscoelastic
behavior reveals linear relationship between stress and strain,
whereas at higher stress levels this behavior can be nonlinear. Fati-
gue behavior has been evaluated by means of nonlinear viscoelas-
tic change with cycling in some studies.
Noda et al. [57] conducted an experimental study on fatigue
behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6. Axial
tension–tension tests with loading along the fibers direction were
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
performed in a range of temperature below and above the glass
transition temperature. The degree of nonlinear viscoelasticity
(NVP) was determined as follows:
e2 þ e3 þ    þ e10
NVP ¼
e1
where e1 is the fundamental strain amplitude and e2, . . . , e10 repre-
sent higher order harmonic strain amplitudes in Fourier expanded
series of the strain response during the load-controlled test. Optical
microscope observations during the cycling indicate the increase in
NVP was related to the propagation of microcracks. Thus, it was
concluded that the evolution of NVP can possibly indicate the
mechanisms of failure and could be used to estimate the fatigue life.
Fatigue failure mechanisms were classified depending on whether
the test was performed above or below the glass transition temper-
ature. At temperatures below the glass transition temperature, fail-
ure mechanisms and stages consisted of formation of voids and
initiation of microcracks at the fiber ends, propagation of micro-
cracks around the fiber ends, growth of cracks between the fiber
ends, followed by fast crack growth in a brittle manner. At temper-
atures above the glass transition temperature, failure mechanisms
and stages consisted of formation of local defects at the fiber ends,
fiber debonding and deformation of the matrix between the fibers,
growth of cracks between the fibers, and fast crack growth in a duc-
tile manner.
Komatsu et al. [58] investigated strain-controlled fatigue
behavior of a short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6 in tension–
tension (T–T), tension–compression (T–C), and compression-com-
pression (C–C) testing with loading along the fiber direction. NVP
was calculated from the coefficients of Fourier series of the stress
response signal, similar to Eq. (8). For all loading conditions, NVP
increased with applied cycles. Void formation, fiber fracture, and
crack growth contributed to the increase of NVP in T–T condition.
In C–C condition, interfacial debonding was the major cause of the
increase in NVP. Under the fully-reversed condition both crack
growth and interfacial debonding resulted in a rise in NVP.
6.4. Hysteretic energy dissipation
The energy loss in viscoelastic materials such as SFRPCs is
divided into energy dissipated as heat and energy used for struc-
tural changes. The amount of energy consumed for structural
changes in the material can be related to fatigue life of SFRPCs.
Takahara et al. [35] established a fatigue fracture criterion based
on the dissipated energy consumed in structural changes. This cri-
terion provides a relationship between the dissipated energy for
structural changes and the fatigue lifetime as follows:
ðHs;av  H0 Þt f ¼ C
where Hs,av is the average hysteretic energy loss for structural
change during cyclic straining and tf is the fatigue life time. H0
and C were obtained from the curve fitting of the experimental data.
This criterion was applied to randomly oriented short glass fiber
reinforced polybutylene terephthalate axial strain-controlled fati-
gue tests performed under R = 1 condition. Yamashita et al. [36]
applied the fatigue fracture criterion established by Takahara
et al. [35] to short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6 axial strain-
controlled tests conducted under R = 1 condition.
7. Mean stress effects
Most service load histories consist of cycles with mean stress.
The effect of mean stress on fatigue behavior of SFRPCs has been
evaluated by several researchers. Zhou et al. [39] conducted an
experimental study on load-controlled flexural fatigue behavior
of a short glass fiber composite with a blend of polyphenylene
307
ether ketone and polyphenylene sulfide. Specimens were
machined with axis in the mold flow direction and tested under
R = 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 conditions. The stress version of Smith–Wat-
son–Topper equation was applied to correlate the fatigue data at
ð8Þ different stress ratios. This equation is expressed as:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
SNf ¼ ðDS=2ÞðSmax Þ ð10Þ
where DS and Smax are the range and the maximum of the applied
stress, respectively. This parameter successfully correlated the
experimental data.
Sonsino and Moosbrugger [59] evaluated the effect of the stress
ratio on axial load-controlled fatigue strength of short glass fiber
reinforced polyamide-6.6. Unnotched and notched specimens were
machined in the mold flow direction and tested with R ratios of 1
and 0. Fatigue strength reduced with increasing the tensile mean
stress. This decrease was attributed to both the mean stress sensi-
tivity and cyclic creep. The reduction of fatigue strength was less
for the notched specimens compared to the smooth specimens,
as can be observed in Fig. 12. This effect was attributed to the pres-
ence of the stress gradient in the vicinity of the notch.
Avanzini et al. [60] conducted an experimental study on axial
load-controlled fatigue behavior of a carbon micro-fiber polyether
ether ketone composite under R = 0 condition. Specimen axis was
in the mold flow direction. The mean strain values progressively
shifted along the strain axis with different rates, depending on
the stress level. The rate of mean strain, defined as the cyclic creep
rate, indicated a linear relationship with the number of cycles to
failure in log–log scale, as seen in Fig. 13.
Mallick and Zhou [61] studied effect of R ratio or mean stress on
axial stress-controlled fatigue behavior of short glass fiber rein-
forced polyamide-6.6. Tests were carried out under several stress
ratios, ranging between 0.1 and 0.8 using specimens machined in
the mold flow direction. The presence of mean stress resulted in
a significant effect on fatigue life, as can be seen from Fig. 14(a).
A substantial increase of the mean strain throughout the test was
attributed to cyclic creep. They suggested the use of Gerber mean
stress equation normalized with the creep rupture strength given
by:
 2
Sa Sm
þ ¼1 ð11Þ
SNf Sc
where Sa is the stress amplitude, Sm is the mean stress, SNf is the
fully-reversed fatigue strength, and Sc is the creep rupture strength.
This parameter predicted the effect of mean stress well, as shown in
ð9Þ Fig. 14(b). Sauer et al. [62] suggested the use of creep rupture
strength, Sc, instead of the tensile strength in modified Goodman
equation, to represent the effect of mean stress in fatigue design
of polymeric components. The resulting equation is similar to Eq.
(11), except without the exponent in the second term. They did
not verify this model due to the lack of experimental data.
Oka et al. [63] investigated effect of mean stress on fatigue
strength and cyclic ratcheting of short glass fiber reinforced poly-
butylene terephthalate with specimens machined in the mold flow
direction. Experiments were conducted under several stress ratios
ranging between 1 and 0.9. Fatigue life reduced as stress ratio
increased. At stress ratios as high as 0.7, maximum stress versus
time to fracture curve approached creep curves. As stress ampli-
tude increased, at the same mean stress, more cyclic ratcheting
was observed. Modified Goodman non-conservatively estimated
the fatigue life at stress ratios above 0.7, due to significant creep
deformation developed at high mean stresses. Similar to the
Mallick and Zhou [61] study, Equation (11) was employed to cor-
rect the effect of mean stress at all stress ratios.
308 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
Fig. 12. Woehler-lines of smooth and notched short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 for R = 1 and R = 0 loading conditions [59].
Fig. 13. Mean strain rate versus cycles to failure for short carbon fiber reinforced
PEEK composite for R = 0 loading condition [60].
8. Cyclic frequency and self-heating effects
Cyclic frequency can have a much more significant effect on
fatigue behavior of SFRPCs than on metallic alloys. Various studies
have evaluated the effect of testing frequency on fatigue behavior
of SFRPCs. Depending on the mode of loading, the stress level, and
the material characteristics, frequency affects the cyclic behavior of
materials to various degrees. Self-heating is the major effect of
cycling frequency resulting from viscoelastic nature of the matrix
and frictional heating in the composite.
Bellenger et al. [64] studied the effect of frequency on bending
fatigue behavior of a short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6.
Specimens were machined in the mold flow direction and tested
under fully-reversed strain-controlled condition. Frequencies of
2 Hz and 10 Hz were utilized to characterize thermal and mechan-
ical fatigue of the material. At 2 Hz, the specimen temperature
raised 10 °C whereas at 10 Hz the temperature elevated about
100 °C. The high temperature rise at 10 Hz was due to damping
induced by crack initiation and change of the matrix state from
glassy to rubbery. Variation of the maximum stress showed differ-
ent trends in these experiments. At 10 Hz, a plateau of maximum
stress followed by a steep drop. This effect is believed to be due
to the transition of matrix from glassy state to rubbery state. There-
fore, both mechanical and thermal fatigue existed at the frequency
of 10 Hz.
Sonsino and Moosbrugger [59] evaluated the effect of testing
frequency on axial fatigue behavior of the short glass fiber rein-
forced polyamide-6.6 mentioned previously, using smooth and
notched specimens prepared in the mold flow direction and tested
under R = 0 and R = 1 conditions. Under the fully-reversed condi-
tion, increasing frequency from 4 to 5 Hz increased smooth speci-
men temperature from 30 to 72 °C and reduced the fatigue life by a
factor of about 10. Under R = 0 condition, increasing frequency
from 5 to 8 Hz, resulted in an increase of smooth specimen temper-
ature from 30 to 90 °C and reduction of the fatigue life by a factor
of 20. For notched specimens higher frequencies used did not have
a detrimental effect on fatigue life since the maximum stressed
volume of the material in the notch tips is smaller and heat dissi-
pates faster. In smooth (unnotched) specimens frequency effects
can be pronounced due to the high maximum stressed material
volume. Therefore, for practical applications results obtained with
unnotched specimens should be relativized with respect to the
highest stressed volume at the stress concentrations in the
component.
Esmaeillou et al. [65] also studied the effect of frequency on
fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6.
Load-controlled axial tests were conducted under R ratios of 0.1
and 0.3 and strain-controlled flexural tests were performed under
R = 1 condition. Frequencies of 2, 10, and 20 Hz were selected for
testing. For the same maximum applied stress in either of axial or
bending test, in LCF regime the same fatigue lives were achieved at
different frequencies, whereas in HCF regime fatigue life decreased
with increasing frequency. For the same number of cycles to fail-
ure, temperature rise due to self-heating was higher in axial fatigue
tests than in flexural fatigue tests. Under both axial and flexural
fatigue tests with temperature elevation of 70–90 °C, fracture sur-
faces were observed by SEM. In axial fatigue tests matrix plastic
deformation and broken fibers were distinguished, while in flex-
ural fatigue experiments broken fibers and cavities around fibers
were observed.
In the study of Zhou and Mallick [22] on axial fatigue behavior
of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6, the effect of fre-
quency was evaluated. Stress-controlled tests were performed
under the R = 0.1 condition on mold flow oriented specimens. A
beneficial effect of frequency was observed at frequencies lower
than 2 Hz, so that the fatigue life increased proportionally with fre-
quency, as seen in Fig. 15. In this range of frequency, the mean
strain values increased with applying cycles, but the strain ampli-
tude did not change appreciably. At frequencies higher than 2 Hz,
with increasing frequency, fatigue life decreased due to the influ-
ence of hysteresis heating, mentioned earlier, as can be seen in
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321 309

Fig. 15. Effect of cyclic frequency on fatigue life of short glass fiber reinforced
polyamide-6.6 under R = 0.1 loading condition [22].

lic straining was divided into heat generation energy and energy to
cause structural changes. By balancing the generated heat and the
transferred heat to the surrounding environment, the equivalent
temperature was expressed as:

heq ¼ vpf e2d E00 =K ð12Þ

where v is the ratio of generated heat to the total energy loss, f is

Fig. 14. Effect of mean stress on axial fatigue behavior (a) and relationship between
stress amplitude and mean stress (b) for short glass fiber polyamide-6.6 with
specimens machined in the mold flow direction [61].
cycling frequency, ed is strain amplitude, E00 is nonlinear dynamic
loss modulus, and K is the heat transfer coefficient. Axial strain-con-
trolled fully-reversed fatigue data of randomly oriented short glass
fiber reinforced and unreinforced polybutylene terephthalate (PBT)
show a linear relationship between the equilibrium temperature
and the square of the strain amplitude in Fig. 16.
Handa et al. [67] evaluated axial stress-controlled fatigue
behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 under R = 0
condition. Specimens with axis in the mold flow direction were
tested with frequencies of 5, 20, and 50 Hz. All the S–N curves were
approximated by straight lines, and S–N line slopes and intercepts
were found to decrease with increasing the frequency, as shown in

Fig. 15. In this case both mean strain and strain amplitude
increased with applying cycles.
Lang and Manson [66] investigated crack tip heating sources for
short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 and short glass fiber
reinforced polystyrene in axial load-controlled fatigue tests under
R = 0.1 condition. Specimens with axis parallel and perpendicular
to the mold flow direction were used. Hysteretic and frictional
heating were considered as the major crack tip heating sources.
Hysteretic heating is mainly due to plastic or viscoelastic deforma-
tions in the matrix. Frictional heating is related to the surface con-
tact under crack closure or friction between the fibers and the
matrix. Significantly higher crack tip heating in polystyrene com-
posite was observed, as compared to the polyamide-6.6 composite.
Frictional heating was thought to have a superior effect on crack
Fig. 16. The relationships between equilibrium temperature and the square of the
tip heating, as compared to the hysteretic heating.
strain amplitude for unreinforced and reinforced short glass fiber polybutylene
Takahara et al. [35] developed a temperature rise model based terephthalates from fatigue tests performed under strain control and R = 1
on the hysteretic energy loss. The hysteretic energy loss under cyc- condition [35].
310 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
Fig. 17. Effect of cycling frequency on fatigue behavior (a) and temperature rise
versus a fatigue parameter (b) of short glass fiber polyamide-6.6 from tests
performed in stress control under R = 0 loading condition [67].
Fig. 17(a). A model was derived to predict the temperature rise
from fatigue data and viscoelastic properties of the material,
expressed as:
pLf E00 r2
DT ¼ ð13Þ
4KE02
where L is specimen length, K is heat transfer coefficient, and f, E00 ,
E0 , and r are frequency, loss modulus, storage modulus, and maxi-
mum stress, respectively. A good correlation between the prediction
model and the experimental data was found, as seen in Fig. 17(b).
Bernasconi and Kulin [68] studied the effect of frequency on
axial load-controlled fatigue behavior of conditioned short glass
fiber reinforced polyamide-6. Specimens in the mold flow direction
were immersed in room temperature water for 7 days and then
allowed to reach equilibrium with ambient moisture at 23 °C and
relative humidity of 50% for several weeks. Tests were conducted
under R = 0.1 condition with frequencies between 1 and 4 Hz. S–
N curves were nearly parallel at different frequencies and fatigue
strength decreased with increasing frequency, as shown in
Fig. 18. Effect of the cycling frequency on fatigue behavior (a) and specimen surface
temperature versus maximum applied stress (b) for short glass fiber polyamide-6
specimens immersed in water from tests performed at room temperature under
R = 0.1 loading condition [68].
Fig. 18(a). Surface temperature rise was found to be dependent
on stress and frequency, as shown in Fig. 18(b). Dissipated energy
density per unit time was computed as the area inside the hyster-
esis loop multiplied by frequency:
I
_ d¼f
W rde ð14Þ
At different frequencies, a linear relationship between average tem-
perature rise and dissipated energy density per unit time was
found. The area inside the hysteresis loop increased during the test
showing some extent of cyclic softening. In addition, the hysteresis
loop translated along the strain axis, indicating significant amount
of cyclic creep. In log–log scale, the cyclic creep mean strain rate
was linearly related to the number of cycles to failure. All fatigue
data at frequencies of 1, 2, and 4 Hz overlapped on the same curve.
A frequency superposition method based on the Larson–Miller
parameter related the cyclic creep mean strain rate, the surface
temperature rise, and the mean stress.
Jegou et al. [69] applied a method based on dissipated energy to
estimate the axial fatigue life of a short glass fiber reinforced poly-
amide-6.6 under R = 0 condition. A thermo-mechanical problem
defined by both thermal and mechanical equations was solved to
estimate dissipated energy from thermal measurements [70]. The
dissipated energy was then correlated to the number of cycles to
failure, expressed as:
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
qch b
N ¼C
f seq
where q is mass density, c is specific heat capacity, h is stabilized
temperature rise, and f is frequency. seq is characteristic time which
depends on thermal boundary conditions and sample geometry and
obtained utilizing cooling curves, and b and C are the model param-
eters. Temperature rise tests at a frequency of 1 Hz were performed
at multiple stress levels to obtain stabilized temperature rise, and
temperature rise was correlated with number of cycles to failure.
The same values of b and C were applied to two different smooth
specimen geometries and correlations were found between the
model and experimental data.
9. Notch or stress concentration effects
The stress concentration effect is a key factor in studying the
fatigue behavior and application to design. This is due to the fact
that most components manufactured from SFRPCs contain geomet-
ric contours or features resulting in stress concentrations. Most
fatigue behavior investigations are carried out with unnotched
specimens, while fatigue test results with notched specimens are
more relevant to the component level performance.
Effects of notch or stress concentration on fatigue behavior of
SFRPCs have been studied by several investigators. Zhou and Mal-
lick [22] studied effect of notch size on R = 0.1 axial fatigue behav-
ior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 using mold flow
oriented specimens with a width of 12.7 mm with a central circu-
lar hole with diameters of 1.58, 3.17, and 6.35 mm. Stress concen-
tration factor (Kt) for the specimens used were 2.64, 2.43, and 2.18,
respectively. Fatigue strength of notched specimens based on nom-
inal gross stress was lower than that of the smooth specimen.
However, the nominal net area-based S–N curves of different hole
diameter specimens collapsed on the same S–N curve, as shown in
Fig. 19.
Sonsino and Moosbrugger [59] evaluated the influence of
notches on axial fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced
polyamide-6.6. Rectangular bars with axis in the mold flow direc-
tion with width of 4 cm and either a central circular or a slit notch
with Kt in the range of 2.5–9.8 were utilized. Load-controlled fati-
Fig. 19. Effects of hole diameter on net stress-based S–N curves of a short glass fiber
reinforced polyamide-6.6 [22].
311
gue tests were performed with R ratios of 1 and 0. A decrease in
ð15Þ
nominal fatigue strength with increasing the severity of the notch
was observed, as can be seen in Fig. 20. Specimens with the central
sharp notch were tested at room temperature and at 130 °C. The
effect of notch nearly vanished at 130 °C, and the distance between
S–N lines of smooth and notched specimens substantially
decreased, as compared to at room temperature. This results from
a significant reduction of notch sensitivity due to increased mate-
rial ductility. A transition from nominal stress system to local
stress system was explained and it was shown that due to stress
gradient effect and reduced highly stressed material volume in
notches, much higher stresses are supported compared with
unnotched state.
Haldar and Senthilvelan [71] studied the effect of notch size on
axial load-controlled fatigue behavior of neat and short glass fiber
reinforced polypropylene (PP). Reinforced PP was fabricated with
average fiber lengths of 0.44 and 1.25 mm. A rectangular specimen
geometry with axis in the mold flow direction with central circular
hole diameters of 2 or 4 mm were made for testing under R = 0.1
condition. Nominal fatigue strength of neat PP was nearly the same
with both stress concentrations. In LCF both short and long fiber
composites indicated higher fatigue performance with decreasing
the notch size. In HCF, the short fiber composite indicated no effect
of notch size, but the long fiber composite showed significant effect
of notch size. Fiber pullout was the major failure mode in the short
fiber composite due to low capacity of load bearing of fibers,
whereas in the long fiber composite most of the fibers bent near
the notch.
Yamamoto and Hyakutake [72] investigated effect of fiber
length on notched fatigue behavior of short glass fiber polypropyl-
ene. Double-edge U-shaped notched specimens with notch root
radii of 0.5, 1 and 2 mm and with specimen axis in mold flow direc-
tion were tested under R = 0.1 condition. Samples with average
fiber length of 3.5 mm indicated a factor of about 5 longer fatigue
fracture life at a given nominal stress, as compared with samples
with average fiber length of 0.4 mm. Initiation and growth of dam-
age near the notch root were similar in both long and short fiber
composite such that microcracks initiated at fiber ends and con-
nected to form the main crack. However, fatigue damage was ini-
tiated in a larger area near the tip of notch in long fiber
composite, compared to in short fiber composite. Notch root radii
did not influence cycles to fatigue fracture. However, cycles to
damage initiation defined as fatigue damaged area of 0.1 mm2
increased a factor of about 100 as notch root radius decreased from
2 mm to 0.5 mm. Slopes of stress versus cycles to damage initiation
did not exhibit notch root radius sensitivity.
Nisitani et al. [73] compared the effect of stress concentration
on rotating bending fatigue behavior of neat and short carbon fiber
polyetheretherketone (PEEK). Specimens with a central circular
hole or circumferential V-shaped notch with Kt values ranging
between 1.04 and 4.48 were considered. Nominal fatigue strength
of short fiber PEEK was less sensitive to stress concentration, as
compared with neat PEEK. Due to fiber ends effect, a higher per-
centage of fatigue fracture life was spent on crack growth in short
fiber PEEK, compared with neat PEEK. Master curves were obtained
by plotting Kt times either of maximum nominal stress where a
macro-crack does not appear, or threshold nominal stress where
a non-propagating crack exists, versus reciprocal of notch root
radius.
Mortazavian and Fatemi [74] studied effects of a notch on
R = 1 and R = 0.1 axial load-controlled fatigue behavior of short
glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate. A plate-type
specimen geometry with a gage section width of 10 mm was
machined parallel and perpendicular to the mold flow direction.
A central circular hole with diameter of 2 mm was used with
Kt = 2.5. Effect of the circular notch on nominal fatigue strength
312 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
Fig. 20. Effect of the notch stress concentration on fully-reversed axial fatigue strength of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 [59]. k values on the graph are reciprocals
of the slope of S–N lines.
was found to be significant, with several orders of magnitude life
reduction in HCF. Lower notch sensitivity was observed in LCF than
in HCF. Tensile mean stress decreased the fatigue strength of
notched specimens and this effect was more pronounced in LCF.
Neuber’s rule provided reasonably accurate predictions of notched
fatigue strength.
Meneghetti and Quaresimin [75,76] evaluated notched axial
fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 using
load-controlled fatigue tests under R = 0.1 condition. A rectangular
bar, in line with mold flow direction, with the width of 40 mm and
a central circular hole with a diameter of 10 mm or a central slit
notch with tip radius of 0.5 mm was used. The stress concentration
factor for these specimens was 2.84 and 7.82, respectively. Nomi-
nal fatigue strength decreased significantly with increasing the
severity of the notch. A model was proposed on the basis of the
first law of thermodynamics over a control volume of material.
By assuming a steady state heat transfer condition and under a
condition with no mechanical work, this model results in a specific
heat loss (Q) equation given by:
qc @T
Q ¼
f @t
where q is material density, c is material specific heat, T is temper-
ature, t is time, and f is frequency. oT/ot was measured from the
cooling curve. The specific heat loss correlated the fatigue strength
of smooth and notched specimens reasonably well. This method
was not able to predict the fatigue strength of slit notched speci-
mens due to small and unreliable temperature rise at the tip of
the notch.
10. Variable amplitude loading
Variable amplitude loading is typical of most service load histo-
ries. Hoppel et al. [77] studied damage accumulation of short glass
fiber reinforced styrene-maleic anhydride with specimen axis in
the mold flow direction. Step loading fatigue tests with stress ratio
of 0.1 were performed in a high stress level followed by a low stress
level (HL) and in a low stress level followed by a high stress level
(LH). Linear damage rule over-estimated LH fatigue test results,
while it under-estimated HL fatigue test results. SEM of fractured
surfaces indicates extensive matrix crazing in HL tests, compared
with LH tests. At the high stress, significant plastic deformation
occurs in matrix and clamping force on fiber increases, therefore,
composite shows more resistant to the subsequent low stress. At
the low stress level, cracking occurs in matrix with no plastic defor-
mation and crack propagates by the subsequent high stress which
results in shorter fatigue life.
Zago et al. [78] evaluated variable amplitude fatigue behavior of
smooth specimens made of short glass fiber reinforced co-polyam-
ide. Specimens were used with their axis in 0°, 45°, and 90° with
respect to the mold flow direction. Two different blocks of variable
amplitude loading were applied including blocks of constant stress
amplitude with different levels and blocks of random stress ampli-
tude with mean stress. Rainflow cycle counting method was
employed to transfer the variable amplitude loading to blocks of
constant amplitude. Fatigue lives were correlated using the gener-
alized Palmgren–Miner’s rule:
X ni b
¼1 ð17Þ
i
Ni
where ni and Ni are the number of applied cycles and the number of
cycles to failure, respectively at ith stress level, and b is a material
constant found to be 0.92. Zago and Springer [79] also investigated
ð16Þ
fatigue behavior of 10 mm wide plate specimens with a central cir-
cular hole of 2 mm diameter under various blocks of variable ampli-
tude loading. Fatigue lives were estimated based on the generalized
Palmgren–Miner’s rule and estimated lives were close to the
experiments.
Sonsino and Moosbrugger [59] studied variable amplitude fati-
gue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 using
blocks of Gaussian random load sequences under either fully-
reversed or R = 0 condition. Palmgren–Miner’s rule was used to esti-
mate the fatigue life under either of these mean stress conditions,
expressed as:
X n
D¼ ¼1 ð18Þ
N i
An estimation of fatigue life with the theoretical damage sum
Dth = 1 was found to be nonconservative for R = 0, but conservative
for R = 1. Recommendations about allowable damage sums were
also provided. Nonconservative calculated life under a positive
mean stress was attributed to the influence of cyclic creep which
was not considered by the linear damage rule.
Dreißig et al. [80] conducted pulsating Gaussian variable ampli-
tude load testing on un-notched specimens of short glass fiber
polyamide-6.6 machined in 0°, 30°, and 90° directions with respect
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
to the mold flow direction. Linear damage accumulation rule (I)
was applied and damage sums were 0.2 for 0° and 30° direction
tests and about 0.35 for 90° direction tests, as shown in Fig. 21.
Generalized Palmgren–Miner’s rule mentioned earlier as Eq. (17)
with (II) and without (IV) load dependent fitting coefficient was
also applied and results are shown in Fig. 21. A three parameter
nonlinear damage accumulation (III) and a nonlinear stress-time
history based cumulative model (V) were also applied. As seen in
Fig. 21, the nonlinear cumulative damage model (II) calculates
the fatigue life well; however, this model requires the use of a fit-
ting parameter.
11. Multiaxial stresses
Multiaxial stresses exist in many components and structures.
Multiaxial stresses can even be present under uniaxial loading
due to presence of notch or other stress concentrations. De Monte
et al. [81] performed an experimental study on multiaxial fatigue
behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6. A hollow
tubular specimen geometry was fabricated in the mold flow direc-
tion and tested under combined in-phase and 90° out-of-phase
tension and torsion loading. The effect of biaxiality ratio, phase
angle, and load ratio at room temperature and 130 °C were dis-
cussed. The results at room temperature plotted based on material
normal stress in fiber direction are shown in Fig. 22. At room tem-
perature, significant strength reduction is observed under com-
bined loading compared to pure axial or pure torsion loading. At
130 °C, the combined loading condition was dominated by torsion
mode and fatigue lives from combined and torsion loadings fell
within a single scatter band. At room temperature, no effect of
phase angle is observed under the fully-reversed loading condition,
whereas under the R = 0 condition, fatigue strength increased with
shifting the phase, as can be seen from Fig. 22. At 130 °C, no influ-
ence of phase shifting was observed under either R = 1 or R = 0
condition. Biaxiality ratio affected the fatigue behavior at both
temperatures so that the fatigue strength reduced with increasing
the ratio of torsion loading to axial loading. Stress ratio displayed
much more effect on axial loading than in torsion loading and it
even had no influence on torsional fatigue strength at 130 °C. Dif-
ferent failure paths were observed depending on the loading mode
and level. At lower stress levels usually one main crack was
observed, whereas at higher stress levels many secondary cracks
Fig. 21. Comparison of different damage accumulation methods. (I) Linear damage rule, (II) nonlinear damage accumulation with one fitting parameter, (III) nonlinear
damage accumulation with three fitting parameter, (IV) nonlinear damage accumulation based on load depended fitting coefficient, and (V) nonlinear damage accumulation
based on the stress-time history [80].
313
also existed. Under pure torsion cracks started at the center of
specimen on maximum shear stress plane and grew along this
plane until the friction force between the failure surfaces over-
comes the driving force in shear. Then the crack propagated in
an angle between 30° and 45° relative to the specimen axis. For
combined loading with biaxiality ratio of one, failure patterns were
similar to pure torsion, indicating shear stress was dominant.
Klimkeit et al. [82] studied multiaxial fatigue behavior of two
short glass fiber composites, one with a mix of polybutylene tere-
phthalate and polyethylene terephthalate, and the other with poly-
amide-6.6. A flat dog-bone shaped specimen and a double V-
shaped notched specimen in 0°, ±45°, and 90° directions relative
to the mold flow direction were used to investigate axial and pure
shear fatigue behaviors, respectively. A tubular specimen with
fiber orientation in specimen axis direction was also used to inves-
tigate combined axial-torsion fatigue behavior. Fig. 23 shows the
experimental results plotted in terms of nominal stress amplitudes
ra,n or sa,n. Under axial loading the tubular specimens resulted in
higher fatigue strength, compared to the flat specimens. They
explained this effect to be related to triaxiality of stress state in
tubular specimens, formation of a core layer with 90° fibers orien-
tation with respect to the mold flow direction in flat specimens, as
well as the uniformity of stress across the flat specimen thickness,
but not the tubular specimen. A higher shear stress resulted in a
lower fatigue strength, as seen in Fig. 23(a). This effect was due
to turning of the principal stress direction, depending on the ratio
of torsion and tension stresses. Under fully-reversed pure shear
loading condition, 0° and 90° direction specimens indicated identi-
cal fatigue strength, and ±45° direction specimens displayed higher
fatigue strength than 0° and 90° direction specimens, as shown in
Fig. 23(b). Under the R = 0.1 pure shear loading condition, 45°
direction indicated higher fatigue strength than both 0° and 90°
directions, but + 45° direction displayed lower fatigue strength
than 0° and 90° directions, as can be seen in Fig. 23(b). This is
because under the effect of mean stress, fibers are under compres-
sion in the +45° specimen, but under tension in the 45° specimen.
A local compressive stress on fibers in +45° specimens resulted in a
detrimental effect on fatigue life. Crack path was depended on both
the loading mode and the microstructure of the material. In tubu-
lar specimens, under pure tension loading cracks initiated on the
plane perpendicular to the specimen axis and propagated in 45°
direction to the specimen axis. Under pure torsion, cracks initiated
and grew in orientation of fibers (i.e. longitudinal cracks) which
314 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
Fig. 22. Wohler curves in terms of material normal stress in fiber direction obtained
from tubular specimens made of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide 6.6. Data for
pure torsional loading are plotted in terms of shear stress amplitude [81].
was along the maximum shear stress plane. Under combined axial-
torsion loading, cracks propagated in 35° direction relative to the
specimen axis, which was close to the maximum shear stress
plane. Three fatigue failure criteria including principal stress, von
Mises stress, and the energy criterion were applied to estimate
the fatigue life. Principal stress and von Mises criteria were not
accurate in estimating the fatigue life. The energy criterion esti-
mated fatigue life more accurately and it also included a mean
stress correction parameter.
Moosbrugger et al. [83] investigated multiaxial fatigue behavior
of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 using a tubular spec-
imen with or without a circumferential V-shaped notch with tip
radius of 0.2 mm. Axial and torsional stress concentrations for
the notched specimens were calculated by FEA to be 4.9 and 2.4,
respectively. Combined in-phase and out-of-phase axial-torsion
loading were applied under stress ratios of 0 and 1. When com-
pared based on the same applied nominal axial and shear stresses,
for unnotched specimens out-of-phase loading resulted in slightly
longer life than in-phase loading, while for notched specimens out-
of-phase loading resulted in shorter life than in-phase loading. It
should, however, be noted that for the same applied nominal nor-
mal and shear stresses, out-of-phase loading results in a smaller
equivalent or von Mises stress, as compared to in-phase loading.
The influence of phase shifting in notched specimens was more
pronounced, as compared with smooth specimens, due to locally
different deformation evolutions.
Launay et al. [84,85] applied the constitutive nonlinear model
mentioned earlier in [9] to multiaxial fatigue analysis of short glass
fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 in [81,82]. The model parameters
identified based on tensile samples accurately predicted mechani-
cal response on tubular specimens under multiaxial stress state.
Criteria including von Mises stress, Hill stress, equivalent shear
stress and hydrostatic stress, modified version of Tsai–Hill, princi-
pal stress, principal strain, equivalent inelastic strain, and dissi-
pated energy density were employed to estimate the multiaxial
fatigue lifetime. Physical quantities involved in each of these crite-
ria (e.g. the shear stress amplitude and the hydrostatic stress) were
obtained based on the mechanical response at 20 cycles and then
material parameters were calibrated performing least square
method on the entire data set. Among these, dissipated energy
density estimated the fatigue life reasonably well. This criterion
considered the influence of microstructure and load ratio in multi-
axial fatigue life estimation.
12. Environmental effects
Components made of SFRPCs are often exposed to different
temperatures and humidity levels in their operating environment.
Therefore, temperature and moisture effects are two primary envi-
ronmental considerations with regards to fatigue behavior of
SFRPCs. If the temperature is cyclic in addition to the cyclic load,
thermo-mechanical fatigue is also an important aspect to consider.
12.1. Moisture effect
Hoppel [47] investigated axial load-controlled fatigue behavior
of short glass fiber reinforced styrene-maleic anhydride specimens
prepared in the mold flow direction and tested under R = 0.1 con-
dition. Dry tests were performed at temperature of 25 °C and 50%
relative humidity. Wet test samples were immersed in water for
48 hours prior to and throughout the test. Fatigue life in the wet
condition was much shorter than the dry condition and this effect
was more apparent for materials with no silane coupling agent.
Silane agent makes a strong bonding between fibers and matrix
and improves fatigue strength of the composite. Throughout the
test, the stiffness of the wet composite decayed at a higher rate
as compared to the dry composite.
Barbouchi et al. [86] evaluated the effect of moisture on bend-
ing fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6
at room temperature. Fully-reversed strain-controlled tests were
conducted at frequency of 10 Hz with applied stress in the mold
flow direction. Two sets of samples with 0.2 wt% and 3.3 wt% water
contents were studied. The glass transition temperature were 70 °C
and 11 °C for samples with water content of 0.2 and 3.3 wt%,
respectively. This deviation is due to the plasticizing effect of water
which increases the mobility of polymer chains. In specimens with
higher percentage of water, testing temperatures were above the
glass transition temperature from the beginning of the test. Tem-
perature progressively increased to about 130–150 °C, then failure
occurred. This effect was evident at both high and low applied
strains. In specimens with lower percentage of water, the evolution
of temperature rise was dependent on the level of applied strain. At
the same strain amplitude, the fatigue life was longer for speci-
mens with a higher moisture content, because the induced stress
was lower due to the plasticizing effect of water. Samples with
0.2 wt% water content indicated higher fatigue strength compared
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321 315

Fig. 23. Combined axial-torsion and torsion fatigue behaviors of a short glass fiber composite with a blend of polybutylene terephthalate and polyethylene terephthalate (a)
using tubular specimens, and (b) pure shear double V-shaped notched specimens [82].

to the samples with 3.5 wt% water content, as can be seen in

Fig. 24. In experiments on dried samples, a sharp decrease in mod-
ulus was observed due to the transition of matrix from glassy state
to the rubbery state. The wet samples were in the rubbery state
from the beginning of the test and the decrease of modulus was
predominantly due to damage initiation.
Bernasconi and Kulin [68] evaluated axial load-controlled fati-
gue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6 specimens
machined in the mold flow direction under R = 0.1 condition. Prior
to testing, samples were immersed at room temperature water
under the relative humidity of 50% for 7 days. During the cyclic
loading, crack initiation and propagation were not observed and
a general degradation in the surface of specimen was detected
instead. The transverse white lines in the surface of the specimen
were characterized as the sites of plastically deformed matrix.
Fotouh and Wolodko [38] studied the effect of moisture on axial Fig. 24. Effect of moisture on axial strain-controlled fatigue behavior of a short
glass fiber polyamide-6.6 tested under R = 1 condition and a frequency of 10 Hz
load-controlled fatigue behavior of natural hemp fibers in high [86]. Test specimen results shown with diamonds contain 0.2 wt% water tested at
density polyethylene. Neat specimens and specimens reinforced 23 °C and 50% relative humidity and test specimen results shown with circles
with 20 wt% natural fibers prepared in the mold flow direction. contain 3.5 wt% water tested at 23 °C and 90% relative humidity.
316 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
Fatigue tests were performed in dry and wet conditions. In the wet
condition 1.46 wt% water was absorbed after 35 days of immersion
and the fatigue strength decreased by about 10%, as compared to
the dry condition. The moisture swells fibers and decreases their
strength and stiffness. As a result, the shear stress increases
between fibers and the matrix and fiber debonding occurs faster.
12.2. Temperature effects
Jia and Kagan [87] evaluated effects of aging time and temper-
ature on axial load-controlled fatigue behavior of short glass fiber
polyamides-6 and short glass fiber polyamide-6.6. Specimens were
injection molded in the mold flow direction and tension–tension
tests were carried out under R = 0.1 condition at 40, 23, and
121 °C. The highest fatigue strength was achieved at 40 °C, and
fatigue strength significantly reduced at elevated temperatures.
At 40 °C, polyamide-6 composite indicated higher fatigue
strength than polyamide-6.6 composite, whereas at 23 °C polyam-
ide-6.6 composite showed higher fatigue strength than polyamide-
6 composite. For 121 °C experiments, fatigue strengths of both
materials were nearly the same. Fatigue behavior of both materials
aged up to 1000 h was also investigated. Aging at room tempera-
ture increased fatigue strength of both materials slightly, but at
121 °C, aging did not influence fatigue strengths, as can be seen
from Fig. 25. At different temperatures and for different aging con-
ditions, normalized fatigue curves of both short glass fiber rein-
forced composites with tensile strength were collapsed on a
single curve.
In the study of Handa et al. [67] on axial stress-controlled fati-
gue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 men-
tioned earlier with specimens in the mold flow direction and
tested under R = 0 condition, the influence of testing temperature
was evaluated at 0–120 °C. Both the slope and the intercept of S–
N lines indicated a linear relationship with the reciprocal of tem-
perature. This relationship was divided into two regions, divided
by the glass transition temperature, Tg of the material at 57 °C. At
temperatures above Tg, the slope and the intercept did not show
any dependency on temperature. At temperatures below Tg, the
slope and the intercept increased with increasing the reciprocal
of temperature. Hence, the failure mechanisms are different at
temperatures above and below Tg.
Fig. 25. Effects of aging time and temperature on tension–tension fatigue behavior
of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6 composite [87].
Noda et al. [57] investigated the effect of temperature on stress-
controlled tension–tension fatigue behavior of short glass fiber
polyamide-6.6 specimens in the mold flow direction. Tests were
conducted at temperatures in the range of 0–150 °C, and the S–N
lines and data are shown in Fig. 26(a). The slope and the intercept
of S–N lines indicated a linear relationship with temperature as
shown in Fig. 26(b). This relationship was different for tempera-
tures above and below Tg due to different failure mechanisms
observed.
De Monte et al. [28] evaluated effects of temperature on axial
load-controlled fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced
polyamide-6.6 at room temperature and 130 °C. S–N lines at room
temperature and 130 °C had about the same slopes. Guster et al.
[25] investigated the effect of temperature on axial stress-con-
trolled fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-
6T/6I with specimens molded parallel and perpendicular to the
flow direction. Increasing the temperature from 23 to 120 °C
decreased the fatigue strength considerably. In each flow direction,
longitudinal or transverse, the slopes of S–N curves remained con-
stant at different temperatures. In the study of Sonsino and Moosb-
rugger [59] mentioned earlier, effect of temperature on axial
fatigue behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6
was investigated at temperatures of 22, 80, and 130 °C. High tem-
peratures reduced the fatigue strength significantly and S–N line
slopes were nearly constant at different temperatures.
12.3. Thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) behavior
Thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) includes the combined effect
of mechanical and thermal cycling and can be an important life lim-
iting factor. Many components and structures in high temperature
Fig. 26. Effect of testing temperature on fatigue behavior (a) and variation of S–N
line slope and intercept with temperature (b) for short glass fiber reinforced
polyamide-6.6 [57].
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321 317

applications are subjected to this type of fatigue. TMF of short fiber
composites has been the subject of a few studies. Pierantoni et al.
[88] performed TMF tests in temperature ranges of 40 °C to
40 °C and 40 °C to 120 ° on smooth and sharply notched
(Kt = 9.8) specimens of short glass fiber reinforced polybutylene
terephthalate. Prior to temperature cycling, a pre-strain level of
10, 50, or 80% of the tensile strain at room temperature was applied,
as indicated in Fig. 27(a). A linear viscoelastic material model was
developed to produce stress profile under TMF, based on Prony ser-
ies [89]. Stabilized maximum nominal stress during TMF is shown
against cycles to failure in Fig. 27(b). As pre-strain value increased,
stabilized maximum nominal stress increased and fatigue life
decreased. Due to increased relaxation at higher temperature, as
the maximum applied temperature increased, maximum nominal
stress decreased, while fatigue life decreased. A higher stress con-
centration also resulted in shorter TMF life [90,91].
Schaaf et al. [90,91] studied the mechanisms of damage under
TMF tests described in [88]. Damage typically initiated at fiber
ends and grew along fiber and matrix interface and resulted in
fiber pull out. Fiber fracture was not a dominant failure mecha-
nism. SEM of fractured surfaces of TMF sharply notched specimens
(Kt = 9.8) was similar to those at isothermal fatigue condition at
40 °C and, therefore, it was concluded that TMF occurs at respec-
tive minimum temperature and independent from the maximum
temperature. TMF data were also collapsed on isothermal 40 °C
fatigue data by averaging SED range over a control volume around
the notch, as seen in Fig. 27(c). This parameter was validated with
isothermal experiments with various stress concentrations
(2.5 < Kt < 9.8). Effect of mean stress was also considered by utiliz-
ing a mean stress parameter developed in [92].
13. Fatigue behavior of SFRPC components
Some studies have evaluated fatigue behavior of components
made of SFRPCs. This includes studies of vibration welding, which

Fig. 27. (a) Variation of nominal stress under TMF load, (b) maximum nominal stress normalized by tensile strength of the notched specimens tested under thermo-
mechanical cyclic conditions versus cycles to failure, and (c) master curve of SED range versus cycles to failure correlating TMF and isothermal fatigue data [91].
318 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
is a widely used technique to join thermoplastics components, and
the influence of weld line on fatigue performance. Weld line is
formed when a melting polymer fills in the injection molding cav-
ity with two or more flows.
Tsang et al. [93] studied axial fatigue behavior of vibration-
welded butt joints of neat polyamide-6 and 6.6 and short glass
fiber reinforced polyamide-6 and 6.6. Load-controlled fatigue tests
with applied stress in the mold flow direction were carried out
under R = 0.1 condition. The applied vibration dissipates frictional
and viscous energy, and causes melting at the contact surface.
Applying a pressure then causes the two parts to be integrated.
The welding decreased fatigue strength of these materials signifi-
cantly. In the absence of thermal failure, the welded material
was found as the site of crack initiation. Low pressure weld dis-
played a better fatigue resistant than high pressure weld.
Lockwood et al. [94] studied the effect of temperature ranging
between 24 °C and 120 °C on axial R = 0.1 fatigue strength of vibra-
tion-welded and unwelded short glass fiber polyamide-6. As tem-
perature increased, fatigue strength of both welded and unwelded
composites reduced. Welded samples indicated lower fatigue
strength than unwelded samples, due to great majority of fibers
in welded samples transversely oriented with respect to the load-
ing direction.
Boukhili et al. [95] evaluated the effect of weld line on fatigue
resistance of mold flow oriented samples of short glass fiber poly-
carbonate under R = 0.1 loading condition and at a frequency of
10 Hz. Tensile strength of welded short glass fiber polycarbonate
was even lower than that of un-welded neat polycarbonate, indi-
cating the detrimental effect of welding. Fatigue life of welded
samples was about 20% of fatigue life of un-welded samples. An
equation was derived to predict the effect of weld line on fatigue
strength based on the slope of un-welded S–N curve and tensile
strengths of un-welded and welded samples. In the study of Bru-
nbauer et al. [26] on R = 0.1 axial and bending fatigue behavior of
short glass fiber polyamide-6.6 mentioned earlier, brittle fracture
surface was observed in samples with weld line. Zhou and Mallick
[22] studied the effect of weld line on axial fatigue behavior of
short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 specimens with axis
perpendicular to the mold flow direction. A detrimental effect of
the weld line on the fatigue strength is evident from Fig. 4.
Sonsino and Moosbrugger [59] tested a fuel rail component
made of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 under constant
and variable amplitude loading. Transferability of a fatigue life esti-
mation method from notched specimens to component was evalu-
ated. Fatigue curves of notched specimens were transferred from
nominal system into local system by taking into account the stress
concentration factor. The effect of stress gradient was also taken
into account by considering the volume of material with stresses
larger than 80% of the maximum local stress. Linear elastic FEA
model of the fuel rail component was utilized to calculate the local
maximum principal stress as well as the maximum stressed vol-
ume. Estimated fatigue life under variable amplitude loading was
close to the experimental life, utilizing Palmgren–Miner’s linear
damage rule.
Zago and Springer [79] estimated the fatigue life of an automo-
tive gear shift link made of short glass fiber reinforced co-polyam-
ide under variable amplitude loadings. Fatigue life under variable
amplitude loadings was estimated based on the generalized Palm-
gren–Miner’s rule in conjunction with the results of mold flow sim-
ulation software for distribution of fibers and FEA for stress
distributions. Estimated lives were close to experimental fatigue
lives of the component.
Subramanian and Senthilvelan [96] evaluated fatigue behavior
of leaf springs made of short glass fiber reinforced polypropylene.
Leaf springs were fabricated with various average fiber lengths
ranging between 0.44 and 1.25 mm. Bending fatigue tests were
performed at different alternating compressive loads. Fiber length
had a significant effect on fatigue performance of the leaf spring.
Short fiber composite indicated significantly shorter fatigue life,
as compared with long fiber composite and this effect was more
pronounced in LCF.
Hartman et al. [97] evaluated fatigue behavior of smooth and
notched specimens and a pressure vessel made of short glass fiber
reinforced polyamide-6.6. By means of FEA, the highly stressed
material volumes of specimens and the component were related
together. Guster et al. [25] developed a fatigue life assessment
method for an injection molded ring spanner made of short glass
fiber reinforced polyamide-6T/6I. A simulation was performed to
take into account the fiber orientation and distribution. The aniso-
tropic material behavior obtained from mold flow simulation was
then implemented into a finite element analysis. A good agreement
regarding the area of maximum damage was obtained between
experimental testing of the component and the simulation results.
However, a conservative fatigue life within a factor of about 3 dif-
ference with the tested component was estimated.
Bernasconi et al. [98] investigated the effect of reprocessing of
injection molded short glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6.6 in a flat
specimen and a clutch pedal. Fiber shortening effect was observed
after processing in both specimen and component geometry, with
a higher degree in clutch pedal due to a more complex shape. Fatigue
strength reduced after recycling, however, fatigue strength was
directly related to the tensile strength. In LCF, fatigue strength nor-
malized with tensile strength was comparable in specimen and
clutch pedal, while in HCF the normalized fatigue data were consid-
erably lower for pedal which was attributed to presence of sharp
notches and different types of loading in the specimen and clutch.
Vervoort [99] estimated fatigue life of a component on the bot-
tom of the spare wheel of a car made of short fiber reinforced poly-
propylene. The orientation of fibers was simulated by a flow
simulation program. Poisson’s ratios and longitudinal and trans-
verse Young’s moduli representing the orthotropic behavior of
the material were input to the linear elastic finite element simula-
tion. Simulations were performed based on both isotropic and
orthotropic material properties. Significant differences at critical
locations were found between the two analyses. A good agreement
between the orthotropic fatigue simulation and component testing
was reported.
Gaier et al. [100] developed a method to estimate fatigue life of
belt pulley and ring spanner components made of short glass fiber
polyamide-6T/6I. Fully-revered fatigue tests were performed on
short glass fiber polyamide-6T/6I specimens machined parallel
and perpendicular to the mold flow direction. Fatigue strength at
various directions was linearly interpolated between these two
directions. Mold flow simulations were performed on the compo-
nents to obtain orientation distribution of fibers in a tensor and
characterize principal directions of anisotropy as well as share of
fibers in principal directions. S–N curves were locally modified to
each node of finite element mesh and at each node a fatigue dam-
age analysis was performed by applying liner Palmgren–Miner’s
rule (Eq. (17)) with the same b as of Zago et al. [78] study. Due
to rotation of principal stress directions, a factor was introduced
to correct normal stresses, expressed as:
 
rf r3
f ¼1þ 1 ð19Þ
sf r1
where rf and sf are tensile and shear fatigue limits, respectively, and
r3 and r1 are minimum and maximum absolute principal stresses,
respectively. Critical location and fatigue life of the belt pulley were
reasonably estimated. A factor of about 7 difference was reported
between estimated fatigue lives under anisotropic and isotropic
finite element analyses of the ring spanner.
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 70 (2015) 297–321
14. Summary
Applications of short fiber reinforced polymer composites have
been rapidly increasing due to their low cost and easy manufactur-
ing with a high production rate. Most of such components are
under cyclic loading and prone to fatigue failure. Therefore, fatigue
behavior and modeling of SFRPCs are of particular interest in
recent years. This literature review presented a broad review of
many factors influencing fatigue behavior and damage develop-
ment in SFRPCs, including microstructural related effects as well
as effects related to loading condition and their service environ-
ment. However, it should be noted that due to the large variations
of matrices and fibers used in their manufacture, broad generaliza-
tion of their fatigue behavior characterization based on a small
number of studies is difficult.
Due to continuous initiation and growth of damage in the
matrix and at the fiber–matrix interface or at fiber ends, cyclic soft-
ening is typically observed. Viscous characteristics can also
increase with increasing cycling frequency, temperature, or with
fiber weight content. In injected modeled short fiber composites
a shell-core morphology typically exists where fiber orientation
is mainly along the mold flow direction in the shell and transverse
to the mold flow direction in the core. Fatigue strength of SFRPCs
strongly depends on the number of fibers aligned with the load
direction and has been found to be proportional to the tensile
strength in the corresponding direction in some studies.
As the fiber aspect ratio increases, fatigue strength also
increases until it reaches a plateau at a particular fiber aspect ratio.
The effect of fiber length is typically different and more pro-
nounced in LCF, as compared with HCF, and in bending versus axial
loading. The interface between fiber and matrix is an important
factor influencing fatigue behavior. Addition of silane coupling
agent can significantly improve fatigue strength of SFRPCs.
Matrix rupture, fiber debonding and pull out, and crazing are
the commonly observed fatigue failure mechanisms. Which failure
mechanism is dominant depends on a variety of factors including
the stress amplitude level, strength of the fiber–matrix interface,
fiber orientation with respect to the load direction, glass transition
temperature, and the present shell-core morphology. Dissipative
response of SFRPCs under cyclic loading has been used to charac-
terize and model their fatigue damage behavior and accumulation.
Changes in the size and shape or slope of hysteresis loops, stiffness
degradation and its variation under tensile and compressive loads,
cyclic creep or damping, hysteretic energy, strain energy, and non-
linear viscoelasticity are among the parameters used for such char-
acterization and modeling.
The effect of mean stress on fatigue life of SFRPCs is significant
at all temperatures and is often accompanied by cyclic creep or rat-
cheting. This effect is less pronounced in notched geometries due
to the stress gradient effect. A variety of parameters have been
used to model the mean stress effect. Fatigue behavior is also sub-
stantially influenced by the testing frequency. Self-heating is the
primary consequence of increased cyclic frequency resulting in
shorter fatigue lives, depending on the material, loading mode,
and stress level. Energy-based models have been used to predict
the level of self-heating. Due to their viscoelastic nature, strength-
ening effect of frequency may also be observed at low frequencies
for some SFRPCs, prior to self-heating.
Stress concentrations and their gradient have a significant influ-
ence on fatigue behavior of SFRPCs, with a decreased influence as
temperature increases. As most components manufactured from
SFRPCs contain geometric contours or features resulting in stress
concentrations, experimental results with notched specimens are
of particular significance to the component level performance eval-
uation. Fatigue behavior under variable amplitude loading has
319
been modeled with linear as well as nonlinear cumulative damage
models. Although nonlinear damage models may provide more
accurate fatigue life estimations, they typically require the use of
fitting parameter(s) from experimental data. Several studies have
investigated multiaxial fatigue of SFRPCs including the effects of
normal to shear stress ratio and phase shift at different tempera-
tures and stress ratios. Stress ratio was found to have much more
effect in axial loading as compared to torsion loading. Different
failure paths have been observed, depending on the material, load-
ing mode, and stress level. A variety of fatigue criteria including
energy-based models have been used to correlate the multiaxial
fatigue data.
Presence of moisture can have a substantial degrading effect on
fatigue behavior of SFRPCs and this effect is more pronounced for
materials with no silane coupling agent between fiber and matrix.
The glass transition temperature (Tg) decreases with increasing
moisture content due to the plasticizing effect of water and
increased chain mobility. Temperature also has a very significant
effect on fatigue behavior of these materials. Fatigue strength sig-
nificantly reduces by increasing the temperature from below to
above Tg. At temperatures above Tg, the slope of S–N lines for differ-
ent temperatures have been found to be nearly constant in several
studies. If the temperature is cyclic in addition to the cyclic load,
thermo-mechanical fatigue is also an important aspect to be con-
sidered for these materials.
The presence of weld line resulting from joining processes in
manufactured components made of SFRPCs significantly reduces
their fatigue performance. The welded region can be the site of
crack initiation and fibers can orient in an unfavorable direction
with respect to the loading direction in this region. Mold flow sim-
ulation and FEA along with fatigue analysis techniques in conjunc-
tion with smooth specimen constant amplitude fatigue data have
been successfully used to estimate fatigue life of components sub-
jected to complex loading conditions. However, since accurate
cumulative damage models for variable amplitude and/or complex
multiaxial stress states are not yet available, experimental compo-
nent validation tests are essential.
Acknowledgement
Financial support for this project was provided by General
Motors.
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