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APL 102

Cyclic deformation (Fatigue)- & Fracture- in Materials

Concepts: S-N curve, endurance limit, Paris law, fatigue life estimation, striations mark

Lecture 32
 Recap
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Dislocation Creep Creep Diffusional Creep
Coble creep → low T
GB diffusion

Nabarro-Herring creep
high T → lattice diffusion

Grain boundary sliding High temperature (Th > 0.4) applications: Turbine blades
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Question for thought

What is the property characterized by the cyclic

deformation mode?
 Recap
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Fatigue – Dynamic (cyclic) deformation
Fatigue is the time-delayed fracture of materials/structures subjected to repeated cyclic loads

Low-cycle fatigue
High-cycle fatigue
Acoustic vibration

Bridge

Wohler rotating rod test

or rotating bending method
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Question for thought

How the fatigue or cyclic loading characteristics can be

measured or analysed?
 S-N Curves
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Fatigue characteristics are measured and plotted on S-N curve

R value of -1 indicates
the mean stress is zero

Endurance limit, σe: stress amplitude below which fracture does not occur at all or only after a very
large number of cycles (>107)
Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David Cebon
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Stress Variation

alternating stress
Range of stress
mean stress
0

How S-N curve will change when

mean stress ( ) increases?
 S (stress) – N (number of cycles) Curve
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Comparison
 Fatigue of cracked components
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 Large structures – particularly welded structures such as bridges,

ships, oil rigs and nuclear pressure vessels always contain cracks

 All we have to make sure that the size of these cracks is less than the
critical crack size to avoid any catastrophic failure

 We need to determine the safe life of the structure i.e. how many
number of cycles structure can last prior to failure
 Fatigue of cracked components
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Because cracks don't

Cyclic stress intensity factor propagate in compression

Its value increases with time because

crack grows in tension
 Fatigue of cracked components
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Crack growth rate is given by:
a0 and af is the initial and final
crack length. At af crack becomes
unstable
We now have an expression for the
fatigue life of a component
Threshold value: below which
crack does not grow
Paris
region
Catastrophic failure
occurs when Kmax = Kc
Fatigue crack-growth rates for
precracked material
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Fatigue Mechanism
• Paris Law: Crack grows incrementally
typically in the range 3 to 5 (for metals)

increase in crack length per loading cycle

crack origin
• Failed rotating shaft
-- crack grew even though
Kmax < Kc
-- crack grows faster if
•  increases
• crack gets longer
• loading freq. increases.
 Fatigue mechanism: LCF
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Uncracked component
LCF: Plastic strains > elastic strains
σapp > σY

General plasticity roughens the surface

and a crack forms there propagating
along a slip path and then by the
mechanism normal to the tensile axis

Intrusions and protrusions: Crack

nucleating sites
 Fatigue mechanism: HCF
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HCF: Elastic strains > Plastic strains Uncracked component

σapp < σY
When the stress is below the general yield

Any notch, scratch or change of

Section – stress concentrates there

A crack initiates in the zone of stress

concentration

Sudden changes of section or scratches are

very dangerous in HCF

How cracks form in high-cycle fatigue?

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“Striations” or
Beach marks

Fractured surface of a rotating steel shaft which underwent fatigue

15
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start

finish
Fatigue failure surface
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Question for thought

What factors affect the fatigue life of a component?

 Factors affecting fatigue life
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1. Stress Level
Fatigue life is highly dependent on
2. Surface Effects
Surface finish is important because in fatigue, cracks usually start at the surface.
Design: Notches, discontinuities, grooves, holes, threads increase the stress concentration.
Therefore to design against fatigue, avoid irregularities
Surface treatment: Machining introduces scratches and grooves, therefore polishing a
machined surface will increase fatigue life.
3. Environment
Thermal fatigue: Fluctuating temperatures can cause thermal stresses.
Corrosion fatigue: If the component is exposed to a corrosive environment, pits caused
by corrosion can act as initiation sites and corrosion can also increase
the crack growth rate.
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Question for thought

What are the methods to improve fatigue life?

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Methods to improve fatigue life

 Induce compressive stresses on the surface

- Shot peening
- Surface treatments (polishing machined surface etc.,)

 Use materials or design that offer better fatigue resistance

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Fracture
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Why did the Titanic sink so easily?
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What went wrong with the liberty ships?
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Silent puncture
Two ways for the tire/tube to fail
Noisy burst
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What happens
when you
poke it with a
sharp object?
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Question for thought

What is common in all the four cases?

Catastrophic failure (Brittle fracture)

 Announcement
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 Quiz 2: November 1st (Wednesday) @ 5:30 pm

Syllabus: Minor 1 & Topics after Minor 2 till this Friday ??

 Compensating Class: 25th October (Tomorrow) @ 5:30 to 6:20 pm, LH 325

30th October (Monday) @ 5:30 to 6:20 pm ??

 Attendance uploaded: Last date for informing discrepancies 27th Oct.

 Lab marks & Minor 1, Quiz marks: Will upload today. Last date for
informing any discrepancies is 28th Oct.
E-mail with a picture of the mark (subject: Re: APL 102…)