ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 46 (2009) 643–648

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of
Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrmms

Technical Note

Inverted S-shaped model for nonlinear fatigue damage of rock

Jian-Qing Xiao a,b,, De-Xin Ding b, Gen Xu a, Fu-Liang Jiang a,b
a
School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, ChangSha 410083, China
b
School of Nuclear Resources and Safety Engineering, University of South China, HengYang 421001, China

a r t i c l e in fo

Article history:
Received 1 April 2008
Received in revised form
8 November 2008
Accepted 11 November 2008
Available online 24 December 2008

1. Introduction Researchers [3–12] have devoted great efforts to study the

Fatigue is a primary reason contributing to the failure of
engineering structures and machines. Experiments show that
rock, as a kind of natural material with a complex internal
structure, exhibits a wide dispersion of experimental data in
conventional static and dynamic tests. Many theories that have
proved efficacious and are used widely for metals cannot be
applied to rocks. For example, the fatigue damage cumulative
theory is the foundation of fatigue life analysis. And, it is well
known that the S2N curve is necessary to estimate the fatigue life
of rock subjected to variable amplitude loading by using Miner’s
linear fatigue damage cumulative theory. However, it has been
deduced [1] that fatigue life N is dependent on the stress level S,
and the fatigue life predicted by Miner’s rule is far from the actual
value, because of the scatter of static strength.
In fact, despite the fact that the Miner’s linear fatigue damage
cumulative theory is used comprehensively in engineering, due to
its advantage of being simple, visual and distinct, it is limited by
finite calculation accuracy, especially under two-level or multi-
level loadings, and for not taking loading sequence effect and
loads interaction effect into account. To overcome this defect,
many modified linear fatigue damage cumulative theories and
nonlinear ones [2] have been proposed in the past several
decades. Most of them are brought forward to solve some
problems of metal materials and cannot be applied to rock
directly. Therefore, two key problems must be addressed before
undergoing fatigue analysis in rock mass. The first one is
reasonable definition of rock damage, and the other is construc-
tion of fatigue damage cumulative model for rock.
 Corresponding author at: School of Math and Physics, University of South
China, HengYang 421001, China. Tel.: +86 734 8282450.
E-mail address: xiaojianqing2005@163.com (J.-Q. Xiao).
fatigue failure and deformation of rock. Results obtained from
experiments indicate that in spite of conventional mechanical
parameters such as fatigue life, fatigue strength, etc., being more
scattered, the axial ultimate deformation stays almost constant
for a certain rock. So, a universal fatigue failure criterion can be
established appropriately for rocks in strain space. However, this
study lays more emphasis on the construction of fatigue damage
cumulative model for rock.
2. Fatigue damage evolution law of rock
Fig. 1 shows the stress–strain curve of rock under cyclic
loading. The hysteretic loops develop according to a law of loose-
dense-loose. In addition, an inverted S-shaped curve can be
observed in the axial irreversible deformation versus cyclic
number relation (Fig. 2). The inverted S-shaped curve is divided
into three phases [3,4]: initial phase, uniform velocity phase and
accelerated phase. It is evident that the irreversible deformation
increases rapidly in the initial phase; after some cycles, the rate of
irreversible deformation development tends to be stable; near
failure, the irreversible deformation increases rapidly again to
eventual failure. The shape of the three-phase curve depends on
the properties of rock and stress level. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the
curve c with high rate and low fatigue life represents the
experimental result in the loading condition of high maximum
stress and amplitude. Its initial and accelerated phases can be
observed hardly. When the maximum stress is lower than the
endurance limit of rock, after the initial phase, the irreversible
deformation remains stable for a long time and its accelerated
phase does not exists like curve a. Except for these two kinds of
special states, obvious three-phases development law always can
be observed in most of experiments like curve b. Numerous
microscopic investigations indicate that the development of

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doi:10.1016/j.ijrmms.2008.11.002
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644 J.-Q. Xiao et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 46 (2009) 643–648

0.95

0.9

0.85

Damage, D
p = 6, β= 1.0156

0.8
p = 5, β= 1.0313
0.75 p = 4, β= 1.0625
p = 3, β= 1.125
0.7
p = 2, β= 1.25
0.65

0.6
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Relative cycle, n/N
Fig. 1. Stress–strain curve of rock subjected to fatigue loading.
Fig. 4. Influence of p to the inverted S-shaped curve.

0.95

0.9
α = 0.3, β = 1.178
0.85
Damage, D

α = 0.25, β = 1.0596
0.8
α = 2, β = 1.0156
0.75
α = 0.15, β = 1.0028
0.7
α = 0.1, β = 1.0002
0.65

0.6
Fig. 2. Development curve of axial irreversible deformation. 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Relative cycle, n/N

Fig. 5. Influence of a to the inverted S-shaped curve.

3. Inverted S-shaped fatigue damage model

3.1. Mathematical equation for the inverted S-shaped damage model

The inverted S-shaped model for fatigue damage accumulation

can be expressed as
 1=p
b
D ¼ D0 þ a 1 (1)
bn
where n is an independent variable, called generalized cycle, can
be absolute cycle n, relative cycle n=N or logarithmic cycle lnðnÞ; D
the dependent variable, represents the corresponding damage of n
cycles under constant amplitude loading. The curves of inverted
S-shaped model are shown in Fig. 4 (see also Fig. 5).
Fig. 3. Classification of development curves of axial irreversible deformation.

3.2. Physical meanings and ranges of parameters

cracks undergoes three phases during the process of fatigue By adjusting these four parameters, a perfect fitting curve
fracture too: crack initiation, stable propagation and unstable agreeable to experimental data can be obtained. Parameter D0 is
propagation corresponding to different development phases. called the fatigue initial damage, including the initial damage of
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J.-Q. Xiao et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 46 (2009) 643–648
rock before loading and the damage caused by increasing the load
to maximum stress first time. The fatigue failure curve is
controlled [3] by the complete stress–strain curve under static
loading and the ultimate strain to failure is equal to that of post-
peak corresponding to the maximum stress shown in Fig. 6.
Accordingly, D0 can be obtained from complete stress–strain curve
under static loading and is equal to the ratio of irreversible
deformation of pre-peak and that of post-peak corresponding to
the maximum stress.
The parameter p is called instability velocity factor. As shown
in Fig. 4, p affects the convergence rate of inverted S-shaped curve.
The larger is p, the more rapidly the curve converges. Because the
stage of damage rate increases rapidly corresponding to the
accelerated phase of axial irreversible deformation development,
i.e. unstable crack propagation stage, p is called the instability
velocity factor. Through the research on the character of inverted
S-shaped curve, the suggested value of p ranges from 2 to 8.
The parameter a is called instability proportion factor (Fig. 5).
a affects the proportion of the accelerated phase to whole fatigue
life. The larger is the a, the smaller is the proportion. The value of
a must be taken between 0 and ð1  D0 Þ.
Fig. 6. Static and fatigue testing curves of rock.
1 Fig. 8. Increasing three-level loading.
0.9 5 D0 = 0.7, p = 2, α = 0.26, β = 6.2436
0.8 4 D0 = 0.6, p = 3, α = 0.24, β = 7.0714
Damage, D
3 D0 = 0.55, p = 4, α = 0.20, β = 7.1802
0.7
0.6 2 D0 = 0.5, p = 5, α = 0.15, β = 8.0195
0.5
1 D0 = 0.4, p = 6, α = 0.10, β = 12.0282
0.4
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Logarithmic cycle, In (n)
Fig. 7. Inverted S-shaped curves family.
645
Parameter b is called the instability factor. It is not an
independent parameter, but is associated with p and a. When
the x-axis represents relative cycle, the damage evolution curve
goes through the point (1,1), so
  
1  D0 p
b¼ þ1 (2)
a
Meanwhile, there is another control point (b=2, D0 þ a) in the
inverted S-shaped model.
Collection of all curves is called inverted S-shaped curves
family (Fig. 7). Obviously, it includes all forms of damage
development curves of rock. Therefore, an ideal result can be
obtained by using a inverted S-shaped curve to represent the
process of damage evolution of rock.
3.3. Calculation of cumulative damage under multi-level loading
The inverted S-shaped nonlinear fatigue damage cumulative
model can be used to calculate the cumulative damage of rock
under multi-level cyclic loading. For example, two kinds of three-
level cyclic loadings are illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively.
The first is decreasing three-level cyclic loading, and the other
represents increasing one with 50 cycles at each level. The
calculation process and results are indicated in Figs. 10 and 11.
The marking paths in Figs. 10 and 11 include solid and dashed
lines. The solid lines represent nonlinear increases of fatigue
8
Fig. 9. Decreasing three-level loading.
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646 J.-Q. Xiao et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 46 (2009) 643–648
Fig. 10. Evolution of fatigue damage under increasing three-level loading.
Fig. 11. Evolution of fatigue damage under decreasing three-level loading.
damage and the dashed lines represent the damage equivalent
principle. So, we can call the solid line the real path, and the
dashed line the virtual path. Both the real paths and virtual paths
constitute fatigue path.
When the stress level increases from 0.7 to 0.9, the fatigue
damage accumulates along the path of ABCDEF (Fig. 10). The
fatigue damage increases by 0.0322 during the first level cyclic
loading, 0.0815 the second and 0.0893 the third. These values at
three levels are similar. If the initial damage being added into, the
cumulative damage after the increasing three-level cyclic loading
reaches 0.8031.
When the stress level decreases from 0.9 to 0.7, the fatigue
damage accumulates along the path of ABCDEF shown in Fig. 11.
The fatigue damage increases by 0.2018 during the first level
cyclic loading, 0.0205 during the second, and 0.1363 during the
third. The increasing damage in the first level is much larger than
that at other two levels and the cumulative damage finally
reaches 0.9587.
It is obvious that the results of these two reverse loading
sequences are different. The increasing value under decreasing
three-level cyclic loading is 1.8 times of that under increasing
process. Damage accumulation is correlated with the loading
sequence directly, which contributes to the ‘‘training’’ effect.
Furthermore, by using the concept of fatigue path, the inverted S-
shaped nonlinear fatigue damage cumulative model can be
applied in the calculation of fatigue cumulative damage under
random loading too.
3.4. Characteristics of the inverted S-shaped damage model
The inverted S-shaped nonlinear fatigue damage cumulative
model is suitable for not only rock and concrete but also metal
materials. It is different from previous fatigue damage cumulative
theories, and its characteristics can be summarized as follows.
Firstly, the mathematical model is relatively simple, and the
parameters have distinct physical meanings. Secondly, the initial
damage of the material is considered. Thirdly, the influence
of loading sequence on damage accumulation is considered.
Fourthly, loads interaction is considered. Fifthly, the relationship
between damage accumulation and damage state is considered.
And lastly, it can be directly applied to multi-level and random
loading.
4. Experimental study
4.1. Testing equipment and testing condition
The tested rock is granite from HengYang region located in the
central south of China. Each sample was prepared into cylinder
according to the ISRM standards with a diameter of 50 mm and a
length to diameter ratio equal to 2:1.
The tests were conducted on a servo-hydraulic rock testing
apparatus, RMT-150B. In order to obtain the compressive strength
of rock, six specimens have been tested with a loading rate of
0.1 kN/s and the obtained average uniaxial compressive strength is
143.43 MPa. The fatigue test performed using axial load control
with a frequency of 0.2 Hz and a sinusoidal loading wave in this
study, is composed of two steps: the first static loading with a rate
of 0.1 kN/s equal to that in static test and the secondary cyclic
loading with the given loading wave and frequency.
4.2. Damage evolution of rock under constant amplitude cyclic
loading
Fig. 12 shows the damage evolution curve when the fatigue
damage is defined by the axial irreversible deformation. Obviously,
there is a three-phase development law and an initial damage of
0.55632 (Fig. 12). The fitting curve for experimental data with
the proposed inverted S-shaped model is also present in Fig. 12 and
the fitted material parameters are D0 ¼ 0:55632, a ¼ 0:13051,
b ¼ 1:01822, and p ¼ 3:32306. It is obvious that the inverted
S-shaped model can describe the damage evolution of rock well.
The nature of fatigue failure lies in the existence and
accumulation of plastic deformation. So, fatigue damage being
defined by irreversible deformation seems reasonable, and in this
case, the real development process of fatigue damage is modeled
with the proposed formula.
4.3. Fatigue life prediction of rock under variable amplitude loading
The method of determining the fatigue cumulative damage has
been discussed in the former section, and an example for
estimating the fatigue life of rock subjected to variable amplitude
cyclic loading will be present here. The model sample of F1-24
was loaded with two stress levels. The maximum stress is
114.75 MPa at the first level, and 121.92 MPa at the second level.
The number of cycles imposed on the sample is 500 at the first
level and the sample is loaded to failure at the second level. The
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Fig. 12. Fitting result of specimen F1-6.
Fig. 13. Ultimate strain to failure.
minimum stress remains at 43.03 MPa, and other loading
parameters have been mentioned above.
The detailed course on fatigue life prediction is provided as
follows:
Step 1: Determination of the ultimate strain to failure. The strain
of the control point according to the maximum stress
(114.75 MPa) must be obtained from the complete stress–strain
curve under static loading firstly. As shown in Fig. 13, the ultimate
strain tf ¼ 4:900145 and the elastic modulus is E ¼ 49:043 GPa, so
the ultimate residual strain is
smax 114:75
rf ¼ tf  ¼ 4:900145  ¼ 2:56036
E 49:043
Step 2: Determination of the instantaneous damage D1 after the
first loading step. The test shows that the instantaneous residual
strain of rock after 500 cycles at the first level reaches 2.23524.
Substituting this value into the equation Di ¼ ri =rf (where Di is
the instantaneous damage, ri is the instantaneous residual strain
and rf is the ultimate residual strain), one has D1 ¼ 0:87302.
Step 3: Determination of the cycles according to the D1 at the
second stress level. The inverse function of the inverted S-shaped
647
Table 1
Performance of granite material.
No. Max. Min. Fatigue D0 a b P
stress stress life
(MPa) (MPa)
F1-15 121.92 43.03 94 0.64401 0.07409 1.00762 3.08799
model can be written as
n b
¼b  (4)
N D  D0 P
þ1
a
Substituting the data listed in Table 1, and D1 , into that equation,
the number of cycles equivalent to the state of damage D1 is found
to be n ¼ 91:99  92.
Step 4: Determination of the residual life and total life. Residual
life is 94  92 ¼ 2. The total life is 500 þ 2 ¼ 502. The tested
fatigue life of specimen F1-24 is 507. So, the relative error
between the tested value and prediction is only 1%.
5. Conclusions
An inverted S-shaped nonlinear fatigue damage cumulative
model, which has a relative simple mathematical equation and
contains parameters with distinct physical meanings, is derived in
this study based on the law of axial irreversible deformation
development of rock. Without excessive hypotheses, a curve that
agrees with experimental data can be obtained by using this
model. Meanwhile, the calculation accuracy can be further
improved for considering the whole failure process: crack
initiation, stable propagation and unstable propagation. Then, an
approach to calculate cumulative damage under three-level
loading is illustrated and a concept of fatigue path is proposed.
By using the concept of fatigue path, one can explain the basic
reason contributing to the fatigue ‘‘training’’ effect, and can
consider initial damage of rock, loads interaction effect and
loading sequence effect during fatigue analysis. Accordingly, this
model can be applied in not only constant amplitude loading, but
also variable amplitude and random loadings. In the end of this
study, a set of test data is used to validate this inverted S-shaped
damage model, and the experimental results indicate that the
inverted S-shaped model can properly describe the whole
evolution process of fatigue damage.
Acknowledgements
The work presented in this paper is supported by the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 50774047), the Scientific
Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department of
China (no. 07C652, 08C764) and the Scientific Research Fund of
(3) Hunan Provincial Supervision and Administration Bureau for
Safety Production (no. 07-17, 07-29).
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