ENS6104

Advanced Mechanical Design

Lecture 2 Fatigue I
Dr. Ferdinando Guzzomi
f.guzzomi@ecu.edu.au
Image Source: http://www.prlog.org/11380026-mechanical-design-services-mechanical-engineering-drawing-services.html
Case Study: De Havilland Comet
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet
De Havilland Comet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFKP7xCsGsc

Disaster & Progression
Fatigue Failure: Evidence
Design for Strength or Life?


t
t
Failure
Failure
Design for Strength Design for Life
Stage I Micro-cracks





Stage II Macro-cracks
Stage III Minimised area (Brittle or yield failure)
Fatigue Failure: Fracture Surfaces
Image source: http://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/job-knowledge/fatigue-testing-078/
Crack initiation due to:
Rapid cross section changes
(design)
Pitting/Spalling due to contact
loads
Construction marks / Fabrication
Faults
Material composition due to
processing
Fatigue Failure: Fracture Surfaces
Image source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design
Fatigue Fracture: Worked Example
Stage I Micro-cracks
Stage II Macro-cracks
Stage III Minimised area (Brittle or yield failure)
Initial crack
Crack
propagation
(Beach marks)
Final fast
failure (Rough
surface)
Low nominal stress
No stress concentration
Rotational bending
Fatigue Fracture: Class Example
Image source: www.uh.edu and http://www.doobybrain.com/2009/03/02/giant-crankset-on-a-bicycle/
High Nominal Stress
Unidirectional bending
Severe Stress Concentration
High Nominal Stress?
What type of loading conditions produced this fatigue failure surface?
Application?



S-N Diagram: Basics
Image Source: http://www.accutektesting.com/testing-services/mechanical-testing/rotating-beam/
Fatigue life can be predicted using one of the
following methods:
Stress Life
Strain Life
Linear-Elastic Fracture Mechanics
S
ut
High Cycle
Finite Life Infinite Life
10
6
Number of stress cycles, N
Log(N)
Fatigue Strength, Sf
Log(Sf)
Low
Cycle
10
3
S
e

S-N Diagram: Steel Example
S
ut
S
e
Low Cycle High Cycle
Finite Life Infinite Life
10
6
Number of stress cycles, N
Log(N)
Fatigue Strength, Sf
Log(Sf)
10
3
S-N Diagram: Aluminium Example
S
ut
Low Cycle High Cycle
10
6
Log(N)
Log(S)
Note:
Only some materials show endurance strengths
Materials like Aluminium have no infinite life
Steel
Aluminium
Endurance Strength
Ferrite Pearlite Martensite
Carbon Steel 0.57 - 0.63 0.38 - 0.41
Alloy Steel 0.23 - 0.47
A table for the endurance limit ratio S
e
/S
ut
is shown below.

In practice when using simple relationships, without testing it is worth being
conservative:
MPa S MPa S
MPa S S S
ut e
ut ut e
1400 700
1400 5 . 0
'
'
> =
s =
The above is a reasonable approach for steel. Cast irons generally have a lower
endurance limit ratio and a lower peak endurance strength, defined by:
MPa S MPa S
MPa S S S
ut e
ut ut e
600 275
600 45 . 0
'
'
> =
s =
High-Cycle Fatigue
Low cycle fatigue (< 10
3
cycles):
Life prediction from Strain-Life method

High cycle fatigue (> 10
3
cycles):
Life prediction from Stress-Life method
Identified estimate of mean endurance limit for steel is either half the tensile
strength or 700MPa (whichever is lower) at > 10
6
cycles


However, is it possible to
estimate the fatigue strength
within the high cycle region?
S
ut
S
e
Low Cycle High Cycle
10
6
Number of stress cycles, N
Log(N)
F
a
t
i
g
u
e

S
t
r
e
n
g
t
h
,

S
f

L
o
g
(
S
f
)

10
3
S-N curve: Estimating Fatigue Strength
Traditionally, for wrought steels data suggests that at 1000 cycles (the start of high-cycle
fatigue) the mean fatigue strength is:
) 65 . 0 vely, conservati (or 80 . 0
3 3
10 , 10 ,
ut
f
ut
f
S S S S = =
In the absence of actual fatigue testing, a fatigue strength fraction, f, is estimated from the
graph below to determine the fatigue strength (as a fraction of S
ut
) at 1000 cycles (S
f,10
3
).
Conservatively, f = 0.9 for S
ut
< 490MPa
The following equation is used to estimate the
high-cycle fatigue strength (10
3
< N < 10
6
):
: where
b
f
N a S =
e
ut
S
S f
a
2
) (
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
e
ut
S
S f
b

log
3
1
490 560 630 700 770 840 910 980 1050 1120 1190 1260 1330 1400
S
ut
[MPa]
0.76
For a completely reversed stress, S
f
can be set to the reversed stress and
rearranging the equation above can provide the expected life (10
3
s N s 10
6
cycles):
b
f
N a S =
Calculates: Mean Fatigue Strength S
f
for given
cycles, N
Calculates: Cycles N, for given Mean Fatigue
Strength S
f
(or Reversed stress o
a
)
S-N curve: Finding Fatigue Strength or Cycles
b
a
S
N
f
/ 1
|
.
|

\
|
=
High-cycle (between 10
3
and 10
6
cycles) fatigue strength can be estimated using
the following equation:
|
.
|

\
|
>
3
log

f
ut f
N S S
Although a crude approximation, the following equation can estimate the low-cycle
fatigue strength:
Estimates: Mean Fatigue Strength S
f
for given
cycles, N (where 1 s N s 1000)
Worked Example: Fatigue Strength
The endurance limit of a thoroughly tested (in fatigue) wrought steel
member is 112MPa and the tensile strength is 385MPa. What is the
fatigue strength corresponding to a life of 70x10
3
cycles?



Example source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design
,
,10
3 = 0.8

= 0.8 385 = 308

=
(308)
2
112
= 847
=
1
3
log
308
112
= 0.146
Now finding the equation coefficients:



The high-cycle fatigue strength can then be calculated using the following
equation:

= 847 70 10
3 0.146
= 166
Worked Example: Fatigue Strength
For a hot-rolled 1050 steel sample with Tensile Strength of 620MPa, calculate the following:
I. The rotating-beam endurance limit at 10
6
cycles,
II. The endurance strength of a polished rotating-beam specimen corresponding to 10
4

cycles to failure,
III. The expected life a polished rotating-beam specimen under a completely reversed
stress of 385MPa.

Example source: Shigleys Mechanical Engineering Design
I. S
ut
= 620MPa < 1400MPa, therefore:

= 0.5

= 0.5 620 = 310

II. For S
ut
= 620MPa, f = 0.86
=
(533)
2
310
= 916
=
1
3
log
533
310
= 0.0785

= 916 1 10
4 0.0785
= 445

,10
3= (

) = 0.86 620 = 533

III. For o
a
= 385MPa,
=

=
385
916
1
0.0785

= 62.4 10
3