International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183

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International Journal of Fatigue

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

Fatigue of short fiber thermoplastic composites: A review of recent

experimental results and analysis
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: Cyclic deformation and fatigue behavior of two short fiber thermoplastic composites (SFTCs) under a
Received 15 December 2016 number of loading and environmental conditions are investigated. The considered environmental effects
Received in revised form 24 January 2017 include those of low and elevated temperatures as well as moisture (or water absorption). Fatigue behav-
Accepted 25 January 2017
ior is also explored under the action of non-zero mean stress (or R ratio) in addition to fully-reversed
Available online 7 February 2017
(R =
1), as well as various cyclic loading frequencies. Material anisotropy and geometrical discontinuity
effects (i.e. stress concentration) are other aspects considered in this study. Mechanisms of fatigue failure
Keywords:
are also assessed under environmental effects. Based on experimental observations and analysis, a num-
Fatigue
Short fiber
ber of analytical and empirical models are developed for estimating fatigue behavior under different con-
Thermoplastic composites ditions. Empirical equations are presented to characterize self-heating under cyclic loading. Tsai-Hill
Modeling criterion is applied to account for the effect of fiber orientation on fatigue life. Mean stress effect is cor-
rected with several mean stress parameters and a shift factor of Arrhenius type is defined to characterize
the effect of temperature on fatigue life. Two methodologies are presented to estimate fatigue properties
based on tensile properties, in addition to approximation of strain-life curves based on load-controlled
fatigue data. Estimation of notched fatigue behavior based on smooth (un-notched) fatigue behavior is
also presented.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction interface [2,3]. Thermoplastic materials exhibit time dependent

Application of short fiber thermoplastic composites (SFTCs) is
increasingly growing due to their remarkable properties. Light
weight, low manufacturing cost with a high volume production
rate, and the capability to be molded in complex geometries are
the main characteristics of SFTCs. A wide range of effects related
to microstructure, environment and load conditions are involved
in fatigue design of SFTCs. However, a relatively small number of
studies have been conducted on fatigue behavior characterization
of SFTCs, although components made of these materials are typi-
cally subjected to cyclic loads. Due to the complexity as well as a
large number of parameters influencing mechanical behavior of
SFTCs, fatigue behavior has been mainly investigated through
experimental techniques, while less attention has been given to
fatigue behavior modeling [1].
Under cyclic loading, a continuous softening is generally
observed in SFTCs, which is typically due to initiation and growth
of damage in the matrix as well as at fiber ends and fiber-matrix
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: seyyedvahid.mortazavian@rockets.utoledo.edu (S. Mortaza-
vian), afatemi@eng.utoledo.edu (A. Fatemi).
properties and relatively low melting temperatures. As a result,
significant effect of load frequency is observed on fatigue behavior
of SFTCs [4].
Increased fatigue performance of SFTCs is a function of fiber
reinforcement, its orientation and distribution which in turn is
associated with the geometry of fibers and the component, vis-
coelastic behavior of the matrix, and flow field during the injection
molding process [5]. A shell-core morphology across the thickness
of a molded part has frequently been reported for SFTCs, where
higher fiber alignment exists in two shell layers compared with
the core layer [6]. Recently, micro-tomography studies have been
performed on SFTCs for their fatigue damage investigation [7].
However, the effect of fiber orientation effect has often been eval-
uated through conducting fatigue tests on samples with different
thicknesses and with fibers in different orientation with respect
to the loading [6].
Environmental effects including temperature and moisture on
fatigue behavior of SFTCs have been explored in several studies.
A significant degradation of fatigue strength has been observed
from temperatures below to above the glass transition tempera-
ture (Tg) [6]. A recent extensive survey has been performed on high
temperature fatigue behavior of SFTCs in [8]. The effect of water

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2017.01.037
0142-1123/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
172 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183
absorption is a function of the polymer type and fiber-matrix cou-
pling agents [9].
A small number of studies have been devoted to effects of mean
stress or R ratio and stress concentration on fatigue behavior of
SFTCs. A significant effect of mean stress, which may be accompa-
nied by cyclic creep or ratcheting is observed on fatigue behavior of
SFTCs [10]. The reduction of fatigue strength due to mean stress
has been observed to be less for notched specimens as compared
with smooth specimens, due to the presence of stress gradient near
the notch root. Modified Goodman and Gerber mean stress equa-
tions have been used with the use of creep rupture strength to cor-
rect for the mean stress effect [11,12].
In this study, a number of aspects related to fatigue behaviors of
two short fiber thermoplastic composites (SFTCs) were experimen-
tally investigated and fatigue life estimation methodologies are
presented to account for these aspects. The materials and specimen
geometries used, as well as the experimental procedure are
described first. Then, experimental results for the different effects
considered are presented and discussed, followed by the fatigue
Fig. 1. (a) Specimen cutting directions with respect to mold flow and, (b) specimen geometry designed for fatigue tests. For notched specimens a 2 mm diameter central hole
was drilled in the middle of the gage section (Kt = 2.5) (all dimensions are in mm).
analysis model used to represent or estimate each effect. The con-
sidered effects include cyclic deformation, load frequency and self-
heating, anisotropy or fiber orientation effect, moisture, tempera-
ture, mean stress, and stress concentration.
2. Material, specimen geometry, and experimental method
The two composite materials considered were a polybutylene
terephthalate with 30 wt% short glass fiber (here referred to as
PBT) and a polyamide-6 with about 10 wt% rubber and 35 wt%
short glass fiber (here referred to as PA6). The glass transition tem-
perature (Tg) of both materials was about 60 °C, as obtained from
dynamics mechanical analysis. The average fiber aspect ratio was
estimated at 26 [13,14].
Materials were injection molded in rectangular plaques with
dimensions of 100 mm  200 mm in 3 and 3.8 mm thicknesses.
To study the effect of fiber orientation, rectangular strips were
machined from molded plaques at 0°, 18°, 45° and 90° angles with
respect to the injection mold flow direction, as shown in Fig. 1(a). A
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183 173

dog-bone shape specimen with an optimized geometry was cut

from the strips, as shown in Fig. 1(b). For notched tests, a circular
hole with diameter of 2 mm was drilled in the center of the spec-
imen gage section. The elastic stress concentration factor (Kt) in the
critical section of the notched specimen was obtained to be 2.5.
Fatigue tests were conducted on a uniaxial servo-hydraulic test-
ing machine and controlled by a digital controller. A mechanical
extensometer was used to measure strain and a thermal imaging
camera was used to measure surface temperature rise in room
temperature tests. For temperature effect study, an environmental
chamber employing an electronic heating element and a liquid
nitrogen cooling system was used. For studying moisture or water
absorption effect, specimens were immersed at room temperature
water for a certain period of time prior to testing and then tested at
room temperature.
Load-controlled un-notched fatigue tests were performed in a
range of cycles to failure between 103 and 106 cycles on specimens
machined in various directions of mold flow. Fatigue tests were
conducted at
40 °C, 23 °C, and 125 °C under the stress ratios of

1, 0.1, and 0.3. Notched fatigue tests were conducted using spec-
imens in both longitudinal and transverse directions of mold flow
and under stress ratios of
1 and 0.1.

3. Experimental results, analysis, and models

3.1. Cyclic deformation behavior

Cyclic deformation behavior of polymeric materials is very dif-

ferent with that of metallic materials with grain boundaries. This is
due to formation of long chain molecules in polymeric materials. In
this study, incremental step cyclic deformation tests with blocks of
increasing stress amplitude were performed with a sinusoidal
load-controlled wave form under fully-reversed (R =
1) condition
at
40°, 23° and 125 °C and in both longitudinal and transverse
directions. Test continued at each stress level until a relatively sta-
bilized strain was reached. Test results were then used to obtain
cyclic stress-strain curves and evaluate cyclic softening.
Progressive cyclic deformation of PBT in the transverse direc-
tion at a stress level corresponding to about 65% of tensile strength
is shown in Fig. 2(a). With continued cycling, the area under the
hysteresis loops increases and the cyclic modulus decreases. Due
to higher straining in tension than in compression, the strain
amplitude and mean strain increase as cycling is continued. This
behavior was observed for both materials, in both longitudinal
and transverse directions, and at all test temperatures. The afore-
mentioned changes in hysteresis loops were more pronounced at
higher temperatures and at higher stress levels, such that at stress
levels corresponding to fatigue life of 103 cycles or shorter, no sta-
bilized hysteresis loop was observed.
The stress-strain response of the materials under cyclic loading
can be quite different from that under monotonic loading. Cyclic
stresses and strains from relatively stabilized hysteresis loops were
used to obtain the cyclic stress-strain curves. Ramberg-Osgood
equation was used to mathematically represent the cyclic stress-
strain behavior, expressed as [15]:

1=n0
ra ra
ea ¼ þ ð1Þ
E0 K0
where K0 and n0 are cyclic strength coefficient and cyclic hardening
exponent, respectively, and obtained from the fit of true stress
amplitude versus true plastic strain amplitude.
The cyclic stress-strain data, corresponding Ramberg-Osgood
curves, as well as and monotonic tension curves are superimposed
in Fig. 2(b) for PBT in the longitudinal direction and at tempera-
tures of
40, 23, and 125 °C. Significant cyclic softening is observed
at room temperature, while small softening is observed at
40 and
Fig. 2. (a) Progressive deformation of PBT in the transverse direction with
hysteresis loops shown from initial cycles to and near fracture cycles and, (b)
Cyclic stress-strain data and the corresponding Ramberg-Osgood (dashed) and
monotonic tension (solid) curves for PBT in the longitudinal direction [14].
125 °C. Similar behavior was observed for the transverse direction,
as well as for PA6.
Under cyclic loading, the strain is adjusted by microscopic rear-
rangement of polymer molecules. Polymeric materials often show
cyclic softening and a number of factors such as molecular struc-
ture, time, temperature and additives control the degree of soften-
ing. A number of cyclic deformation mechanisms which can take
place in polymers consist of homogenous mechanisms such as
molecular chain disentanglement, reorientation or slip and crystal-
lization as well as heterogeneous mechanisms including craze and
shear band formation [16].
3.2. Temperature rise effect and modeling
The hysteresis area in each load cycle generally represents
energy loss per unit volume of the material. At lower frequencies,
a greater time is given to polymer chains to disentangle and align
into the load direction and, therefore, thermoplastics indicate a
lower stiffness and a higher degree of energy dissipation per cycle.
As frequency of test increases, the dissipated energy reduces and a
higher stiffness is observed. However, due to low thermal conduc-
tivity of thermoplastics, the generated heat due to energy dissipa-
tion results in self-heating. Presence of fiber reinforcements can
increase strength, stiffness, as well as thermal stability of thermo-
plastics, but friction between fiber and matrix and higher stress
concentrations near fiber ends may increase the degree of self-
heating [17,18].
Fatigue life predictions for service load histories are generally
based on fatigue data performed with constant amplitude loading,
174 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183
which can be substantially influenced by cyclic frequency in ther-
moplastics. Therefore, an appropriate frequency should be selected
for obtaining constant amplitude fatigue properties of thermoplas-
tic materials. The effect of frequency on R =
1 fatigue life of PA6 in
the longitudinal direction is shown in Fig. 3(a). Two stress ampli-
tudes corresponding to about 40% and 34% of ultimate tensile
strength (Su) were used. Considerable effect of frequency on fatigue
life was observed by changing the frequency by a factor of 4 for the
higher stress amplitude test (from 0.25 Hz to 1 Hz) and by a factor
of 2 for the lower stress amplitude test (from 2 Hz to 4 Hz).
Displacement amplitude versus applied cycles for these tests
are shown in Fig. 3(b), along with the increase in measured surface
temperature relative to the beginning of the test. As can be seen
from this figure, the temperature increase was more than 13 °C
Fig. 3. (a) Effect of testing frequency on fatigue life and, (b) displacement amplitude
versus applied cycles for PA6 in the longitudinal direction at room temperature
under R =
1 condition for stress amplitudes of 40% and 34% of Su [21]. The
temperatures shown are measured surface temperatures relative to the beginning
of the test.
at 1 Hz for the higher stress amplitude test and more than 35 °C
at 4 Hz for the lower stress amplitude test. The degree of cyclic
softening, as reflected by the increase in displacement amplitude,
is related to the amount of increase in temperature.
Regardless of the chosen stress amplitude and test frequency,
when the temperature rise exceeded 10 °C, the displacement
amplitude rapidly increased and thermal failure occurred. There-
fore, low test frequencies were chosen to limit the temperature rise
to a maximum of 10 °C in fatigue tests in order to prevent signifi-
cant self-heating. A relatively higher sensitivity to frequency was
observed for PA6 as compared with PBT, due to a higher dissipation
of energy in PA6. Due to viscoelastic nature of polymers, with
increasing test frequency up to a critical frequency, fatigue life
may increase [19]. This is because with increasing frequency, the
chain disentanglement is restricted and polymer stiffness
increases. However, for the considered short fiber thermoplastics
in this study, this effect was not evident.
To characterize the effects of stress level and frequency on tem-
perature rise, incremental step tests with increasing frequency at
each step were performed. At each stress level, cycles were applied
under a constant frequency until the surface temperature of spec-
imen was nearly stabilized. Then the test was stopped for a period
of time, until the surface temperature returned to the room
temperature.
Transient temperature rise curves with applied cycles at differ-
ent frequencies are shown in Fig. 4(a) for a longitudinal sample of
PBT under R =
1 with stress amplitude of about 32% of Su. The sta-
bilized temperature is higher at higher frequency, as expected. At a
critical frequency, the temperature rise was more than 10 °C and
surface temperature did not stabilize.
At all stress levels of both materials and in both longitudinal
and transverse directions of mold flow, a linear relationship
between stabilized temperature rise and cycling frequency was
obtained, as seen in Fig. 4(b). As the stress level is increased, a
higher rate of temperature rise is observed with increased
frequency.
Energy-based models were applied to the incremental step fre-
quency data to generalize correlation of temperature rise as a func-
tion of cycling frequency and stress amplitude for each material. A
linear relationship between the temperature rise and dissipated
energy per unit volume and time was obtained, as follows [4]:
DT ¼ Bwf ð2Þ
where f is test frequency, w is the area inside the hysteresis loop, DT
is temperature rise, and B is a material parameter. A linear correla-
tion of temperature rise data presented in Fig. 4(b) with parameter
(w f) in Eq. (2) is shown in Fig. 4(c).
Another model based on a constant energy approach was also
applied to the data. This model is based on a linear one-
dimensional conductive heat transfer and assumes negligible
energy storage in the test specimen, expressed as [20]:
DT ¼ C ra e2a f ð3Þ
where ra is stress amplitude, ea is strain amplitude, and C is a mate-
rial parameter which can be obtained by a linear fit of temperature
rise data on Eq. (3). Linearity of the relationship between tempera-
ture rise and (ra ea2 f) parameter is observed in Fig. 4(c).
Knowing the constant B in Eq. (2) or the constant C in Eq. (3),
temperature rise as a function of the loading (stress and strain)
and the applied frequency can be estimated. These constants for
each material and mold flow direction can be obtained from a
small number of tests.
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183
Fig. 4. (a) Transient surface temperature rise curves at the stress amplitude of 32%
Su, (b) stable surface temperature rise as a function of cycling frequency at different
stress amplitudes and, (c) fits of stable surface temperature rise versus parameters
introduced in Eqs. (2) and (3) [21].
3.3. Anisotropic fatigue behavior and modeling
Fig. 5 shows the effect of fiber orientation on fatigue behavior of
PA6 at 23 °C under R = 0.1 condition. Specimens in 3 mm and
3.8 mm thicknesses were machined in the longitudinal and trans-
verse directions of mold flow. For samples in the longitudinal
direction, a comparison was also made between the fatigue
175
Fig. 5. Thickness and plaque location effects on fatigue behavior of PA6 in the
longitudinal and transverse directions at room temperature [14]. Test frequency is
between 0.25 and 5 Hz.
strength in edge and middle of the plaque geometry, as shown in
Fig. 1(a).
Fatigue lives of the middle specimens were reduced by about a
factor of two, compared to the edge specimens, as seen in Fig. 5.
This may be due to the relatively thinner core layer in the edge
samples, compared to the middle samples. No effect of thickness
is observed in the longitudinal direction, while in the transverse
direction fatigue lives of 3 mm samples were reduced by about a
factor of 5 for PA6, as compared to the fatigue lives of 3.8 mm sam-
ples. The effect of thickness in the longitudinal direction of PBT was
also negligible, but a factor of 4 reduction in fatigue life was
observed from 3.8 mm to 3 mm thickness.
The effect of thickness is due to a shell-core morphology
observed across the thickness of the short fiber composites. During
the injection molding process, due to the gradient of velocity of
mold, fibers in the core layer are mainly oriented perpendicular
to the injection molding direction, while they are highly in line
with the mold flow direction in the two shell layers near the walls.
The core layer comprises about 0.5 mm and 0.2 mm of the speci-
men thickness for 3.8 mm and 3 mm thickness samples, respec-
tively. Therefore, the effect of thickness on fatigue strength of the
considered SFTCs can be related to the thicknesses of the core
and shell layers.
The effect of mold flow direction was evaluated in 0°, 18°, 45°,
and 90° directions relative to the injection molding direction.
Due to the presence of fiber reinforcement, fatigue performance
was highly dependent on the sample orientation relative to the
mold flow direction. With increasing the specimen angle with
respect to the mold flow direction, fatigue strength increases such
that longitudinal specimens have about 40% higher fatigue limit
(defined as fatigue strength at 106 cycles) than transverse speci-
mens, as seen in Fig. 6(a) for PBT at R =
1 condition. A higher
degree of anisotropy is observed at 125 °C, compared with 23 °C
and
40 °C, such that fatigue limit increased about 60% from the
transverse direction to the longitudinal direction of the injection
mold flow.
The Tsai-Hill [22] criterion was utilized to estimate the off-axis
fatigue strength, which is commonly used for orthotropic laminate
composites, expressed as:
" #
12
2 4 2
cos2 ðhÞðcos2 ðhÞ
sin ðhÞÞ sin ðhÞ cos2 ðhÞ sin ðhÞ
rfat ðhÞ ¼ þ þ
r2L;fat ðNÞ r2T;fat ðNÞ s2LT;fat ðNÞ
ð4Þ
where rL,fat (N), rT,fat (N), and sLT,fat (N) are the experimental fati-
gue strengths for a specimen life of N cycles. S-N curves generated
in 0°, 45°, and 90° directions were used to determine the directional
properties of Tsai-Hill equation to estimate the S-N curves for the
176 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183

18° direction tests. The Tsai-Hill criterion reasonably captures the

effect of mold flow direction on fatigue behavior. Comparison of
the experimental fatigue strength and Tsai-Hill criterion correla-
tions as a function of fiber orientation angle with respect to the load
direction for different fatigue lives can be observed in Fig. 6(b).

3.4. Moisture effect and modeling

Fig. 6. (a) Effect of the mold flow direction on fatigue behavior and, (b) Fatigue
strength data as a function of specimen angle and Tsai-Hill criterion for PBT at 23 °C
under R =
1 loading condition [14]. Test frequency is between 0.25 and 6 Hz.
Dried specimens for PBT (at 120 °C for 6 h) and PA6 (at 80 °C for
6 h) in the longitudinal direction of injection mold flow were
immersed in room temperature water. The percentage of water
absorption was periodically measured by weighting the specimen.
Water absorption variation with square root of exposure time (t1/2)
is shown in Fig. 7(a) for longitudinal samples of PA6. As seen, per-
centage of water absorption by weight linearly increases until it
reaches a plateau with a maximum percentage of water absorption
of 5.2 wt%. This behavior follows the Fick’s law commonly used for
modeling the kinetics of moisture absorption process, expressed as
[23]:


 
Mt 8 Dt
¼ 1
2 exp
2 p2 ð5Þ
Mm p h
where D is diffusion coefficient, h is specimen thickness, t is expo-
sure time, Mt is absorbed water, and Mm is the maximum capacity
of water absorption. The diffusion coefficient was estimated by fit-
ting Eq. (5) to absorption data at short times, shown in Fig. 7(a). Dif-
fusion coefficient was estimated at 5.5  10
13 m2/s. Using the
calculated diffusion coefficient and thickness of specimen, along
with the maximum water absorption capacity, Eq. (5) can be used
to compute the absorbed water with exposed time.
Stress-strain curves in the longitudinal direction of PA6 with a
range of absorbed water between 0.0 and 5.2 wt% are shown in
Fig. 7(b). The time of exposure at room temperature water for each

Fig. 7. (a) Kinetics of water absorption at room temperature water (the dashed line corresponds to Fick’s law), (b) tensile stress-strain curves obtained at room temperature at
displacement rate of 1 mm/min showing the effect of water absorption, (c) variations of tensile strength and elastic modulus with water absorption, and (d) variations of
strain at tensile strength and tensile toughness with water absorption for the longitudinal samples of PA6 [26].
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183 177

of these tests can be calculated from Fig. 7(a), and is also shown in
the brackets in Fig. 7(b). From this figure, it can be seen that
strength, elastic modulus and ductility of PA6 are highly influenced
by the amount of absorbed water. Tensile strength and elastic
modulus decrease with water content, while ductility indicates
the maximum value after 20 days of immersion and then reduces
to a smaller value.
Fig. 7(c) indicates variations of tensile strength and elastic mod-
ulus with percentage of absorbed water for longitudinal samples of
PA6. Exponentially decaying fits are observed for these properties.
The degraded properties of samples with maximum water absorp-
tion (5.2 wt%) recovered by only 50% after 30 h of hot drying, while
it was fully-recovered by 12 h vacuum drying at 80 °C. It should
also be mentioned that the rate of water absorption for PBT was
significantly lower than for PA6, such that after four days of
immersion less than 0.1 wt% water absorption and no degradation
of tensile properties were observed. PBT is considered as a
hydrophobic material, due to presence of four methylene repeat
units. Methylene groups reduce the polarity of PBT molecules
and reduce their tendency to bond with hydrogen molecules. A
high degree of crystallinity in PBT can be another aspect decreasing
the degree of water absorption [24]. The ability of the PA6 to water
absorption can be due to amide polar groups, low degree of crys-
tallinity, and the presence of 10% rubber modifier [25].
Strain at tensile strength exponentially increases up to strain of
about 11% and then reaches a plateau, as can be seen in Fig. 7(d). This
effect can result from combined effects of plasticity and decrease of
crack initiation resistant region due to absorption of water. Variation Fig. 8. (a) S-N curves at room temperature under R = 0.1 condition showing the
of tensile toughness defined as the area under the stress-strain cure effect of water, and (b) bar chart comparing the ratio of fatigue strength to tensile
is also shown in Fig. 7(d). Tensile toughness increases up to 3 wt% strength in both longitudinal and transverse directions of PA6 for dry and wet
water absorption and then decreases. PA6 material is commonly conditions [26]. Test frequency is between 0.25 and 6 Hz.
used in applications where high toughness is required and water
Nf
absorption shows beneficial effect on tensile toughness of PA6. aT 0 ðTÞ ¼ ð6Þ
Fatigue behavior was studied in dry condition as well as wet N0f
condition with four days of immersion at room temperature water.
where N0 f is the reduced cycles to failure due to the effect of temper-
Fig. 8(a) shows the R = 0.1 S-N curves of PA6 in both longitudinal
ature. The 23 °C data were selected as references and the 125 °C and
and transverse directions. Fatigue life reduced by more than an

40 °C data were shifted to the right and left sides of 23 °C data,
order of magnitude in both LCF and HCF life regimes and in both
respectively, until sufficiently high data correlations were obtained
the longitudinal and transverse directions. At the same stress
for all the data at various temperatures. Master curves in the two
amplitude levels, significantly larger stress-displacement loops at
mold flow directions of PA6 under R =
1 condition are shown in
midlife were observed in wet samples, as compared with the dried
Fig. 9(b).
samples. Stress-life data in dry and wet conditions became closer
The log shift factor obtained from experimental data is plotted
when plotted in terms of the area inside the stress-displacement
as a function of the reciprocal of test temperature in Fig. 9(c).
loops at midlife.
The equation of line fits follows the Arrhenius equation form,
The ratios of R = 0.1 fatigue strength at 106 cycles to tensile
expressed as:
strength for both dry and wet conditions are shown in Fig. 8(b)


for longitudinal and transverse direction samples of PA6. In the Ea 1 1
transverse direction, nearly the same ratio of Sf /Su was obtained LogaT 0 ¼
ð7Þ
8:314 T T 0
in both dry and wet conditions, confirming similar effect of water
on both tensile and fatigue strengths. However, in the longitudinal where T0 is reference temperature and Ea is the activation energy
direction a higher ratio is observed for the wet condition, as com- which is different for the temperature ranges above and below
pared with the dry condition. This results from a higher effect of the glass transition temperature (Tg).
water in the tensile strength compared with the fatigue strength, Knowing Ea and T0 in the Arrhenius equation for a particular
in the longitudinal direction of PA6. The ratio of fatigue strength material, the shift factor at any temperature can be calculated from
to tensile strength is about 0.25 in both dry and wet conditions Eq. (7). Using the master curve, the fatigue life at that temperature
and in both longitudinal and transverse directions. for a particular stress level can then be estimated. Since the Arrhe-
nius equation form is identical for each material at both stress
3.5. Test temperature effect and modeling ratios (R =
1 and R = 0.1) and in both mold flow directions (L
and T), only one mold flow direction, one stress ratio, and two tem-
A significant effect of temperature was observed in both longi- peratures above and two temperatures below Tg are needed to
tudinal and transverse directions. Fatigue strength at 125 °C signif- obtain this equation.
icantly decreased compared to the 23 °C, and increased at
40 °C,
as seen in Fig. 9(a). S-N fatigue data were correlated by shifting the 3.6. Fatigue crack initiation failure mechanisms
fatigue life at various temperatures to a reference temperature (T0).
A shift factor (aTo) is defined in order to generate a master curve for Fatigue fracture surfaces of mold flow oriented PA6 samples
a particular material, direction, and stress ratio as: were analyzed under the SEM. Specimens tested at R = 0.1 high
178 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183

Fig. 9. (a) Effect of temperature on fatigue behavior, (b) construction of master curves of stress amplitude for fully-reversed data of PA6 in both longitudinal and transverse
directions and, (c) variation of log shift factor with the reciprocal of temperature for PBT and PA6 under various test conditions [14]. Test frequency is between 0.125 and 7 Hz.

cycle fatigue at room temperature for both dry and wet conditions,
as well as at 120 and
40 °C were studied. For all samples, a lighter
area which comprises a small fraction of specimen cross section is
attributed to crack initiation life and a darker area which occupies
most of the fracture surface results from a fast crack growth mech-
anism. SEM of the fracture surfaces for the crack initiation areas are
illustrated in Fig. 10. Part (a) of Fig. 10 corresponds to the crack ini-
tiation region of dry sample tested at room temperature and indi-
cates a micro-ductile deformation and stretch of matrix. In this
area the stretched matrix has covered the fibers and no fiber
pull-out is observed.
Fatigue fracture surface of a PA6 specimen with 1.6 wt%
absorbed water is shown in Fig. 10(b). As seen, a higher degree of
matrix micro-ductility is observed, as compared with the dried
sample, which is attributed to plasticizing effect of water. As mole-
cules of water diffuse in the composite, they form hydrogen bonds
between polymer chains and increase their mobility. The fibers
were covered with a thin layer of matrix and only a short length
of fiber ends was not covered. A cohesive deformation of matrix
around the debonded fiber indicates good interfacial bonding
between the glass fibers and the coupling agent. In the crack initi-
ation site of the wet specimen, a larger section in shell area intro-
duced earlier, showed micro-ductile structure, as compared with
the dried sample.
Fracture surfaces of PA6 samples tested at 125 °C and
40 °C
are shown in Fig. 10(c) and (d), respectively. As temperature
increases, a larger area of fracture surface exhibits micro-ductile
fracture. A higher ductility is observed in fibril structure of matrix
compared with the test at room temperature and a higher length of
fiber stubs was visible. For the
40 °C sample, matrix indicated
extensive brittleness throughout the fracture surface. Matrix areas
were almost flat and featureless with significant fiber pull out.
3.7. Estimation of strain-life curves and properties
Strain-life behavior is often used in the low-cycle fatigue appli-
cations, as well as at critical locations of components such as stress
concentrations where significant plastic deformations exist. Since
performing strain-controlled testing is more complicated than
stress-controlled testing, estimating strain-controlled fatigue
properties and curves from stress-controlled tests is desirable.
Therefore, the cyclic stress-strain relationship expressed earlier
in Eq. (1) was used to develop strain-life curves from fully-
reversed (R =
1) load-controlled fatigue tests.
The total strain amplitude value for each load-controlled test
was obtained using the cyclic Ramberg-Osgood relation. Total
strain amplitude was then resolved into elastic and plastic compo-
nents, and both elastic and plastic strain amplitudes versus rever-
sals to failure were approximated as straight lines in log-log scale.
The straight-line elastic behavior is represented by:
ra ¼ r0f ð2Nf Þb ð8Þ
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183 179

Fig. 10. SEM of the HCF crack initiation surface of PA6 specimens at (a) dry, (b) wet conditions tested at room temperature, and dried specimens tested at (c) 125 °C and (d)

40 °C [14].

where r0 f is the fatigue strength coefficient and b is the fatigue

strength exponent which were obtained by a power fit of the data.
These values are related to fatigue strength intercept (A) and slope
(B) of S-N line in Eq. (1) by r0 f = (2)
b A and b = B.
A power fit of plastic strain amplitude values versus reversals to
failure can also be obtained, represented by the following
equation:

Dep
¼ e0f ð2Nf Þc ð9Þ
2

where e0 f is the fatigue ductility coefficient and c is the fatigue duc-

tility exponent. Knowing the elastic strain-life and plastic strain-life
fits, the total strain-life fit can then be expressed as:

r0f
ea ¼ ð2Nf Þb þ e0f ð2Nf Þc ð10Þ
E0
Fig. 11 shows the fully-reversed (R =
1) superimposed strain-
life curves at
40 °C, 23 °C, and 125 °C for both PBT and PA6 in
the longitudinal direction. For each material, the differences
between strain-life curves at different testing temperatures are
much smaller than the corresponding S-N curves.
The transition fatigue life which is derived from the intersection
of elastic and plastic strain-life curves is expressed as:

!1
e0f E0 b
c

2Nt ¼ ð11Þ
r0f
For fatigue lives longer than the transition fatigue life, the
behavior is mainly elastic and for the fatigue lives shorter than
the transition fatigue life the behavior is mainly plastic. For nearly
all testing conditions, the obtained fatigue lives were greater than Fig. 11. Superimposed fully-reversed (R =
1) strain amplitude versus reversals to
the transition fatigue life, therefore, elastic deformation was dom- failure curves at
40 °C, 23 °C, and 125 °C for (a) PBT and (b) PA6 in the longitudinal
inant for all testing conditions. direction.
180 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183
3.8. Mean stress or R ratio effect and modeling
Fig. 12(a) shows the effect of mean stress on fatigue behavior of
PA6 in the transverse direction at 23 °C,
40 °C, and 125 °C. A sig-
nificant decrease of fatigue strength is observed under R = 0.1 load-
ing condition, as compared to R =
1, at all test temperatures. The
effect of tensile mean stress was more pronounced in the LCF
regime, as compared to the HCF regime. Smaller or no difference
in fatigue lives is observed between R = 0.1 and R = 0.3 conditions
in the HCF regime, as compared with in the LCF regime.
Many mean stress parameters have been applied to assess the
effect of mean stress. The Walker equation and a general fatigue
life estimation model showed more accurate correlations of mean
stress data for different test conditions considered in this study.
Modified Goodman is a common mean stress parameter used to
estimate the fatigue strength under the effect of mean stress. This
parameter is expressed as [27]:
Sa Sm Sa Su
þ ¼ 1 or SNf ¼
SN f Su Su
Sm
In this equation the tensile strength for each testing condition
was obtained from the average of duplicate tension tests at the dis-
placement rate of 1 mm/min. The fits of experimental data for PA6
in the transverse direction are shown in Fig. 12. In some cases, this
equation correlated the fully-reversed and mean stress data well.
In other cases, more than an order of magnitude difference
between the fully-reversed and equivalent mean stress fatigue
lives are observed.
An improvement to the modified Goodman parameter may be
obtained by adding a correction factor exponent (k) to the mean
stress term. For k = 2, this equation is known as Gerber parabola
[15]. Although this correction factor provided a better correlation
of data compared to the modified Goodman, the inaccuracy of
modified Goodman with regards to the slope of S-N lines for differ-
Fig. 12. (a) Effect of R-ratio or mean stress on fatigue behavior for PA6 in the transverse direction, and correlation of mean stress data using (b) Modified Goodman equation,
(c) the Walker equation and, (d) the general fatigue life estimation model [30]. Test frequency is between 0.125 and 7 Hz.
ent R-ratios was not corrected by this parameter. The k values for
different testing conditions varied between 0.86 and 1.44.
The Walker equation can be expressed as [28]:
SNf ¼ ðSa þ Sm Þ1
c ðSa Þc ð13Þ
where Sa, Sm, and SNf are stress amplitude, mean stress, and fully-
reversed stress amplitude, respectively, and c is the mean stress
parameter. The value of c was determined by the best fits obtained
for R = 0.1 and 0.3 data to the fully-reversed data, for each material,
mold flow direction, and temperature. A low c value indicates a
higher mean stress sensitivity and a value of c = 1 indicates no
mean stress sensitivity.
The fits of experimental data for PA6 in the transverse direction
based on the Walker equation are shown in Fig. 12(c), indicating
reasonable mean stress correction for all the temperatures consid-
ered. For both materials at 23 °C and
40 °C, the c value is nearly
constant at about 0.47, with a range between 0.4 and 0.55, while
at 125 °C, c values indicated the following relationship with the
tensile strength (MPa) in the corresponding direction and
temperature:
ð12Þ
c ¼ 0:0043Su þ 0:364 ð14Þ
A general fatigue life estimation model based on a strength
degradation concept under constant amplitude loading was also
applied to the experimental data. This model was applied to con-
tinuous fiber composites and is expressed as [29]:
Su
Smax ¼ aS1
n n n b
u Smax ð1
RÞ ðN f
1Þ ð15Þ
where a and b are material constants and n is a function of stress
ratio and mold flow direction, expressed as:
n ¼ 1:6
R sin h ð16Þ
In this equation, h is the angle between the mold flow direction
and the loading direction and R is the stress ratio. The simplified
form of the equation arranged in an equivalent stress form is
expressed as [29]:
 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183 181

!B=b
DS
Su
1
R
Seq ¼ A þ1 ð17Þ
aSRu sin h
0:6 ðDSÞ 1:6
R sin h

where A and B are the intercept and slope of the fully-reversed S-N
line, respectively, DS is the stress range, R is the stress ratio, h is
fiber orientation angle, and a and b are the model parameters. Good
correlations of equivalent stress values versus fatigue life for differ-
ent stress ratios of PA6 in the transverse direction and at different
temperatures are shown in Fig. 12(d).
The value of a was nearly independent of stress ratio, but varied
with temperature and mold flow direction. In the longitudinal
direction of both PBT and PA6 and at all test temperatures,
a = 0.135 was suggested. In the transverse direction of both PBT
and PA6, a = 0.074 was suggested for both 23 °C and
40 °C tests
and a = 0.1 was suggested for 125 °C tests. It should be mentioned
that although the data and mean stress correlations are shown for
PA6 in the transverse direction, similar behaviors and correlations
were obtained for the longitudinal direction, as well as for PBT.

3.9. Estimation of fatigue strength from tensile strength

Fully-reversed (R =
1) fatigue strengths at fatigue lives of 103

and 106 cycles linearly correlated well with the corresponding ten-
sile strength at different temperatures and in different mold flow
directions. These correlations between these fatigue strengths
and tensile strength were observed to be relatively independent
of material, temperature, and mold flow direction. Therefore,
fully-reversed S-N fatigue line was estimated based on the extrap-
olation of fatigue strengths at 103 and 106 cycles, as:

Sa
¼ 1:08ðNf Þ
0:085
Su
Correlation of fatigue strength data normalized by tensile
strength is shown in Fig. 13(a). Therefore, in the absence of fatigue
data, this relation may be used to roughly estimate fatigue life at a
given stress amplitude for a particular material, temperature, and
mold flow direction, based on the tensile strength for the material
and conditions.
The general fatigue life estimation model introduced in Eq. (17)
can be also be used in a simpler form to correlate the fully-reversed
fatigue data at of the two materials at different temperatures and
in different mold flow directions, expressed as:
!
0:36
Su
D2S
Seq ¼ 96:3 þ1
a
0:6
Su ðDSÞ1:6
This equation has only one material parameter a, which is
dependent on fiber orientation and can be approximated as
a =
0.0005 h + 0.118, where h is the specimen angle with respect
to the mold flow direction in degrees. A better correlation of data
was obtained using Eq. (19), as compared to Eq. (18), as can be seen
in Fig. 13(b).
3.10. Stress concentration effect and analysis
As mentioned earlier, the specimen geometry used for notched
fatigue tests was the same as the geometry shown in Fig. 1, except
a 2 mm diameter circular notch was drilled in the center of gage
section (Kt = 2.5). A significant decrease of fatigue life was observed
in notched specimens, as compared with smooth (i.e. unnotched)
specimens, as seen in Fig. 14(a) for PBT in the transverse direction
under R =
1 loading condition. Nominal stress amplitude for
notched specimens plotted in this figure was obtained by dividing
the applied load amplitude by the net cross section area of the
specimen.
ð18Þ
Fig. 13. (a) Normalized fatigue strength with tensile strength and, (b) equivalent
stress amplitude versus fatigue life using the general fatigue life model for fully-
reversed fatigue data of PBT and PA6 at
40 °C, 23 °C, and 125 °C and in 0°, 18°, 45°,
and 90° mold flow directions [14].
Fatigue strength sensitivity of a material to a notch can be char-
acterized by the notch sensitivity factor, expressed as:
Kf
1
q¼ ð20Þ
Kt
1
where Kt is the elastic stress concentration factor and Kf is the fati-
ð19Þ
gue notch factor (defined as unnotched fatigue strength divided by
notched fatigue strength at 106 cycles). Notch sensitivity factor
takes values between zero for no notch sensitivity and one for full
notch sensitivity.
This factor was obtained from experimental results for fully-
reversed fatigue strength to be about 0.5 in both longitudinal and
transverse directions. In LCF regime, a lower notch sensitivity
was observed in both mold flow directions, such that smooth and
notch specimen S-N lines nearly converged at one cycle. This is
due to notch plastic deformation in the LCF regime reducing notch
sensitivity and is similar to the behavior typically observed for
ductile metallic materials [15].
The local strain or stress approach can be utilized for notch
behavior predictions by using finite element analysis (FEA) results,
or by using a notch deformation rule such as the commonly used
Neuber’s rule for metallic materials. To consider the effect of stress
gradient, Kf rather than Kt is often used in Neuber’s rule for life pre-
dictions, and an approach such as the theory of critical distance
(TCD) can be used in conjunction with the FEA results. These
approaches were used for the notched fatigue data in this study,
as detailed in [30].
182 S. Mortazavian, A. Fatemi / International Journal of Fatigue 102 (2017) 171–183
Fig. 14. (a) Effect of notch (Kt = 2.5) on fully-reversed fatigue behavior of PBT in the
transverse direction under R =
1 condition and, (b) smooth and notched fatigue
data correlations based on local stress approach and FEA, Neuber’s rule, and TCD
methods [30]. Test frequency is between 0.25 and 6 Hz.
Notched fatigue life data correlations based on the local stress
approach using FEA, Neuber’s rule, and TCD method for PBT are
shown in Fig. 14(b). As can be observed from this figure, FEA notch
stress results in overly conservative life estimations by several
orders of magnitude. This is because the effect of stress gradient
at the notch is also an important factor in controlling notched fati-
gue behavior. Better correlations are obtained by using Neuber’s
rule or TCD.
4. Summary and conclusions
Application of short fiber thermoplastic composites (SFTCs) has
seen significant growth in recent years. A wide range of aspects
related to microstructure, environment and load conditions affect
fatigue behavior of these materials. A number of these effects were
experimentally investigated by conducting uniaxial constant
amplitude load-controlled tests for two short fiber thermoplastic
composites in this study. The considered effects included cyclic
deformation, load frequency and self-heating, anisotropy or fiber
orientation, moisture, temperature, mean stress or R ratio, and
stress concentration. Fatigue analysis models for representing or
estimating each effect were also presented. Based on the experi-
mental observations and the analyses conducted, the following
conclusions can be made:
 Cyclic deformation behavior indicated progressive modulus
reduction and unsymmetrical straining in tension and compres-
sion. Cyclic softening was observed at room temperature, while
little or no softening was observed at
40 °C and 125 °C. The
cyclic stress-strain curves for different conditions could be rep-
resented by the Ramberg-Osgood equation.
 Cycling frequency resulting in self-heating can lead to cyclic
softening and a significant detrimental effect on fatigue behav-
ior. Energy-based models were used to characterize the temper-
ature rise as a function of loading and frequency. Such models
can be used to estimate the amount of temperature rise when
conducting fatigue tests.
 An effect of thickness on fatigue behavior was observed in the
transverse specimens, resulting from a core–shell morphology
produced during the injection molding process. The effect of
fiber orientation with respect to the loading on fatigue strength
was significant. Tsai–Hill criterion could represent the effect of
mold flow direction on fatigue strength reasonably well.
 A significant detrimental effect of moisture was found on tensile
and fatigue strengths of PA6, while the effect was negligible for
PBT. Water absorption by weight linearly increased with square
root of time, until it reached a plateau of 5.2 wt% for PA6. The
effect of moisture on fatigue strength reduction in both LCF
and HCF and in both longitudinal and transverse directions of
PA6 was nearly identical. The degraded properties can be recov-
ered, at least partially, by drying.
 A significant effect of temperature on fatigue behavior was
observed in both longitudinal and transverse directions of both
materials. Cold temperature had a beneficial effect and elevated
temperature had a detrimental effect on fatigue life, as com-
pared to at room temperature. Fatigue data at different temper-
atures were correlated by a shift factor represented by
Arrhenius equation, the form of which was independent of
stress ratio and mold flow direction.
 A method was presented to obtain strain-life curves from load-
controlled fatigue data at various temperatures. Strain-life
curves at different temperatures become closer to each other,
as compared with the stress-life curves.
 A significant decrease of fatigue strength was observed under
tensile mean stress for both materials, all mold flow directions,
and at all test temperatures. The effect of tensile mean stress
was more pronounced in the LCF regime, as compared to the
HCF regime. The Walker equation and a more general fatigue
life estimation model correlated the mean stress data at all tem-
peratures and in both mold flow directions reasonably well.
 Two methods were evaluated for estimating fatigue strength of
SFTCs for different conditions (i.e. material, fiber orientation
direction, temperature) as a function of cycles to failure based
on ultimate tensile strength for the corresponding condition.
These methods may be used as a reasonable first estimate of
fatigue strength, in the absence of fatigue data.
 A significant decrease of fatigue life was observed in notched
specimens, as compared with smooth (i.e. unnotched) speci-
mens. Lower notch sensitivity was observed in LCF regime, as
compared to HCF regime, due to significant notch plastic defor-
mation in LCF. Notched fatigue life assessments based on the
local stress approach using FEA results were overly conserva-
tive, while the use of Neuber’s rule or TCD provided relatively
accurate predictions.
Acknowledgements
Financial support of this study was provided by General Motors.
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