Fatigue Failure

The following report aims to explain the fundamental concepts behind the fatigue failure of engineering components. The following learning objectives should be satisfied: 1. To understand the fundamental differences between high-cycle, low-cycle and crackedcomponent fatigue 2. A knowledge of component features which should be avoided when designing to avoid fatigue. Cracks can grow slowly at loads lower than those required for the fast fracture of a component. One method of doing so is by the cyclic application of a stress through which failure occurs by fatigue. To help understand the properties of fatigue, this report will consider the action of sinusoidal applied stress on components as shown in Figure 1. In this example, the mean stress is zero, the amplitude of the stress is a and the stress range is .

Figure 1: Notation for a sinusoidal applied stress

Fatigue failure can broadly be divided into three categories: high cycle fatigue, low cycle fatigue and the fatigue of cracked components. High cycle fatigue Failure occurs when the stresses applied to a component are below the general yield stress of the material, y More than 104 cycles are applied before failure Examples of high-cycle fatigue components are wheels, axles, bearings and engine crankshafts

The relationship between applied stress and cycles till failure occurs is different for high and low cycle fatigue. For high-cycle fatigue, experimental fatigue data roughly fits the empirical Basquins Law - the number of cycles till failure is linked to applied stress range and two constants (dependent on component geometry and the material). Low cycle fatigue

Failure occurs when the stresses applied to a component are above the general yield stress of the material, y . In other words, some plastic deformation occurs during every cycle Fewer than 104 cycles are applied before failure An example of low cycle fatigue might the failure of a pressure vessel or machinery subjected to repeated thermal expansion

For low-cycle fatigue, experimental fatigue data roughly fits the empirical Coffin-Manson Law - the number of cycles till failure is linked to the plastic strain range and two constants (dependent on component geometry and the material). The plastic strain range is the magnitude of the strain applied to the component which is beyond its general elastic limit. Fatigue of cracked components It is known that a component contains cracks and their maximum length is predictable The number of cycles for cracks to propagate to the point at which fast fracture occurs must be calculated Typical examples are large welded structures such as ships, bridges, aircraft fuselages and nuclear pressure vessels.

In the case where a component contains a sharp crack of length a, the cyclic stress intensity K can be defined as follows, where is a constant dependent upon the part geometry.

The crack growth per cycle can then be estimated using the below equation. A and m are material constants. Given an initial crack length, the number of cycles for the crack to grow to a certain length can be established by integrating this equation. Designing to increase fatigue life There are a number of factors which affect fatigue life. Bearing these in mind, a component can often be redesigned to prevent fatigue failure during its expected lifetime. Nearly all the energy required to cause fatigue failure of an uncracked component goes toward the initial formation of a crack. Even if the general applied stress is below the yield stress, tiny parts of the structure will be plastically deformed. This is because there will be small areas of concentrated stress in the component. To extend fatigue life, parts should therefore be designed to minimise stress concentrations. Surface finish A rough surface leads to small concentrations of stress, hence reduces fatigue life. Compressing the surface introduces residual stresses which help reduce stress concentrations and can improve high-cycle fatigue properties. Part geometry Notches, or sudden changes in cross-section should be avoided as they lead to areas of higher stress. Material choice Some materials are much better at resisting fatigue than others.

Residual stresses Manufacturing processes which expose components to heat or deformation (e.g. welding, cutting, casting) tend to introduce tensile residual stresses which reduce fatigue life. For non-isotropic materials, fatigue properties can sometimes be improved by altering the direction of the principal stresses.

Fatigue life is also reduced by a mean tensile applied stress, internal defects, corrosion, erosion and extreme temperatures.