Introduction to Fatigue

The failure of the Boeing 737-200 Aloha Airlines due

to fatigue damage, corrosion & low bonding
durability. (28 April 1988)
 Overview of Fatigue
Many different mechanical failure modes exist in all fields of engineering.

These failures can occur in simple, complex, inexpensive, or expensive

components or structures.

Failure due to fatigue, i.e., repeated loading, is multidisciplinary and is

the most common cause of mechanical failure.

Even though the number of mechanical failures compared

to successes is minimal, the cost in lives, injuries, and dollars is too large.

Proper fatigue design can reduce these undesirable losses.

Proper fatigue design includes synthesis, analysis, and testing.

The closer the simulated analysis and testing are to

the real product and its usage, the greater confidence
in the engineering results.
 FATIGUE ANALYSIS NEEDS

The principles of fatigue behaviour and fatigue design

have been developed, used, and tested by engineers
and scientists in all disciplines and in many countries.

The current capability of computers and simulated

testing has a pronounced influence on the efficiency and
quality of today's fatigue design procedures.

However, in proper fatigue design, both computer

synthesis and analysis must be integrated with proper
simulated and field testing, along with continued
evaluation of product usage and maintenance, including
non-destructive inspection.
 Tips in Design for Fatigue

1. Do recognize that fatigue failures are the most common cause of

mechanical failure in components, vehicles, and structures and that
these failures occur in all fields of engineering.
2. Do recognize that proper fatigue design methods exist and must he
incorporated into the overall design process when cyclic loadings
are involved.
3. Do not rely on safety factors in attempting to overcome poor design
proce-dures.
4. Do consider that good fatigue design, with or without
computer‑aided design, incorporates synthesis, analysis, and
testing.
5. Do consider that fatigue durability testing should be used as a
design verification tool rather than as a design development tool.
6. Do not overlook the additive or synergistic effects of load,
environment, geometry, residual stress, time, and material
microstructure
 STRATEGIES IN FATIGUE DESIGN
Fatigue design methods have many similarities
but also differences.
The differences exist because a component,
structure, or vehicle may be safety critical or
non-safety critical, simple or complex, expensive
or inexpensive, and failures may be a nuisance
or catastrophic.
The product may be a modification of a current
model or a new product. Significant
computer‑aided engineering (CAE) and
computer‑aided manufacturing, CAM)
capabilities may or may not be available to the
design engineer.
FLOW CHART
FOR
STRATEGIES
IN FATIGUE
DESIGN

Fatigue design flow chart originated by H. S. Reemsnyder from

Bethlehem Steel Corp. and slightly modified by H. 0. Fuchs,
It was created for use by the Society of Automotive Engineers Fatigue Design
and Evaluation (SAEFDE) Committee University of Iowa's annual short course
on Fatigue Concepts in Design.
 Choosing the fatigue life model

hoosing the fatigue life model is a significant decision.

urrently four such models exist for design engineers. These are:
The nominal stress‑life (S‑N) model, first formulated
between the 1850s and 1870s.
The local strain‑life (ε ‑N) model, first formulated in the 1960s.
The fatigue crack growth (da/dN‑∆ K) model, first formulated in the 1960s.
The two‑stage model, which consists of combining models 2 and 3
to incorporate both macroscopic fatigue crack formation (nucleation)
and fatigue crack growth.
 Purposes of Design
1. Designing a device, perhaps a special bending tool or a
test rig, to be used in the plant where it was designed. It
is called by an "in‑house tool."
2. Changing an existing product by making it larger or
smaller than previously, using a different material or
different shapes, perhaps a linkage and coil spring in
place of a leaf spring. It is called by a "new model."
3. Setting up a major project that is quite different from past
practice. A spacecraft or an ocean drilling rig or a new
type of tree harvester is example. It is called by a "new
product."
4. Designing a highway bridge or a steam boiler. The
expected loads, acceptable methods of analysis, and
permissible stresses are specified by the customer or by
a code authority. It is called by "design to code."
 Tips in Design Related to Crack Initiation

1. Do recognize that fatigue is a localized, progressive,

and permanent behaviour involving the nucleation and
growth of cracks to final, usually sudden fracture.
2. Do recognize that fatigue cracks nucleate primarily on
planes of maximum shear and usually grow on the plane
of maximum tensile stress.
3. Do examine fracture surfaces as part of a post-failure
analysis, since substantial information concerning the
cause of the fracture can be gained. The examination
can involve a small magnifying glass or greater
magnification up to that of the electron microscope.
4. Do not put fracture surfaces back together again to see if
they fit or allow corrosive environments (including rain
and moisture from fingers) to reach the fracture surface.
 Tips in Design Related to Crack Initiation (cont.)

5. Do consider that stress‑strain behaviour at notches or

cracks under repeated loading may not be the same as
that observed under monotonic tensile or compressive
loading.
6. Do take into consideration that your product will very
likely contain cracks during its design lifetime.
7. Do recognize that most fatigue cracks nucleate at the
surface, and therefore that surface and manufacturing
effects are extremely important.
8. Do not assume that a metal that has good resistance to
crack nucleation also has good resistance to crack
growth and vice versa.
Fatigue Loading

Constant amplitude
cyclic loading.

Schematic ground-air-ground
flight spectrum.
Tips in Design for Fatigue Test and the Stress-
Life (S-N) Approach
1. Do consider the wide range of test systems and
specimens available for fatigue testing. Tests can range
from those performed on small, highly polished
specimens for material characterization to full‑scale
durability tests of large structures.
2. Do not neglect to refer to ASTM, ISO, or similar
standards on fatigue testing and data reduction
techniques.
3. Do consider that the fully reversed fatigue strength, Sp at
106 to 108 cycles for components can vary from about 1
to 70 percent of the ultimate tensile strength and that the
engineer can substantially influence this value by proper
design and manufacturing decisions.
4. Do note that cleaner metals, and generally smaller grain
size for ambient temperature, have better fatigue
resistance.
 Tips in Design for Fatigue Test and the
Stress-Life (S-N) Approach (cont.)
5. Do recognize that frequency effects are generally small only
when corrosion, temperature, or other aggressive
environmental effects are absent.
6. Do consider that surface finish can have a substantial
influence on fatigue resistance, particularly at longer lives.
7. Do not neglect the advantages of compressive mean or
compressive residual stresses in improving fatigue life and
the detrimental effect of tensile mean or tensile residual
stresses in decreasing fatigue life, and that models are
available to account for these effects.
8. Do attempt to use actual fatigue data in design; however, if
this is not possible or reasonable, approximate estimates of
median fatigue behaviour can be made.
 Tips in Design for the Strain-Life (ε -N)
Approach
1. Do consider that inelastic stress‑strain behaviour under repeated
loading is not the same as that determined under monotonic tensile
or compressive loading. Under repeated loading the difference
between materials is less than that under monotonic loading.
2. Do not ignore the role of material hardening or softening in cyclic
loading applications. Using a monotonic stress‑strain curve of a
cyclic softening material in a cyclic loading application can
significantly underestimate the extent of plastic deformation present.
3. Do consider the importance of material ductility on low‑cycle or
plastic strain dominated fatigue resistance and the importance of
material strength on the high‑cycle or elastic strain dominated
fatigue resistance.
4. Do recognize that strain‑life fatigue data of smooth uni-axial
specimens are based on cycles to failure, where failure represents
the formation of cracks on the order of 1 mm in depth, which may or
may not have caused fracture.
5. Do recognize that mean strains generally affect fatigue resistance
only if they produce a non-relaxing mean stress. The greatest effect
of mean stress is in the high‑cycle fatigue regime.
End