The current understanding of the underlying reasons behind the load interaction effects in fatigue crack growth under variable amplitude loading is presented. Mechanistic arguments proposed to control the load interaction phenomena are reviewed and evaluated based on their capability to qualitatively explain empirical trends in variable amplitude fatigue crack growth summarized in Part I [Fatigue Fract, Engng Mater. Struct. 1998. 21(8), 987-1006] of the present paper. Mechanisms linked to plastic straining at the crack tip enable an interpretation of the majority of the experimental results. Some observations, however, which cannot be understood in terms of plasticity-induced crack closure, or which are even in contradiction with the crack closure approach, indicate a possible role of other factors. A general conclusion is that conditions under which various phenomena can affect variable amplitude fatigue crack growth and interactions between them are insufficiently recognized.

Load interaction effects during fatigue crack growth under variable amplitude loading—a literature review. Part II: qualitative interpretation

Tensile, fracture, and fatigue crack growth properties of a 3D printed maraging steel through selective laser melting

Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) on smooth hour glass specimens and Fatigue Crack Propagation (FCP) studies on Single Edge Notch (SEN) specimens were carried out at room temperature on four Cu-Al polycrystalline alloys to investigate the effects of Stacking Fault Energy (SFE) and mechanical property variations on fatigue characteristics. Significant improvements in fatigue properties were observed for alloys of low SFE. A microhardness technique was used to delineate the fatigue plastic zone ahead of stopped cracks at several stress intensity ranges for all the alloys. Planar slip was associated with a less than a second power dependence of plastic zone size on the stress intensity range. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to observe the substructures that developed both in LCF at different strain ranges and also ahead of fatigue cracks at different stress intensity ranges. Fractography was carried out to study the micromechanisms of crack propagation using a two stage replication technique. The experimental results were in good agreement with a theoretical model for FCP developed previously by the authors which incorporates mechanical and microstructural variables.

Low cycle fatigue, fatigue crack propagation and substructures in a series of polycrystalline Cu-Al alloys

The fatigue crack growth rates (FCGR) of two unstable austenitic stainless steels (Fe-16 Cr-13Ni) and (Fe-18Cr-6.5Ni-0.19C) were determined in theMs-Md temperature range where a strain induced μ → α′ martensitic transformation occurs near the crack tip. These FCGR were compared to the rates measured in the stable austenitic phase of a Fe-31.5Ni and a Fe-34 Ni alloy and in the martensitic phase obtained by quenching the Fe-31.5 Ni alloy below Ms. In the Fe-31.5 Ni, the FCGR are an order of magnitude higher in the martensitic than in the austenitic structures for ΔK ≤ 40 ksi in. The FCGR of the stainless steels decrease markedly when the test temperature approachesM s in theM s - Md range. The FCGR for the alloy Fe-18Cr-6.5 Ni-0.19 C in a warm-worked condition are consistently higher than for the same alloy in the annealed condition for ΔK ≤ 40 ksi √in.. The results are discussed in terms of the influence of phase structures, stacking fault energy and work hardening exponent on the FCGR.

Influence of strain-induced martensitic transformations on fatigue crack growth rates in stainless steels

Fatigue crack growth has been studied using several new experimental tools in the past ten years. The observation of fatigue cracks during growth under high resolution conditions has shown that crack advance is an intermittent process. These results, when combined with measurements of crack opening, displacements, crack closure, crack tip strains, fractography, and other information, leads to a reasonable understanding of many intrinsic aspects of fatigue crack growth at ambient temperature in a number of metallic alloys. Models of fatigue crack growth are reviewed from the perspective of this understanding. No model has achieved the capability of predicting fatigue crack growth from a description of microstructural and mechanical properties. The factors limiting a deeper understanding of fatigue crack growth are also more clearly defined, which gives some direction for future research. This paper is a critical review of crack growth mechanisms, mainly for large fatigue cracks subject to constant ...

Fatigue crack growth in metals and alloys: mechanisms and micromechanics

Fatigue crack growth rates were measured in an annealed and in an aged maraging steel and in three different austenitic steels Microhardness measurements were used to determine the plane strain plastic zone sizes as a function of ΔK and to evaluate the cyclic flow stress of the material near the crack tip The presence of a reversed cyclic plastic zone within the monotonic plastic zone was confirmed The two maraging steels work soften near the tip of the crack while the three austenitic steels work harden The fatigue crack growth rates of the maraging steels are independent of the monotonic yield stress and are typical of the growth rates of steels with a bcc crystal structure The crack growth rates in the stainless steels are an order of magnitude lower than for maraging steels for ΔK< 30 ksi √in The excellent fatigue crack growth resistance of austenitic stainless steels is related to the de-formation induced phase transformations taking place in the plastic zone and to the low stacking fault energy of the alloys

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C. Bathias

Papers

Fatigue crack propagation in martensitic and austenitic steels