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fiA!I'IGUE

BEHAVIOR I N STRAIN CYCLING I N THE

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By S. S. Manson and M. H. Hirschberg

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Lewis Research Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Cleveland, Ohio

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ABSTRACT

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Data are presented on t h e f a t i g u e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i n t h e l i f e

6

between approximately 10 and 1 0 cycles f o r a l a r g e number of m a t e r i a l s

including s t e e l s , aluminum, titanium, beryllium, and high temperature
alloys.

Both c y c l i c s t r a i n hardening and s t r a i n softening m a t e r i a l s

were investigated.

Linear r e l a t i o n s h i p s were found when e l a s t i c

s t r a i n range and t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n range were p l o t t e d on log-log

coordinates a g a i n s t l i f e .

The model s e l e c t e d f o r representing f a t i g u e

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s c o n s i s t s of a p l o t of l i f e versus t o t a l s t r a i n range
which i s t h e sum of e l a s t i c and t h e p l a s t i c components.

I n t h e low

cycle range, t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n range predominates and i n t h e high cycle

range t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range predominates.

Empirical r e l a t i o n s have

been developed f o r p r e d i c t i n g both the e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c l i n e s from

data obtainable i n t h e conventional t e n s i l e t e s t .

The v a l i d i t y of t h e s e

p r e d i c t i o n s i s demonstrated by experimental data on a number of

INTRODUCTION

A considerable i n t e r e s t e x i s t s a t t h e present time i n low cycle

f a t i g u e , t h i s i n t e r e s t a r i s i n g because of t h e many a p p l i c a t i o n s which
~_IXC~.T~

desigii f o r f i n i t e l i f e .

That low cycle f a t i g u e i s governed by

c y c l i c p l a s t i c s t r a i n range has been shown by numerous i n v e s t i g a t o r s ,

and t h e power l a w r e l a t i o n between l i f e and p l a s t i c s t r a i n range as pro-

-..

- 2 -

posed by Manson and Coffin h a s been amply v e r i f i e d .

However, before t h i s

r e l a t i o n can be applied it i s necessary t o determine t h e c y c l i c p l a s t i c

s t r a i n range.

While i n many a p p l i c a t i o n s t h e t o t a l s t r a i n range may be

known, o r experimentally determined, separation of t h e t o t a l s t r a i n range

i n t o i t s e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c components may involve some d i f f i c u l t y .

For

most materials, l i f e above 1000 cycles involves appreciable e l a s t i c

s t r a i n , A t about 10,000 c y c l e s t h e e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c s t r a i n ranges are

a t about t h e same order of magnitude, and above 100,000 c y c l e s t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n range i s n e g l i g i b l e compared t o t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range.

In

f a c t , f o r some very strong materials t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range may s t a r t

t o predominate a t l i v e s of about 100 c y c l e s o r l e s s .

Thus, although

p l a s t i c s t r a i n range may govern l i f e , t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range assumes

considerable importance i n t h e intermediate cycle l i f e range, e i t h e r
because it i s needed i n order t o compute t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n , or because

it i s t h e l a r g e r component and may t h e r e f o r e be a better measure of t h e

l i f e than the p l a s t i c strain.
Based on l i m i t e d d a t a a v a i l a b l e i n 1960 it has been proposed
(ref. l b ) t h a t t h e e l a s t i c component of t h e s t r a i n range would a l s o sati s f y a power l a w r e l a t i o n s h i p with cyclic l i f e , s i m i l a r t o t h a t e x i s t i n g
between p l a s t i c s t r a i n range and c y c l i c l i f e .

Experimental v e r i f i c a t i o n

of such r e l a t i o n s h i p s were subsequently shown ( r e f . 2 ) f o r s i x t e e n mater i a l s of various composition and heat treatment.

Thus, it h a s been

f a i r l y e x t e n s i v e l y v e r i f i e d t h a t l i f e i s governed by t h e t o t a l s t r a i n
range: cnnsisf,ing of

tiii

e i a s t i c and a p l a s t i c component, each of which

produces a s t r a i g h t l i n e when p l o t t e d a g a i n s t l i f e on log-log coordinates.

- 3 -

Because of t h i s l i n e a r i t y , r e l a t i v e l y f e w experimental d a t a are

needed t o characterize t h e f a t i g u e behavior of a m a t e r i a l i n t h e low and
intermediate c y c l i c l i f e range between approximately 10 and lo6 cycles.
However, t h e r e are a p p l i c a t i o n s i n which it i s desired t o estimate t h e
l i f e i n advance of f a t i g u e experimentation.

The a v a i l a b i l i t y of t h e l a r g e amount of f a t i g u e data i n reference 2,

and a d d i t i o n a l d a t a generated since t h e p u b l i c a t i o n of t h e t report, has
made p o s s i b l e t h e undertaking of an empirical c o r r e l a t i o n approach f o r
estimating both t h e e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c s t r a i n range components from
s t a t i c t e n s i l e p r o p e r t i e s alone.
The object of t h i s r e p o r t i s t o review t h e data and v e r i f y t h e previously proposed assumptions t h a t these data can accurately be represented by s t r a i g h t l i n e s i n t h e l i f e range of 10 t o lo6 cycles and t o
develop a method of p r e d i c t i n g t h e s e s t r a i g h t l i n e s from simple t e n s i l e
data.

By comparing t h e t e n s i l e p r o p e r t i e s of over twenty materials with

s e l e c t e d p o i n t s on t h e i r f a t i g u e curves represented i n t h e form of l i f e
versus e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c s t r a i n ranges, an approach has been found
whereby t h e s t a t i c t e n s i l e p r o p e r t i e s can be used t o p r e d i c t t h e f a t i g u e
properties.

Checks on t h e v a l i d i t y of t h e method are made by comparing

t h e p r e d i c t i o n s of t h e nethod with experimental results f o r t h e m a t e r i a l s

used t o obtain t h e c o r r e l a t i o n and f o r six materials t e s t e d a f t e r t h e
c o r r e l a t i o n w a s developed.

A comparison i s a l s o presented between t h e

e - q e r h ~ z t z i-esiiits
l
anc tnose predicted by a method r e c e n t l y proposed by

Langer ( r e f . 3), and l a t e r studied by Tavernelli and Coffin (ref. 4 ) .

- 4 -

EXPEXIMENTALLY DETERMINED STRAIN-CYCLING BEHAVIOR OF MATERIALS

The b a s i c equations of any s t r e s s a n a l y s i s a r e t h e equilibrium equat i o n s involving s t r e s s e s , and t h e compatibility equations involving t o t a l
strains.

Thus, it i s t h e i n t e r r e l a t i o n between t h e s t r e s s e s and t o t a l

s t r a i n s t h a t i s required t o solve these equations.

For many a p p l i c a t i o n s

involving c y c l i c s t r a i n i n g , t h e r e l a t i o n between s t r e s s range and t o t a l

s t r a i n range, along with some l i f e r e l a t i o n , w i l l be required f o r t h e
s o l u t i o n of t h e problem (ref. 1). Once t h e s t r e s s and s t r a i n d i s t r i b u t i o n s a r e determined, it then becomes p o s s i b l e t o make some estimate of
t h e c y c l i c l i f e of t h e structure.

It i s found desirable, before deriving

t h e r e l a t i o n between s t r e s s range and t o t a l s t r a i n range, t o separate t h e

t o t a l s t r a i n range i n t o i t s e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c components, and t o
express each of t h e s e components i n terms of c y c l i c l i f e .
Relation between p l a s t i c s t r a i n range and c y c l i c l i f e .
If a p l o t i s made on logarithmic coordinates o f t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n

range

versus t h e number of cycles t o f a i l u r e

found t o be very nearly a s t r a i g h t line.

Nf,

the result i s

Thus t h e c y c l i c l i f e i s r e l a t e d

t o t h e c y c l i c p l a s t i c s t r a i n range by a power l a w i n t h e form

AP
where

M and

=mif

(1)

a r e m a t e r i a l constants.

Equation (1)w a s f i r s t proposed by Manson ( r e f . 5 and 6 ) on t h e

b a s i s of l i m i t e d experimental data by Sachs and h i s co-workers ( r e f . ' 7 ) .
The exponent,

z,

w a s suggested as a variable, d i f f e r i n g among materials.

For t h e aluminum a l l o y on which t h e data were available, Manson suggested

a value of

= -1/3.

An improved analysis o f t h e data w a s l a t e r made by

- 5 Coffin (ref. S), who found t h a t

z = -1/2

provided a b e t t e r representa-

t i o n o f t h e data, and who a l s o suggested t h a t t h i s value of

applicable t o a l l materials.

is

I n more r e c e n t work (ref. 2 ) , t h e authors

found t h a t equation (1)w a s v a l i d but t h a t

constant r a t h e r than a universal constant.

Equation (l), therefore,

appeared t o be a material

r e p r e s e n t s a r e l a t i o n t h a t has been proven v a l i d by a number of invest i g a t o r s , and f o r a l a r g e number of materials.

Relation between e l a s t i c s t r a i n range and c y c l i c l i f e .
When f a t i g u e specimens a r e cycled between fixed s t r a i n limits, t h e
s t r e s s range generally changes during t h e t e s t .

I f the s t r e s s range

i n c r e a s e s with cycles, t h e material i s c a l l e d a c y c l i c s t r a i n hardening

one, and if t h e stress range decreases with cycles, it i s c a l l e d c y c l i c
s t r a i n softening.

As was shown i n reference 2, t h e most s i g n i f i c a n t

changes i n stress range f o r many materials occurred within t h e f i r s t

20 percent of specimen l i f e .

During t h e remaining 80 percent o r more

of t h e l i f e , t h e s t r e s s range remained r e l a t i v e l y constant.

This value

of s t r e s s range i s then considered as a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c value corresponding t o t h e applied s t r a i n range.

For t h e purpose of a n a l y s i s t h e s t r e s s

range measured a t one h a l f t h e number o f cycles t o f a i l u r e w a s s e l e c t e d

as t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c value, and subsequently r e f e r r e d t o as t h e

asymptotic stress range

Au.

For a l a r g e number of m a t e r i a l s t e s t e d , it w a s found t h a t p l o t s of

t h i s s t r e s s range (or by dividing it by t h e e l a s t i c modulus and c a l l i n g

it a n e l a s t i c s t r a i n range) versus the c y c l i c l i f e , on logarithmic

coordinates r e s u l t i n reasonably s t r a i g h t l i n e s (refs. l b and 2 ) .

Thus

- 6 -

t h e c y c l i c l i f e may be assumed t o be r e l a t e d t o t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range

by a power l a w i n t h e form

aEel = &/E
where

Aee,

cyclic l i f e

= (G/E)

Nf

(2)

i s t h e c y c l i c e l a s t i c s t r a i n range corresponding t o t h e
Nf,

i s t h e e l a s t i c modulus, and

and

are other

m a t e r i a l constants.
Although equation ( 2 ) adequately r e p r e s e n t s t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c
behavior of a l a r g e number of materials f o r engineering use, it i s
admittedlj only an approximation of t h e t r u e m a t e r i a l behavior.

For

p r a c t i c a l purposes, however, it can b e regarded as v a l i d i n t h e l i f e

range of usual i n t e r e s t , up t o

10 cycles, and i n many cases up t o

even higher l i v e s .
Alternate e l a s t i c r e l a t i o n involving a n endurance l i m i t .
Equation ( 2 ) implies t h a t t h e l i f e i n c r e a s e s with a decrease i n
e l a s t i c s t r a i n since t h e exponent

i s always negative and t h u s f o r any

e l a s t i c s t r a i n , corresponding t o a n applied s t r e s s , w i l l p r e d i c t a f i n i t e
life.

I n r e a l i t y , it i s w e l l recognized t h a t many m a t e r i a l s e x h i b i t an

endurance l i m i t ; t h a t is, a s t r e s s l e v e l below which t h e l i f e becomes

essentially infinite.

If it does not become i n f i n i t e , a t l e a s t it

increases t o a g r e a t e r extent than i s i n p l i e d by equation ( 2 ) .

I n order

t o t a k e cognizance of t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of t h e existence of an endurance

l i m i t , t h e following d e r i v a t i o n i s made:
Let it be assumed t h a t t h e asymptotic s t r e s s range-strain range
rclatirjn coincides with t h e e l a s t i c l i n e up t o a c r i t i c a l s t r e s s range,
t h u s implying t h a t u n t i l t h i s s t r e s s range i s reached, no p l a s t i c flow

w i l l t a k e place.

Since, according t o equation (l), f i n i t e l i f e occurs

only i f p l a s t i c flow develops, t h e l i f e w i l l be i n f i n i t e i f t h e s t r e s s

range i s maintained below t h i s c r i t i c a l level.

By d e f i n i t i o n , then, t h i s

s t r e s s amplitude t h e n becomes t h e endurance l i m i t ,

range associated with t h i s c r i t i c a l stress i s

For stress ranges above

'end

bend,

and t h e s t r e s s

'end'

p l a s t i c flow occurs, and t h e l i f e

becomes governed by t h e p l a s t i c f l o w according t o equation (1). A s a

f i r s t approximation, l e t it be assumed t h a t t h e familiar power l a w r e l a -

t i o n e x i s t s between t h e p l a s t i c flow and t h e stress range causing it.

That i s

a"p

A(&

2aend)

S u b s t i t u t i n g i n equation ( 3 ) t h e value of
solving f o r

(3)

from equation (l), and

AD

aa = 2aend

- 2aend

(4)

Or, d i v i d i n g by t h e e l a s t i c modulus t o obtain t h e r e l a t i o n i n terms of

strain

Equation ( 5 ) a l s o r e l a t e s t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range as a power l a w i n

terms of t h e c y c l i c l i f e , b u t it includes an endurance l i m i t term i n
c o n t r a s t t o equation ( 2 ) .

I n p r i n c i p l e , therefore, equation ( 5 ) i s a

much more s a t i s f a c t o r y r e l a t i o n , capable of accommodating t h e

an endurance limit,

C . C ) E C P ~ cf
~

For t h e numerical purposes a s s o c i a t e d with many

p r a c t i c a l problems, it can be shown, however, t h a t t h e d i f f e r e n c e s i n volved between t h e two equations are r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l .

- 8 -

It i s a l s o apparent, from equation ( 3 ) , t h a t t h e endurance l i m i t

e n t e r s d i r e c t l y i n t o t h e r e l a t i o n between stress range and p l a s t i c s t r a i n
range and t h i s equation might, therefore, a l s o be used d i r e c t l y t o d e t e r mine t h e endurance limit, without introducing t h e c y c l i c l i f e .

Thus from

equation (3)

The authors have attempted t o determine whether equations ( 5 ) or ( 6 )

could be used on f a t i g u e data t o determine r e l i a b l e values of endurance

limits.

Some of t h e results a r e shown i n t h e appendix.

It w a s concluded

t h a t f o r even hypothetical s e t s of dzt~;t5z-L i s , data with b u i l t - i n

s c a t t e r less t h a n that obtained from a c t u a l t e s t data, t h e method r e quires data a t high c y c l i c l i f e , where p l o t s of

Acel

versus

Nf

show

d i s t i n c t curvature, i n order t o determine a c l e a r l y defined endurance

limit.

I n the absence of such data, equation ( 2 ) can be assumed t o

represent t h e data adequately i n t h e l o w and intermediate cycle l i f e

6
range ( f o r most m a t e r i a l s up t o 10 cycles).

Because of t h e s i m p l i c i t y

equation (2), it i s used i n t h e remainder of t h e discussion, with t h e

Of

recognition t h a t it i s a n approximation t h a t implies t h e non-existence

of a n endurance l i m i t ( i n f i n i t e l i f e ) , but i n p r a c t i c e i s not inconsist-

e n t i n representing d a t a i n t h e l i f e range of i n t e r e s t ( u s u a l l y below

6

10 c y c l e s ) even f o r cases involving endurance limits.

that demonstrate d i s t i n c t curvature i n p l o t s of

el

For materials
versus

Nf

at

6
l i v e s w e l l below 10 cycles, t h e r e i s no d i f f i c u l t y i n re_nl%cir.gq d z t i o n ( 2 ) by i t s equivalent, equation (5), wherever t h e former appears
i n t h e discussions t o follow.

- 9 -

Relation between t o t a l s t r a i n range and c y c l i c l i f e .

Since f o r many a p p l i c a t i o n s it i s t h e t o t a l s t r a i n range t h a t i s of
i n t e r e s t , r a t h e r than e i t h e r t h e p l a s t i c or e l a s t i c component, equat i o n s (1)and ( 2 ) can be combined t o o b t a i n t h e d e s i r e d sum

This equation w i l l be used i n t h e remainder of t h i s r e p o r t as t h e b a s i c

Figure 1 shows

r e l a t i o n between c y c l i c l i f e and t o t a l s t r a i n range.

schematically t h e g r a p h i c a l implications of equation ( 7 ) .

Plotted

a g a i n s t c y c l i c l i f e on log-log coordinates, both components produce

s t r a i g h t lines.

Because t h e s t r a i n s c a l e i s logarithmic t h e i r sum i s ,

however, not a s t r a i g h t l i n e .

It can be seen t h a t i n t h e low l i f e range,

t h e e l a s t i c component i s almost n e g l i g i b l e compared t o t h e p l a s t i c component.

The t o t a l s t r a i n range,

&,

t h u s almost coincides completely

with t h e s t r a i g h t l i n e f o r t h e p l a s t i c component.

A t t h e higher c y c l i c

l i v e s , however, t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n range r a p i d l y becomes negligible,

while t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range r e t a i n s a r e l a t i v e l y high value because
of t h e lower slope of t h e

&
el

tangency t o t h e e l a s t i c l i n e .

line.

Thus, t h e

&

curve approaches

The cross-over p o i n t between t h e two

curves is, f o r most materials, i n t h e v i c i n i t y of

10

cycles.

Thus, i f

l i f e ranges of l e s s t h a n 1000 c y c l e s are involved, it i s u s u a l l y perm i s s i b l e t o neglect consideration of t h e e l a s t i c component.

On t h e o t h e r

hand, i f t h e problem involves l i v e s i n t h e v i c i n i t y of 100,000 cycles,

t h e s t r a i n of major i n t e r e s t i s t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range (or, equival e n t l y , t h e s t r e s s range).

Basically, it i s probably s t i l l l o c a l i z e d

10

p l a s t i c f l o w t h a t induces fatigue, even a t t h e very high l i v e s , but measurement of t h e p l a s t i c flow i s d i f f i c u l t , and t h e s t r e s s range apparently
becomes an adequate measure of t h i s l o c a l i z e d p l a s t i c flow.
One f i n a l p o i n t can be made i n connection with f i g u r e 1 t h a t i s of
p r a c t i c a l i n t e r e s t i n t h e experimental determination of material behavior.

It can be seen t h a t i f t h e e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c l i n e s are t o be determined

by measurement, t h e p l a s t i c l i n e should be a c c u r a t e l y determined i n t h e
low-cycle range, where it produces i t s g r e a t e s t influence; whereas t h e
e l a s t i c l i n e should be most accurately determined i n t h e high-cycle range.
Thus, i f compromises have t o be made i n f a i r i n g curves t o " l i n e a r i z e "
them, t h e range of most s i g n i f i c a n t influence should be favored.

This

w a s done i n t h e a n a l y s i s shown i n t h i s r e p o r t and when analyzing t h e data.

i n reference 2,
DIPdZCT DETERMTNATION OF STRESS-STRAIN-LIFE R U T I O N S

I n t h e discussions t o follow, two approaches w i l l be indicated which

can be used t o determine t h e i n t e r - r e l a t i o n s among s t r e s s range, s t r a i n
range, and c y c l i c l i f e .

A s already indicated, t h e t y p e s of r e l a t i o n s

sought w i l l be those t h a t a r e based on equation (1)i n conjunction with

equation ( 2 ) i n s t e a d of t h e (probably) more r e a l i s t i c equation ( 5 ) which
includes an endurance l i m i t .

More accurate r e s u l t s could be obtained a t

t h e expense of a d d i t i o n a l experimental data.

The approach i s based

e n t i r e l y on d a t a obtained i n f a t i g u e t e s t s .
Measurement of constants.
I n t h e most general sense t h e constants

M,

z,

G,

and

must be

regarded as p r o p e r t i e s which vary fram material t o material, and which

- 11 can b e s t be determined experimentally from s t r a i n cycling t e s t s .

Al-

though t h e r e a r e four constants they a r e , i n p r i n c i p l e , determinable from

t e s t s a t only two f i x e d t o t a l s t r a i n range l e v e l s f o r which t h e measured
q u a n t i t i e s a r e s t r e s s range and l i f e .

From t h e s t r e s g r-e,

the e l a s t i c

s t r a i n range may be determined, using t h e e l a s t i c modulus.

A logarithmic

p l o t of e l a s t i c s t r a i n range versus l i f e i s then constructed from which

G

and y

can be determined.

Subtraction of e l a s t i c s t r a i n range fram

t o t a l s t r a i n range provides t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n range which can be p l o t t e d

logarithmically a g a i n s t l i f e .
and

z1

Such a p l o t permits c a l c u l a t i o n of

If, for example, t h e applied s t r a i n ranges a r e

t h e corresponding measured s t r e s s ranges

cyclic l i v e s are

N1

and

ACT,

and

Au2,

Ae1 and nE2,

while t h e

N2 respectively, t h e constants become

(nEl - T)

-z

N1

= (&2

4)
Acl

-Z

N2

Obviously, an improvement i n t h e determination of t h e constants can be

achieved by t e s t i n g a t more than t w o s t r a i n levels.

The optimum s t r a i g h t

l i n e s a r e then drawn through t h e a v a i l a b l e d a t a p o i n t s e i t h e r by inspect i o n o r by l e a s t square procedures.

The constants can then be determined

12

accordiag t o equation ( 8 ) , using any two p o i n t s on t h e optimized s t r a i g h t

l i n e s , r a t h e r t h a n any individual experimental data points,

Also, as already indicated, the most d e s i r a b l e region i n which t o

determine t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n ra.nge constants,

M and

z,

i s t h e range

of l o w c y c l i c l i f e , whereas t h e most d e s i r a b l e region f o r determination

of t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range constants,
cyclic l i f e .

and

i s t h a t a t high

y,

The most accurate determination of t h e constants w i l l t h u s

occur i f t h e e n t i r e l i f e range of i n t e r e s t i s covered i n t h e tests.

In

p r i n c i p l e , however, r e l a t i v e l y few t e s t s , as low as two, a r e needed t o

determine all f o u r constants.
R e l a t i o n between s t r e s s range and s t r a i n range.
The p r i n c i p a l need i n design c a l c u l a t i o n s i s f o r a r e l a t i o n between

stress range and s t r a i n range,

Such a r e l a t i o n provides a means of com-

bining t h e equlXbrium equations involving s t r e s s e s , and t h e canpatib l l i t y equations involving strains.

Eliminating

Nf

between equations

(1)and ( 2 ) , and conibining with equation ( 7 ) , r e s u l t s i n

I n equation ( 9 ) t h e s t r e s s range i s designated &,

but it i s t o be

understood that when it i s measured experimentally i n a c y c l i c s t r a i n

range t e s t , during which t h e s t r e s s range may vary continuously, it w i l l
be taken as t h e value a t t h e h a l f - l i f e .

Since f o r most m a t e r i a l s and

s t r a i n ranges, t h e s t r e s s range has e s s e n t i a l l y s t a b i l i z e d a t a constant

value by t h e time t h e h a l f - l i f e i s reached, t h e s t r e s s range
a l r e a d y been r e f e r r e d t o as t h e asymptotic s t r e s s range.

& has

Thus equa-

t i o n ( 9 ) r e p r e s e n t s e s s e n t i a l l y a r e l a t i o n between t h e t o t a l s t r a i n
range and t h e asymptotic s t r e s s range.

13

It should be pointed out, moreover, t h a t what i s desired f o r a n a l y s i s

i s a r e l a t i o n between s t r e s s range and t o t a l s t r a i n range i n order t o permit i n t e r - r e l a t i o n between t h e equilibrium and c o m p a t i b i l i t y equations.

It i s not necessary t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n be expressible a n a l y t i c a l l y , as i n

equation (9), although t h e equation appears s u i t a b l e f o r t h i s purpose f o r
most of t h e m a t e r i a l s examined t o date.

The r e l a t i o n could. be expressed

completely graphically, a s by a curve b e s t passing through t h e d a t a a s

i s u s u a l l y done f o r a s t a t i c s t r e s s - s t r a i n curve.

No l i m i t a t i o n s a r e

imposed i n t h e numerical a n a l y s i s of s p e c i f i c problems by t h e use of a

g r a p h i c a l r e l a t i o n i n s t e a d of an a n a l y t i c a l expression.
SOME APPROXIMA!E FiELATIONS

Although it i s r e l a t i v e l y simple t o measure t h e c y c l i c s t r e s s s t r a i n

r e l a t i o n , and t h e l i f e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s under s t r a i n cycling, specimens
and l a b o r a t o r y f a c i l i t i e s a r e not always a v a i l a b l e t o obtain t h e necessary data.

Especially i n t h e e a r l y stages of design, it i s d e s i r a b l e t o

be a b l e t o make estimates based on available d a t a of t h e most l b i t e d

type.

Thus approx-te

r e l a t i o n s involving r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e d a t a can

serve a very u s e f u l purpose, provided t h e l h i t a t i o n s of t h e s e approximations a r e recognized.

I n t h e following s e c t i o n s some approximate

r e l a t i o n s w i l l be developed that may serve adequately i n preliminary

analysis.

For t h e final, a n a l y s i s of a chosen design, it would appear

reasonable t o expect t h a t t h e a c t u a l p r o p e r t i e s of t h e m a t e r i a l involved

w i l l b e determined by t e s t r a t h e r than r e l y i n g on approximations.

The d a t a used for determining the p r e d i c t i n g parameters are shown
i n f i g u r e s 2 through 1 7 and were taken from some e a r l i e r work of t h e

- 14 authors ( r e f , 2 ) except t h a t d a t a p o i n t s with c y c l i c l i v e s l e s s t h a n

10 cycles were omitted from these plots.

The approximate r e l a t i o n s t o be

developed are those t h a t w i l l best p r e d i c t or represent t h e l e a s t square

e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c s t r a i n s versus l i f e l i n e s (on log-log p l o t s ) f o r the
wide v a r i e t y of m a t e r i a l s t e s t e d .
"A" l i n e s of f i g u r e s 2 through 17.
lowing procedure was used:

The l e a s t square

l i n e s used a r e t h e

In c a l c u l a t i n g these l i n e s , t h e f o l -

f o r t h e p l a s t i c l i n e , t h e d a t a p o i n t s used

were those f o r which t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n range w a s g r e a t e r than h a l f t h e

e l a s t i c s t r a i n range, while for the e l a s t i c l i n e t h e d a t a p o i n t s used
were those f o r which t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range w a s g r e a t e r than h a l f t h e
p l a s t i c s t r a i n range.

This w a s done, as w a s pointed out e a r l i e r , i n

order t o o b t a i n t h e b e s t f i t of t h e data i n t h e regions where they a r e

most s i g n i f i c a n t ,
It can be seen from f i g s . 7 and 1 4 t h a t t h e s e two m a t e r i a l s

(annealed 304 and AM 350 s t e e l s ) gave very nonlinear t r e n d s i n t h e

p l a s t i c d a t a due t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e y a r e both b a s i c a l l y unstable and
transform during cycling.

Thus, a t each s t r a i n l e v e l , or l i f e , a some-

what d i f f e r e n t m a t e r i a l i s being t e s t e d ,

For t h i s reason, t h e s e two

m a t e r i a l s (nos. 6 and 13) were omitted from p l o t s made f o r t h e purpose of

determining t h e parameters f o r p r e d i c t i n g t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n s .

The

s t a t i c t e n s i l e p r o p e r t i e s t o be used i n t h e following a n a l y s i s a r e l i s t e d
i n t a b l e I.
Parameters,

Before deriving any r e l a t i o n s , it w i l l be i n s t r u c t i v e

t o consider f i r s t t h e p r o p e r t i e s t h a t e n t e r i n t o t h e approximations, and

t h e b a s i s f o r t h e i r use.
T e n s i l e ductility.

The t e n s i l e d u c t i l i t y i s a property usually

available t o t h e designer f o r any m a t e r i a l l i k e l y t o be of i n t e r e s t .

- 15 Since t h e d u c t i l i t y i s a p l a s t i c s t r a i n value, it would appear d e s i r a b l e

t o make use of it i n t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n r a n g e - l i f e equation (1). I n t h e
discussion t o follow d u c t i l i t y w i l l be taken as t h e "true" or "logarithmic"
value, based on measurement of reduction i n a r e a i n t h e t e n s i l e t e s t .

where

is the ductility,

.A

and Af

a r e t h e i n i t i a l and f i n a l a r e a s

of t h e f r a c t u r e cross-section i n t h e t e n s i l e t e s t , and R.A.

t i o n a l reduction i n a r e a

- *o

Thus

t h e conven-

- Af

-7

Coffin ( r e f , 8 ) has proposed t h a t t h e d u c t i l i t y be introduced i n t o

t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n r a n g e - l i f e equation i n such a manner t h a t t h e p l a s t i c
s t r a i n range becomes equal t o t h e d u c t i l i t y when t h e number of c y c l e s i s
equal t o 1/4. The probable reasoning behind t h i s suggestion stems from
t h e concept t h a t a conventional t e n s i l e t e s t c o n s t i t u t e s o n e quarter of a
c y c l i c s t r a i n t e s t i n which t h e strain i s completely reversed.

If the

quarter-cycle c o n s t i t u t i n g t h e t e n s i l e t e s t were c a r r i e d t o completion a s

p a r t of a c y c l i c s t r a i n t e s t , t h e load would f i r s t be reduced t o zero i n
t h e second quarter of t h e cycle, a c q r e s s i v e f o r c e applied during t h e
t h i r d q u a r t e r causing a compressive p l a s t i c f l o w , and a r e t u r n t o zero

load during t h e f o u r t h quarter, placing t h e specimen i n a p o s i t i o n f o r

r e p e t i t i o n of t h e s t r a i n cycle,
The manner of including the t e n s i l e t e s t as an extreme case of
c y c l i c p l a s t i c flow i s , however, open t o some question.

Another form of

reasoning has been o f f e r e d by Martin ( r e f . 9 ) who t r e a t e d t h e problem of

16

cumulative f a t i g u e damage, and who a r r i v e d a t a form of equation (1) such

t h a t t h e e f f e c t i v e value of

AE
P

is

fi D

at

(ref. IC)
a r r i v e d a t another e f f e c t i v e value of

Nf = 1/4, while Manson

&
P

of 1.5 D

at

Nf = 1/4 cycle,

The problem of including t h e conventional t e n s i l e t e s t as a n extreme

of t h e c y c l i c t e s t i s , a c t u a l l y , o n l y an academic question.

In reality,

t h e t e n s i l e t e s t i s quite different fromthe cyclic straining t e s t .

Thus,

t h e v a l i d i t y of considering t h e t e n s i l e t e s t as a quarter, or some other

f r a c t i o n of c y c l i c s t r a i n i n g t e s t would depend on t h e experimental determination of t h e consequences of the assumption, r a t h e r t h a n on i t s theoretical significance.

It i s therefore important t o examine how w e l l t h i s

assumption i s borne out f o r s p e c i f i c m a t e r i a l s as a means of e s t a b l i s h i n g

its validity.

Figure 18 shows t h e r e l a t i o n between

f o r t h e materials being investigated.

( k p / D ) 1/4

versus

The dxta were obtained by d e t e r -

mining t h e i n t e r c e p t of t h e least square' p l a s t i c l i n e s a t

Nf = 1 / 4

( f i g u r e s ZA through 17A).

at

I f t h e assumption t h a t

AE = D
P

Nf = 1 / 4

were v a l i d , a l l t h e p o i n t s would l i e on a h o r i z o n t a l s t r a i g h t l i n e

(&p/D)1/4

= 1.

Considerable deviation i s seen t o e x i s t between t h i s

assumption and t h e data.

least square

A d e t a i l e d a n a l y s i s of t h e i n t e r c e p t of t h e

p l a s t i c linesand other values of

N,

was tried.

It w a s

found that a much inqroved c o r r e l a t i o n could be obtained i f t h e i n t e r c e p t

with t h e l i f e of 10 cycles were used.

This c o r r e l a t i o n i s shown graphi-

c a l l y i n f i g u r e 1 9 and t h e curve shown representing t h e d a t a i s

D3/4

(14)

17

On t h e basis of t h i s f i g u r e it can be seen t h a t t h e d u c t i l i t y i s most

u s e f u l i n determining one point on the p l a s t i c l i n e , and t h a t p o i n t can
be taken at 10 cycles,
Ultimate t e n s i l e strength.

The ultimate t e n s i l e strength i s de-

fined as t h e maximum load sustained by a specimen during a t e n s i l e t e s t ,

divided by t h e o r i g i n a l cross-sectional area.

For most d u c t i l e mate-

r i a l s t h e maximum load occurs after appreciable elongation (and reduct i o n i n area),

This property must thus be regarded as highly a r t i f i c i a l ,

since t h e load and area used i n t h e computation do not occur simultaneously.

However, it i s t h e most comonly c i t e d . property used as a

measure of material strength+ hence it i s d e s i r a b l e t o determine whatever

c o r r e l a t i o n s t h a t can be obtained as a guide i n estimating fatigue
properties.

It has long been known t h a t t h e ultimate t e n s i l e strength can be

used t o give some i n d i c a t i o n of t h e endurance l i m i t of a material.

This

type of c o r r e l a t i o n has not always been successful, but it does i n d i c a t e

t h a t t h i s property i s r e l a t e d i n some way t o t h e behavior a t high c y c l i c

life.

P l o t s were t h e r e f o r e made of the i n t e r c e p t of t h e l e a s t square

e l a s t i c l i n e s a t a number o f d i f f e r e n t c y c l i c l i v e s (figs. 2A
through 17A) versus ultimate t e n s i l e strength f o r a l l t h e m a t e r i a l s
investigated.

shown i n f i g u r e ( 2 0 ) .
mation

The best c o r r e l a t i o n obtained w a s a t 10 cycles as i s

It can be seen t h a t as a reasonable f i r s t approxi-

18

or

While t h i s r e l a t i o n must obviously be regarded as very approximate

since it r e l a t e s two d i f f e r e n t types of t e s t s by a property t h a t i s not

even r e a l i s t i c a l l y r e l a t e d t o e i t h e r t e s t

--

it serves t h e very useful

purpose of i n d i c a t i n g t h e approximate l o c a t i o n of one p o i n t on t h e

s t r a i g h t l i n e represented by equation ( 2 ) .

Thus, one point on t h e l i n e

of e l a s t i c s t r a i n versus c y c l i c l i f e can be determined by considering

5

t h e l i f e a t 10 cycles.

The e l a s t i c s t r a i n range developed a t t h i s l i f e

i s approximately 90 percent of t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n developed by a s t r e s s

equal t o t h e (nominal) ultimate t e n s i l e strength of t h e material.
Tensile f r a c t u r e s t r e s s c

The f r a c t u r e s t r e s s i s determined by

dividing t h e load j u s t p r i o r t o f r a c t u r e by t h e a r e a measured j u s t a f t e r

fracture,

Although t h e load decreases a f t e r t h e ultimate t e n s i l e s t r e s s

i s reached, t h e c r o s s - s e c t i o n a l a r e a decreases more rapidly, t h u s r e s u l t ing i n a progressively increasing "true s t r e s s " .

I n a l l cases, therefore,

t h e f r a c t u r e s t r e s s i s e i t h e r equal t o or g r e a t e r than t h e ultimate tens i l e stress.

Even though t h e f r a c t u r e s t r e s s takes i n t o account a c t u a l areas, and
i s t h e r e f o r e a "true" s t r e s s , it i s s t i l l a somewhat i d e a l i z e d property
because it does not take i n t o account t r i a x i a l i t y and non-uniformity of

stress that develops i n a t e n s i l e specimen a f t e r "necking" t a k e s place.

I n view of t h e a r t i f i c i a l i t y of t h i s property, together with t h e f a c t
t h a t it i s obtained i n a s t a t i c t e n s i l e t e s t which does not involve t h e

19

material i n e i t h e r t h e c y c l i c hardening or softening t h a t develops i n a

f a t i g u e t e s t , it can be expected t h a t t h e u t i l i t y of t h i s property i n
p r e d i c t i n g t h e f a t i g u e behavior w i l l be limited.

Since, however, only

approximations a r e sought, a c o r r e l a t i o n w a s attempted f o r t h e l a r g e

number of m a t e r i a l s investigated both i n tension and i n axial fatigue.
I f t h e t e n s i l e t e s t i s t o be regarded as one-quarter cycle of a

f a t i g u e t e s t , it i s n a t u r a l t o expect t h a t t h e l i n e of e l a s t i c s t r a i n

(or corresponding s t r e s s ) associated with equation ( 2 ) i n t e r s e c t t h e

life

N = 1/4

a t a stress range which i s twice t h e f r a c t u r e stress.

Figure 21 shows t h e c o r r e l a t i o n obtained when the f r ~ c t x - estress i o

plotted against the intercept a t

Nf = 1 / 4

of t h e optimized l i n e a r r e l a -

t i o n between e l a s t i c s t r a i n and cyclic l i f e on log-log coordinates= The

r e l a t i o n i s very nearly l i n e a r , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t

(+j1/& 0

where

= 2.5

i s t h e f r a c t u r e s t r e s s i n t h e uniaxial t e n s i l e test.

Thus equation ( 1 7 ) provides information from which a p o i n t on t h e

e l a s t i c l i n e represented by equation ( 2 ) can be determined.

It i s merely

necessary t o p l o t

2,5

f
E

at

Nf = 1/4.

This r e l a t i o n , together with

equation ( 1 6 ) provides s u f f i c i e n t information t o determine t h e e l a s t i c

l i n e of equation (2)*
There is, however, a d i f f i c u l t y t h a t may arise i n t r y i n g t o use

as a p r e d i c t i n g parameter and t h a t occurs when dealing with highly d u c t i l e

materials.

For such materials, it becomes almost impossible t o g e t a

20

good measure of a c t u a l load carrying a r e a a t t h e time of f a i l u r e , and

hence

because of t h e many cracks known t o be p r e s e n t throughout t h e

highly necked down sectionb e s t not t o attempt t o use

fb

l i n e , but rather,use

For these extremely d u c t i l e m a t e r i a l s it i s

uf

f o r predicting a p o i n t on t h e e l a s t i c

some average slope for t h e l i n e passing through t h e

e l a s t i c s t r a i n range predicted a t

5
1 0 cycles from

The average

slope recommended for t h e s e cases i s -0.1 as w i l l be discussed l a t e r .

Approximate r e l a t i o n s h i p of t o t a l s t r a i n a t

lo4

cycles.

Thus f a r

t h r e e r e l a t i o n s have been i n d i c a t e d for t h e determination of t h e two

straight Lines assnciaked w-ith the e h s t i n , a&p l a s t l c m q z l n e i i t of

s t r a i n ; only one more r e l a t i o n i s required f o r t h e complete establishment

of t h e s e two l i n e s .

The r e l a t i o n that has been found most u s e f u l i s

based on f i g u r e 22 which shows a g l o t of l o n g i t u d i n a l t o t a l s t r a i n range

versus number of c y c l e s t o failure f o r t h e l a r g e number of m a t e r i a l s
which data a r e a v a i l a b l e (ref. 2).

It i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o observe t h a t

a l l t h e curves (except f o r beryllium) seem t o come together a t approxi4

mately 10 cycles, and a t a t o t a l s t r a i n range of approximately 1percent.

Thus, r e g a r d l e s s of material, a t o t a l s t r a i n range, c o n s i s t i n g of t h e sum
of e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c s t r a i n ranges, of approximately 1percent w i l l
r e s u l t i n a l i f e of 10,000 cycles.

Actually, t h e r e l a t i o n t h a t i s most

u s e f u l a r i s e s out of a refinement of t h i s observation.

versus

a t 1 0 cycles i s shown i n f i g u r e 23.

A p l o t of

bel

A s t r a i g h t l i n e does

r e p r e s e n t t h e d a t a f a i r l y well, b u t the equation of t h e l i n e i s

21

(Ap)104 = a01

i n s t e a d of

which would r e s u l t i f t h e b e s t r e l a t i o n were represented by t h e sum of

t h e two s t r a i n s being equal t o 0.01.
Equation (18) t h u s r e p r e s e n t s a usable r e l a t i o n f o r t h e determinat i o n of t h e p l a s t i c s t r a i n range at lo4 cycles when t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n
range i s known.

Since by equation ( 2 ) t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range versus

c y c l i c l i f e i s approximated by a s t r a i g h t l i n e on log-log coordinates,

and since two p o i n t s on t h i s l i n e can be determined from equations ( 1 6 )
and (17), equation (18) i s adequate for determination of t h e p l a s t i c
s t r a i n range r e q a r e d t o cause f r a c t u r e a t

lo4

cycles.

There i s a p o s s i b l e d i f f i c u l t y t h a t may a r i s e i n using equation (18)

and t h a t is when dealing w i t h very high strength m a t e r i a l s where the pred i c t e d value of e l a s t i c s t r a i n range a t
g r e a t e r t h a n 0.0132.

cycles approaches or i s

When t h i s happens, t h e e r r o r i n computing

from equation (18) can be very great.

value of &
P

lo4

np

For such cases when t h e computed

i s l e s s than 0.001 it i s f e l t t h a t some average slope of

the p l a s t i c l i n e through t h e predicted p o i n t a t 1 0 cycles should give

more reasonable r e s u l t s .

The average slope recommended f o r t h e s e very

high s t r e n g t h m a t e r i a l s i s -0.6

Endurance l i m i t ,

a s w i l l ??e discussed l a t e r .

The most common d e f i n i t i o n of t h e endurance l i m i t

i s t h e s t r e s s a t t h e outermost f i b e r s i n a n a l t e r n a t i n g bending t e s t
h-1

vLAvw

--L4-L
WLIILll

applied.

3 - - I U L U ~U U ~ S

D-3 7---;-

n u i occur regardless of how many cycles a r e

I n p r a c t i c e , however, t h e endurance limit i s taken as a

- I!$ f a t i g u e curve of a material; f o r s t e e l s

s p e c i f i c p o i n t on t h e ACT

22

Choice of an a r b i t r a r y l i f e i s

t h e point i s frequently a t lo6 cycles.

necessary not only because of t h e p r a c t i c a l d i f f i c u l t i e s of determining

a0

p r e c i s e l y t h e knee of t h e

curve, but a l s o because some mate-

Nf

r i a l s do not have well defined knees.

Failure

OCCUTB

a t almost any

s t r e s s l e v e l i f t h e number of cycles of stress a p p l i c a t i o n i s great

enough.

Thus, information on t h e endurance l i m i t makes a v a i l a b l e one

point on t h e

Au

Nf

curve, e i t h e r by implication as t o c y c l e s t o f a i l -

we, or by d i r e c t s p e c i f i c a t i o n of cyclic l i f e .

endurance l i m i t a t a l i f e of
-1

. -c 4

aena

i s the

cycles, one p o i n t on t h e l i n e of

Nend

s t r a i n i=Zlige v e r s u s life is

c I Q I D ~ ~ ~

Thus i f

?fl--2

at

--=uL

= Mend,

where

is

t h e e l a s t i c modulus,

It should be recognized, however, t h a t t h e endurance l i m i t s p e c i f i e d

as conventional engineering information frequently refers t o d a t a obtained

i n a l t e r n a t i n g b ending t e s t s

axial straining.

, whereas

t h e discussion here refers t o

For t h e present it may be recognized t h a t since o n l y

gross approximations a r e desired, t h e two types of endurance limits may

be used interchangeably by noting f r o m reference 10 t h a t
ten
end

= 0.65

bend

send

I n t h e a n a l y s i s t o be discussed t h e uniaxial endurance l i m i t i s used

i n two d i f f e r e n t methods.

The f i r s t method makes use of t h e assumption

t h a t the l i n e represented by equation ( 2 ) i s horizontal, t h a t i s

y = 0.

Thus t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range i s a constant over t h e e n t i r e l i f e range,

and since it i s known a t one value of l i f e , it i s known a t a l l values.

Thus

23

or
G = 2uend

I n t h e second method t h e point a t t h e "knee" of t h e endurance curve

i s used i n s t e a d of t h e r e l a t i o n involving t h e ultimate t e n s i l e strength,

equation (16).

The "knee",

7
assumed a t 10 cycles.

f o r numerical purposes t o be discussed, i s

Thus, instead of equation (16), use i s made of

the relation

E q i d 5 ~ ? (n2 1 ) is then czliii=iiied w i t h equation (i7j t o determine t h e con-

s t a n t s i n equation ( 2 ) .

Since t h e determination of t h e endurance lbit

involves considerable f a t i g u e t e s t i n g , and since t h e purpose of t h e

approximations t o be discussed herein i s t o obtain l i f e estimates from
t h e most r e a d i l y determined mechanical p r o p e r t i e s , t h e r e l a t i o n s involv-

i n g endurance Umit must be regarded as secondary t o those involving

p r o p e r t i e s determined from t h e t e n s i l e t e s t alone.
Constant slope values.

Since the purpose of t h e approximate for-

m u l a s t o be derived i s t o obtain only estimates of c y c l i c l i f e , it may

sometimes be s u f f i c i e n t t o use slope values of both t h e e l a s t i c and
p l a s t i c s t r a i n range components a s determined from other m a t e r i a l s t e s t e d
under s u i t a b l e conditions.

For t h e p l a s t i c comonent of s t r a i n , a slope

of -1/2 has been suggested by Coffin (ref. 8 ) .

t h e b e s t f i t slopes ( t h e same as t h e e q o n m t .
d u c t i l i t y f o r t h e materials of reference 2.

Figure 24 shows a p l o t of
z

ir? eq. (1))VCTSUS the

It i s seen t h a t most mate-

rials have negative slopes of g r e a t e r magnitude than -1/2.

A better

24

"average" value might be -0.6 if it were d e s i r a b l e t o use t h e same value

f o r a l l materials.

It i s t h i s "average" slope value t h a t w a s recommended

f o r use when t r y i n g t o p r e d i c t t h e behavior of very high s t r e n g t h mate-

r i a l s as w a s previously discussed.
The slope of t h e l i n e f i t t i n g the e l a s t i c component of t h e t o t a l
s t r a i n range ( t h e same as t h e exponent

i n eq. ( 2 ) ) w a s found t o

range from -0.06 t o -0.16 among t h e materials analyzed.

information i s available, an average value of slope

Where no other

y = -0.1

m y be

assumed, but no use i s made of t h i s s i m l i f i c a t i o n i n t h i s r e p o r t except

f o r the cases of very d u c t i l e materials where

cannot be measii~ed

accurately.
Relation involving d u c t i l i t y and endurance l i m i t .
A n extremely single r e l a t i o n was proposed by Langer ( r e f . 3), which

r e l a t e s t h e t o t a l s t r a i n range and cyclic l i f e where t h e following

assumptions were made regarding t h e previously discussed parameters.

a)

The p l a s t i c s t r a i n range i s equal t o t h e d u c t i l i t y a t a c y c l i c

l i f e of 1 / 4 cycle,

b)

The p l a s t i c exponent i s taken as -1/2 f o r a l l materials,

c)

The e l a s t i c s t r a i n component i s constant, and i s taken as t h e

e l a s t i c range a t t h e endurance limit.

Under t h e s e conditions t h e r e s u l t i n g equation f o r t o t a l s t r a i n range

becomes

-1/2

D
CV = CVp + Ace1 =

(Nf)

+ - 20end
E

25

Relation involving d u c t i l i t y , ultimate t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h and f r a c t u r e

stress.
The two l i n e s c o n s t i t u t i n g t h e e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c components of
s t r a i n range can be determined using t h e t e n s i l e d a t a r e l a t i o n s involved
i n equations (14), (16), (17), and (18). The sum of t h e two components
then y i e l d s t h e t o t a l s t r a i n range i n terms of c y c l i c l i f e and prope r t i e s determined from t h e u n i a x i a l t e n s i l e t e s t .
c a l procedure proves t o be very simple.

I n p r a c t i c e a graphi-

The l i n e f o r t h e e l a s t i c com-

ponent i s constructed f i r s t by e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e s t r a i n range a t 1 / 4 cycle

--a
uu

5 -___ n
C Y C L C ~ ILUIII

~n

IU

Y - ?

t,~lt: IracLur.e

LT..

stress and uitimate t e n s i l e s t r e s s

according t o equations ( 1 6 ) and ( 1 7 ) o r by passing a l i n e of slope -0.1

through t h e c a l c u l a t e d s t r a i n a t 10 c y c l e s for materials where
not be measured,

af

can-

The e l a s t i c s t r a i n range a t lo4 cycles i s t h e n read

from t h e p r e d i c t e d s t r a i g h t l i n e .

From t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range t h e

p l a s t i c s t r a i n a t lo4 c y c l e s i s determined using equation (18).

The

4
point a t 10 c y c l e s i s t h e n joined by a s t r a i g h t l i n e t o t h e p o i n t a t

10 c y c l e s determined by t h e d u c t i l i t y using equation ( 1 4 ) .

where

AEP

For t h e case

a t lo4 i s computed t o be l e s s than 0.001, a l i n e of constant

slope -0.6 i s passed through t h e 10 cycle point.

The o r d i n a t e s a t se-

l e c t e d values of c y c l i c l i f e are then added t o give t o t a l s t r a i n range.

It is, however, p o s s i b l e t o perform t h e s t e p s a n a l y t i c a l l y providing r e l a t i o n s for M,

These r e l a t i o n s become

z,

G,

and

i n terms of

D,

up

and

uf.

26

where

y =

z =

= 0.827D

0.52

0.083

-1 log
4

(3
(.)($) ]

0.166 l o g

0.179

82

D + 1l o g
3

[ (2)(;0*177
1- 82

Relation involving d u c t i l i t y , f r a c t u r e s t r e s s and endurance l i m i t .

If a n endurance l i m i t i s a v a i l a b l e it i s , of course, p r e f e r a b l e t o

use a f a t i g u e property t o e s t a b l i s h t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range r e l a t i o n

i n s t e a d of r e s o r t i n g e n t i r e l y t o t h e p r o p e r t i e s from t h e u n i a x i a l t e n s i l e test.

I n t h i s case it i s l o g i c a l t o c o n s t r u c t t h e l i n e f o r e l a s t i c

s t r a i n range by using t h e p o i n t a t the known endurance l i m i t together

with t h e p o i n t a t 1/4 cycle determined by t h e f r a c t u r e stress.

I f the

endurance l i m i t i s given a t lo7 cycles, use i s t h e n made of equation ( 2 1 )

t o g e t h e r with equation ( 1 7 ) t o construct t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range l i n e .
However, it should be recognized t h a t t h e "endurance l i m i t " as considered
here i s regarded as a p o i n t on t h e s t r a i g h t l i n e of s t r a i n range ( o r
s t r e s s range) versus c y c l i c l i f e .

For m a t e r i a l s i n which t h e e l a s t i c

curve tends t o l e v e l o f f considerably, so t h a t a quoted endurance l i m i t

is

ha.rnna
u+JvILu

+L-

m~.p--+~,-,
c A L I G L u L V G

_.--(1

It1

AllCC

-n

U
I

AL-

~ L I CC U L V ~ ,

it is wbviuus Ynat use of

t h e s p e c i f i e d endurance l i m i t w i l l y i e l d inaccuracies i n t h e construction

of t h e e l a s t i c l i n e .

Hence, caution should be used i n applying quoted

27

endurance limits unless t h e l i f e a t the endurance l i m i t i s a l s o specified,

and it i s reasonably c e r t a i n t h a t the p o i n t given occurs a t t h e knee or
before it i n magnitude of c y c l i c l i f e .
Graphically, t h e procedure f o r using an endurance l i m i t i s i d e n t i c a l
t o t h a t described previously, except t h a t t h e p o i n t on t h e e l a s t i c l i n e

a t 105 cycles determined from t h e ultimate t e n s i l e strength i s replaced

Analytically, t h e problem i s

by t h e p o i n t a t t h e endurance l i m i t .

s l i g h t l y more complicated because the l i f e a t which t h e endurance l i m i t

i s taken,

fer G,

must be l e f t as a n assignable variable.

Nend,

-;,

Lm--.,.-

?4, a&

C-<-l--

vcLulIlc

Ia..LILY

---l<--.L-J

2.0

LulllyLLcabcu

The formulas

Nend

II

i s i11duGed

as a l i t e r a l t e r m .

It i s t h u s d e s i r a b l e t o derive separate formulas f o r

s p e c i f i c values of

Nend.

Those below r e f e r t o a value of

Nend

= 10

0.92

(&)

= 2*5 end

M = 0.827D

2,

= 0,052

0.394

166

-u3

(
endy
(
)2)
nd

- -14
RESULTS

zT3ilzilZlL4y of c

AND DISCUSSION
~

a&&
~ oii

~i-el&ti-cel>~
~laygec ii-(jij2uez-.
>
~

of materials makes p o s s i b l e a check o f t h e v a l i d i t y of t h e proposed r e l a t i o n s over a broad range of t h e variables.

It should be recognized, of

28

course, t h a t since t h e r e l a t i o n s were derived, i n part, f r o m t h e same

d a t a used t o check t h e i r v a l i d i t y , there e x i s t s a b i a s toward t h e c o r r e l a t i o n which cannot be resolved without f u r t h e r d a t a on a d d i t i o n a l materials.

Since t h e s e c o r r e l a t i o n s were a r r i v e d a t i n 1961 ( r e f . 11)t h e

authors have t e s t e d 6 a d d i t i o n a l materials.

These m a t e r i a l s were not

used i n obtaining t h e c o r r e l a t i o n s but a r e included i n t h i s r e p o r t f o r

t h e purpose of checking t h e predicting methods.
t h e s e materials a r e l i s t e d i n

The t e n s i l e d a t a f o r

able I and t h e experimental f a t i g u e d a t a

a r e p l o t t e d i n f i g u r e s 25 through 30.
~ . V Q ~&hnds
Comparisons of p r e d i c t i o n s wi-th e x p r i n e n t , a l i3-~t,.zf ~ r

a r e presented along with t h e l e a s t squares, or b e s t f i t curves, f o r t h e

22 m a t e r i a l s investigated.

These comparisons a r e given i n f i g u r e s 2

through 1 7 and 25 through 30.

The "C" l i n e s are t h e p r e d i c t i o n s based

on t h e d u c t i l i t y and endurance limit as described by equation ( 2 2 ) -

In

assigning a value of endurance l i m i t a n e x t r a p o l a t i o n of the e l a s t i c

s t r a i n range data t o lo7 cycles w a s used and t h e s e values are l i s t e d i n
t a b l e I.

The "Elrr l i n e s of these f i g u r e s represent t h e p r e d i c t i o n s by

equations ( 2 3 ) through ( 2 7 ) where only t h e p r o p e r t i e s obtained f r o m t h e

u n i a x i a l t e n s i l e t e s t as l i s t e d i n t a b l e I were used.

It can be seen

t h a t i n general, equation ( 2 2 ) yields conservative values of l i f e for a

given t o t a l s t r a i n range, while t h e use of equation ( 2 3 ) i n conjunction
with t h e constants of equations (24) t o ( 2 7 ) y i e l d l i f e values t h a t more
c l o s e l y comply with t h e data.
A more complete comparison of the two methods i s shown i n f i g u r e s 31(a)

and

31b).

Each of t h e s e f i g u r e s shows t h e r a t i o of predicted t o t a l s t r a i n

range t o t h e experimentally determined value against c y c l i c l i f e for a l l

29

For these f i g u r e s t h e experimentally d e t e r -

t h e m a t e r i a l s investigated.

mined t o t a l s t r a i n range w a s taken as t h e sum of t h e l e a s t squares l i n e s

f o r t h e e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c components.

Thus t h e r a t i o s could be taken

a t a l l values of l i f e without regard f o r s p e c i f i c values a t which data

were obtained.
I n f i g u r e 31b t h e p r e d i c t i o n s a r e base& on equation (22), using an
experimentally determined d u c t i l i t y and endurance l i m i t .

The endurance

limits used t o o b t a i n f i g u r e 31b were not d i r e c t l y determined, but were

r a t h e r as previously mentioned obtained by e x t r a p o l a t i o n of t h e t o t a l
Ch

uu

*IvAwIAI

1 ,.PA
lL1c U
I

A *

n 7 L,YUCS.
----- - -

1
IU

Thus tne metnod as evaluated here

i s given t h e b e n e f i t of an accurate measure of endurance l i m i t ( f o r t h e

purpose of c o r r e l a t i n g t h e lower l i f e d a t a ) .

I n general it i s seen t h a t

t h i s method y i e l d s conservative values of s t r a i n f o r a given l i f e .

Where

conservative design i s d e s i r a b l e , the method may serve very well, but it

must be recognized t h a t f o r some m a t e r i a l s and i n some l i f e ranges t h e
allowable s t r a i n predicted by t h i s method w i l l be as low as 1 / 4 t h e
a c t u a l value.

I n addition, t h e method r e q u i r e s t h e experimental d e t e r -

mination of an endurance l i m i t i n order t o c o r r e l a t e t h e l o n g - l i f e d a t a

a t all.
The p r e d i c t i o n s of f i g u r e 31a a r e based on making use of t h e duct i l i t y , f r a c t u r e s t r e s s , and u l t i m a t e t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h as determined i n
the s t a t i c uniaxial tensile t e s t .

An improvement i s obtained r e l a t i v e

t o t h e c o r r e l a t i o n of f i g u r e 31a, a l t h o r n f o r a given 1 i f e t.he p r ~ r l i r t e c !

s t r a i n i s sometimes higher and sometimes lower t h a n t h e measured s t r a i n ,
whereas i n f i g u r e 31b t h e predicted s t r a i n i s g e n e r a l l y lower.

It i s

30

possible t o make t h e method using t e n s i l e data alone predominantly conservative by dividing t h e predicted s t r a i n by approximately 1.5; t h e
r e s u l t i s s t i l l an improvement ( i n the sense t h a t b e t t e r c o r r e l a t i o n i s
obtained) over t h e method using equation ( Z Z ) , d e s p i t e t h e f a c t t h a t no
f a t i g u e p r o p e r t i e s a r e required t o make t h e analysis.
A f i n a l p o i n t t o be made i n comparing t h e two methods i s t h e very
important by-product r e s u l t i n g from t h e method t h a t f i t s t h e e l a s t i c
s t r a i n range data b e s t as well as the t o t a l s t r a i n range data.

This

enables t h e designer t o get a f i r s t approximation t o t h e s t r e s s range

s t r a i n range curve which can be used i n a s t r e s s a n a l y s i s t o obtain a

b e t t e r approximation t o t h e t o t a l s t r a i n s i n a s t r u c t u r e than i f an
e l a s t i c a n a l y s i s alone were made.

!!%is improved value of t o t a l s t r a i n

range would then r e s u l t i n an even b e t t e r estimate of l i f e .

The predic-

t i o n based on a h o r i z o n t a l e l a s t i c l i n e through t h e endurance l i m i t

r e s u l t s i n an inaccurate representation of t h e stress-range - s t r a i n range
d a t a and hence can only be used for estimating l i f e from t h e t o t a l s t r a i n
range, b u t it cannot a i d i n t h e computation of t h i s value.
CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions are based upon extensive a n a l y s i s of room

temperature strain-cycling f a t i g u e data f o r t h e twenty-two m a t e r i a l s
presented i n t h i s paper.

1) The e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c components o f t o t a l s t r a i n range versus

G
iiie data measured i n t h e i i f e range of 10 t o iocycles can adequately

b e represented by s t r a i g h t l i n e s on log-log coordinates, for most mate-

r i a l s investigated.

The only exceptions were t h e p l a s t i c component of

those materials t h a t are unstable and transform during cycling.

31

2 ) A b h o d w a s presented which attempts t o determine a c l e a r l y de-

f i n e d endurance l i m i t from low and intermediate cycle f a t i g u e data.

It

w a s concluded t h a t unless t h e e l a s t i c s t r a i n range versus l i f e curve

shows d i s t i n c t curvature i n t h i s region, no such c l e a r l y defined endurance l i m i t can be obtained and therefore t h e simple l i n e a r r e l a t i o n
which adequately r e p r e s e n t s t h e d a t a can be used.
3)

A simple method f o r p r e d i c t i n g t h e f a t i g u e behavior of mate-

r i a l s from t h e i r u n i a x i a l t e n s i l e p r o p e r t i e s i s presented.

Predictions

based upon t h i s method as w e l l as the method of Langer were compared with

CL

LE

Sata foi-

G,

l a r g e iimfuer

0;

materiais.

me

r e s u l t s indicate that the

proposed method i s i n general an mrovement over t h e Langer method

which h a s an added disadvantage of requiring an endurance limit.

The

proposed method gives a very s a t i s f a c t o r y r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e t o t a l

s t r a i n range versus l i f e r e l a t i o n f r o m 1 0 t o 106 c y c l e s and h a s an
added advantage i n t h a t it a l s o p r e d i c t s t h e s t r e s s range-strain range
r e l a t i o n which i s u s e f u l i n t h e a n a l y s i s of any c y c l i c l y loaded s t r u c t u r e .

32

APPENDIX

Some computations involving estimation of endurance l i m i t .

Equations 5 and 6 a r e both o f the form

y = a

bx

I n practice,

experimental d a t a a r e available f o r corresponding values of

and t h e problem i s t o determine t h e b e s t values o f

w i l l c o r r e l a t e t h e d a t a according t o t h i s equation.

a,

b,

and

and

x,
which

There are several

methods a v a i l a b l e t o do t h i s ( r e f . 1 2 ) b u t unfortunately none involves

a d i r e c t p l o t of

versus

on some coordinate system which permits

t h e optimum choice of t h e constants.

The method t h a t was t h e r e f o r e used

by t h e authors i s as follows:

a ) s e l e c t a value of t h e exponent n,
b) plot

versus

xn,

c ) determine by conventional l e a s t squares method t h e values

of

and

r e s u l t i n g f r o m t h e b e s t fit straight l i n e

through t h e data,
d ) determine t h e s u i t a b i l i t y of t h e choice of exponent

by

c a l c u l a t i n g t h e "standard deviation" ( r e f . 13), which i s a

measure of t h e average deviation of t h e d a t a p o i n t s from t h e
optimum straight l i n e ,
e ) repeat t h e previous 4 s t e p s f o r a sequence of s e l e c t e d values
of

n.

Among t h e various values of

chosen, t h a t value which y i e l d s t h e

lowest "standard deviation:: can be regarded as tine b e s t vaiue.

t h e spacing between values of

initially,

chosen can be q u i t e coarse, but as t h e

b e s t choice i s narrowed down, t h e spacing can be chosen a s f i n e a s

desired t o obtain t h e b e s t value of

of

and

b.

33

and t h e associated best values

Although these computations can be performed manually,

t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y of high speed computing machinery g r e a t l y reduces t h e

amount of l a b o r and does not discourage refinements i n computation by
choice of c l o s e l y spaced values o f the exponent

n.

Figure 32 shows property curves f o r a hypothetical material.

The

s o l i d l i n e s a r e i d e a l i z a t i o n s of m a t e r i a l p r o p e r t i e s where t h e endurance

l i m i t i s taken as zero.

Thus, t h e

& = &

curve shows p l a s t i c flow a t

a l l stress l e v e l s (although t h e deviation from t h e e l a s t i c l i n e i s very

small i n t h e v i c i n i t y of t h e o r i g i n j while t h e
f e c t l y straight.

Nf l i n e i s per-

Equations f o r these curves are a l s o given i n f i g u r e 32.

The c i r c l e s represent hypothetical "data" points, and f i t t h e assumed

equations exactly.

The question t o b e answered i n t h i s i l l u s t r a t i o n i s

whether, given t h e hypothetical d a t a p o i n t s shown by t h e c i r c l e s , t h e

proper endurance 1:'uait ( i n t h i s case zero) w i l l unambiguously be i n d i cated by t h e analysis.
Table I1 shows t h e r e s u l t s o f the computation performed by t h e method
described f o r determining t h e endurance l i m i t from t h e
as seen i n f i g . 32b,

nEel

The assumed values of t h e exponent

z/d

Nf

curve

i n equa-

t i o n ( 5 ) are shown i n column l of Table 11. For each assumed value of

equation ( 5 ) r e s u l t s i n a simple s t r a i g h t l i n e of

z/d,
z/d

Nf

&/E

versus

Using standard s t a t i s t i c a l methods, t h e " l e a s t squares" s t r a i g h t

l i n e w a s obtained for each assumed value of

z/d,

t h e standard devia-

t i o n of t h e p o i n t s from t h e l i n e i s indicated i n column 2.

d e v i a t i o n is, of course, zero f o r the value of

z/d =

The standard

0.085,

since

34

t h i s exponent is t h e one on which the h y p o t h e t i c a l p o i n t s a r e based, b u t

it can be seen t h a t t h e standard deviation i s q u i t e s m a l l f o r even considerably erroneous values of

z/d.

Each "erroneous" value of

z/d

pro-

duces an "indicated endurance l i m i t " , column 4, which compensates f o r t h e

e r r o r i n t h e choice of

z/d,

and r e s u l t s i n a curve representing equa-

t i o n ( 5 ) t h a t i s i n c l o s e agreement with the data points.

The d o t t e d l i n e s of f i g u r e 3 2 ( b ) i n d i c a t e t h e agreement between t h e
various equations r e s u l t i n g from t h e l e a s t squares f i t s , and t h e "data"
p o i n t s on which t h e y a r e based.
uus

L1-f

case between 10 and

io5

I n t h e range of t h e "data" points, i n

cycies, it i s c l e a r t h a t t h e choice o f

optimum f i t i s not completely unanibiguous.

O f course, t h e "data" here

were t a i l o r e d t o give a n exact v a l u e of endurance l i m i t of zero, b u t

small d e v i a t i o n s i n t h e "data",

so c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n f a t i g u e experiments,

could e a s i l y make t h e determination of t h e endurance limit by t h i s method

q u i t e ambiguousTable I11 shows similar computations using t h e c y c l i c s t r e s s - s t r a i n
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of f i g u r e 32(a) as the b a s i s f o r determining t h e endurance

limit.

A s before, b e s t r e s u l t s a r e obtained f o r

standard d e v i a t i o n s are small f o r other choices of

i n g endurance limits.

aend

l/d,

0,

but the

and correspond-

The degree of f i t between t h e "data" and t h e various

curves representing other values of

l/d

a r e shown i n f i g u r e 32(a).

No

d i f f e r e n c e can be d e t e c t e d i n t h e s e curves f o r t h e s c a l e used t o p l o t

them.
F u r t h e r c a l c u l a t i o n s t o elucidate t h e problem a r e shown i n t a b l e s I V
and V and f i g u r e 33.

I n t h i s case the m a t e r i a l i s assumed t o show an

endurance l i m i t of 50,000 p s i .

35

The governing equations a r e assumed t o

be

& = 100,000 + 284,000 (& P )

0.246
(32)

and
= EE

el

E = 32.5,:iC:6 psi.

where

= 100,000

300,000

(Nf)

0.160
(35)

However, f o r t h e p r e s e n t c a l c u l a t i o n cogni-

zance w i l l be taken of s c a t t e r normally c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of f a t i g u e data

by a r b i t r a r i l y d i s p l a c i n g t h e ''data" p o i n t s from t h e b a s i c equations (32)
and (33)- T h e displacements range between

+-1
percent

to

5 5 percent,

and t h e exact magnitudes were chosen by use of t a b l e s of random numbers.

The "datat* p o i n t s a r e shown i n f i g u r e 33 by t h e c i r c l e s , and t h e b a s i c
curves (32) and (33) by t h e continuous l i n e s .

The curves and "data" i n

t h e s e computations a r e shown i n f i g u r e 33 and tables I V and V.

case, t h e "data" are limited t o cyclic l i v e s of lo5 cycles.

In this

By comparing

t h e standard d e v i a t i o n s i n t a b l e s I V and V and t h e d o t t e d curves i n f i g ure 33 (of which o n l y two a r e shown, t o avoid congestion), it can be seen
that considerable ambiguity e x i s t s a t t h e optimum endurance l i m i t .

The

"data" can be f i t t e d w e l l by curves which vary considerably i n endurance

limit.
A f i n a l computation i s shown i n f i g u r e 34.

The data f o r t h e range

up t o lo5 cycles are here i d e n t i c a l t o those shown i n f i g u r e 33 and addi-

t.ioml

"cL8.t.B."

poinfc a r e inel~clecitc e9"eX-d t h c rar;ge to I

in
"8

computations a r e shown i n t a b l e V I .

L
-.
J-L-Li C
nD
-.

ll*e

rm-

Here it can be seen t h a t t h e ambiguity

of endurance l i m i t d e t e r m i m t i o n i s g r e a t l y reduced.

Thus, i f high cycle

36

d a t a a r e available, t h e endurance l i m i t can be determined by t h e method

outlined, but i f only low cycle d a t a are available, t h e method does not
a c c u r a t e l y determine t h e endurance l i m i t .
Although t h e p r i n c i p l e s involved and t h e conclusions of t h e computat i o n s described above were i l l u s t r a t e d by t h e use of hypothetical data,
t h e author and h f s eo-workers have attempted t h e procedure on d a t a f o r
numerous m a t e r i a l s which were determined experimentally.
drawn were approximately t h e same:

or data i n t h e range where &

el

The conclusions

t h e method r e q u i r e s high-cycle data,

versus

Nf

show d i s t i n c t curvature, i n

order t o determine a c l e a r l y defined endurance l i m i t .

I n t h e absence of

high cycle data, an equation i n t h e form of ( 2 ) can adequately represent

t h e d a t a i n t h e l o w cycle range ( f o r most materials, up t o lo6 c y c l e s ) .
Because of t h e s h p l i c i t y of equation ( 2 ) it i s used i n t h e body of t h i s
paper, with t h e recognition t h a t i t i s an approximation t h a t implies t h e
non-existence

of an endurance l i m i t ( i n f i n i t e l i f e ) , but i n p r a c t i c e i s

not i n c o n s i s t e n t i n representing data i n t h e l i f e range of i n t e r e s t

( u s u a l l y 106 c y c l e s ) even f o r cases involving endurance limits.

For

materials t h a t demonstrate d i s t i n c t curvature a t l i v e s w e l l below

6
10 cycles, t h e r e i s no d i f f i c u l t y i n replacing equation ( 2 ) by i t s

equivalent ( 5).

- 37

REFERENCES
1. Manson, S. S., Thermal Stress in Design, Machine Design (a) Part 18,
June 1960; (b) Part 1 9 , July 1960; (e) Part 21, September 1960.
2. Smith, R. W.,

Hirschberg, M. H., and Manson, S. S., Behavior of

Materials Under Strain Cycling in Low and Intermediate Life Range,

NASA TN D-1574, March 1963.
3. Larger, B. F., Design of Pressure Vessels for Low-Cycle Fatigue,

Paper 61-WA-18, ASME, 1961.

4. Tavernelli, J.

F., and Coffin, L. F., Jr., "Experimental Support f o r

Generalized Equation Predicting Low Cycle Fatigue, Journal of Basic

Engineering, Transactions ASME, Vol. 84, December 1962, pp. 533-537.
5. Manson, S. S.,

Behavior of Materials Under Conditions of Thermal

Stress, Heat Transfer, Symposia, University of Michigan Engrg.

Res. Inst., 1953, pp. 9-75.
6. Manson, S. S., Behavior of Materials Under Conditions of Thermal

Stress, NACA TN 2933, 1954.

7. Lui, S. I., Lynch, J. J., Ripling, E.

J., and Sachs, G., "Low Cycle

Fatigue of Aluminum Alloy Z4ST in Direct Stress," Transactions AIME,

Vol. 1 7 5 , 1948, p. 469.

5. Coffin, L. F., Jr. , "A Study of Cyclic-Thermal Stresses in a Ductile

Metal," Transactions ASME, Vol. 76, 1 9 5 4 , pp. 931-950.

9. Martin, D.

E.,

An Energy Criterion for Low-Cycle Fatigue, ASME Paper,

10. Maleev, V. L., Machine Design, International Textbook Company,

Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1946, page 47.

11. Manson, S.

S.,

3%

Discussion t o Ref. 13, Journal of Basic Engineering,

Transactions ASME, Vol. 84, Deceniber 1962, pp. 537-541.

12. Running, Theodore, Empirical Formulas, John Wiley & Son, 1917,

pp. 45-49.
13. Worthing, Archie G.,

-Data
,

and Geffner, Joseph, Treatment of Experimental

John Wiley & Son, 1943, p. 158.

TIlBLE I.

- MATERIAL PROPERTIES

w
MATERIAL

NWINAL CWPOSITION,
PERCENT

FGZiL,

SAME H U T As IN REF. 2

A(KxTRII
I S 1 52100
-)

SulE KBAT A3 IN REF. 2

TITANISIM
(5A1*

C 0.022,
02 0.067,

1528'

400

sn)

I,

0.06, N2 0.014, A1 5 . 1 ,
H+ 0.0096, TI RWAMDER

Sn 2 . b .

VASCOMAX
300 C W

C 0.03, Si 0.01, Mm 0.02, S 0.0065, P 0 . 0 0 4

no 5.00, C o 6 . 9 4 , N l 16.51, TI 0.56, A 1 0.06,
77 o.wa, 9 ".M12,
co C.",
P; .%&IxEZ?

2024 T 4
ALDMI~
7075 T 6

AS

F i 1/2 HI1 ll AluMN, OIL QUKNCH

I, 2 HR, A I R COOL
~y

SUPPLIER

RC 4 8
RC 61-62
RC 31-32

SOIIITION
By SIiPPLIBR
900' F i 1 w1, AIR W O L

RC 54-55

AS P W NAW SPECIFICATION
apll-sa CONDITION T

A3 RBCEIVE

RB 9 4

PBR NAW S P E C P I C A T I O N

AS R B C 6 I V E

RB 1 9

QW-262 CONDITION T

ALuMlNUM

mmss

CONDITION

1600' F i 1/2 w1 I N AFOON, WATER Q W C H

400 Bi 1 HR, A I R COOL

.IO

.o I

.oo I

I
IO-'
F i g u r e 1.

loo

10' lo2
lo3
104
(CYCLES TO FAILURE)

I
lo5

lo6

io7

CS-22507

T o t a l s t r a i n r a n g e a s t h e sum o f e l a s t i c and p l a s t i c components.

PLASTIC

-LEAST
SQUARED FIT
OF DATA I
I

TOTAL

EQ. ,24THROUGH 20

DUCTILITY

ENDURAI

.I

.01

,001

100

io*

104

io'

105

103

CYCLES TO FAILURE
Figvre 2 .

F a t i g u e behavior of A I S 1 4130 Soft (material number 1 )

107

CS-28Yb6

eee

Table I for rnaterlal identificatlon.

ELASTIC

TO PL

.I

c .01
1
w
W

.I

,001

z
U

lE

v)

.Oi

.I

A .OI

.Ool

100

102

104

'

106

102

CYCLES TO FAILURE
F l g u r e 3 . - F a t i g u e b e h a v i o r of AIS1 304 (hard), material numbei. 2 .

,001

lo4

io6

CS-28952

CYCLES TO FAILURE
-

Flgore I .

F a t l g u e behavlor of A I S 1 4340 ( h a r d ) . m a t e r l a l number 3

CYCLES TO FAILURE
F:gure

5.

F a t i g u e b e h a v l o r o f AIS1 4340 ( a n n e a l e d ) , m a t e r l a l number 4.

m
PLASTIC

Plgure 6 .

- Patlgue

behavior of AIS1 52100, material number 5

PLASTIC

100

102

104

106

CYCLES TO FAILURE
Plgure 7 .

F a t i g v e behavior of 304 ELC ( a n n e a l e d ) , material number 6.

CS-28948

ELASTIC

TOTAL

PLASTIC

.I

.01 B

.001

100

102

104

106

CYCLES TO FAILURE
Plgure 8.

Fatigue behavlor of AISI 4 1 3 0 ( h a r d ) , material number

ELASTIC

PLASTIC

TOTAL

.I

(
a
P
z
(3
W
1: c.001
. o ~

(1:

Iv)

.Irn

A.01

,001

.
I

a
1'0
102

100

102

104

CYCLES TO FAILURE

II

104

cs-L'BYSI

PLASTIC

TOTAL

.I

.01 B
\

.OOl

11

103

CYCLES TO F A I L U R E

105
CS - 2696 2

Flgur'e 10. - Fatigue behavior of Inconel X, material number 9 .

ELASTIC
I

TOTAL

3TE: SOLID DATA POINTS

IDICATE FAILURE OUTSIDE
F TEST SECTION
.I

z c,001
E
a
W
p
. o

.I

!Y
+

.01 B

rn

.OOl

A .01

I!

,001 I

ULLU

IO'

CYCLES TO FAILURE
Flgure i l .

F a t i g u e behavior

Of

tltanlum ( S A i . 4 V a ) . material number lo.

105

CS-BBYS3

107

107

ELASTIC

PLASTIC

TOTAL

.01

c .OOl

.I

W
(3

a
Ly:

za

.01 B

Ly:

I-

o
.I

.OOl

A .01

.OOl
100

104

102

106

101

103

105
CS-29960

CYCLES TO F A I L U R E
F i e u r e 12. - F a t i g u e b e h a v i o r of beryllium, m a t e r i a l number 11.

ELASTIC

PLASTIC

TOTAL

.I

.01

4a

.OOl

.I

(I:

z
a
(I:

.01 B

I-

cn

.oo I

.I

A .01

.OOl

1+!1141
100

I111I
102

104

106

..

CYCLES TO FAILURE
F l g u r e 13.

- Fatigue

b e h a v i o r of 3 5 0 ( h a r d ) , materlal nuiber 1:

IO'

103

105
CS-28961

107

107

.
PLASTIC

TOTAL

.I

iZ
I

.01 0

.001

,001

ioo

io2

io4

io4

io2

106

CYCLES TO FAILURE
Figure 1 4 .

106

CS-dB,b,

FaLlgue b e h a v i o r of 350 (annealed), m a t e r i a l number 13.

TOTAL

.I

.01 0

,001

101

CYCLES TO FAILURE

103

105
"S-

,,I

107

TOTAL

.I

.01 B

.oo I

103

CYCLES TO FAILURE
F i g u r e 16.

105

107

cs-28942

F a t i g u e behavior of 5 4 5 6 H311 aluminum. material number 15.

TOTAL

ELASTIC

!.
.I

.01 B

.oo I

'0
CYCLES TO FAILURE
Pimure 17. .F a t l g d e b e h a v i o r o f 2014 T6 aluminum. material number 1 6

io5

CS-L'MJb7

10'

.4

.8
1.2
DUCTILITY

2.0

1.6
cs-2BY37

Figure 18. - I n t e r c e p t of p l a s t i c line a t 1/4 c y c l e

life a s f u n c t i o n of d u c t i l i t y . See T a b l e I for
material i d e n t i f i c a t i o n .

. 2 t

.02

.o I

.02

.04 .06

.I

.2

DUCTILITY
Figure 19.

.4

.6

2
CS-28939

P l a s t i c strain range a t l i f e of 10 c y c l e s v e r s u s d u c t i l i t y .

14

100
200
300
400
ULTIMATE STRENGTH, KSI
E-28934

F i g u r e 20. - C o r r e l a t i o n o f s t r e s s range
a t 105 c y c l e s with u l t i m a t e s t r e n g t h .
See Table I for m a t e r i a l i d e n t i f i c a t i o n .

1000

I-

a
W
W

z
a
ac
I

cn
cn
W
ac
Icn

200
300
400
FRACTURE STRENGTH, KSI cs-28933
100

F i g u r e 2 1 . - C o r r e l a t l o n of s t r e s s r a n g e
a t 1/4 c y c l e with f r a c t u r e s t r e s s . S e e
T a b l e I for m a t e r i a l i d e n t i f i c a t i o n .

SYMBOL

NUMBER
I
7
4
3
5

0
Q

6
2
8
13
12
9
IO
II
16
15

0
Q

v)

13

0
.OlO

dr

13

.OOl
IO0

I,1#1

101

, I t 1

, I n 1 1 1

I
I

I B I I I

I0 3

I02

IIIII

I04

CYCLES TO FAILURE,

IO5

Nf

Figure 2 2 . - Total strain versus c y c l i c life for a l l materials tested.

I\

.004
.006
.008
PLASTIC STRAIN RANGE AT
104 CYCLES

.002

CS-28936
Figure 23. - Correlation of elastic and plastic
strain components at l o 4 cycles. See Table I
f o r material identification.

.I

IIIII

IO6
C S - 2 2 L,

See Table I for material identiflidtion.

-.4IL

-0''

.017
-

a.

0
1

-.2

for material identification.

ELASTIC

TOTAL

.I

.01 B

.OOl

io2

lo4

106

lo3

10'
CYCLES TO FAILURE

Flgvre 2 5 .

Fatlgue behavior

r i

4130 XAhard R C 4 8 . material number

lo5
CS-28947

-7.

10'

TOTAL

CYCLES TO FAILURE
F i g u r e 26. - Fatlglle b e h a v i o r O f 52100 X-hard RC 6 2 , material number 18.

ELASTIC

Plgure 28.

- Fatlwue

h i - h d v l o r of vascomax 300 CW4. materlal number 20

AL

.I

.01 B

.OOl

)4
F l g u r e 29.

- Fatigue

b e h a v l o - o f ?024 T4 alurnlnum, m a l e r i a : n u m b e r 2 :

I06

ELASTIC

PLASTIC

TOTAL

.I

.01 B

.OOl

102

104

CYCLES TO FAILURE

( A I PREDICTIONS BASED ON TENSILE

DUCTILITY, FRACTURE STRENGTH AND
ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH EO. E5
THROUGH 28

0A
I- LL

no

.I

106

102

104

106

Au=-I10+408(Ar,)0'080 2~0.42
KSI
Au=+60+278(Arp)o'200 2 ~ 0 . 5 9KSI

(0

.04
.06
.08
.IO
TOTAL STRAIN RANGE, A
(AI STRESS-RANGE VERSUS STRAIN-RANGE RELATION
.02-

,001
10-1

IO

IO'

I
102

103

104

I
105

I
106

107

CYCLES TO FAILURE, N f
cs-21I:Is
(81 STRESS-RANGE VERSUS LIFE RELATION
Figure 3 2 .
erlduranoe

Insensifivlty o r CUrYeS to constants I" equaLionS lnvoivlng

ilmlrs.

.04
.06
.08
.IO
STRAIN RANGE, A s
(AI STRESS-RANGE VERSUS STRAIN-RANGE RELATION
0

.02

CYCLES TO FAILURE, N t

CS-"-'801

(6) STRESS-RANGE VERSUS LIFE RELATION

rlgure 53. - I n s e n s , f i \ ~ . l t yor
endurance I l m ! r r .

CUrYeS

t o c o n s t a n t s In equations l n v o l v l n g

NASA-CLEVELAND,

orno

E-2256