Faculty of information technology and engineering School of electrical and computer systems engineering

Strength of materials 3 (MSM31BI) Research Assignment

Material Fatigue

Submitted by: Student nr: Lecturer:

CA Oosthuizen 210002786 Mr. J Nsengimana

Bloemfontein, Semester 1, 2012

Contents
Fatigue fracture of materials ............................................................................................................................................ 3 S-N Diagram ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Fatigue limits for ferrous materials................................................................................................................................... 4 Factors influencing fatigue strength ................................................................................................................................. 6 Comparison of stress at fillet radius and bending stress at uniform sections .................................................................. 9 References: ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Fatigue fracture of materials

Fatigue, as understood by materials technologists, is a process in which damage accumulates due to the repetitive application of loads where the nominal maximum stress values are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit, and may be below the yield stress limit of the material. The process is dangerous because a single application of the load would not produce any ill effects, and a conventional stress analysis might lead to an assumption of safety that does not exist. In one popular view of fatigue in metals, the fatigue process is thought to begin at an internal or surface flaw where the stresses are concentrated, and consists initially of shear flow along slip planes. Over a number of cycles, this slip generates intrusions and extrusions that begin to resemble a crack. A true crack running inward from an intrusion region may propagate initially along one of the original slip planes, but eventually turns to propagate transversely to the principal normal stress. Eventually a crack will reach a critical size, and the structure will suddenly fracture. Examples of where Fatigue may occur are: springs, turbine blades, airplane wings and bridges.

S-N Diagram

Fatigue strength is determined by applying different levels of cyclic stress to individual test specimens and measuring the number of cycles to failure. Standard laboratory test use various methods for applying the cyclic load, e.g. rotating bend, cantilever bend, axial push-pull and torsion. The data are plotted in the form of a stress-number of cycles to failure (S-N) curve. S-N test data are usually displayed on a log-log plot, with the actual S-N line representing the mean of the data from several tests.

Owing to the statistical nature of the failure, several specimens have to be tested at each stress level. Some materials, notably lowcarbon steels, exhibit a flattening off at a particular stress level as at (a) in Figure 1 which is referred to as the fatigue limit. As a rough guide, the fatigue limit is usually about 40% of the tensile strength. In principle, components designed so that the applied stresses do not exceed this level should not fail in service. The difficulty is a localized stress concentration may be present or introduced during service which leads to initiation, despite the design stress being normally below the 'safe' limit. Most materials, however, exhibit a continually falling curve as in (b) and the usual indicator of fatigue strength is to quote the stress below which failure will not be expected in less than a given number of cycles which is referred to as the endurance limit.

Fatigue limits for ferrous materials

For ferrous metals like steel the curve becomes asymptotic at 10^6 cycles. The completely reversed stress which a material can withstand 10^6 cycles without failure is called ENDURANCE LIMIT of the material. Certain materials have a fatigue limit or endurance limit which represents a stress level below which the material does not fail and can be cycled infinitely. If the applied stress level is below the endurance limit of the material, the structure is said to have an infinite life. This is characteristic of steel and titanium in benign environmental conditions. The concept of an endurance limit is used in infinite-life or safe stress designs. It is due to interstitial elements (such as carbon or nitrogen in iron) that pin dislocations, thus preventing the slip mechanism that leads to the formation of micro cracks. Care must be taken when using an endurance limit in design applications because it can disappear due to: Periodic overloads (unpin dislocations) Corrosive environments (due to fatigue corrosion interaction) High temperatures (mobilize dislocations)

Factors influencing fatigue strength Shape and size

The greatest applied force occurs at 90 to the surface, therefore the number of cycles a material can withstand before fracture is greatly increased by reducing the angle at which the force is applied. Generally speaking, the larger the component, the more initial imperfections within the component. Experiments done on carbon steel alloy found that the diameter of steel rod does affect the fatigue life when the rod is under axial (tension-compression) loading.

where Cs is called fatigue reduction factor. For common steel alloys, the size-effect can be approximated by the following formula:

where f1 is the unknown fatigue limit for a critically stressed V1 and f0 is the known fatigue limit for a critically stressed V0. Critically stressed volume is defined as the volume near the surface of the specimen that is stressed to at least 95% of max.

Surface Finish
Fatigue failures almost always begin at the surface of a material. The reasons are that (a) the most highly-stresses fibers are located at the surface (bending fatigue) and (b) the inter-granular flaws which precipitate tension failure are more frequently found at the surface. Scratches and imperfections on the surface act like a stress raisers and reduce the fatigue life of a part. A smooth finish can help reduce the chance of cracks forming as well as removing any unnecessary stresses due to roughness Many widely used surface finishes may affect the fatigue in different ways. They are briefly discussed as follows: Electroplating, improves corrosion resistance and/or the looking of surface finish, generally decreases the fatigue limit of steel. Grinding is a necessary process to improve surface finish, abrade hard materials, and tighten the tolerance. However, it often introduces surface tension and the heat generated in the grinding process might temper the previously quench hardened components. Stamping is the process that punches through sheet metal to make parts. Stamping introduces discontinuities and irregularities to the material and thus high stress concentration.

Forging is the process that compresses heated metal such that the metal palsticaaly deformed into a desired form. Forging refines the grain structure and improves physical properties of the metal. Nevertheless, forging can cause decarburiztion (loss of surface carbon atoms) which is harmful to fatigue life. Hot rolling can also cause decarburiztion (loss of surface carbon atoms), a damaging lose regarding the fatigue life. Carburizing and nitriding produce higher strength and hardness at the surface and thus improves fatigue life. Cold Rolling is the process that compresses and squeezes sheet metal between rollers. It improves the accurancy of thickness and surface finish. Cold rolling produces compress residual stress layer on the surface such that postpone the cracks propergate from the surface and extend the fatigue life. Note that cold rolling may reduce the overall strength of the material for it push the surface to plastic deformation which acompanies strain hardening. Shot Peening is the process that blasts steel or glass beads on to the sruface to produce residual compress stress at the surface. It is an effective low-cost treatment but leave small dimples on the surface. Shot peening can be used to particialy offset the surface tension introduced by plating, decarburization, corrosion and grinding. Shot peening becomes less effective for high stress low-cycle fatigue components (>60% of yield stress) or high temperature applications (> 450F for steel, 250F for aluminum). Note that shot peening may have negative impacts on the corrosion resistance. Since the surface is pocked with small divits and dimples and not smooth any more, nonsmooth surface is easier to trap moistures, has more surface area exposed to air, and thus is more vulnerable to corrosion.

Surface treatment
Many treatments are commercially available to increase fatigue strength of materials. Each treatment focuses on a different element in the material increasing resistance to fatigue. The table below shows from experimental data how the surface condition affects the fatigue life.

Fretting and Wearing

Fretting is the surface damage resulting from the relative motion of two contact surfaces which should not move relatively. Wearing, on the other hand, is the surface damage of two contact surfaces which are designed to have relative motion. Both surface damages may range from surface pitting, deterioration, oxide debris, cracks, to functional or structural failures. Note that chemical effects (corrosion) may play an important role, since the surface damages may remove the protecting layers. To reduce the fatigue of fretting, one may eliminate the relative motion or reduce the coefficient of friction between mating parts. To reduce the fatigue of wearing, sufficient lubrication and higher precision in mating parts are beneficial.

Thermal Fatigue
Thermal fatigue can be categorized into thermal loading, high temperature, and low temperature fatigue. The mismatch of thermal coefficients of expansion between two mating parts induces thermal stress when temperature changes. Another thermal loading case is the component exposes to heat or cold on one side or back and forth repeatedly. When the changes of temperature are severe (thermal shock) and/or frequent (thermal loading), the thermal fatigue or thermal failure occurs. Low temperature often makes the usually ductile material more brittle. The cracks in brittle materials propagate more rapidly than in ductile materials which worsen the fatigue life. High temperatures (temperatures above half of melting point of the material) often reduce the stiffness of materials which implies that the bounding between crystals are weakened. The inter-crystalline creep failure more likely occurs than trans-crystalline fatigue failure under high temperature environments.

Frequency of stress intervals

At higher frequencies more cycles of stress occur in less time. For higher frequencies a smaller load is needed to produce a fracture in the material for a given time. In low frequency cycles fracture occurs slower than in high frequency cycles.

Comparison of stress at fillet radius and bending stress at uniform sections

The fillet radius is the radius of a curve which has been cut on a beam or gear tooth and its purpose is to evenly distribute the forces that would have acted on a sharp point of a rotating structure there by reducing the wear of the component and allowing it to last longer because the force acting on it is not as close to the endurance limit. Therefore a component with a correct fillet radius is able withstand a greater number of cycles of the load than a component without a fillet radius. Bending moment at uniform section refers to a materials resistance to bending when load are applied to beam usually. It uses the second moment of are to determine the yield strength of materials and it allows use to understand how different forces at varying distances affect the stresses in a beam and how the beam will handle cycles of different forces.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_(material) http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Inventor/What-s-the-fillet-radius-in-this-diagram-file-attached/tdp/3258320 http://www.scribd.com/mechanics/fatigue.htm http://www.scribd.com/doc/13707082/Mechanical-Engineers-Data-Handbook?olddoc=1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillet_(mechanics) http://www.efunda.com/formulae/solid_mechanics/fatigue/fatigue_intro.cfm http://www.virginia.edu/bohr/mse209/chapter8.htm http://www.epi-eng.com/mechanical_engineering_basics/fatigue_in_metals.htm PowerPoint Presentation- fracture and toughness by Anthony owens Fatigue and Fracture of Materials- Wole Soboyejo and Jing Du, African University of Science and Technology Abuja ((AUST Abuja), Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton Institute of Science and Technology of Materials Princeton University Fatigue Failure Resulting from Variable Loading - Dr. A. Aziz Bazoune , King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals - Mechanical Engineering Department