Mechanisms of Fatigue Crack Initiation and Growth

Single primary slip system

F. V. Lawrence

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Fatigue Mechanisms
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Fatigue Crack Initiation Mechanisms Fatigue Crack Growth Mechanisms

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Process of fatigue

Stage II fatigue crack

Intrusions and extrusions (Surface Roughening)

Stage I fatigue crack Persistent Slip Band (Embryonic Stage I Fatigue Cracks)

Cyclic slip Crack initiation Stage I crack growth Stage II crack growth Failure

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Planar or wavy slip?

Material Aluminum Iron Nickel Copper Gold Silver Stainless Steel Brass Stacking Fault Energy ergs cm- 2 250 200 200 90 75 25 <10 <10

d=

G (b 2 b3 ) 2

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Stacking-fault energy effects

Cu-Al alloys, Cu-Zn, Aust. SS Planar slip in Cu-Al

Ni, Cu, Al Fe Wavy slip in steel

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Development of cell structures

= 10-3

Dislocation cell structures in copper

=10-5

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Planar and wavy slip materials

Wavy slip materials

Planar slip materials

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Cyclic Slip - initial arrangements

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Cyclic Hardening

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Events leading to crack initiation

Development of cell structures (hardening) Increase in stress amplitude (under strain control) Break down of cell structure to form PSBs Localization of slip in PSBs

cyclic hardening

cyclic softening

PSB

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Crack initiation

Fatigue crack initiation at an inclusion Cyclic slip steps (PSB) Fatigue crack initiation at a PSB
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Effects of strength and ductility

1.00E-01

Strain Ampltude, et/2

1.00E-02 1100 2014 1.00E-03 2024 5456 7075 1015 4340 1.00E-04 1.00E+00 1.00E+01 1.00E+02 1.00E+03 1.00E+04 1.00E+05 1.00E+06 1.00E+07

Strain controlled test on smooth specimen Strong materials give the best fatigue resistance at long lives; whereas, ductile materials give the best fatigue resistance at short lives

Reversals, 2Nf
1

0.1

Strain Ampitude, e/2

0.01

A36 5456-H311 0.001 Ti-6AL-4V HY-80

1.00E+00

1.00E+01

1.00E+02

1.00E+03

1.00E+04

1.00E+05

1.00E+06

1.00E+07

Reversals, 2Nf

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High-cycle fatigue Strength

Stronger materials resist crack initiation better.

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Fatigue Mechanisms
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Fatigue Crack Initiation Mechanisms Fatigue Crack Growth Mechanisms

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Process of fatigue

Stage II fatigue crack

Intrusions and extrusions (Surface Roughening)

Stage I fatigue crack Persistent Slip Band (Embryonic Stage I Fatigue Cracks)

Cyclic slip Crack initiation Stage I crack growth Stage II crack growth Failure

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Cyclic plastic zone size

1 K I rc = ' 2 y
2

Cyclic plastic zone is the region ahead of a growing fatigue crack in which slip takes place. Its size relative to the microstructure determines the behavior of the fatigue crack, i.e.. Stage I and Stage II behavior.
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Stage I crack growth

S

Single primary slip system

S individual grain near - tip plastic zone

Stage I crack growth (rc d) is strongly affected by slip characteristics, microstructure dimensions, stress level, extent of near tip plasticity
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Stage II crack growth

Stage II crack growth (rc >> d) Fatigue crack growing in Plexiglas

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Behavior of Structural Materials

FerriticPearlitic steels all have about the same crack growth rates

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Crack Growth Rates of Metals

The fatigue crack growth rates for Al and Ti are much more rapid than steel for a given K. However, when normalized by Youngs Modulus all metals exhibit about the same behavior.
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Crack closure
S Remote Stress, S Smax S op , Scl Time, t S S Remote Stress, S Smax Sop , Scl Time, t S c.

S = Smax

d.

S=0

Plastic wake
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New plastic deformation

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Crack closure
Keff = U K
U = K eff K = S max Sopen S max S min 1 = 1 R Sopen 1 S max

Plasticity induced crack closure (PICC) Crack tip positions Plastic zones for crack positions A...A

A, A', A''

A'

A''

Initial crack length

Plastic wake
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Crack Closure Mechanisms

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Intrinsic, extrinsic crack closure

da p = C (K )m (K max ) dn
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Extrinsic Intrinsic
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Aluminum - crack growth

Orientation of microstructural texture Grain size Strength Environment

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Subcritical Crack Growth

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Subcritical Crack Growth Measuring Crack Growth Use of Paris Power Law Variable Amplitude Loads Crack Closure Small Cracks Environmental Effects
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Long cracks, short cracks

mechanically short crack - no closure

long crack

How fatigue cracks grow and particularly the 3-D aspects of fatigue crack growth is not fully understood.

nucleation - coalescence

roughness induced crack closure

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Short Cracks, Long Cracks

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Crack Growth at a Notch

Cracks growing from notches dont know that that stress field they are experiencing is confined to the notch root.

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Growth of Small Cracks

Here the K is the remote stress intensity factor based on remote stresses.
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Effects of Environment
A. Dissolution of crack tip. B. Dissolution plus H+ acceleration. A B C. H+ acceleration D. Corrosion products may retard crack growth at low K.

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Optimum microstructure?
Smooth specimen (Kt 1) - at long lives life dominated by initiation so pick small, highstrength microstructures

Notched Specimen (Kt 2) - at long lives initiation and crack growth equally important. Avoid high tensile residuals therefore use lower strength materials

Cracked specimen (Kt > 5) - in the absence of tensile residuals and for near conditions, large grain size preferred
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Summary
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Fatigue may be thought of as a failure of the average stress concept; consequently, fatigue usually begins at stress concentrators which are most frequently at the surface of a component. Fatigue is a localized process involving the nucleation and growth of cracks to failure. Fatigue is caused by plastic deformation. The cyclic deformation of metals is fundamentally different from the monotonic deformation.
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Summary
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The greatest portion of the fatigue life is spent nucleating and growing a fatigue crack to a length at which it can be detected. The range of effective stress intensity factor, that is, the idea of crack closure allows the growth of fatigue cracks to be rationalized. The behavior of small cracks is in many respects quite different from long cracks.

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