FATIGUE

 Fatigue is a form of failure that occurs in structures

subjected to dynamic and fluctuating stresses
 Under these circumstances it is possible for failure to
occur at a stress level considerably lower than the
tensile or yield strength for a static load.
 It is catastrophic and insidious, occurring very suddenly
and without warning.
 Primary design criterion in rotating parts.
 Fatigue as a name for the phenomenon based on the
notion of a material becoming “tired”, i.e. failing at less
than its nominal strength.
 Cyclic strain (stress) leads to fatigue failure.
 Occurs in metals and polymers but rarely in ceramics.
 Also an issue for “static” parts, e.g. bridges.
 FATIGUE: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
 Most applications of structural
materials involve cyclic
loadinge.
 Fatigue failure surfaces
have three characteristic
the crack
features: length
 A (near-)surface defect as the origin of the crack exceeds a
critical value
 Striations corresponding to slow, intermittent crack
at the
growth
applied
 Dull, fibrous brittle fracture surface (rapid growth). stress.
 Life of structural components generally limited
by cyclic loading, not static strength.
 Most environmental factors shorten life.
THREE STAGES OF FATIGUE
 First, a tiny crack initiates or nucleates often at a time well
after loading begins. Normally, nucleation sites are located at
or near the surface, where the stress is at a maximum, and
include surface defects such as scratches or pits, sharp
corners due to poor design or manufacture, inclusions, grain
boundaries, or dislocation concentrations.
 Next, the crack gradually propagates as the load continues to
cycle.
 Finally, a sudden fracture of the material occurs when the
remaining cross-section of the material is too small to support
the applied load. Thus, components fail by fatigue because
even though the overall applied stress may remain below the
yield stress, at a local length scale, the stress intensity
exceeds the tensile strength.
 For fatigue to occur, at least part of the stress in the material
has to be tensile.