ENGD2007: Strength of Materials

Fatigue Assignment: Fatigue Failure and Testing of Material

LOG SHEET

Name: Nizamuddin Patel

Date: 15/12/16

P (load)
L b
B h
A db (deflection) Cross section

1. At the beginning of the experiment, please measure the following:

L = 40mm

b = 10.01mm

h = 1.03mm

𝛿𝑏 = 9 mm

Nizamuddin Patel P15219444

2. Now conduct the fatigue tests on the steel sample and aluminium sample, and record

the number of cycles to failure for each sample:

Samples Cycles to failure Cycles to failure Cycles to failure

(Test 1) (Test 2) (Mean)

Steel 2639 2743 2691

Aluminium 234 249 242

3. Beam analysis

(a) Cantilever beam deflection equations:

PL3
db  (1)
3EI
where I is second moment of area, and E is Young’s modulus

bh3
I  (2)
12
The beam deflection b can be measured during the experiment, from which the load P is found by
rearranging Eq. (1),

3EId b
P (3)
L3

(b) The maximum bending moment occurs at the fixed end:

M max  PL (4)

(c) Maximum bending stress (at the fixed end):

 h
M max ( )
M max y max 2
 max   (5)
I I

4. Computation

(1) Compute I value

(2) Compute P value for steel sample, assuming E = 205 GPa

(3) Compute Mmax and max for steel sample

(4) Compute P value for aluminium sample, assuming E = 72 GPa

(5) Compute Mmax and max for aluminium sample

5. Answer following questions:

(1) Is fatigue fracture of the test specimens brittle or ductile? Explain.

Fatigue fracture for both test specimens was brittle. This is because there was relatively little plastic
deformation even in steel and aluminium which are ductile. The fracture was sudden and there was
little indication of

(2) For the steel sample, determine the following stress components:

Minimum stress: min = -1.782 x 109 N/m2 (This is because the amplitude is constant so the
{minimum stress x maximum stress = -1})

Mean stress: m =0

Stress amplitude: a = half of min and max stress ????

(3) Compare the maximum stress ( max) in the steel sample with that in the aluminium sample,

and explain why the stress in steel is larger for the same test configuration.

(4) Explain why fatigue happens under dynamic (cyclic) loading conditions in materials. U y

(5) Explain why shot-peening can increase fatigue life of engineering components.

(6) List three techniques that can be used to increase the fatigue life of engineering components.
(7) With the same test configuration and deflection (𝛿𝑏 ) as in this experiment, if the cantilever

span (L) is increased for the test, is the fatigue life of the samples increased or decreased?

Explain why.

If L is increases, Mmax will increase and so will σ𝑚𝑎𝑥

(8) An engineering component failed after long period of service. It is suspected that the failure was
due to fatigue. You are assigned to investigate this further. Outline and explain the features that
you are going to investigate in order to confirm whether the failure was due to fatigue or not.