Abstract
This paper reviews the influence that the microstructure of a metal has on the scatter that always exists in data pertaining to fatigue crack initiation and propagation. Concerning the fatigue crack initiation stage of the entire fatigue deterioration process, the descriptions from sub-microscopic sizes to those that can be associated with the initiation of a crack are reviewed in the first section of this paper. Following this, the use of a new stochastic, non-homogeneous Markov description of fatigue crack propagation is introduced. The model is unique in the sense that it uses two empirically determined material parameters to describe the fatigue degradation process. These material parameters are found by a regression analysis on data obtained from laboratory tests which simulate the actual fatigue loading conditions experienced in the field. Results that confirm this interpretation of the randomness involved in crack propagation are presented. Finally, illustrations are given of how a knowledge of these processes can lead to a full assessment of component reliability, repair policy, retirement for cause and other topics of interest to reliability engineering.
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Provan, J.W., Bohn, S.R. (1991). Microstructure and the Fatigue Reliability of Metals. In: Axelrad, D.R., Muschik, W. (eds) Recent Developments in Micromechanics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84332-7_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84332-7_12
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