THE EFFECT OF BIAXIAL STRESS STATE AND CHANGES OF STATE ON FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

Abstract— The effect of biaxial loading on the fatigue crack growth properties for a stainless steel has been examined. From comprehensive experiments, a significant biaxial stress effect on crack growth was found when the stress level was high and the crack was short. In this paper, the critical region where the effect of biaxial stress appears was clarified quantitatively. Moreover, the effect of changing the biaxial stress condition on fatigue crack growth behaviour was investigated. Significant acceleration of crack growth was observed just after the uniaxial or equibiaxial stress condition was changed to the shear stress condition. This acceleration seems to be due to the change of plastic zone shape at the crack tip.