Fatigue crack initiation and propagation in steels exposed to inert and corrosive environments. Final report, May 1, 1977--December 31, 1977

The fatigue crack initiation life of AISI 1018 steel was investigated using compact tension specimens having sharp notch root radii. The data were analyzed using two methods for predicting initiation in strain cycling experiments. Also, another approach in which initiation is related to the stress intensity factor was developed. The next phase, that of propagation, was studied using AISI 1018 steel and a new high strength steel HY-180. The crack propagation data obtained for both steels tested in air can be described accurately by the power law first suggested by Paris, da/dN = C(..delta..K)/sup n/, where a is the crack length, N the number of cycles, and C and n are material constants. However, the exponent n was found to be two times larger for AISI 1018 steel than HY-180 steel