Fatigue Behavior of Circumferentially Notched Round Bars of Austenitic Stainless Steel Under Torsional and Axial Loads

Fatigue tests of smooth and notched round bars of austenitic stainless steels SUS316NG and SUS316L were conducted under cyclic tension and cyclic torsion with and without static tension. Fatigue strength under fully reversed (R=−1) cyclic tension once increased with increasing stress concentration factor up to K_t=1.5, but it decreased from K_t=1.5 to 2.5. Fatigue life increased with increasing stress concentration under pure cyclic torsion, while it decreased with increasing stress concentration under cyclic torsion with static tension. From the measurement of fatigue crack initiation and propagation lives using electric potential drop method, it was found that the crack initiation life decreased with increasing stress concentration and the crack propagation life increased with increasing stress concentration under pure cyclic torsion. Under cyclic torsion with static tension, the crack initiation life also decreased with increasing stress concentration but the crack propagation life decreased or not changed with increasing stress concentration then the total fatigue life of sharper notched specimen decreased. It was also found that the fatigue life of smooth specimen under cyclic torsion with static tension was longer than that under pure cyclic torsion. This behavior could be explained based on the cyclic strain hardening under non-proportional loading and the difference in crack path with and without static tension.