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Experiment- 5:

To Study the Fatigue Behavior of Mild Steel


Obje t of the experiment To study the effect of fluctuating stress normally encountered in the cyclic loading of materials in service. !e"uirement# for the experiment a) Specimen with the correct design b) Vernier calipers c) Dead weight as load d) Wrench for tightening the bolt of specimen holder 5$ Brief de# ription of the e"uipment%ma hine The schematic diagram of the fatigue testing machine is shown in Fig.1. t consists of a !"phase motor with #$%% rpm speed. The machine is designed to carry out testing of two specimens simultaneously. The samples for fatigue test can be of three types as shown in Fig.# depending upon the loading scheme provided by the machine. The specimens can be either cyclically loaded in the a&ial manner 'Fig.# (a)) or in a rotating manner 'Fig.# (b) and (c)) Sample holder ,otor

*oad

+n and +ff Switches

Fig$& S hemati diagram of Fatigue te#ting ma hine

Fig$' (oading # heme# for laboratory # ale fatigue te#ting: )a* +xial loading of the #pe imen, )b* #ingle-end rotating antilever te#ting ma hine and ) * Four-point rotating antilever te#ting ma hine -mportant .arameter# and E"uation# - fluctuating stress cycle can be considered to be made up of two components. a mean or steady stress /m. and an alternating or variable stress /a. We must first consider the range of stress /r. -s can be seen from Fig. !a 0 !b. the range of stress is the algebraic difference between the ma&imum and minimum stress in a cycle. Thus. /r 1 /ma& 2 /min The alternating stress is one half of the range of stress. /a 1
/ r / ma& / min = # #

The mean stress is the algebraic mean of the ma&imum and minimum stress in the cycle.
/m = / ma& + / min #

Two other parameters are also used for representing fatigue data3 Stress 4atio (4) 1
/ min / ma&

-mplitude ratio (-) 1

/a 1 4 = /m 1+ 4

For a fully reversed stress cycle. as shown in Fig.! (a). the Stress 4atio. 4 is "1 and if the stresses are partially reversed. 4 becomes a negative number less than 1. f the stress is cycled between a ma&imum stress and no load. the stress ration becomes 5ero. f the stress is cycled between two tensile stresses. the stress ratio becomes a positive number less than 1.

Fig /$ Typi al fatigue #tre## y le#$ )a* !ever#ed #tre##0 )b* repeated #tre##0 ) * irregular or random #tre## y le The results of fatigue crac6 initiation tests are usually plotted as ma&imum stress. minimum stress or the stress amplitude on (y"a&is) against the number of cycles to failure. 7 (on the &"a&is). The number of cycles to failure is generally plotted on the logarithmic scale. while stress is plotted either on the linear or logarithmic scale. The regime in which the pea6 load is above the yield strength of the material is referred to as the low cycle fatigue. 8omponents usually endure 91% : cycles during low cycle fatigue. n contrast. when the pea6 cyclic stress is below the yield strength of the material. the component undergoes more than 1%: cyclic reversals and the regime is referred to as the high cycle fatigue. Fig.: depicts some of the general characteristics of fatigue.

Fig5$ Some of the important hara teri#ti # of fatigue The pea6 stress in case of cantilever bar testing is obtained by the following formula. For the four"point cantilever bending the pea6 stress. /ais given by !#,b /a = ;d ! Where ,b is the bending moment 1< =#. d is the diameter of the sample. < is the applied load * is the length of the sample. For the single"end cantilever testing
!#<& ;d ! Where & 1 distance along the length from the fi&ed end and ma&imum value of & is 1 /a =

Experimental .ro edure a) <olish the sample surface as smooth as possible and observe for any surface defects and deep scratch=machining mar6s. 4e>ect the sample if you find any defects. b) ,easure dimensions of the given specimen of mild steel. c) Fit the specimen is in the sample holder such that it passes through the opening provided in the rod on which the loads are seated. d) -fter fitting the sample. 6eep the desired load on the seat provided for the loads. e) Switch on the instrument to conduct the fatigue test and record the time for the failure. when it occurs.. f) 7ote the appearance of the fractured surface in each case. Experimental 1ate 2olle tion and .re#entation

a) 8alculate the pea6 stress from the formula mentioned above. b) From the time ta6en for fatigue failure. calculate the number of cycles to failure '7 1 4<, & time for failure(min)). c) 4eport the value of /a and 7. d) 4eport the appearance of the fractured surface. e) ,a6e S"7 plots using results of all the batches and obtain the endurance limit. 3$ Signifi an e of the experiment% on lu#ion# The fatigue tests of mild steel will give the value of stress below which it can endure infinite number of cycles which is important from the engineering design point of view.

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