In this paper, the main results obtained in the framework of a National French Agency project called DISFAT, standing for ''Dissipation in Fatigue", are presented. The project was dedicated to the microplastic mechanisms leading to crack initiation in the case of ductile metals loaded in very high cycle fatigue. Fatigue tests were carried out at 20 kHz using an ultrasonic facility. In order to investigate the microplastic mechanisms, slip markings at the surface of the specimens were observed and the self-heating of the specimen during the tests was measured by thermography to deduce the dissipated energy. Polycrystalline copper, a-brass and a-iron were investigated. A good correlation was found between persistent slip bands and dissipated energy. The dissipated energy for the three materials was of the same order of magnitude but while a-iron reached a stable dissipative state, the dissipated energy in the case of copper and a-brass was found to continue to increase gradually with increasing numbers of cycles. That change in dissipated energy during cycling was consistent with the development of persistent slip bands. Both were discussed with regard to the materials.
This paper aims at a deeper understanding of mechanisms leading to crack initiation in ductile metals in Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF). The VHCF regime is associated with stress amplitudes lower than the conventional fatigue limit and numbers of cycles higher than 109. Tests were conducted using an ultrasonic technique at loading frequency of 20 kHz. The mechanisms leading to crack initiation express via slip bands at the specimen surface and self-heating due to intrinsic dissipation. Thermal maps were used to estimate the mean dissipation and its change with number of cycles and stress amplitudes in case of pure copper polycrystals. At the same time, the surface relief changes due to plasticity were characterized using optical and scanning electronic microscopes. A good correlation was found between slip band initiation and dissipation. Dissipation and slip band amount always increased over the number of cycles. At very small stress amplitudes, no slip band appeared up to 108 cycles but the material was found to dissipate energy. Results derived from tests performed at high loading frequency on pure cupper specimens showed a drift of dissipative regimes incompatible with concepts of fatigue limit and/or asymptotic cyclic stability. These results reveal that the material never reached a steady state. Therefore it could break at higher number of cycles.
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