M. Defreitas et D. Francois, ANALYSIS OF FATIGUE-CRACK GROWTH IN ROTARY BEND SPECIMENS AND RAILWAYAXLES, Fatigue & fracture of engineering materials & structures, 18(2), 1995, pp. 171-178
Fatigue crack growth tests have been carried out on pre-cracked specim
ens of steel AFNOR XC 38 under rotary bending conditions. The semi-ell
iptical surface crack shape evolution was determined and the results w
ere analyzed by da/dN =f(Delta K) using a stress intensity factor solu
tion for semi-elliptical surface cracks in round bars subjected to a b
ending stress modified to take into account the rotatary bending condi
tions. Results show a very good correlation with fatigue crack growth
data obtained in standard centre cracked tension specimens of the same
steel. An application to the sensitivity of design parameters to an a
nalysis of cracked railway axles is proposed, allowing an improvement
in maintenance procedures.