Biaxial fatigue tests of notched specimens for AISI 304L stainless steel

High cycle fatigue tests were conducted for stainless steel AISI 304L. The geometry was a thin walled tube with a passing through hole. The tests were axial, torsional and in-phase axial-torsional, all of them under load control with R = -1. The S-N curves were constructed following the ASTM E739 standard and the fatigues limits were calculated following the method of maximum likelihood proposed by Bettinelli. The crack direction along the surface was analysed, with especial attention to the crack initiation zones. The notch fatigue limits for different hole diameters were compared with the predictions done with a microstructural fracture mechanics model.