Evaluation method of multiaxial low cycle fatigue life for cubic single crystal material

The coupling effect of normal stress and shear stress on orthotropic materials happens when applied loading deflects from the directions of the principal axes of the material coordinate system. By taking account of the coupling effects, formulas of equivalent stress and strain for cubic single crystal materials are cited. Using the equivalent strain and equivalent stress for such material and a variable k, which is introduced to express the effect of asymmetrical cyclic loading on fatigue life, a low cycle fatigue (LCF) life prediction model for such material in multiaxial stress starts is proposed. On the basis of the yield criterion and constitutive model of cubic single crystal materials, a subroutine to calculate the thermo elastic-plastic stress-strain of the material on an ANSYS platform was developed. The cyclic stress-strain of DD3 notched specimens under asymmetrical loading at 680°C was analyzed. Low cycle fatigue test data of the single crystal nickel-based superalloy are used to fit the different parameters of the power law with multiple linear regression analysis. The equivalent stress and strain for a cubic single crystal material as failure parameters have the largest correlation coefficient. A power law exists between k and the failure cycle. The model was validated with LCF test data of CMSX-2 and DD3 single crystal nickel-based superalloys. All the test data fall into the factor of 2.5 for CMSX-2 hollow cylinder specimens and 2.0 scatter band for DD3 notched specimens, respectively. © 2007 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag.