THE EFFECT OF AN OVERLOAD ON THE RATE OF FATIGUE-CRACK PROPAGATION UNDER PLANE-STRESS CONDITIONS

It has been shown that the retardation in the rate of fatigue crack growth following an overload is largely the result of surface-related, plane-stress plastic deformation. In the present article, in order to isolate the plane-stress behavior, the effect of an overload on the subsequent rate of fatigue crack growth of 0.3-mm-thick specimens of 9Cr-1Mo steel has been investigated and compared to results obtained using 6.35-mm-thick specimens. It was found that for the 0.3-mm thickness, as with thicker specimens, two opening load levels were associated with the overload process. The upper opening load is associated with plane-stress deformation in the overload plastic zone, and this opening process is more clearly observed with thin as compared to thicker specimens. Based upon the determined level of the upper opening load, a semiempirical analysis is developed for calculating the number of delay cycles due to an overload as a function of thickness.