Effects of Stress Amplitude Ratio and Phase Angle on Short Fatigue Crack Behavior and Fracture Mode of EA4T Steel

Abstract

The loads on railway axles in actual service conditions are complex and variable, which may lead to local changes in the fatigue performance, which then affect the fatigue reliability and safety evaluation results of the components and structures. At present, studies on the short fatigue crack behavior and fracture failure mode of EA4T steel, a common material for high-speed trains, are limited. Therefore, fatigue tests on smooth funnel solid round bar specimens under different stress amplitude ratios and different phase angles were performed. Replica technology was used to record the initiation and propagation information of short fatigue cracks. Due to the homogenous and fine microstructure of all the specimens, the same short fatigue crack behavior was observed regardless of the loading condition. The fracture morphology observed by a scanning electron microscope shows that the cracks initiated on the surface of the specimens, and the specific fracture morphology was exceedingly distinct in each region. In addition, the short fatigue crack growth rate and fatigue life were compared and analyzed. The results show that the stress amplitude ratio and phase angle have a considerable influence on the fatigue life and short crack growth rate of the specimens. The results of this research can provide a reference for practical engineering applications.