Abstract
The fracture and fatigue behavior of two microstructurally different hardmetals (WC-Co cemented carbides) is investigated. Mechanical characterization includes flexural strength and fracture toughness as well as fatigue limit and fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior under monotonic and cyclic loads respectively. Considering that fatigue lifetime of cemented carbides is given by subcritical crack growth of preexisting defects, a linear elastic fracture mechanics approach is attempted to assess fatigue life - FCG relationships for these materials. It concentrates on addressing the fatigue limit - FCG threshold correlation under infinite fatigue life conditions. Thus, the fatigue limit associated with natural flaws is estimated from FCG threshold experimentally determined for large cracks under the assumptions that (1) similitude on the FCG behavior of small and large cracks applies for cemented carbides, and (2) critical flaws are the same, in terms of nature, geometry and size, under monotonic and cyclic loading. The reliability of this fatigue mechanics approach is sustained through the satisfactory agreement observed between estimated and experimentally determined values for the fatigue limit under the different load ratios investigated.
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