INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS PARAMETERS ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE FATIGUE CRACK ARREST THRESHOLD Members of the Fatigue Commission of the French Metallurgical Society*

Abstract

Abstract —This report presents the results of a round robin study on the fatigue crack arrest threshold (δKth) of 2618 aluminium alloy and AISI 316 steel.The main purpose of this work was to develop a method for the determination of δKth, and to examine the influence of various test parameters on this threshold.Among the parameters considered, only the load ratio (R) and the environment (vacuum) appear to have a significant influence on very slow fatigue crack growth rates (FCGR). Moreover, while the results obtained with the 316 steel show great scatter, the importance of the adopted procedure is pointed out.