Ultrasonic fatigue experiments with biaxial cruciform specimens

Abstract

Fatigue studies of materials in simple or complex loading systems for any given lifetime is object of continuous research. This is due to the advancements on mechanical and structural components, as well as for new and innovative materials, which implies the knowledge of a materials response to all dynamic loads. The fatigue failure regime beyond what was once considered to be the fatigue limit (infinite life) is characterized between 107 and 109, known as Very High Cycle Fatigue regime. Due to the time consuming and wide energy consumption of conventional fatigue testing for such regime, fatigue tests under ultrasonic actuators are being used, capable of applying the dynamic loads at around 20 kHz. Nowadays, several variants of ultrasonic fatigue tests were already proposed and tested but it is still a somewhat limited fatigue test if compared to the conventional servo-hydraulic fatigue testing machines of general use. In this study, biaxial in plane stresses are induced in specially designed cruciform specimens with ultrasonic fatigue testing resonant principals. Two geometries were numerically analysed, manufactured and experimentally tested, the in-phase tension-tension (T-T) specimen and the out-of-phase compression-tension (C-T) specimen. All specific designed geometries go under a thorough numerical and several experiments analysis for their validation. The specimens showing a correct and as intended behaviour are led to failure.