SMALL FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH IN A LOW CARBON STEEL UNDER TENSION?COMPRESSION AND PULSATING-TENSION LOADING

The growth behaviour of small fatigue cracks has been investigated in a low carbon steel under axial loading at the stress ratios R of –1 (tension‐compression) and 0 (pulsating‐tension). Crack closure was measured to evaluate the effects of stress ratio and stress level on small crack growth. Except for the accelerated growth at stress levels close to the yield stress of the material, at R =–1 small cracks grow faster than large cracks below a...