Mechanics of Materials Lab (Me-205L) : Experiment # 8

MECHANICS OF
MATERIALS LAB (ME-205L)

EXPERIME N T # 8
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
HITEC UNIVERSITY, TAXILA
E X P E RIMENT # 8
Fatigue Testing
LAB INSTRUCTORS
• Lecturer Muhammad Mahad Shah (Section A & B)

• Lecturer Hafiz Ahmad (Section C & D)
• Lab Attendant Mansoor Ahmad
AIMS & O B J E C T I V E S
• AIM
• To determine the Fatigue Life of a specified material using Fatigue Testing Machine
• OBJECTIVES
• Find the Fatigue Life of the test specimen
• Plot the S-N Curve of the test material
• Present your findings in a Lab Report with table, calculations, graph & discussion
FATIGUE
• In materials science, Fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs
when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. The nominal maximum fatigue stress values
are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit.
• Fatigue occurs when a material is subjected to repeat loading and unloading.
• If the loads are above a certain threshold, microscopic cracks will begin to form at the
surface. When this crack receives repeated stress, the crack slowly develops leaving the
uncrack portion to take up the load. Eventually a crack will reach a critical size, and the
structure will suddenly fracture.
FATIG U E TESTING MACHINE
• Test specimen is mounted into the machine. Spring Balance exerts a load on the
specimen on one end. The other end of the specimen is connected to a motor. The
motor is used to rotate the specimen at one end, so that repeated loading effect is
stimulated in the specimen. The machine keeps oscillating the specimen at the
specified load until the specimen breaks, at which point the machine turns off.
PRINCIPLE O F FATIGUE
• The test specimen is subject to a point load at one end (attached to the spring
balance), and a moment (induced by the motor). Due to repeated loading, internal
micro-cracks start to develop inside the material, which after growing of sufficient
size, cause the material to break.
S -N C U R V E
• In high-cycle fatigue situations, materials performance is commonly characterized by
an S-N curve.
• This is a graph of the magnitude of a cyclic stress (S) against the cycles to failure (N).
• S-N curves are derived from tests on samples of the material to be characterized (the
S-N curve typically uses the logarithmic scale, especially for the No. of Cycles).
FATIGUE LIFE
• Fatigue life is defined as the number of cycles to cause failure at some specified
stress level.
• For some materials fatigue will ultimately occur regardless of the magnitude of stress.
For these materials the fatigue response is specified as Fatigue Strength, which is
defined as stress level at which failure will occur for some specified number of
cycles.
FATIGUE LIMIT
• For most types of steel, if the reversal stress is low enough the metal can endure the
stress indefinitely e.g. over one million cycle. The stress that the metal can endure
over this large number of cycle is called Endurance Limit or Fatigue Limit.
E X P E RIMENT - SETUP
• APPARATUS: Fatigue Testing Machine, Test Specimen, Wrench, Vernier Caliper
• Fatigue Testing Machine

EXPERIMEN T - P R O C E D U R E
1. Adjust the spring balance so that the load application assembly is hung freely on the spring balance and record
the load.
2. This load is considered as zero load and must be subtracted from succeeding load readings to arrive at net load.
3. Lift the load application bearing and insert the specimen into the bearing, then insert the large end into the
specimen grip and tighten the grip with a wrench.
4. Turn on the power switch.
5. Set the revolution counter to read "0".
6. There are two coil springs around the columns to protect the spring balance when specimen fails. Free the set
screws above the coil springs on the columns (Safety Feature).
7. Reset the set screws on the columns such that the coil springs are not compressed.
8. Adjust the load (spring balance) by adjusting the screw above the spring as required.
9. When specimen fails, record the number of revolution from the speed/counter indicator.
10. Test should begin at a high load such as 30 kg in order to know the specimen fatigue strength then gradually
reduce the load.
EXPERIMEN T – TABLE
E X P E RIMENT – TABLE (CONTD.)
E X P E RIMENTAL DATA
Material Mild Steel
Length L = 110 mm
Diameter d = 8 mm
Zero Load 2 kg
S.No. Spring Balance Reading (kg) Load (kg) No. of Revolutions Time (s)
1 32 30 3795 63.58
2 22 20 13339 275.5
3 17 15 53178 1440
LAB R EP ORT
• The lab report should include the following:

• Filled Tables
• Graph (S-N Curve)
• Applied Stress (y-axis) vs. No. of Revolutions (x-axis)
• Discussion
• Learning experience from the experiment
• Commentary on the behavior of the specimen undergoing fatigue
• Comments on the graph and its trend
ATTENTION!
• Please go through the Lecture Videos and Slides provided.
• Lab Reports can be made and submitted in the form of lab groups.
• Take special care regarding UNITS, so as not to mess up your calculations.
• The Lab Report should be of 3 pages:
• 1 Page for Calculations and Table
• 1 Page for Discussion
• 1 Page for Graph (please mention if are using logarithmic scale)
• The Lab Report can be typed or hand-written:
• The graph can be hand-drawn or made in software.
• Hand-written report must be neat, legible and well-scanned.
• For typed report, the font size should be 12 (14 for Headings).
• Your lab report must include a Title Page.
• The lab report should be submitted as a PDF.
ADDITIONAL – C Y C LIC S T R E S S
ADDITIONAL - F A C T O R S AF F EC T I N G FATIGUE
• Parts with high stress concentration points such as groove, key way, sudden change in cross section etc. will result in
low fatigue strength.
• Surface Finish, smooth surface will result in high fatigue strength, while rough surface will result in low fatigue
strength.
• The shape of the structure will significantly affect the fatigue life; square holes or sharp corners will lead to elevated
local stresses where fatigue cracks can initiate. Round holes and smooth transitions or fillets are therefore important
to increase the fatigue strength of the structure.
• Surface Hardness, hard surface such as those from carburizing or nitriding, surface coating or cold rolling will result
in high fatigue strength while annealing, loss of carbon will result in low fatigue strength.
• Impurities in metal will result in stress concentration-thus low fatigue strength
• Low temperature will usually increase fatigue strength but high temperature does not necessarily result in low
fatigue strength as the material may undergo structural change.
• Corrosive environment will result in rough surface finish and high stress concentration, thus low fatigue strength.
ADDITIONAL – ROTATING FATIGUE TESTING
• Rotating Fatigue Testing

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksUVzAc5tX8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhUclxBUV_E&ab_channel=MaterialsScience2000
ADDITIONAL – VERTICA L FATIGUE TESTING
• Vertical Fatigue Testing

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKJtS27DMtY&ab_channel=walterbaionline
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DykiHVrVkKg
CONCLUSION
• Thank you!
• Any Questions?

Mechanics of Materials Lab (Me-205L) : Experiment # 8

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mechanics of Materials Lab (Me-205L) : Experiment # 8

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mechanics of Materials Lab (Me-205L) : Experiment # 8

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MECHANICS OF

MATERIALS LAB (ME-205L)

• Lecturer Muhammad Mahad Shah (Section A & B)

• Fatigue occurs when a material is subjected to repeat loading and unloading.

• APPARATUS: Fatigue Testing Machine, Test Specimen, Wrench, Vernier Caliper

• Fatigue Testing Machine

• The lab report should include the following:

• Rotating Fatigue Testing

• Vertical Fatigue Testing

You might also like