journal article·2025-10Open access

A computational framework for predicting the effect of surface roughness in fatigue

Sara Jiménez-Alfaro, Emilio Martínez-Pañeda

Abstract

Surface roughness is a critical factor influencing the fatigue life of structural components. Its effect is commonly quantified using a correction coefficient known as the surface factor. In this paper, a phase field based numerical framework is proposed to estimate the surface factor while accounting for the stochastic nature of surface roughness. The model is validated against existing experimental data. Furthermore, we investigate the influence of key parameters on the fatigue life of rough surfaces, such as surface topology and failure strength. An important effect of surface roughness is observed when the average surface roughness increases and the correlation length of the surface profile decreases. This effect becomes more pronounced with higher failure strengths.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Fatigue and fracture mechanics · Mechanical Behavior of Composites · Erosion and Abrasive Machining

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

References (74)

Show source-provided references
1. Budynas · 2011
2. Suresh · 1998
3. Marin · 1962
4. Effect of surface fatigue behavior roughness on low-cycle of type 304 stainless steel10.1007/BF02642305 ↗
5. Effect of surface finish on fatigue strength10.1016/0013-7944(94)00297-U ↗
6. The effect of different profiling techniques on the fatigue performance of metallic membranes of AISI 301 and Inconel 718
7. Effect of surface roughness on fatigue strength
8. Estimating the fatigue stress concentration factor of machined surfaces10.1016/S0142-1123(02)00012-9 ↗
9. Effect of surface roughness on step-wise S-N characteristics in high strength steel10.1016/S0142-1123(02)00166-4 ↗
10. Modelling the influence of machined surface roughness on the fatigue life of aluminium alloy10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2008.06.003 ↗
11. A microstructure based approach to model effects of surface roughness on tensile fatigue10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2019.105229 ↗
12. Numerical modelling of surface roughness effect on the fatigue behavior of Ti-6Al-4V obtained by additive manufacturing10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2019.02.014 ↗
13. High cycle fatigue life estimation of punched and trimmed specimens considering residual stresses and surface roughness10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2024.108384 ↗
14. Fatigue life prediction of machined components using finite element analysis of surface topography10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2005.07.031 ↗
15. Allowable working stresses
16. Juvinall · 2020
17. Specifying a surface finish that won’t fail in fatigue
18. FKM-guideline analytical strength assessment – background and current developments10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2024.108165 ↗
19. Deng G, Nagamoto K, Nakano Y, Nakanishi T. Evaluation of the effect of surface roughness on crack initiation life. In: Proceedings of the 12th international conference on fracture. 2009, p. 1–8.
20. Surface finish effect on fatigue behavior of forged steel10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2011.08.008 ↗
21. Endurance limit modifying factors for hardened machine surfaces
22. Effect of surface finish on the fatigue strength of titanium alloys RC 130B and Ti 140A10.1115/1.4012930 ↗
23. Fatigue of additively manufactured 316L stainless steel: The influence of porosity and surface roughness10.1111/ffe.13077 ↗
24. Fatigue behavior and modeling for additive manufactured 304L stainless steel: The effect of surface roughness10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2020.105856 ↗
25. Surface roughness effect on multiaxial fatigue behavior of additive manufactured metals and its modeling10.1016/j.tafmec.2019.102260 ↗
26. Theory of stress concentration for shear-strained prismatical bodies with arbitrary nonlinear stress-strain law10.1115/1.3641780 ↗
27. Notch sensitivity
28. Quantitative evaluation of fatigue strength of metals containing various small defects or cracks10.1016/0013-7944(83)90018-8 ↗
29. Effects of defects, inclusions and inhomogeneities on fatigue strength10.1016/0142-1123(94)90001-9 ↗
30. Crossland B. Effect of large hydrostatic pressures on the torsional fatigue strength of an alloy steel. In: The third international conference on fatigue of metals. 1956.
31. Continuum damage mechanics: Part I—General concepts10.1115/1.3173661 ↗
32. A review on phase field models for fracture and fatigue10.1016/j.engfracmech.2023.109419 ↗
33. Rough surface and damage mechanics wear modeling using the combined finite-discrete element method10.1016/j.wear.2012.12.034 ↗
34. Prediction of crack nucleation in rough line-contact fretting via continuum damage mechanics approach10.1007/s11249-014-0300-9 ↗
35. A continuum damage mechanics finite element model for investigating effects of surface roughness on rolling contact fatigue10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2020.105986 ↗
36. Gradient-enhanced damage modelling of high-cycle fatigue10.1002/1097-0207(20001230)49:12<1547::AID-NME16>3.0.CO;2-D ↗
37. An overview of the modelling of fracture by gradient damage models10.1007/s11012-016-0538-4 ↗
38. Numerical implementation of the variational formulation for quasi-static brittle fracture10.4171/ifb/171 ↗
39. A phenomenological approach to fatigue with a variational phase-field model: The one-dimensional case10.1016/j.engfracmech.2017.11.036 ↗
40. A framework to model the fatigue behavior of brittle materials based on a variational phase-field approach10.1016/j.cma.2019.112731 ↗
41. A phase field model for high-cycle fatigue: Total-life analysis10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2023.107558 ↗
42. Computational predictions of hydrogen-assisted fatigue crack growth10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.05.264 ↗
43. A variational approach with embedded roughness for adhesive contact problems10.1080/15376494.2018.1525454 ↗
44. Surface roughness in finite-element meshes: application to plasmonic nanostructures10.1364/JOSAB.476883 ↗
45. The effect of machined topography and integrity on fatigue life10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2003.10.018 ↗
46. Numerical experiments in revisited brittle fracture10.1016/S0022-5096(99)00028-9 ↗
47. Thermodynamically consistent phase-field models of fracture: Variational principles and multi-field FE implementations10.1002/nme.2861 ↗
48. Regularized variational theories of fracture: A unified approach10.1016/j.jmps.2010.02.010 ↗
49. A phase-field model for fatigue crack growth10.1016/j.jmps.2019.103684 ↗
50. Gradient damage models and their use to approximate brittle fracture10.1177/1056789510386852 ↗
51. Computational predictions of weld structural integrity in hydrogen transport pipelines
52. A review on phase-field models of brittle fracture and a new fast hybrid formulation10.1007/s00466-014-1109-y ↗
53. Gadelmawla ES, Koura MM, Maksoud TMA, Elewa IM, Soliman HH. Roughness parameters. J Mater Process Technol 123(1):133–45.10.1016/S0924-0136(02)00060-2 ↗
54. Surface roughness characteristics of corroded steel pipe piles exposed to marine environment10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.01.092 ↗
55. The transverse correlation length for randomly rough surfaces10.1007/BF01112758 ↗
56. Muralikrishnan · 2008
57. The areal field parameters
58. E. ISO · 2022
59. Crystallography and morphology dependence of In2O3: Sn thin films on deposition rate10.1016/j.surfcoat.2015.04.034 ↗
60. Montgomery · 2011
61. The FEniCS project version 1.5
62. Gmsh: A 3-D finite element mesh generator with built-in pre- and post-processing facilities10.1002/nme.2579 ↗
63. On high fracture toughness of coarse-grained AISI 4130 steel10.1016/0025-5416(75)90020-8 ↗
64. Dieter · 1976
65. Bigerelle M, Najjar D, Iost A. Relevance of roughness parameters for describing and modelling machined surfaces. J Mater Sci 38(1000):2525–36.10.1023/A:1023929807546 ↗
66. Correlation between evolution of surface roughness parameters and micropitting of carburized steel under boundary lubrication condition10.1016/j.surfcoat.2018.05.083 ↗
67. ASTM E 466-96. Standard practice for Conducting Force Controlled Constant Amplitude Axial Fatigue Tests of Metallic Materials. In: Annual book of ASTM standards, ASTM international. 2021, p. 466–96.
68. ASTM E 2207-02. Standard practice for Strain-Controlled Axial-Torsional Fatigue Testing with Thin-Walled Tubular Specimens. In: Annual book of ASTM standards, ASTM international. 2021, 2207–02.
69. An assessment of phase field fracture: crack initiation and growth10.1098/rsta.2021.0021 ↗
70. Fatigue behavior of additive manufactured 316L stainless steel parts: Effects of layer orientation and surface roughness
71. Internal surface measurement of metal powder bed fusion parts
72. Understanding laser powder bed fusion surface roughness10.1115/1.4046504 ↗
73. Very high cycle fatigue of a high strength steel under sea water corrosion: A strong corrosion and mechanical damage coupling10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2015.01.004 ↗
74. Surface roughness characteristics of high–ductile thermo–mechanically treated steel rebar exposed to pitting corrosion and elevated temperature10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.133210 ↗