Small fatigue crack growth in metallic materials: A model and its application to engineering alloys

Characterization of the growth behavior of small fatigue cracks is important for materials used in structurally demanding applications such as aircraft turbine discs and some automotive engine components. Here, we present a general, dislocation-based fracture mechanics approach to predict the growth rate of small fatigue cracks in metallic materials. The applicability of the model to the small fatigue crack growth behavior of four engineering alloys was examined. Small fatigue cracks were initiated and propagated, in a controlled manner, from micronotches fabricated by femtosecond pulsed laser micromachining. The results suggest that a methodology consisting of crack-tip damage accumulation and fracture provides a common framework to estimate the fatigue crack propagation lifetime of structural materials.