On the Decrease of Fatigue Limit Due to Small Prestrain

Fatigue behavior of plain specimens of low carbon steel subjected to small tensile prestrain is investigated through rotating bending tests and the mechanism of the decrease of fatigue limit due to the prestrain is discussed. It is found that 3 percent prestraining causes the acceleration of both slip and crack initiations, and increases the growth rate of a small surface crack of less than 0.3 mm. It also decreases the fatigue limit. If prestrained material is aged, the fatigue limit increases. These effects of the small prestrain are explained based on the unpinning of locked dislocations due to the prestrain.