Stress-Life (S-N) Approach

S-N Curve

The S-N curve, first developed by Wöhler, defines a relationship between stress and number of cycles to failure.

Typically, the S-N curve (and other fatigue properties) of a material is obtained from experiment; through fully reversed rotating bending tests. Due to the large amount of scatter that usually accompanies test results, statistical characterization of the data should also be provided (certainty of survival is used to modify the S-N curve according to the standard error of the curve and a higher reliability level requires a larger certainty of survival).


Figure 1. S-N Data from Testing
When S-N testing data is presented in a log-log plot of alternating nominal stress amplitude SaSa or range SRSR versus cycles to failure NN, the relationship between SS and NN can be described by straight line segments. Normally, a one or two segment idealization is used.


Figure 2. One Segment S-N Curves in Log-Log Scale
(1) S=S1(Nf)b1S=S1(Nf)b1

for segment 1

Where, SS is the nominal stress range, NfNf are the fatigue cycles to failure, blbl is the first fatigue strength exponent, and SISI is the fatigue strength coefficient.

The S-N approach is based on elastic cyclic loading, inferring that the S-N curve should be confined, on the life axis, to numbers greater than 1000 cycles. This ensures that no significant plasticity is occurring. This is commonly referred to as high-cycle fatigue.

S-N curve data is provided for a given material using the Materials module.

Multiple SN Curves

HyperLife supports the following Multiple SN curve types:
  • Multi-mean S-N curves: group of S-N curves defined at different mean stress.
  • Multi-ratio S-N curves: group of S-N curves defined at different stress ratio R.
  • Multi-Haigh Diagram: group of Haigh curves defined at different Number of Cycles.


Figure 3. Multi-mean S-N Curve


Figure 4. Multi-ratio S-N Curves


Figure 5. Multi-Haigh Diagrams
Note: Refer Mean Stress = Interpolate, to understand how life is determined when Multiple SN curves are assigned.

Rainflow Cycle Counting

Cycle counting is used to extract discrete simple "equivalent" constant amplitude cycles from a random loading sequence.

One way to understand "cycle counting" is as a changing stress-strain versus time signal. Cycle counting will count the number of stress-strain hysteresis loops and keep track of their range/mean or maximum/minimum values.

Rainflow cycle counting is the most widely used cycle counting method. It requires that the stress time history be rearranged so that it contains only the peaks and valleys and it starts either with the highest peak or the lowest valley (whichever is greater in absolute magnitude). Then, three consecutive stress points (1, 2, and 3) will define two consecutive ranges as ΔS12=|S1S2|ΔS12=|S1S2| and ΔS23=|S2S3|ΔS23=|S2S3|. A cycle from 1 to 2 is only extracted if ΔS12ΔS23ΔS12ΔS23. Once a cycle is extracted, the two points forming the cycle are discarded and the remaining points are connected to each other. This procedure is repeated until the remaining data points are exhausted.

Simple Load History



Figure 6. Continuous Load History
Since this load history is continuous, it is converted into a load history consisting of peaks and valleys only.


Figure 7. Peaks and Valleys for Rainflow Counting. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are the four peaks and valleys
It is clear that point 4 is the peak stress in the load history, and it will be moved to the front during rearrangement (Figure 8). After rearrangement, the peaks and valleys are renumbered for convenience.


Figure 8. Load History after Rearrangement and Renumbering

Next, pick the first three stress values (1, 2, and 3) and determine if a cycle is present.

If SiSi represents the stress value, point ii then:(2) ΔS12=|S1S2|ΔS12=|S1S2| (3) ΔS23=|S2S3|ΔS23=|S2S3|
As you can see from Figure 8 , ΔS12ΔS23ΔS12ΔS23; therefore, no cycle is extracted from point 1 to 2. Now consider the next three points (2, 3, and 4).(4) ΔS23=|S2S3|ΔS23=|S2S3| (5) ΔS34=|S3S4|ΔS34=|S3S4|
ΔS23ΔS34ΔS23ΔS34, hence a cycle is extracted from point 2 to 3. Now that a cycle has been extracted, the two points are deleted from the graph.


Figure 9. Delete and Reconnect Remaining Points
The same process is applied to the remaining points:(6) ΔS14=|S1S4|ΔS14=|S1S4| (7) ΔS45=|S4S5|ΔS45=|S4S5|

In this case, ΔS14=ΔS45ΔS14=ΔS45, so another cycle is extracted from point 1 to 4. After these two points are also discarded, only point 5 remains; therefore, the rainflow counting process is completed.

Two cycles (2→3 and 1→4) have been extracted from this load history. One of the main reasons for choosing the highest peak/valley and rearranging the load history is to guarantee that the largest cycle is always extracted (in this case, it is 1→4). If you observe the load history prior to rearrangement, and conduct the same rainflow counting process on it, then clearly, the 1→4 cycle is not extracted.

Complex Load History

The rainflow counting process is the same regardless of the number of load history points. However, depending on the location of the highest peak/valley used for rearrangement, it may not be obvious how the rearrangement process is conducted.Figure 10 shows just the rearrangement process for a more complex load history. The subsequent rainflow counting is just an extrapolation of the process mentioned in the simple example above, and is not repeated here.


Figure 10. Continuous Load History
Since this load history is continuous, it is converted into a load history consisting of peaks and valleys only:


Figure 11. Peaks and Valleys for Rainflow Counting
Clearly, load point 11 is the highest valued load and therefore, the load history is now rearranged and renumbered.


Figure 12. Load History After Rearrangement and Renumbering

The load history is rearranged such that all points including and after the highest load are moved to the beginning of the load history and are removed from the end of the load history.

  • Complex Load History

Equivalent Nominal Stress

Since S-N theory deals with uniaxial stress, the stress components need to be resolved into one combined value for each calculation point, at each time step, and then used as equivalent nominal stress applied on the S-N curve.

Various stress combination types are available with the default being "Absolute maximum principle stress". "Absolute maximum principle stress" is recommended for brittle materials, while "Signed von Mises stress" is recommended for ductile material. The sign on the signed parameters is taken from the sign of the Maximum Absolute Principal value.

"Critical plane stress" is also available as a stress combination for uniaxial calculations (stress life and strain life).

Normal Stress resolved at each plane θθ is calculated by:(8) σ=σx(cos2θ)+σy(sin2θ)+2σxy(cosθsinθ)θ=0,10,20,30......170degrees,
HyperLife expects a number of planes (n) as input, which are converted to equivalent θ using the following formula.(9) θ=180n2

For example, if number of planes requested is 20, then stress is calculated every 10 degrees.

By default, HyperLife also calculates at θ = 45 and 135-degree planes in addition to the requested number of planes. This is to include the worst possible damage if occurring on these planes.

Mean Stress Correction

Generally, S-N curves are obtained from standard experiments with fully reversed cyclic loading. However, the real fatigue loading could not be fully-reversed, and the normal mean stresses have significant effect on fatigue performance of components. Tensile normal mean stresses are detrimental and compressive normal mean stresses are beneficial, in terms of fatigue strength. Mean stress correction is used to take into account the effect of non-zero mean stresses.

The Gerber parabola and the Goodman line in Haigh's coordinates are widely used when considering mean stress influence, and can be expressed as:

Gerber

When SN curve is of the Stress Ration R = -1(10) Se=Sr(1(SmSu)2)
When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1(11) SaR=((1+4S2e(1+R)2(1R)2Su2)1)(1R)2Su22Se(1+R)2 (12) Se=Sa1(SmSu)2

Goodman

When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R = -1

(13) Se=Sr(1SmSu)
When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1(14) SaR=SaSuSuSm+Sa(1+R1R)

Gerber2

Improves the Gerber method by ignoring the effect of negative mean stress.

When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1

If Sm>0, same as Gerber

If Sm0, SaR=Sa

Soderberg

Is slightly different from GOODMAN; the mean stress is normalized by yield stress instead of ultimate tensile stress.

When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R = -1(15) Se=Sa(1SmSy)
Where,
Se
Equivalent stress amplitude
Sa
Stress amplitude
Sm
Mean stress
Sy
Yield stress
When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1(16) SaR=SaSySySm+Sa(1+R1R)

FKM

If only one slope field is specified for mean stress correction, the corresponding Mean Stress Sensitivity value (M) for Mean Stress Correction is set equal to Slope in Regime 2 (Figure 14). Based on FKM-Guidelines, the Haigh diagram is divided into four regimes based on the Stress ratio (R=Smin/Smax) values. The Corrected value is then used to choose the S-N curve for the damage and life calculation stage.


Figure 14.
Note: The FKM equations below illustrate the calculation of Corrected Stress Amplitude (SAe). The actual value of stress used in the Damage calculations is the Corrected stress range (which is 2SAe). These equations apply for SN curves input by the user (by default, any user-defined SN curve is expected to be input for a stress ratio of R=1.0).

There are two available options for FKM correction in HyperLife. They are activated by setting FKM MSS to 1 slope/4 slopes in the Assign Material dialog.

If only one slope is defined and if mean stress correction on an SN module is set to FKM:
Regime 1 (R > 1.0)
SAe=Sa(1M)
Regime 2 (-∞ ≤ R ≤ 0.0)
SAe=Sa+M*Sm
Regime 3 (0.0 < R < 0.5)
SAe=(1+M)Sa+(M3)Sm1+M3
Regime 4 (R ≥ 0.5)
SAe=3Sa(1+M)23+M
Where,
SAe
Stress amplitude after mean stress correction (Endurance stress)
Sm
Mean stress
Sa
Stress amplitude
M
Slope entered for region 2

If all four slopes are specified for mean stress correction, the corresponding Mean Stress Sensitivity values are slopes for controlling all four regimes. Based on FKM-Guidelines, the Haigh diagram is divided into four regimes based on the Stress ratio (R=Smin/Smax) values. The corrected value is then used to choose the S-N curve for the damage and life calculation stage.

If four slopes are defined and mean stress correction is set to FKM:
Regime 1 (R > 1.0)
Se=(Sa+M1Sm)((1M2)/(1M1))
Regime 2 (-∞ ≤ R ≤ 0.0)
Se=Sa+M2Sm
Regime 3 (0.0 < R < 0.5)
Se=(1+M2)Sa+M3Sm1+M3
Regime 4 (R ≥ 0.5)
Se=((1+3M3)SaM4(1+3M3)Sm)((1+M2)/((13M4)(1+M3)))
Where,
Se
Fully reversed fatigue strength (Endurance stress)
Sm
Mean stress
Sa
Stress amplitude
Mi
Slopes at each region

Interpolate

Multi-Mean SN Curves
Life is usually determined by interpolation of two SN curves with respect to mean stress. A log function mentioned below is a 10 base log function.


Figure 15.
Case A
If a cycle has a mean stress of 150MPa at point A, HyperLife locates point 1 and point 2 in Figure 15. Then HyperLife linearly interpolates logN1 and logN2 with respect to mean stress in order to determine logN_A at mean stress 150MPa. Once logN_A is determined, life (N_A) and corresponding damage can be determined.
Case B
If the cycle has a mean stress greater than the maximum mean stress of the curve set (180MPa in this case), HyperLife offers two options to choose its behavior.
Option 1 , Curve Extrapolation = False
Use an SN curve of the maximum mean stress (the SN curve of mean stress 180 MPa in this case). In the example in HyperLife, N1 is the life HyperLife will report.
Option 2 , Curve Extrapolation = True
Extrapolate log(N) of the two SN curves with the highest mean stress values. In the example in Figure 15, log(N) will be extrapolated from log(N1) and log(N2) with respect to mean stress.
Case C
If the cycle has a mean stress less than the minimum mean stress of the curve set (90MPa in this case), HyperLife will use the SN curve of the minimum mean stress to determine life. In the example in Figure 15, life will be N2.
Multi-Stress Ratio SN Curve
Life is usually determined by interpolation of 2 SN curves with respect to mean stress. When multi-stress ratio SN curves are used, HyperLife assumes that you will not define SN curves with stress ratio greater than or equal to 1, which are SN curves with compressive stress or zero stress amplitude. A log function mentioned below is a 10 base log function. R denotes a stress ratio.


Figure 16.
Case A
If a cycle has R = -0.2 at point A, HyperLife locates point 1 and point 2 in Figure 16. Then HyperLife linearly interpolates logN1 and logN2 with respect to mean stress in order to determine logN_A at R = -0.2. Once R value and stress amplitude of the cycle are given, we can always calculate mean stress of the cycle. Once logN_A is determined, life (N_A) and corresponding damage can be determined. It is worthwhile to mention that HyperLife does not use stress ratio for interpolation because R can be an infinite value when maximum stress is zero.
Case B
If the cycle has R greater than the maximum R of the curve set (R=0 in this case), HyperLife offers two options to choose its behavior.
Option 1, Curve Extrapolation = False
Use an SN curve of the maximum R (the SN curve of R= 0 in this case). In the example in Figure 16, N1 is the life HyperLife will report.
Option 2, Curve Extrapolation = True
Extrapolate log(N) of the two SN curves with the highest R values. In the example in Figure 16, log(N) will be extrapolated from log(N1) and log(N2) with respect to mean stress.
Case C
If the cycle has R less than the minimum R of the curve set (R= -1 in this case), HyperLife will use the SN curve of the minimum R to determine life. In the example in Figure 16, life will be N2.
Constant Life Haigh Diagram
Life is usually determined by interpolation of two Haigh diagrams with respect to stress amplitude. A log function mentioned below is a 10 base log function.


Figure 17.
Interpolation on a Constant Mean Stress Line
If you choose constant mean stress line for linear interpolation of Haigh diagram, HyperLife interpolates two Haigh diagrams on a constant mean stress line as described in the following.
Case A
If a cycle has a mean stress and stress amplitude at point A, HyperLife locates point 1 and point 2 in Figure 17. Life of point A should be between 1000 and 100000. HyperLife linearly interpolates log(1000) and log(100000) with respect to stress amplitude along Sm_A constant mean stress line in order to determine logN_A at point A. Once logN_A is determined, life (N_A) and corresponding damage can be determined.
Case B
If a point (mean stress, stress amplitude) is located above or below all the Haigh diagrams, life of the point is calculated by extrapolation of the two highest or two lowest curves. In the example in Figure 17, log(1000) and log(100000) will be extrapolated with respect to stress amplitude along Sm_B constant mean stress line.
Case C
In this case, stress amplitude at point 5 and point 6 may be calculated from extrapolation. Once stress amplitudes become available at the 2 points, a procedure described in case A is applied.
Interpolation on a Constant Stress Ratio Line


Figure 18.
If you choose constant stress ration line for linear interpolation of Haigh diagram, HyperLife interpolates two Haigh diagrams on a constant stress ratio line as described in the following.
Case A
If a cycle has a mean stress and stress amplitude at point A, HyperLife locates point 1 and point 2 in Figure 18. Life of point A should be between 1000 and 100000. HyperLife linearly interpolates log(1000) and log(100000) with respect to stress amplitude along RA constant stress ratio line in order to determine logN_A at point A. Once logN_A is determined, life (N_A) and corresponding damage can be determined.
Case B
If a point (mean stress, stress amplitude) is located above or below all the Haigh diagrams, life of the point is calculated by extrapolation of the two highest or two lowest curves. In the example in Figure 18, log(1000) and log(100000) will be extrapolated with respect to stress amplitude along R=RB constant stress ratio line.
Case C
In this case, stress amplitude at point 5 and point 6 may be calculated from extrapolation. Once stress amplitudes become available at the 2 points, a procedure described in case A is applied on constant stress ratio line R=RC.

Damage Accumulation Model

Palmgren-Miner's linear damage summation rule is used. Failure is predicted when:(17) Di=niNif1.0
Where,
Nif
Materials fatigue life (number of cycles to failure) from its S-N curve at a combination of stress amplitude and means stress level i.
ni
Number of stress cycles at load level i.
Di
Cumulative damage under ni load cycle.

The linear damage summation rule does not take into account the effect of the load sequence on the accumulation of damage, due to cyclic fatigue loading. However, it has been proved to work well for many applications.

The fatigue life or damage obtained for the event specified can be scaled in HyperLife as shown below. Scaled life or scaled damage will be available as additional output from the fatigue evaluation. (18) Scaled Life = Equivalent life unitsDamage Life (which is 1/Damage) is scaled in equivalent units.(19) Scaled Damage = DamageAllowable Miner Sum Linearly accumulated damage can be modified by applying the Allowable Miner sum. Scaled life and scaled damage are supported for SN, EN, Transient Fatigue, Weld Fatigue, and Vibrational Fatigue.

Safety Factor

Safety factor is calculated based on the endurance limit or target stress (at target life) against the stress amplitude from the working stress history.

HyperLife calculates this ratio via two criteria:
  • Mean Stress = Constant
  • Stress Ratio = Constant

The safety factor (SF) based on the mean stress correction applied is given by the following equations.

Mean Stress = Constant
  1. Goodman or Soderberg

    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R = -1

    (20) SF=sσa=seσa0

    se = Target stress amplitude against the target life from the modified SN curve

    σa0 = Stress amplitude after mean stress correction



    Figure 19.
    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1


    Figure 20.

    σa = Stress Amplitude

    σm = Mean Stress

    SeR = Endurance limit obtained from SN curve with R ratio

    Sem = Mean Stress corresponding to SeR

    If R > 1, se=SeR1smRUTS

    (21) smR=SeR. 1+R1R

    If R < 1, Se=SeR

    If σm> 0, sa=σa1σmUTS

    If σm0, sa=σa(22) SF= SeSa
  2. Gerber
    (23) SF=sσa=seσa0


    Figure 21.
    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1


    Figure 22.
    (24) Sa=σa(1(σmUTS)2) (25) Se=SeR(1(smRUTS)2) (26) smR=SeR. 1+R1R (27) SF= SeSa
  3. Gerber2
    1. (28) σm>0:SF=sσa=seσa0
    2. (29) σm0:SF=sσa

    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1

    If R > 1(30) Se=SeR(1(smRUTS)2) (31) smR=SeR. 1+R1R

    If R < 1, Se=SeR

    If σm> 0, Sa=σa(1(σmUTS)2)

    If σm0, sa=σa(32) SF= SeSa
  4. FKM
    (33) SF=s'eσa
    1. (34) σm<se1m2s'e=m,(σm+se1m2)+se1m2
    2. (35) se1m2σm<se1+m2s'e=m2σm+se
    3. (36) se1+m2σm<3(1+m3)1+3m3·se1+m2s'e=m3(σmse1+m2)+se1+m2
    4. (37) 3(1+m3)1+3m3·se1+m2σms'e=m4(σm3(1+m3)1+3m3·se1+m2)+13(3(1+m2)1+3m3·se1+m2)


    Figure 23.
  5. No Mean Stress Correction
    (38) SF=seσa
Stress Ratio = Constant
  1. Goodman

    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R = -1

    (39) SF=OBOA=1(σase+σmUTS)


    Figure 24.

    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1

    If R > 1, se=SeR1smRUTS(40) smR=SeR. 1+R1R

    If R < 1, se=SeR

    If σm> 0, SF=1σaSe+σmUTS

    If σm0, SF= Seσa

  2. Gerber

    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R = -1

    1. (41) Ifσm=0:SF=seσa
    2. (42) Ifσm0:SF=12(UTSσm)2·σase[1+1+(2seσmUTSσa)2]
    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1(43) Se=SeR(1(SmRUTS)2) (44) smR=SeR. 1+R1R

    If σm0, SF=12(UTSσm)2σeSe(1+1+(2σmSeUTSσa)2)

    If σm=0, SF= Seσa

  3. Gerber2
    1. (45) If σm0:SF=seσa
    2. (46) Ifσm0:SF=12(UTSσm)2·σase[1+1+(2seσmUTSσa)2]

    When SN curve is of the Stress Ratio R != -1

    If R > 1(47) Se=SeR(1(smRUTS)2) (48) smR=SeR. 1+R1R

    If R < 1, Se=SeR

    If σm> 0, SF=12(UTSσm)2σaSe(1+1+(2σmSeUTSσa)2)

    If σm0, SF= Seσa

  4. FKM
    (49) SF=seσa0

    σa0 = Corrected Stress Amplitude in Constant R mean stress correction

  5. No Mean Stress Correction
    (50) SF=sesa
  6. Interpolate
    Safety Factor with Multi-Mean
    To calculate safety factor, HyperLife creates an internal Haigh diagram for the target life using multi-mean SN curve by finding stress amplitude-mean stress pairs at the target life. Using the internally created Haigh diagram, HyperLife calculates safety factor as described in section Safety Factor in Chapter Haigh diagram. The number of data points of the Haigh diagram is the number of curves. Thus the more number of curves, the better result. When Haigh diagram is not available in mean stress ranges, HyperLife extrapolates the Haigh diagram.


    Figure 25. Conversion of Multi-Mean Curve to Haigh Diagram
    Safety Factor with Multi-Ratio
    To calculate safety factor, HyperLife create an internal Haigh diagram for the target life using multi-mean SN curve by finding stress amplitude-mean stress pairs at the target life. The number of data points of the Haigh diagram is the number of curves. Thus, the more number of curves, the better result. When Haigh diagram is not available in mean stress ranges, HyperLife extrapolates the Haigh diagram.


    Figure 26. Conversion of Multi-Mean Curve to Haigh Diagram
    Safety Factor with Haigh
    Safety factor (SF) is calculated in the following manner in Figure 27.


    Figure 27.
    When target life is 100000:
    • Constant R : SF = OB/OA
    • Constant mean : SF = OD/OC
    If Haigh diagram for a target life is not defined, HyperLife creates Haigh diagram for the target life. In Figure 27, if target life is 10000, and Haigh diagram for N=10000 is not defined, HyperLife will created dashed curve to calculate Safety factor.

Safety Factor with Multi-Mean

To calculate safety factor, HyperLife creates an internal Haigh diagram for the target life using multi-mean SN curve by finding stress amplitude-mean stress pairs at the target life. Using the internally created Haigh diagram, HyperLife calculates safety factor as described in section Safety Factor in Chapter Haigh diagram. The number of data points of the Haigh diagram is the number of curves. Thus the more number of curves, the better result. When Haigh diagram is not available in mean stress ranges, HyperLife extrapolates the Haigh diagram.


Figure 28. Conversion of Multi-Mean Curve to Haigh Diagram

Safety Factor with Multi-Ratio

To calculate safety factor, HyperLife create an internal Haigh diagram for the target life using multi-mean SN curve by finding stress amplitude-mean stress pairs at the target life. The number of data points of the Haigh diagram is the number of curves. Thus, the more number of curves, the better result. When Haigh diagram is not available in mean stress ranges, HyperLife extrapolates the Haigh diagram.


Figure 29. Conversion of Multi-Mean Curve to Haigh Diagram

Safety Factor with Haigh

Safety factor (SF) is calculated in the following manner in Figure 30.


Figure 30.
When target life is 100000:
  • Constant R : SF = OB/OA
  • Constant mean : SF = OD/OC

If Haigh diagram for a target life is not defined by user, HyperLife creates Haigh diagram for the target life. In Figure 30, if target life is 10000, and Haigh diagram for N=10000 is not defined, HyperLife will created dashed curve to calculate Safety factor.