LOW-CYCLE FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF NOTCHED AISI-304 STAINLESS-STEEL SPECIMENS

Low-cyclic fatigue tests were conducted on semi-circle notched and V-notched specimens made of AISI 304 stainless steel. Extensive scanning electron microscopic examination of the fracture surface was also carried out to correlate the microscopic fracture surface features with the macroscopic fatigue loading parameter for this steel. The elastic-plastic fatigue test results indicated a noticeable cyclic hardening phenomenon and also a great influence of the maximum cyclic stress, the mean stress and the notch geometry on both the fatigue life and the fatigue behaviour process. Using careful sensitivity and regression analysis correlations between the macroscopic fatigue parameters on the one hand and the macroscopic and the microscopic fracture surface features on the other, these correlations are presented and clearly documented and discussed for the two notch geometries investigated.