Effects of elastic anisotropy on the small fatigue crack deflection behavior of α-brass

In this study, we conducted tests using an electrodynamic plane bending fatigue testing machine to closely observe the propagation behavior of a small fatigue crack generated on the surface of alpha-brass. We also employed the electron backscatter deflection (EBSD) method to analyze the crystal orientation near the bottom of the notch on the surface of the test piece. We calculated the slip factor, which is the non-dimensional resolved shear stress, for each slip system of the grain and investigated the relationship between the behavior of the small crack and the slip factor. Our findings demonstrated that the deflection behavior of a small fatigue crack propagating within a single grain can be predicted accurately by using a slip factor that considers the elastic anisotropy. Furthermore, it was also suggested that this prediction is useful independent of grain size and the magnitude of the anisotropy of the crystal grain.