The effect of mean axial and torsional stresses on the fatigue strength of 34CrNiMo6 high strength steel

The present study consists of a theoretical, experimental and fractographic investigation of the effect of superimposed static axial and shear stresses on the high cycle fatigue behavior of a 34CrNiMo6 high strength steel in quenched and tempered condition (UTS = 1210 MPa), commonly employed in highly stressed mechanical components. The Haigh diagrams for the axial and torsional cases under different values of mean stress were obtained. In both cases, experimental results showed that increasing the mean stress gradually reduces the stress amplitude that the material can withstand without failure. The results of the present tests are compared with the theoretical predictions from Findley, based on the maximum damage critical plane; and the methods of Marin and Froustey, which are energetic based criterions. Froustey's method shows the best agreement with experimental results for torsional fatigue with mean shear stresses, showing a non-conservative behaviour for the axial fatigue loading case. Macro-analyses and micro-analyses of specimen fracture appearance were conducted in order to obtain the fracture characteristics for different mean shear stress values under torsion fatigue loading.