A combined experimental and finite element study of fatigue crack closure in modified 1070 steel has been conducted. In this paper, the material property evaluations required for this study are presented. The monotonic and cyclic stress-strain properties, cyclic stress response, cyclic strain resistance, low cycle fatigue life and fracture behavior are examined. The low cycle fatigue tests were conducted using tension-compression cycling, under total strain amplitude control, over a wide range of strain levels. The material was found to possess medium strength and high ductility; while displaying a strain level dependent combination of cyclic strain softening and hardening behavior. The observed softening behavior is attributed to the rearrangement of dislocations produced by processing, formation of slip bands on the specimen surface and the formation of microcracks. The observed hardening behavior is ascribed to contributions from synergistic influences of dislocation multiplication, dislocation-dislocation interactions and dislocation-microstructural feature interactions. The material followed the strain-life relationships attributed to Basquin and Coffin-Manson. The fracture surfaces of the fatigue specimens showed distinct regions of crack initiation, microscopic-macroscopic crack growth and sudden fracture. The low-cycle fatigue characteristics and fracture behavior are discussed in the light of competing and mutually interactive influences of cyclic strain amplitude, concomitant response stress, intrinsic microstructural effects and dislocation-microstructure interactions during cyclic straining.
