LOW-CYCLE FATIGUE AND CYCLIC CREEP OF METALS

Abstract— This paper deals with the effect of accumulated (oriented) plastic deformation (cyclic creep) on the life of metals under conditions of cyclic loading typically in the range of low-cycle fatigue. Specific features of cyclic creep of aluminium, titanium alloys and structural steels were investigated for the lives ranging from 05 to 2 × 10⁵ cycles to rupture as well as specific features of transition from quasistatic to fatigue fracture associated with the variation in the mode of deformation of metals. It is shown that under conditions of repeated stress-controlled loading in a wide range of low temperatures, the cyclic creep processes are the predominant ones determining life of metals over a wide range of cycles, and when calculating life under these conditions it is necessary to take into account the rate of these processes irrespective of the type of fracture: quasistatic or fatigue. An equation was obtained for calculating life under low-cycle loading conditions which takes into account the interrelationship between the life, the accumulated plastic strain, steady-state cyclic creep rate and the resistance of the material to cyclic creep.