The main objective for the study of combined-stress fatigue is to obtain fatigue data for axles and to find the criterion for fatigue limit under combined stress. This article begins with a description of the stress states of combined stress and stress fields near crack tips. It provides an account of the various biaxial and multiaxial fatigue testing methods, specimen geometries, and stress intensity factors important in the study multiaxial fatigue. Widely used test methods are the torsion-rotating bending fatigue test and biaxial and triaxial fatigue tests. Common specimen geometries include rectangular plate specimens, cruciform specimens, compact tension shear specimens, compact shear specimens, mode II crack growth specimen, circumferentially notched cylindrical specimens, tubular specimens containing a slit, and solid cylindrical specimens containing a small hole or initial crack.

A cylindrical specimen compressed with friction at the die surfaces does not remain cylindrical in shape but becomes bulged or barreled. Tensile stresses associated with the bulging surface make the upset test a candidate for workability testing. This article discusses test-specimen geometry and friction conditions; strain measurements; crack detection; and material inhomogeneities, which are to be considered for performing cold upset testing. It describes test characteristics in terms of deformation, free-surface strains, and stress states for performing cylindrical compression tests. The article illustrates the fracture loci in cylindrical, tapered, and flanged upset-test specimens of aluminum alloy and type 1045 cold-finished steel.