This chapter summarizes the various kinds of gear wear and failure and how gear life in service is estimated and discusses the kinds of flaws in material that may lead to premature gear fatigue failure. The topics covered are alignment, gear tooth, surface durability and breakage of gear tooth, life determined by contact stress and bending stress, analysis of gear tooth failure by breakage after pitting, and metallurgical flaws that reduce the life of gears. The chapter briefly reviews some components in the design and structure of each gear and/or gear train that must be considered in conjunction with the teeth to enhance fatigue life.

Strain-range partitioning is a method for assessing the effects of creep fatigue based on inelastic strain paths or strain reversals. The first part of the chapter defines four distinct strain paths that can be used to model any cyclic loading pattern and describes the microstructural damages associated with each of the four basic loading cycles. The discussion then turns to fatigue life prediction for different types of materials and more realistic loading conditions, particularly those in which hysteresis loops have more than one strain-range component. To that end, the chapter considers two cases. In one, the relationship between strain range and cyclic life is established from test data. In the other, a rule is required to determine the damage of each concurrent strain and the total damage of the cycle is used to predict creep-fatigue life. The chapter presents several such damage rules and discusses their applicability in different situations.

This chapter familiarizes readers with the methods used to quantify the effects of fatigue on component lifetime and failure. It discusses the development and use of S-N (stress amplitude vs. cycles to failure) curves, the emergence of strain-based approaches to fatigue analysis, and important refinements and modifications. It demonstrates the use of approximate equations, including the method of universal slopes and the four-point correlation technique, which provides reasonable estimates of elastic and plastic lines from information obtained in standard tensile tests. It also discusses high-cycle, low-cycle, and ultra-high cycle fatigue and presents several models that are useful for fatigue life predictions.

Fatigue life analysis and crack growth life prediction require an accurate interpretation of the load spectrum. This appendix presents two methods for interpreting load spectra and provides several data plots and tables comparing fatigue test data with analytically predicted values.

This chapter provides a detailed review of creep-fatigue analysis techniques, including the 10% rule, strain-range partitioning, several variants of the frequency-modified life equation, damage assessment based on tensile hysteresis energy, the OCTF (oxidation, creep, and thermomechanical fatigue) damage model, and numerous methods that make use of creep-rupture, crack-growth, and void-growth data. It also discusses the use of continuum damage mechanics and includes examples demonstrating the accuracy of each method as well as the procedures involved.

This chapter compares and contrasts empirical approaches for partitioning hysteresis loops and predicting creep-fatigue life. The first part of the chapter presents experimental partitioning methods, explaining how they can be used to partition any loading cycle into its basic strain-range components. The methods covered include rapid cycling between peak stress extremes, half-cycle rapid loading and unloading, and variations of the incremental step-stress approach. The methods are then compared based on their ability to predict creep-fatigue life. The chapter goes on from there to describe how fatigue life can be estimated from ductility measurements when cyclic data are unavailable or are likely to change. It also explains how cyclic life is influenced by the time-dependent nature of creep-plasticity and the physical and metallurgical effects of environmental exposure.

This chapter explains why it is sometimes necessary to separate inelastic from elastic strains and how to do it using one of two methods. It first discusses the direct calculation of strain-range components from experimental data associated with large strains. It then explains how the method can be extended to the treatment of very low inelastic strains by adjusting tensile and compressive hold periods and continuous cycling frequencies. The chapter then begins the presentation of the second approach, called the total strain-range method, so named because it combines elastic and inelastic strain into a total strain range. The discussion covers important features, procedures, and correlations as well as the use of models and the steps involved in predicting thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) life. It also includes information on isothermal fatigue, bithermal creep-fatigue testing, and the predictability of the method for TMF cycling.

This chapter describes the phenomenological aspects of fatigue and how to assess its effect on the life of components operating in high-temperature environments. It explains how fatigue is measured and expressed and how it is affected by loading conditions (stress cycles, amplitude, and frequency) and factors such as temperature, material defects, component geometry, and processing history. It provides a detailed overview of the damage mechanisms associated with high-cycle and low-cycle fatigue as well as thermal fatigue, creep-fatigue, and fatigue-crack growth. It also demonstrates the use of tools and techniques that have been developed to quantify fatigue-related damage and its effect on the remaining life of components.

This chapter discusses the factors that play a role in fatigue failures and how they affect the service life of metals and structures. It describes the stresses associated with high-cycle and low-cycle fatigue and how they differ from the loading profiles typically used to generate fatigue data. It compares the Gerber, Goodman, and Soderberg methods for predicting the effect of mean stress from bending data, describes the statistical nature of fatigue measurements, and explains how plastic strain causes cyclic hardening and softening. It discusses the work of Wohler, Basquin, and others and how it led to the development of a strain-based approach to fatigue and the use of fatigue strength and ductility coefficients. It reviews the three stages of fatigue, beginning with crack initiation followed by crack growth and final fracture. It explains how fracture mechanics can be applied to crack propagation and how stress concentrations affect fatigue life. It also discusses fatigue life improvement methods and design approaches.

This chapter discusses the concept of mean stress and explains how it is used in fatigue analysis and design. It begins by examining the stress-strain response of test samples subjected to cyclic forces and strains, noting important features and what they reveal about materials and their fatigue behaviors. It then discusses the challenge of developing hysteresis loops for complex loading patterns and accounting for effects such as ratcheting and stress relaxation. The sections that follow provide a summary of the various ways mean stress is described in the literature and the methods used to calculate or predict its effect on the fatigue life of machine components. The discussion also sheds light on why tensile mean stress is detrimental to both fatigue life and ductility, while compressive mean stress is highly beneficial.

This chapter explains how the authors assessed the potential risks of creep-fatigue in several aerospace applications using the tools and techniques presented in earlier chapters. It begins by identifying the fatigue regimes encountered in the main engines of the Space Shuttle. It then describes the types of damage observed in engine components and the methods used to mitigate problems. It also discusses the results of analyses that led to changes in design or approach and examines fatigue-related issues in turbine engines used in commercial aircraft.