Fatigue damage and crack nucleation mechanisms at intermediate strain amplitudes

Abstract Polycrystalline copper was fatigued in rotary bending at constant intermediate surface strain amplitudes at 26 Hz under ambient conditions. The specimens were interrupted at various life fractions, their surfaces prepared metallographically and scrutinised to ascertain the types of fatigue damages, namely, short cracks which are confined to individual grains or isolated grain boundary facets, and their role in fatal crack formation. The results show that, at intermediate strain amplitudes, slip band and twin boundary crack damages predominate during early stages of cycling, while grain boundary crack damages remain relatively insignificant even at the stage when fatal cracks have developed. However, depending on the strain amplitude level, the transgranular crack damages may or may not be instrumental in fatal crack formation. At the lower amplitude end of the transition region, fatal cracks are formed by interlinkage of slip band and twin boundary damages. At the higher amplitude end, even though grain boundary damages are negligible initially, they degenerate rapidly on further cycling and eventually evolve into fatal cracks. The present findings show that some 0.05% plastic strain amplitude is required to propagate intergranular cracks. Once the above condition is met, cracks would propagate rapidly along the interface and the crack nucleation mode would change from transgranular to intergranular.