Materials Science and Engineering A345 (2003) 278 /285

www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Low-cycle fatigue properties of steel 42CrMo4

R. Kunc
, I. Prebil
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Askerceva c. 6, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Received 22 November 2001; received in revised form 25 June 2002

Abstract
In structures subjected to heavy cyclic loading, fatigue damage of material during cyclic plasticity is one of the most frequent
failure mechanisms. For determining the low-cycle fatigue lifetime, it is essential to know the elasto-plastical response of the material
to a cyclic load, since the accumulated plastic strain has a direct influence on the lifetime of the material. The elasto-plastic response
of the material under a cyclic load is described here by using the constitutive macroscopic model of small deformations. This model
considers isotropic and kinematic hardening or softening in connection with material damage. The procedure of determining the
material parameters by the described model is illustrated for normalised and tempered states of a low-alloy steel 42CrMo4 (ISO 683/
1).
# 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Low cycle fatigue; Cyclic plasticity; Material parameters; Damage mechanics; Kinematic hardening; Isotropic hardening

1. Introduction
The fatigue life of highly loaded engineering components is influenced by repeated plastic deformation,
which causes the accumulation of plastic strain in
material. Shortening of fatigue life of such components
can be estimated by means of non-linear response of
material to a cyclic load. A plethora of numerical
models for describing material response have been
developed e.g. [1 /9]. The microscopic fatigue processes
within the material (dislocations, sliding systems of the
principal sliding planes etc.) are described by means of
models of Bauschinger effect, cyclic hardening or softening, ratchetting and mean stress relaxation. There are
also several theories that have been developed for the
purpose of determining the failure moment of a material
under plastic load. The theory of continuum damage

Corresponding author. Tel.: /386-1-4771-128; fax: /386-1-2518567
E-mail
addresses:
robert.kunc@fs.uni-lj.si
(R.
Kunc),
ivan.prebil@fs.uni-lj.si (I. Prebil).

mechanics attempts to compose several micromechanical damage mechanisms into a single mechanisms e.g.
[1,3,7,9]. The damage parameter of a material and,
respectively, the continuum damage theory is in this case
included into the constitutive equation and thereby
influences the elasto-plastical response of the material.
An alternative to the damage mechanics of continuum is
a series of damage criteria that have no influence on the
constitutive equation e.g. [10].
To simulate the non-linear cyclic response of the
material, we have decided to use the material model,
which unites non-linear kinematic hardening, isotropic
hardening or softening and simplified damage mechanics of continuum, where we have used the same
damage evolution for negative and positive stresses [1,4].
The decision to use such a model was based upon the
results of own experimental research of a low-alloy steel
42CrMo4 (ISO 683/1), which show the influence of
material damage on cyclic strain /stress response of the
material, as well as the results of experiments and
numerical simulation of material response [4] and the
quickest possible*/and thus cheap*/procedure of de-

0921-5093/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 5 0 9 3 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 4 6 4 - 1

R. Kunc, I. Prebil / Materials Science and Engineering A345 (2003) 278 /285

termining the material properties. The article demonstrates the procedure of determining all the material
parameters of the steel 42CrMo4 (ISO 683/1) in normalised state with hardness of 195 HV and tempered state
with hardness of 462 HV, by using the described
material model.

279

material damage D . For an isothermal state dT /dt /0,

the rheological model and the evolution equation of the
stress potential is determined by [1,4]:
(6)

f  s eq (Rk)0;
s
3
1
sij sij ; sij  s ij  dij s k ;
s eq 
2
3
sij

(7)

2. Modelling of cyclic plastification and damage

s ij 

2.1. The mechanical principle

Taking the derivative of Eq. (5) yields:

The existence of microscopic cracks and defects the

size of crystal grains is in macroscopic mechanics
referred to as material damage. The nucleation process,
growth and merging of voids that represent initiation of
macrocrack and induce progressive weakening of material toughness and stiffness is referred to as damage
evolution. The state of damage in the material, D , is
theoretically determined by the common influence of
size and configuration of microcracks and microvoids.
The actual macroscopic stress within the damaged
material s is determined by assuming that the nominal
cross-section A is reduced by the size of the damaged
area AD [1,3,7,10,11].
D(M; n; x)


dADx
F
F =A
[ s


A  AD 1  AD =A
dA

s
:
1D

(1)

The material damage concept is built into the

constitutive model of small deformation o ij , which are
split into their elastic and their plastic part:
o ij o eij o pij ;

(2)

where the relationship between elastic stress sij strain o ij ,

damage D and elasticity modulus tensor Lijkl is determined by:
sij  (1D)Lijkl o ekl :

(3)

The elasticity modulus tensor is determined by

Youngs modulus E and Poissons ratio n .



E
1
n
(dik djl dil djk )
dij dkl :
Lijkl 
(4)
1n 2
1  2n
The rate of plastic strain is derived from the normality
rule:
@f
opij  l
;
@sij

(5)

where l is the plastic multiplier, derived from the

consistency condition f 0: The stress potential f [1]
is a function of stress tensor sij , the components of
kinematics (Xij ) and isotropic (R ) hardening and the

1D

Xij :

@f
@f
@f @f
s ij 
X ij 
f 
R
D;
@sij
@Xij
@R
@D

(8)

where:
@f
@sij

@f
@XijD

sij

2 (1  D)s eq



3 sij
2 s eq

@f
@D

@f
@R


(9)

1;
sij sij

2 (1  D)s eq

2.1.1. The isotropical model of hardening/softening

If the yield surface is enlarged or reduced during a
cycle loading process, the material is subject to cyclic
hardening or softening. The evolution of a yield surface
is described by scalars R and k . R represents the
variable that describes isotropic hardening or softening
stress of the material, while k represents the size of the
elastic area. The initial values for the size of the yield
surface are determining by using the criterion k /sy and
R /0, where sy represents the yield stress. The evolution
equation for isotropic hardening or softening R has the
form: [1]

R b(R
R)l;

(10)

where b represents the material parameter, which

determines the level of isotropic hardening or softening,
while the parameter R
determines the boundary of
isotropic cyclic hardening or softening.
2.1.2. The kinematic hardening model
Kinematic hardening is essential for the description of
cyclic effect as ratchetting and mean stress relaxation as
well as the Bauschinger effect. It is described by the back
stress tensor Xij that determines the centre of the yield
surface in stress space and is taken to be the sum of three
non-dependent contribution:
Xij 

3
X

Xij(n) :

(11)

n1

To determine the values of each of the three-tensor

)
components X(n
ij , the evolution equations proposed by

280

R. Kunc, I. Prebil / Materials Science and Engineering A345 (2003) 278 /285

Armstrong, Frederick and Chaboche [12,14/18] have

been used. The boundary value of hardening is deter)
mined by the kinematic hardening coefficient X(n

,
whilst the value of plastic extension at which the
)
respective components X(n
ij reach their boundary value
is determined by the kinematic hardening level g(n ). The
influence of the rate of reduction of the mean stress
value is controlled by the Ohno/Wang material parameter mn .
 (n) mn
2 (n) (n)
Xeq
pl;c

g

X
(1D)
o


Xij(n) g(n) l;
X (n)
(12)
ij
(n)
ij


3
X

where the effective value of the stress space centre tensor
is:
s
2 (n) (n)
(n)
Xij Xij :

(13)
Xeq
3

2.1.3. The continuum damage mechanics

The continuum damage mechanics deals with the
material damage during cyclic loading. A damaged
material contains microcracks and defects that reduce
the load carrying capacity of material. The problem
arises when trying to determine the initiation and
growth of the material damage during loading process.
The material damage can only be determined with
sufficient accuracy by using the failure method, where
the size of the microcrack area is measured on a
representative volume element. Even this method fails,
though, when the distribution of cracks and defects is
non-homogenous.
Experiments on low-cycle lifetime of sub-eutectiod
steels have verified the statements [1,3 /6] that measurement of the increase in material damage can be done by
using the indirect experimental method of observing the
change of the modulus of elasticity:
E (1D)E:

(14)

The increase of the damage is described by an

evolution equation [1,12,13], which considers a proportional influence of the effective plastic deformation on
the change of damage, of the form:
D 

s2eq (2=3(1  n)  3(1  2n)(skk =3seq )2 )



2SE(1  D)2

1; for
a(p)
0; for

pa(p);

(15)

p]pD
:
pBpD

The initial damage threshold pD is determined by the

accumulated plastic deformation p:
p

l
1D

pD max(p(D0) ):

(16)

3. The experimental work

The test pieces were manufactured of a rolled plate
made of low-alloy tempering steel 42CrMo4 (ISO 683/1;
W.Nr. 1.7225). Chemical composition of the steel is
presented in Table 1. The principal axis of the test pieces
was perpendicular to the axis of rolling. The test pieces
were shaped as to ensure minimal stress concentration in
the areas of change in diameter [19]. The steel was
normalised at 840 8C and cooled down in a stove. The
tempered pieces were heated up to a temperature of
830 8C and quenched in oil and then tempered at
400 8C for 1 h.
The first series of tests were monotonic tensile /
compressive tests to failure, the second series of tests
were 20 cyclic uniaxial tests with control of extension
amplitude for determining the cyclic parameters of the
material. The extension was measured directly on the
test piece by means of a dynamical measuring device
[19]. In practice, it is sufficient to conduct eight cyclic
tests for a good simulation of material response.
To avoid the local cross-section contraction within the
probe length of the test piece, the tensile /compressive
test was conducted at constant extension amplitude. The
mechanical properties were measured at 20 8C. Heating
of test pieces was prevented by the low loading
frequency of 2 Hz.

4. Determining the material parameters

4.1. The monotonic parameters
The described damaged model contains 17 material
parameters (Table 2). The basic material parameters like
the modulus of elasticity E , the Poisson ratio n and the
yield stress sy were determined by a series of standard
monotonic uniaxial tensile /compressive tests [19].
4.2. The parameters of isotropic and kinematic hardening
The parameters that describe kinematic hardening
were determined from the s /o cyclic curve at a constant
amplitude of extension Do . Different extension amplitudes after stabilisation give hysteresis loops (Ns) of
respective amplitudes of plastic extension Do p and
amplitudes of stress Ds (Fig. 1). The levels g1, g2 and
g3 and the boundary values X1
, X2
and X3
of
kinematic hardening are derived from the course of
the experimentally determined stable hysteresis loop by
means of the Eq. (16) [1].
The levels of kinematic hardening g(n ) determine the
values of plastic extension at which the respective
)
components of the kinematic hardening tensor X(n
ij
(n )
reach their boundary value X
(Fig. 1).

R. Kunc, I. Prebil / Materials Science and Engineering A345 (2003) 278 /285

281

Table 1
Chemical composition of 42CrMo4 steel (values in %)

42 CrMo4

Si

Mn

Cr

Ni

Mo

Cu

Al

Sn

0.43

0.26

0.65

0.015

0.021

1.07

0.19

0.16

0.16

0.021

0.006





Do p
Do p
1
2
 (R
k)X

X

tanh g1
tanh g3
2
2
2


Do p
3
X

:
(17)
tanh g3
2

Ds

Simultaneously, the boundary value of isotropic softening R
and the size of the elastic area k are
determined from the experimental stable hysteresis
loop and the mutual influence of the kinematic hardening. The experiment shows the trend of reduction of
the maximal and minimal stress dependant on the
number of cycles which means that the material is
subject to softening (Figs. 4 and 6). The values of the
Ohno /Wang factors m1, m2 and m3 are determined from
the course of experimental curves of amplitudes and
from the mean value of the stress, dependant on the
number of cycles (Fig. 4). They depend on the rate of
reduction of the mean value of stress until stabilisation
of the hysteresis loops. To determine these factors, a
non-symetrical uniaxial cyclic test with a constant nonzero extension amplitude is used.
The isotropic hardening or softening level is determined by the parameter b . It depends on the ratio of
experimental course of stress amplitudes sN
max at a
constant strain amplitude, from the first cycle slmax to
stabilisation of hysteresis loop sSmax (Fig. 2). It is
described by Eq. (17) [1]:
b

l
S
l
ln[1  (sN
max  smax )=(smax  smax )]
:
2Do p N

(18)

4.3. The damage parameters

The experiments have shown, that in low-cycle
loading of a sub-eutectiod steel 42CrMo4 in the beginning of growth of the accumulated plastic deformation
p , the modulus of elasticity can decrease as much as 5%.
The cause of this decrease is in connection of microplastifications with reversible travel of dislocations and
in forming of Luders bands, and not in the growth of
material damage [1,21]. This phenomenon is soon
saturated, therefore, the further change of the modulus
of elasticity is considered as the criterion of damage
growth.
In numerical observation of damage growth, we need
to know the initial damage threshold pD, the resistive
energy of the damage S and the damage critical value Dc

[1]. The value of the pD parameter equals 0 for the

chosen steel. This is proven by the experimentally
determined curve of damage growth (Fig. 3), which
continuously rises from the very beginning of the plastic
deformation in the material. The average value of the
damage resistive energy S for the subeutectoid steel
42CrMo4 at different heat treatments is determined
experimentally (Fig. 3), by using the Eqs. (18) and (13)
[1]:
S

s
2E(1  D)2 dD=dp

p2

N
X

Do pi :

(19)

i1

Theoretically, the critical damage value Dc reaches 1

in the moment of material breakdown (Nf). In the
majority of cases, though, the material breaks down
instantly, which causes a fall in the value of Dc.
Determining the actual value of the Dc parameter is
based on the experiments and the Eq. (19). The
progressive damage growth immediately before the
failure limit represents the initiation of a macro crack
and is the critical limit of Dc (Fig. 3). The average
critical values for the 42CrMo4 steel are around 0.16 in
normalised state and around 0.06 in tempered state.
Dc max(D(p) ):

(20)

5. Model verification
The numerical damage model has been incorporated
into a computer programme based on the finite element
method [20]. In programme development, a common
symbolic approach was used [20], which enables the
creation of an effective, quadratically convergent implicit numerical scheme, even in cases with large
numbers of evolution equations and interconnected
non-linear systems.
From the comparison of numerical and experimental
results, a very good accordance of maximal and minimal
stress in relation to the number of load cycles is obvious
(Figs. 4 and 6), as well as matching in the size and the
shape of the hysteresis loops (Figs. 5 and 7). The
verification of the isotropic softening and kinematic
hardening runs from the start of loading to stabilisation
of the hysteresis loops (Figs. 4 and 6). The isotropic
softening is compared with the course of change in
maximal and minimal stress amplitudes, while the

282

42CrMo4 (HV)
195
462

E (Mpa)
5

2.05 10
2.11 105

sy (MPa)

R

g1

g2

g3

X1
(Mpa)

X2
(Mpa)

X3
(Mpa)

m1

m2

m3

S (MPa)

r0

Dc

180
650

0.3
0.3

4
5

80
380

3700
15 000

860
2000

30
190

100
200

100
250

400
900

1.5
5

1.5
5

1.5
5

250
120

0
0

0.16
0.05

R. Kunc, I. Prebil / Materials Science and Engineering A345 (2003) 278 /285

Table 2
Material parameters of the damage model for the 42CrMo4 steel

R. Kunc, I. Prebil / Materials Science and Engineering A345 (2003) 278 /285

Fig. 1. Determination of the components of hardening parameters

(n )
)
X(n
and the limit of isotropic hardening R
from the

and g
experimentally determined stable hysteresis loop for the normalised
steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of 195 HV. A symmetrical load case with
constant extension of Do /1.2%.

283

Fig. 3. Determination of material damage parameters (pD, Dc and dD /

dp ) for the normalised steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of 195 HV. A
symmetrical load case with a constant extension of Do /1.2%.

Fig. 4. Comparison of the course of amplitudes in relation to the

number of cycles between the measured values and the numerical
calculations for the normalised steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of 195
HV. A symetrical load case at a constant extension of Do /1.2%.
Fig. 2. Determination of isotropic hardening level parameter b for the
normalised steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of 195 HV. Various
symmetrical load cases at a constant extension.

kinematic hardening is compared with the course of the

mean stress value (Fig. 6). After stabilisation of the
hysteresis loops or, respectively, after the decrease in
influence of kinematic and isotropical hardening, the
main influences on the stress /strain state is by the
material damage growth. The growth of damage causes
a slight decrease of the stress amplitude all the way to
the terminal failure.
The good match between the calculated strain /stress
response and the measured values is also obvious in the
course of the plastic elongation as it depends of the
number of oscillations (Figs. 8 and 9). The matching is
good in the surge at the beginning, as well as in the
further course of the plastic elongation, which is the
base for verifying the suitability of the model in

Fig. 5. A comparison of hystreresis loops in relation to the number of

cycles between measurement and numerical calculation for the
tempered steel 42CrMo4 normalised steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of
195 HV. A symmetrical load case at a constant extension of Do /1.2%.

284

R. Kunc, I. Prebil / Materials Science and Engineering A345 (2003) 278 /285

Fig. 6. Comparison of the course of amplitudes in relation to the

number of cycles between the measured values and the numerical
calculations for the tempered steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of 462 HV.
A non-symetrical load case at a constant extension of Do /1.4% and a
mean value of o mean /0.5%.

Fig. 7. A comparison of hystreresis loops in relation to the number of

cycles between measurement and numerical calculation the tempered
steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of 462 HV. A non-symmetrical load case
at a constant extension of Do /1.4% and a mean value of o mean /0.5%.

following the damage growth and the accumulated

plastic strain.
Fig. 5 shows the phenomenon of natural yield stress
for the normalised 42CrMo4 steel with a sharp yield
stress boundary and a steep fall down to the so called
lower yield stress. This phenomenon is not that obvious
for the tempered state of the same steel (Fig. 7). The first
decrease in the modulus of elasticity for the values of up
to 5% actually occurs in the area of crossing the Luders
elongation. This initial decrease in the modulus of
elasticity, though, is not taken into account in determining the material damage growth. The chosen model is
not able to accurately describe the natural yield stress
phenomenon and thus the numerical non-linear re-

Fig. 8. A comparison of plastic strain in relation to the number of

cycles between measurement and numerical calculation for the
normalised steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of 195 HV.

Fig. 9. A comparison of plastic strain in relation to the number of

cycles between measurement and numerical calculation for the
tempered steel 42CrMo4 with hardness of 462 HV.

sponse in the first load cycles deviates from the real

material behaviour (Figs. 5 and 7).

6. Conclusions
Comparing the results obtained from the measurements and from the chosen numerical model shows that
the simulation of the material response to a low-cycle
loading to destruction is very reliable. The numerical
model incorporates non-linear kinematic hardening,
isotropical hardening or softening and the continuum
damage mechanics.
Simulations of low-cycle material response to destruction have shown that all the required parameters of
normalised (195 HV) and tempered (462 HV) low alloy
steel 42CrMo4 can be accurately determined from a
number of experiments as low as ten.

R. Kunc, I. Prebil / Materials Science and Engineering A345 (2003) 278 /285

The experiments conducted to determine the lowcycle lifetime of sub-eutectoid steels have shown that the
damage increment can also be determined with sufficient
accuracy by indirectly observing the change in the
modulus of elasticity.

References
[1] J. Lemaitre, J.L. Chaboche, Mechanics of Solid Materials,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990, p. 471.
[2] S. Suresh, Fatigue of Materials, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1998, p. 679.
[3] J. Skrzypek, A. Ganczarsi, Modeling of Material Damage and
Failure of Structures, Springer, Berlin, 1999, p. 326.
[4] T.O. Pedersen, Cyclic plasticity and low cycle fatigue in tool
materials, Ph.D. thesis, Department, of Solid Mechanics, Technical University of Denmark, 1998, p. 121.
[5] T.O. Pedersen, J. Mater. Proc. Technol. 105 (2000) 359 /370.
[6] T.O. Pedersen, Int. J. Mech. Sci. 42 (2000) 799 /811.

285

[7] A. Benallal, R. Billardon, J. Lemaitre, Comput. Methods Appl.

Mech. Eng. 92 (1991) 141 /155.
[8] S. Calloch, D. Marquis, Int. J. Plast. 15 (1999) 521 /549.
[9] J. Lemaitre, A Course on Damage Mechanics, second ed.,
Springer, 1996, p. 227.
[10] J. Lemaitre, Eng. Fract. Mech. 25 (1986) 523 /537.
[11] J. Lemaitre, J. Dufailly, Eng. Fract. Mech. 28 (1987) 643 /661.
[12] J.L. Chaboche, J. Appl. Mech. 55 (1988) 59 /64.
[13] J.L. Chaboche, J. Appl. Mech. 55 (1988) 65 /72.
[14] S. Bari, T. Hassan, Int. J. Plast. 16 (2000) 381 /409.
[15] N. Ohno, J.D. Wang, Int. J. Plast. 9 (1993) 375 /390.
[16] N. Ohno, J.D. Wang, Int. J. Plast. 9 (1993) 391 /403.
[17] P.J. Armstrong, C.O. Frederick, A mathematical representation
of the multiaxial Baushinger effect, CEGB Report RD/B/N 731,
Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories, 1996.
[18] Y. Jiang, P. Kurath, Int. J. Plast. 12 (1996) 387 /415.
[19] R. Kunc, J. Korelc, I. Prebil, M. Torkar, Mater. Technol. 35
(2001) 107 /112.
[20] J. Korelc, Theo. Comp. Sci. 187 (1997) 231 /248.
[21] G.E. Dieter, Mechanical Metallurgy, McGraw-Hill, New York,
1987, p. 215.