Cyclic Loading

Cyclic loading causes an accumulation of plastic strains in the vicinity of the

foundation (cyclic creep) which is often accompanied by hardening (in normally
consolidated clays or loose sands) or softening of the soil (in over-consolidated clays
or dense sands).

From: Wind Energy Systems, 2011

Related terms:

Creep, Fatigue Life, Deformation, Crack Tip, Delaminations

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Learn more about Cyclic Loading

Geotechnical data and piles design

Mohamed A. El-Reedy Ph.D., in Marine Structural Design Calculations, 2015

6.6.3.2 Cyclic response

Unusual pile loading conditions or limitations on design pile penetrations may
warrant detailed consideration of cyclic loading effects.

Cyclic loading, which includes inertial loadings developed by environmental condi-

tions such as storm waves and earthquakes, can have two potentially counteractive
effects on the static axial capacity. Repetitive loadings can cause a temporary or
permanent decrease in load-carrying resistance or an accumulation of deformation.
Rapidly applied loadings can cause an increase in load-carrying resistance or stif-
fness of the pile. Very slowly applied loadings can cause a decrease in load-carrying
resistance or stiffness of the pile. The resultant influence of cyclic loadings are a
function of the combined effects of the magnitudes, cycles, and rates of applied pile
loads; the structural characteristics of the pile; the types of soils; and the factors of
safety used in design of the piles. The design pile penetration should be sufficient
to develop an effective pile capacity to resist the design static and cyclic loadings.
The design pile penetration can be confirmed by performing pile response analyses
of the pile-soil system subjected to static and cyclic loadings. The pile-soil resis-
tance-displacement t-z and Q-z characterizations are discussed next.

When any of the preceding effects are explicitly considered in pile-response analysis,
the design static and cyclic loadings should be imposed on the pile top and the
resistance-displacements of the pile determined. At the completion of the design
loadings, the maximum pile resistance and displacement should be determined. Pile
deformations should meet structure serviceability requirements.

> Read full chapter

Fiber Reinforcements and General The-

ory of Composites
Hung Man Yang, in Comprehensive Composite Materials, 2000

1.07.3.3.6 Fatigue behavior

Cyclic loading and cyclic extension–compression of fibers, which are often required
in industrial applications, generally cause fiber fatigue and strength loss over a long
period of time. The fatigue behavior of PPD-T fiber has therefore been a concern in
light of its compressional behavior. Bunsell (1974) reported earlier that, under cyclic
loading, Kevlar 49 fiber fibrillated but would not fail unless the maximum load was
greater than 80% of its tensile strength. It was also found to stabilize quickly under
creep conditions. Lafitte and Bunsell (1982) later investigated the fatigue behavior
of Kevlar 29 under cyclic loading. They found that both the maximum applied load
and the load amplitude adversely affect the lifetime of a cycled fiber. The cyclic
loading of Kevlar 29 fiber produced longer and shorter lifetimes than that of steady
loads with zero load amplitude. The longer lifetimes indicate fiber failure due to a
creep mechanism, whereas the shorter lifetimes suggest failure acceleration due to
a fatigue mechanism. However, no difference in the fracture morphology was seen
in fiber breaks from simple tensile, fatigue, and creep conditions.

Dobb et al. (1981) compared the fatigue behavior of Kevlar 29 and Kevlar 49 fibers
in cyclic bending over a free-running spindle. Both fibers exhibited rapid strength
loss in the first few cycles, but more gradual decline afterwards. Kevlar 49 fiber gave
considerably greater strength loss than Kevlar 29 fiber.

> Read full chapter

Sensors, data storage and communica-
tion technologies
Bernd Breidenstein, ... Ludger Overmeyer, in Cyber-Physical and Gentelligent Sys-
tems in Manufacturing and Life Cycle, 2017

Cyclic loading of a machined component alters its subsurface properties. The goal
of this article is to determine subsurface alterations and, from this, to deduce the
mechanical loads the component has experienced so far. When focusing on the
impact that machining has on structural integrity and the fatigue life of components,
the surface and subsurface properties are of major importance. The article presents
a model to estimate the applied load stress of steel components under alternating
bending loads. This technology allows servicing intervals to be extended and pre-
cludes premature replacement of undamaged components.

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Polymer Matrix Composites

P.A. SMITH, in Comprehensive Composite Materials, 2000

2.04.4.8.4 Cyclic loading of notched laminates

Cyclic loading is discussed in Section 2.04.4.10 but we note here that during
cyclic loading of notched laminates (below the static strength), the damage which
develops at the notch initially is similar to that seen under quasistatic loading. This
effectively leads to an increase in residual strength with cycling, in particular under
tension–tension loading. This is illustrated by the data shown in Figure 8 from
Spearing et al. (1991), which relates to the fatigue of a notched (90/0)s CFRP laminate,
24 mm wide with a central ellipsoidal notch of length 8 mm and tip radii of 1 mm.
Figure 8(a) shows the evolution of 0° ply splitting as a function of number of cycles
and stress level. Figure 8(b) indicates how the residual strength of the laminate
increases with split length.
Figure 8. Fatigue data for a centrally notched (90/0)s CFRP laminate: (a) evolution of
0° ply splitting as a function of number of cycles and stress level; (b) residual strength
of the laminate as a function split length. Solid lines represent model predictions
(reproduced by permission of the American Society for Testing and Materials from
‘Composite Materials: Fatigue and Fracture’, ASTM STP 110, 1991, pp. 617–637).
Under compression loading the situation may be similar with the residual strength
generally increasing with cycling as a result of damage growth and an associated
reduction in stress concentration associated with the discontinuity. Situations in
which fatigue failure of notched laminates can occur are for lay-ups where pro-
gressive delamination growth in fatigue leads to a progressively greater instability
of load-carrying 0° plies or ply blocks. This is most likely to be an issue under
tension–compression loading (see also Section 2.04.4.10.3).

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LOW-CYCLE FATIGUE OF TITANIUM

6A1–4V SURGICAL TOOLS
H. VELASQUEZ, ... G. SINES, in Failure Analysis Case Studies II, 2001

5 Conclusion
Cyclic loading test on titanium 6A1–4V specimens showed that appearance of
surface cracks can act as a low cycle fatigue warning system in the 1/10 diameter
tool shaft. It is recommended that the tool receive a careful visual inspection before
each surgery and be replaced whenever surface cracks become visible. To extend
tool life it is also recommended that the tool be bent in one direction only whenever
possible. The Coffin–Manson equation was useful in deciding testing procedure, but
should not be used for service life prediction in this critical application.

Acknowledgments—The authors wish to thank Ms Rachel Adams of the Mechanical

Engineering Department of Loyola Marymount University for typing the paper. The
study was partially funded by a grant from the Medical Carbon Research Institute,
Austin, Texas.

> Read full chapter

Basic principles of fatigue

M. Miraftab, in Fatigue Failure of Textile Fibres, 2009

1.2 Fibre fatigue

Cyclic loading and off loading generally leads to fatigue failures. However, the
cyclic action is not limited to tensile or compressive modes where lateral tension
or compression eventually leads to failure. Repetitive bending (flexural) and twisting
(torsional) are other means by which fatigue failures occur.

Figure 1.1 shows the principal differences between straight tensile failures and that
of a tensile fatigue failure.

1.1. The principal differences between straight tensile failures and a tensile fatigue
failure.

When a single fibre is stressed at a relatively fast speed, tensile failure eventually
occurs as shown by curve (a). When stress is applied at relatively slow speed, the
fibre undergoes gradual extension or creep and reaches the breaking point at a lower
stress level over a longer period (b). When cyclic loading in the form of reduction and
increase in the applied load is experienced, as shown by the sinusoidal profile (c),
failure never occurs. Fatigue-resistant structures, i.e. suspension bridges, specialised
conveyor belts and so forth, are designed and erected based on this principle.
However, when cyclic loading and off loading (or thereabouts) is applied, failure
occurs rather quickly. This is indeed what is commonly referred to as a fatigue failure.

Fibre fatigue is a relatively new concept compared to metal fatigue where unforeseen
disastrous accidents in the early days of engineering led to serious consideration
of metal fatigue.(2–4) Since only small cyclic forces lead to fatigue failures, failure
always occurs within the elastic or fully reversible regions of materials, i.e. along
the Hookean region not far from the origin of stress–strain axis. Fibres differ from
metals in one major way and that is fibres can not undergo compression as they
tend to buckle under compressive stresses, thus giving the rather desirable aesthetic
property of flexibility and drape, which is absolutely unacceptable in metals.

Fibres being semi-crystalline materials display visco-elastic behaviour, i.e. a bit of

viscous liquid and a bit of elastic behaviour. This translates into a classical stress–s-
train curve that is common to most fibres. Elastic and plastic regions in visco-elastic
materials corresponding to strain reversibility and bond breakage respectively are
not clearly defined in fibrous materials. Figure 1.2 depicts a typical stress–strain
curve for fibres.
1.2. A typical stress–strain curve for fibres.

Fibres are also anisotropic in nature, which means that there are directional restric-
tions for molecular alignments and thus crystallinity within a fibre. This inherent
property directly influences the failure mode of the fibre depending on the direc-
tional application of the cyclic stresses. Hence fibre fatigue failures can be far more
complex than metal failures. Furthermore, given the inherent flexibility of fibres,
under normal practical conditions and use, no single failure mode could be held
responsible as the sole cause of the ultimate failure. Under these circumstances the
fibrous materials could be undergoing tensile stretch/failure as well as tensile/fle-
xural and/or torsional failures whilst also experiencing some form of abrasion and
this is not even taking temperature and humidity variations into account. Hence
a very confused and complex state of affairs could be the outcome of what might
otherwise credulously be taken as a straightforward failure.

In order to isolate and hence study failure and fracture characteristics caused by
single failure mode, a number of laboratory designed instruments have over the
last thirty years or so been made and many of these findings have been published
in various journals and books.(5–8) Generally, up to twenty different failure patterns
have been identified which provide a comprehensive insight to the forms and types
of failures.(11–13) These findings, often captured in the form of three-dimensional
micrographs, have since become an indispensable design guide for textile material
engineers and diagnostic investigators.

Where once individual experience and trial and error methodologies were the
dominant approach in design and product development, today almost exclusively
all performance materials are designed and manufactured based on their functional
requirements and their predictive behaviour supported by in-depth understand-
ing of their failure characteristics. Although mathematical modelling and accurate
theoretical predictions masterminding performance criteria continues to remain an
ongoing challenge.(9–11)

> Read full chapter

Assessing hydrogen embrittlement in
automotive hydrogen tanks
T. Michler, ... J. Meusinger, in Gaseous Hydrogen Embrittlement of Materials in
Energy Technologies: The Problem, its Characterisation and Effects on Particular
Alloy Classes, 2012

Fatigue testing
Cyclic loading (represented by Woehler-type stress–life (S–N) or strain-life ( –N) fa-
tigue) is by far the most frequent load type in automotive applications. As mentioned
before, HEE occurs only in a hydrogen environment combined with high mechanical
stresses. This means that if stresses are low enough, materials sensitive to HEE can
also be used in such applications. Examples are conventional hydrogen bottles which
are made of HEE-sensitive quenched and tempered low alloyed steel. These bottles
do not fail because their wall thicknesses are too high to allow significant stresses in
the material. In automotive designs a trade-off between cost and weight always has to
be made. If weight is not an issue, over-dimensioning is an easy way to significantly
reduce the costs of automotive high pressure hydrogen components which is most
suitable for small and inexpensive parts and is proposed by others as well [101].

Especially for big components such as valve housings (Fig. 3.10), low cost and
low weight are main requirements, which means that operating stresses are as
high as possible. Unfortunately, the influence of gaseous hydrogen on S-N fatigue
properties of structural materials has been investigated much less than tensile or
fracture mechanics properties (K, J or da/dN). Fatigue-resistant designs are the most
common design methods in the automotive industry. Today’s automotive vehicles
and their components are usually designed for structural durability (lightweight
design). For many automotive hydrogen tanks and their components, the main
stresses result from filling cycles. Since only fatigue under pulsating tensile stresses
(R = 2 MPa/70 MPa ≈ 0.03) needs to be considered for most of the components,
a load ratio of R = 0.1 to 0.2 seems to be an appropriate and practicable value.
R = 0.5 might be a conservative value taking into account that most drivers do not
empty their tanks completely. The main requirements for CGH2 storage systems are
5000 filling cycles and 50,000 duty cycles for components such as valves. Those duty
cycles are well within the low cycle fatigue (LCF) regime and because of cost and
weight reasons, a limited life design approach would be desirable. A conservative
estimation is that a vehicle is fuelled twice per day, which results in a loading
frequency of 2 × 10− 5 Hz. Testing under real conditions would result in a testing
time of 2900 and 29,000 days, respectively, which is not at all useful. An accelerated
test procedure needs to be developed covering the influence of hydrogen pressure,
temperature, load frequency, load ratio and wave form which allows for a safe-life
materials assessment in an appropriate time frame.

The influence of hydrogen pressure and temperature can be assessed from the
literature. Numbers of cycles to failure decrease with increasing hydrogen pressure
[80–82] similar to what is known from tensile and fracture mechanics testing. Results
about the influence of temperature were not found but it is feasible to assume
that fatigue limits will also show minima at dedicated temperatures which are
material specific. Open topics are the influence of loading frequency, load ratio and
waveform.

In the following a brief overview of published fatigue results is presented to show that
the influence of main load parameters is inconsistent. For a better understanding,
crack initiation, LcF and high cycle fatigue (HcF) are discussed separately.

> Read full chapter

Physico–statistical approach: Proce-

dures using the defect-free model of
structural material
Gennadij V. Arkadov, ... Andrei N. Rodionov, in Probabilistic Safety Assessment for
Optimum Nuclear Power Plant Life Management (PLiM), 2012

3.2 Probability of failure under cyclic loading causing fatigue of

constructional materials
Under cyclic loading the basic process of aging is the cumulation of fatigue damage.
Fatigue of structural steels is determined by the characteristics of fatigue which can
be represented in the form of the fatigue curve (Fig. 3.3).

3.3. Fatigue curve of type 0Cr18Ni10Ti steel.

If the conditions of cyclic loading are stationary (i.e., constant loading amplitude),
then the probability of failure can be determined using the approach described above
in section 3.1.

Let the endurance limit of a component be a random quantity distributed normally

with parameters , is the endurance limit of components, S  − 1g is the standard
deviation, the ratio is the variation coefficient).

The distribution function of stress amplitudes is characterised by the values: the

average amplitude of the stress cycle; S a − standard

deviation a; a − the coefficient of variation of stress amplitude.

Using arguments similar to the previous case leads to:

[3.17]

where is the ratio of the average stress amplitude in the component to the average
value of the endurance limit,  − 1g is the coefficient of variation of the endurance
limit.

Using the known quantile up the failure probability P is calculated from normal
distribution tables.

For other distribution laws failure probability can be determined from the relation:

[3.18]

where y and z can be substituted by the variables from [3.17] for cyclic loading.

In non-stationary random cyclic loading the problem is more complicated. A so-

lution to this problem based on the linear hypothesis of damage cummulation is
described in Ref. 55.

The task of taking fatigue damage into account is solved in the framework of the
Automated control system of residual life (SAKOR)5, installed at a number of nuclear
power plants with VVER-1000 reactors.

The advantage of the above-described methods for determining the relative prob-
ability of failure is their simplicity and clear physical meaning of the models. Their
drawback is that they neglect the real state of the structure, particularly its defective-
ness.

> Read full chapter

Fracture Mechanics: Linear Elastic

D. Munz, in Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology, 2001

7.2 Cyclic Loading

Under cyclic loading cracks grow subcritically as fatigue cracks. For a periodic change
of the stress between min and max, the stress intensity factor changes between Kmin
and Kmax. For a constant mean stress the crack extension during one cycle da/dN is a
unique relation of the range of the stress intensity factor ΔK=Kmax−Kmin. This relation
is shown schematically in Fig. 7 in a log–log plot. Crack growth is observed above
a threshold ΔKth. Over a wide range of crack growth rate a straight line usually is
observed corresponding to

Figure 7. Typical da/dN–ΔK curve.

(13)

where C and m are the material-dependent parameters.

> Read full chapter

Fiber failure and debonding in compos-

ite materials
A. Pupurs, in Modeling Damage, Fatigue and Failure of Composite Materials, 2016

9.5.1 Modeling
In cyclic loading with constant amplitude, we usually assume that fibers do not
experience fatigue and all fiber breaks occur during the first cycle. With an increasing
number of cycles, the growth of debonds along the fiber–matrix interface is expect-
ed, and thus the same LEFM concepts of ERR may be used.

A hypothesis was validated in [14] that the growth of each individual debond can
be characterized by a Paris-type of law, where the debond growth rate is a power
function of the ERR change in one cycle. To validate this hypothesis, it was shown
in [14] that experimental data on debond growth in cyclic loading can be described
by a model based on a power law. Material parameters in this law were determined
from a fitting procedure in [14].

The identified power law parameters are material properties and could also be used
to model the debond growth in fatigue in UD composites of the same fiber–matrix
system.

Experimental debond growth observation in UD composites is, however, difficult,

and with optical microscopy it is possible only on the specimen surface. To the
author's knowledge, there is only one paper [13] available where the growth of a
debond initiated from a fiber break in a UD composite was measured experimentally
as a function of the number of cycles.

Experimentally it is much easier to measure the debond length and its increase in a
system consisting of a single fiber embedded in a large block of resin rather than in
a UD composite with many thousands of fibers in one specimen.

Subjecting a single-fiber composite with fragmented fiber to axial cyclic loading, we

may observe debond length increase with number of cycles [14]. A similar fatigue
test on model composites with only two to five fibers has been reported in [15].

In the procedure to extract the power law parameters, friction at the interface was
neglected in [14] because at present it is not clear how to include it in cyclic loading,
where the sliding cyclically changes direction and the friction effect is very dependent
on the loading history.

Tension–tension cyclic loading with load ratio was considered in [14] in the presence
of constant thermal stresses at fixed temperature change ΔT. Power law expression
was applied to describe the debond growth along the fiber–matrix interface as a
function of the number of load cycles, N. It was assumed that the debond length,
ldn, increases with N according to:

(9.4)

where and m are unknown material parameters, which have to be determined

experimentally; and ΔGII is the ERR difference between the values corresponding
to and .
 A GF/EP single-fiber composite was studied in [14]. A two-phase (fiber–matrix) FEM
model similar to Figure 9.8 was used in order to calculate GII. The quadratic form of
the ERR with respect to the applied strain, mech, and the temperature change, ΔT
(see Eqn (9.2)), is also valid for short debonds. It can be written as:

(9.5)

where:

(9.6)

As demonstrated before in Figures 9.9 and 9.10, the ERR is magnified for shorter
debond lengths and approaches a steady-state value when the debond length in-
creases. The coefficients and in Eqn (9.6) are defined as magnification coefficients
and they are equal to 1 when the debond growth is steady-state.

Coefficients and can be found analytically in [26], whereas magnification

coefficients and are determined from FEM calculations. The accuracy of the
magnification coefficient values obtained was investigated in [34], comparing the
results with values calculated using BEM [23] for the case of a purely mechanical
loading. The results of both methods were almost identical.

For the convenience of simulations it is useful to apply simple mathematical expres-

sions to describe the magnification coefficients and as functions of the debond
length, . In [34], it was shown that a simple hyperbolic function is rather accurate.

Hence, using Eqn (9.5) for the case of mechanical tension–tension cyclic loading at
fixed temperature change, the ERR range ΔGII can be calculated as:

(9.7)

ΔGII expression in Eqn (9.7) can be implemented in Eqn (9.4) and debond growth
simulations can be performed. Parametric analysis showing the effect of material
properties, geometry, and initial temperature change on debond growth rate were
performed in [14].

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