Modelling the effects of surface finish on fatigue limit in austenitic stainless steels

Existing short fatigue crack models have been reviewed to determine the most suitable fatigue model to analyse the effect of the surface finish on the fatigue limit of Type 304 austenitic stainless steels. A mechanistic model firstly proposed by Navarro and Rios (N-R model) was selected as the most suitable generic model, because the model can include the effects of surface finishing parameters such as surface roughness and residual stress depth profile on the fatigue limit. The N-R model has been implemented for fatigue specimens with various surface finishing conditions, and the effect of the surface finish on the fatigue limit was simulated. The material/surface properties required for the implementation were fully characterized by experiments. The applicability of the model to this study was also discussed. It is concluded that a development of the model would be required for proper prediction of the surface effects on fatigue in austenitic stainless steels.