Torsional Fatigue of a Medium Carbon Steel Containing an Initial Small Surface Crack Introduced by Tension–compression Fatigue: Crack Branching, Non‐propagation and Fatigue Limit

In order to examine the threshold condition for the fatigue limit of materials containing a small crack under cyclic torsion, reversed torsional fatigue tests were carried out on 0.47% C steel specimens containing an initial small crack. Initial small semi‐elliptical cracks ranging from 200 to 1000 μm in length were introduced by the preliminary tension–compression fatigue tests using specimens containing holes of 40 μm diameter. The threshold condition for the fatigue limit of the specimens containing artificial small defects under rotating bending and cyclic torsion are also reviewed. Crack growth behaviour from an initial crack was investigated. The torsional fatigue limit for a semi‐elliptical small crack is determined by the threshold condition for non‐propagation of Mode I branched cracks. The torsional fatigue limit of specimens containing an initial small crack can be successfully predicted by the extended application of the √area parameter model in combination with the σ θ max criterion.