Issue 37

M. Kurek et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 37 (2016) 221-227; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.37.29 226 fi N is the number of loading cycles computed from Eq. (18) by inserting the value of  that minimises the scatter T . fi N is considered as a material constant, and such a value is listed in Table 1 for each analysed material. In Fig. 3, the angle  corresponding to the minimum scatter value is plotted against 2 B  for each examined material. Eq. (18) is also plotted in Fig. 3 (see the dashed curve). Note that such a relationship can be applied to a range of 2 B  larger than   3 ;1 . 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 0.5 1 1.5 2 β° σ a (N fi ) / τ a (N fi ) CuZn40Pb2 GTS45 SUS304 D30 Hard Steel PA4 10HNAP 30CrNiMo8 SM45C GGG40 Cast Iron Figure 3:  against ' 2 B by employing Eq. (18). The value of  in correspondence of the minimum value of the scatter is also plotted. C ONCLUSIONS he following conclusions can be drawn: 1. In the present paper, the influence of the critical plane orientation on the fatigue strength estimation is analysed. 2. An empirical expression of the angle  used to define the critical plane orientation is proposed, the idea starting from the observation of experimental fatigue test results under combined cyclic bending and torsion. 3. Such an expression is a function of the ratio 2 B  between bending and torsion fatigue strengths at a reference number of loading cycles, and is a constant for a given material. 4. The dependence of  on the above strength ratio 2 B  (instead of the fatigue limit ratio) is here proposed for those materials characterised by  m different from  m . 5. This expression of  can be used for a 2 B  range larger than   3 ;1 . R EFERENCES [1] Stanfield, G., Discussion of The strength of metals under combined alternating stresses, in: H.Gough, H.Pollard (Eds.), Proc. Inst. of Mechanical Engineers., 131 (1935) 93. T