Prediction of fatigue lifetime under multiaxial cyclic loading using finite element analysis

Life prediction for GH4169 superalloy thin tubular and notched specimens were investigated under proportional and nonproportional loading with elastic–plastic finite element analysis (FEA). A strain-controlled tension–torsion loading was carried out by applying the axial and circular displacements on one end of the specimen in the cylindrical coordinate system. Uniaxial cyclic stress–strain data at high temperature were used to describe the multi-linear kinematic hardening of the material. The comparison between FEA and experimental results for thin tubular specimen showed that the built model of FE is reliable. A fatigue damage parameter was proposed to predict the fatigue crack initiation life for notched specimen. The results showed that a good agreement was achieved with experimental data.