Multiaxial fatigue limit criterion for defective materials

The objective of this paper is to quantify the influence of defect on the fatigue limit. Elastic–plastic simulations are conducted to determine the stress distribution around defects for different geometries and different loading. It is shown that a relevant mechanical parameter governing the fatigue limit for defect material could be the gradient of the hydrostatic stress. A multiaxial fatigue criterion is identified with three parameters and validated for different metallic materials under multiaxial conditions. Results are good and show that the gradient of the hydrostatic stress is a good parameter to characterise the influence of a defect on the fatigue behaviour.