Fatigue design of notched components with stress gradients and cyclic plasticity

A study was conducted to investigate the the suitability of the Dang Van criterion, which was associated with an adequate representative volume element for the estimation of the fatigue strength of notched specimens. It was based on elastic-plastic simulations and calibrated with tests conducted on smooth and notched specimens. These specimens were subjected to tension-compression with or without mean stress, rotating-bending, and fully reversed torsion. The methodology consisted of the use of a fatigue-limit Dang Van criterion. Cyclic, elastic-plastic, and finite-element simulations were performed with conventional fatigue-strength loading, until the stabilized mechanical state was reached for each fatigue test. A series of different representative volumes were also considered to average the stresses and the Dang Van fatigue criterion was applied for each volume.