A Study of Single Crystal Fatigue Failure Criteria

This paper presents the results of a study whose objective was to study the applicability of different failure equations in modeling low cycle fatigue (LCF) test data for single crystal test specimens. A total of four failure criteria were considered in this study. One of the failure equations was developed by Pratt & Whitney and is based on normal and shear strains on the primary crystallographic slip planes of the single crystal material. Other failure equations considered are based on isotropic criteria. Because these failure equations were originally developed for isotropic materials such as structural steel, they were modified to be applicable to the single crystal slip systems of the LCF specimen material. By observing how closely the various equations were able to reduce the scatter in the LCF test data, the applicability of those equations in modeling the LCF test data was assessed. It is desired to subsequently use the failure equation with the highest correlation in the development of a new single crystal failure criterion for the Alternative Turbopump Development (ATD) for the space shuttle main engine (SSME) High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (HPFTP).