The effect of residual stress on fatigue behavior of V-notched components: a review

Fatigue strength of mechanical components in the high cycle regime depends on the intensity of the residual stress field induced by non-homogeneous plastic deformation or the solidification of a local portion of material due to welding operations. In presence of geometric variations modelled as sharp V-notch angle, the residual stress distribution near the notch tip is singular and follows the same solution obtained by Williams in 1952 where the intensity of the asymptotic stress field is quantified by the notch stress intensity factor (NSIF). However, the residual stress varies during fatigue loading until a stationary value is reached. Numerical models were developed for the calculation of the residual NSIFs and their variation under fatigue loading. Taking advantage from these models, new approaches were recently developed which are able to predict the fatigue strength of pre-stressed notched components. A review of such recent advances is described in this work.