Influence of material properties and testing frequency on VHCF and HCF lives of polycrystalline copper

Predicting life times of structures, machines and their parts as well as very small electronic devices for medical purposes is especially difficult for very low stress amplitudes and very high numbers of cycles. The development of the ultrasonic-fatigue method resulted in a reliable testing technique for VHCF loading. Some of its properties are described in this paper. To offer an explanation for the somewhat controversial ultrasonic-fatigue properties reported in the literature, S-N tests were performed at ∼19 kHz and 20 Hz on polycrystalline copper - a nominally homogenous and ductile material. Moreover, plastic-strain measurements were performed. In addition, micro-structural features and their changes in the high and very-high cycle regimes are reported.