Fatigue life distribution and size effect in ductile cast iron for wind turbine components

• Published in: Engineering failure analysis Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 12 - 24
• Main Authors: Shirani, M., Härkegård, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2011
• Subjects: Cast iron; EN-GJS-400-18-LT; Failure analysis; Fatigue life; Fatigue strength; Fatigue tests; High cycle fatigue; Nodular iron; Size effect; Statistical analysis; Weakest-link theory; Weibull distribution; Wind turbines; EN-GJS-400-18-LT; Statistical analysis; Weakest-link theory; Fatigue strength; Size effect
• ISSN: 1350-6307; 1873-1961
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2010.07.001

The present paper deals with the experimental determination and statistical analysis of high cycle fatigue properties of EN-GJS-400-18-LT ductile cast iron. Constant amplitude axial fatigue tests were performed at room temperature at R = 0 and R = −1. In order to evaluate the size effect, fatigue tests were carried out on two sets of specimens with different dimensions. The specimen diameters were 21 mm and 50 mm. Statistical analysis of fatigue data was done by means of the Weibull distribution, and P– S– N diagrams were established. The established P– S– N diagrams showed that the Weibull distribution is well fit to the scatter of the experimentally obtained fatigue life data. Weibull’s weakest-link method was used to evaluate the size effect. It made a satisfactory prediction of the fatigue strength for specimens with different dimensions.