Fatigue-Limit Assessment via Infrared Thermography for a High-Strength Steel

Infrared thermography techniques have proven to be very effective for assessing the fatigue limits of metallic materials with obvious temperature variations. But for some materials, it has been shown that the temperature variation is very limited, and the accuracy of infrared thermographic techniques is not verified. In this study, the fatigue properties of a high-strength steel (SAE52100) were evaluated with traditional fatigue-loading techniques and infrared thermographic methods. The traditional fatigue experiments were loaded at a frequency of 80 Hz with a stress ratio of R = -1, and the fatigue limit at the fatigue lifetime of N = 10⁷ cycles was about 800 MPa. Besides, three additional specimens were loaded with step-by-step increasing stress-loading amplitude, where the maximum temperature increments and temperature distribution were recorded via infrared thermographic techniques. The infrared detections revealed that the maximum value of the temperature increase was only about 1 °C. The fatigue limit was first evaluated based on the maximum temperature variation, then the prediction was refined based on fatigue intrinsic dissipation. The fatigue limits predicted with maximum temperature variation were shown to be 841 MPa, 772 MPa, and 787 MPa, respectively, while the fatigue limits predicted based on fatigue intrinsic dissipation were 793 MPa, 791 MPa, and 789 MPa. Finally, an FEM simulation of temperature variation during fatigue loading was implemented to verify the experimental results. This study provides a solid foundation for the applications of infrared thermography techniques for materials with lower energy dissipations.