High Cycle Fatigue Properties of Thin Sheet of Stainless Steel

Anti-erosion performance is one of the design requirements for helicopter rotor blades. To satisfy this requirement, a metal abrasion strip is bonded on the leading edge of composite rotor blades. The stainless steel abrasion strip is subjected to very high-cycle fatigue with high strain ratios due to large flexibility of rotor blades made of glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP). This study selected AISI 301 1/4-hard austenitic stainless steel 0.8 mm thick as a material for abrasion strip. High cycle fatigue properties of this material were investigated under tension-tension cyclic loading with stress-control. The results revealed the fatigue process of the specimen in detail based on the material response between true stress and true strain. A fatigue design curve for the abrasion strip was proposed and the advantage of hardened materials was clarified.