Effects of mean stress and stress concentration on fatigue behavior of short fiber reinforced polymer composites

An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effect of mean stress on fatigue behavior of two short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites and the effect of stress concentration on fatigue behavior of an unreinforced and a short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic. Load‐controlled fatigue tests were conducted on unnotched (smooth) specimens at R ratios of −1, 0.1, and 0.3 in different mold flow directions or fiber orientations and at a range of temperatures between −40 and 125 °C. Effect of mean stress on fatigue life was found to be significant at all temperatures. Several mean stress parameters including modified Goodman, Walker, and Smith–Watson–Topper were evaluated for their ability to correlate mean stress data. A general fatigue life prediction model was also used to account for the effect of mean stress, temperature, and fiber orientation. Notched fatigue tests of an unreinforced polymer and a short glass fiber thermoplastic composite were also conducted using plate type specimens with a central circular hole and with or without the presence of mean stress. Effect of stress concentration was found to be considerable, with or without mean stress and in both the longitudinal and transverse directions. The commonly used Neuber's rule for metallic materials, nonlinear finite element analysis, as well as critical distance approaches were utilized for notch deformation and fatigue life analyses.