On the mechanism of fatigue crack propagation in ductile metallic materials

An overview of our research performed during the last 15 years is presented to improve the understanding of fatigue crack propagation mechanisms. The focus is devoted to ductile metals and the material separation process at low and intermedial crack propagation rates. The effect of environment, short cracks, small-scale yielding as well as large-scale yielding are considered. It will be shown that the dominant intrinsic propagation mechanism in ductile metallic materials is the formation of new surface due to blunting and the re-sharpening during unloading. This process is affected by the environment, however, not by the length of the crack and it is independent of large- or small-scale yielding.