Review of the Mechanical Properties of Cast Steels With Emphasis on Fatigue Behavior and the Influence of Microdiscontinuities

Abstract

Mechanical properties of cast steels are pronouncedly affected by the microdiscontinuities which they inherently contain. In particular, fatigue behavior of cast steels is altered by (1) the size, (2) the shape, and (3) the distribution of microdiscontinuities as well as (4) the strength and ductility of the matrix metal. A review is made of the literature in order to demonstrate the necessity of accounting for all of these variables and a technique for predicting the fatigue behavior of cast steels is presented.