Verification of Specimens for Low-Cycle Fatigue and Cyclic Plasticity Testing

Abstract

The results of inelastic finite element analyses of several uniaxial specimens used for low-cycle fatigue and cyclic plasticity testing are presented. The test specimens studied include both hourglass and uniform gage-type geometries. These results indicate that normally used hourglass specimens may significantly underestimate the strain for a given stress. Uniform gage specimens with commonly used length-to-diameter ratios are shown to provide adequate stress-strain data. Two extensively strain-gaged uniform gage specimens were tested to provide data to confirm the acceptability of the inelastic analysis methods.