Fatigue behaviour in nanostructured metals

Abstract: Nanocrystalline materials are very promising for modern lightweight engineering applications due to their extraordinary mechanical properties under monotonic as well as under cyclic loading. In particular, the fatigue properties of nanostructured metals and alloys are one of the key issues for the successful use of this new class of materials in engineering applications. As the fatigue behaviour of nanocrystalline materials cannot simply be explained by the Hall–Petch effect, several aspects such as microstructural stability, shear-banding or grain size distributions have to be considered. Starting with some general findings on the fatigue behaviour and fatigue lives of nanostructured materials, the fatigue behaviour of aluminum, magnesium and titanium alloys as well as of steels are discussed in detail. Strategies for optimizing the fatigue lives and the cyclic deformation behaviour are also formulated.