Experimental measurements, based upon systematic surface observations, were made of the fatigue limits of variously oriented single crystals which were cyclically deformed using constant plastic strain amplitudes. An orientation-dependence of the fatigue limit was detected. It was found that the fatigue limits of the crystals depended mainly upon the low strain-amplitude dislocation structures which were typical of these crystal orientations. When multiple-slip deformation was the main deformation mode, and led to stable low-energy dislocation structures such as labyrinths and cells, the fatigue limit could be considerably improved.

The Fatigue Limits of Copper Single Crystals Cyclically Deformed at Constant Plastic Strain Amplitudes. X.W.Li, Y.Umakoshi, Z.G.Wang, S.X.Li: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2001, 81[7], 465-72