Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF) of Materials: An Overview

In this chapter, a comprehensive overview of the most recent advances in the Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF) response of materials is provided. The first part focuses on ultrasonic fatigue testing machines, whose development has boosted the research on the VHCF response of materials. In the second section, the mechanisms of crack initiation in VHCF are analyzed, whereas Sections 3 and 4 deal with the statistical models for describing the stress-life relationship and size effect in the VHCF region. The last Section focuses on ultrasonic fatigue tests at elevated temperatures, of utmost interest in the aerospace sector.