Effects of grain boundary properties on intergranular cracking in fatigued fcc metals

A model is presented which roughly lakes into account the dependence of intergranular cracking in fatigued f.c.c. polycrystals on grain orientations and on tangential slipping of adjacent grains. In comparison to the case of a geometrical grain boundary, the properties of the stress-producing pile-ups are essentially modified. It is shown that under some circumstances the crack extension force can be changed substantially. Accordingly, it is concluded that the application of the model of Essmann, Gosele and Mughrabi concerning cracking during fatigue requires the determination of more parameters than has been done hitherto. Copyright (C) 1997 Acta Mettallurgica Inc.