Effect of mean stress and of mean strain in low-cycle fatigue of A-517 and A-201 steels

A number of low-cycle fatigue tests has been carried out at room temperature on two materials commonly used in pressure vessel fabrication. For strain-controlled tests, the influence of different mean strains is studied; similarly, the effect of varying the mean stress is analyzed for stress-controlled tests. Relations involving elastic and plastic strain ranges, and the variations of strains or stresses during the fatigue tests are discussed.