Assessment of Bending Fatigue Strength of Crankshaft Sections with Consideration of Quenching Residual Stress

High-cycle bending fatigue is the primary failure mode of crankshafts in engines. Compressive residual stresses are often introduced by induction quenching to improve the fatigue strength of crankshafts. The residual stresses, which are commonly obtained by numerical methods, such as the finite element method (FEM), should be included in fatigue failure analysis to predict the fatigue strength of crankshafts accurately. In this study, the simulation method and theory of quenching process are presented and applied to investigate the residual stresses of a diesel engine crankshaft. The coupling calculation of temperature, microstructure, and stress fields of the crankshaft section is conducted by FEM. Then, the fatigue strength of the crankshaft section is analytically assessed by Susmel and Lazzarin’s criterion based on the critical plane approach that superimposes the residual stresses onto the bending stresses. The resonant bending fatigue tests of the crankshaft sections are conducted, and the tests and analytical assessments yield consistent results.