Cyclic biaxial tension tests were run at various biaxialities on 2.5%Cr–1%Mo steel.
Moderate biaxialities (B = 0.25 and 0.5) had a beneficial effect on fatigue lives.
By contrast equibiaxial tension slightly reduced the fatigue lives.
Various endurance criteria failed to capture both mean stress and biaxiality effects.
An alternative fatigue criterion extending Gerber’s parabola was proposed.