High-cycle fatigue tests were run at R ratios between −1 and 0.7 on 2.5%Cr–1%Mo steel.
A shift in the crack initiation sites, correlated with a change in R ratio was found.
Elastic–plastic F.E. computations and fracture mechanics can explain this shift.
Internal cracks grew at very low ΔK with apparently with very limited closure effects.
The threshold ΔK for internal cracks did not change with R between −0.5 and 0.25.