Abstract: Austenitic stainless steel (German and USA (AISI) designations respectively X2CrNiMo18-14-3 and 316L) was studied in stress controlled tests on the high cycle fatigue (HCF) regime in air at room temperature. Stress-strain responses were carefully measured to clarify the stress amplitude dependent fatigue behaviour of this steel. The fatigue tests were performed at constant-amplitude cyclic loading with load ratio of R=-1. Results showed that the fatigue limit of AISI 316L stainless steel at room temperature was 190-200 MPa.

Keywords: Fatigue strength, stainless steel, HCF.