Energy dissipation in low cycle fatigue of austempered ductile irons

An energy-based characterisation of the low cycle fatigue properties of an austempered ductile iron is proposed by extending an analogous approach previously adopted in high cycle fatigue studies. Both the mechanical energy expended during the fatigue test and the energy released by the material as heat were measured by means of an experimental technique recently proposed by the authors. Then the energy “stored” in the specimen was derived as difference between the expended mechanical energy and the dissipated energy.