Fatigue life data of cold worked tubes (diameter 4 mm, wall thicknesses 0.25 and 0.30 mm) of an austenitic stainless steel, AISI 904 L, were measured in the regime ranging from 2 × 105 to 1010 cycles to failure. The influence of the loading frequency was investigated as data were obtained in conventional rotating bending at 160 and 200 Hz and in ultrasonic axial loading at 20 kHz. Above 5 × 106 cycles the fatigue lifetimes found with both methods were comparable. The results show that the slope of the S–N curve significantly decreases beyond 108 cycles. Fracture surfaces were examined using scanning electron microscopy. Fatigue cracks initiate at the surface and no significant influence from frequency or from loading modes on fatigue crack initiation and growth is visible.

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In recent years, there has been an increased uptake for surface functionalization through the means of laser surface processing. The constant evolution of low-cost, easily automatable, and highly repeatable nanosecond fibre lasers has significantly aided this. In this paper, we present a laser surface-texturing technique to manufacture a surface with a tailored high static friction coefficient for application within driveshafts of large marine engines. The requirement in this application is not only a high friction coefficient, but a friction coefficient kept within a narrow range. This is obtained by using nanosecond-pulsed fibre lasers to generate a hexagonal pattern of craters on the surface. To provide a suitable friction coefficient, after laser processing the surface was hardened using a chromium-based hardening process, so that the textured surface would embed into its counterpart when the normal force was applied in the engine application. Using the combination of the laser texturing and surface hardening, it is possible to tailor the surface properties to achieve a static friction coefficient of ≥0.7 with ~3–4% relative standard deviation. The laser-textured and hardened parts were installed in driveshafts for ship testing. After successfully performing in 1500 h of operation, it is planned to adopt the solution into production.