Fatigue Strength Prediction of Drilling Materials Based on the Maximum Non-metallic Inclusion Size

In this paper, the statistics of the size distribution of non-metallic inclusions in five drilling materials were performed. Based on the maximum non-metallic inclusion size, the fatigue strength of the drilling material was predicted. The sizes of non-metallic inclusions in drilling materials were observed to follow the inclusion size distribution rule. Then the maximum inclusion size in the fatigue specimens was deduced. According to the prediction equation of the maximum inclusion size and fatigue strength proposed by Murakami, fatigue strength of drilling materials was obtained. Moreover, fatigue strength was also measured through rotating bending tests. The predicted fatigue strength was significantly lower than the measured one. Therefore, according to the comparison results, the coefficients in the prediction equation were revised. The revised equation allowed the satisfactory prediction results of fatigue strength of drilling materials at the fatigue life of 10 7 rotations and could be used in the fast prediction of fatigue strength of drilling materials.