Recent development of research on very high cycle fatigue of metal materials

With the increase of design fatigue life of many critical mechanical components, research on very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) has become a new topic for engineering materials research and has being carried on all around the world in the past decades. New methods and results of research on VHCF of metals in recent years especially the last decade are summarized such as ultrasonic fatigue testing method, characteristics of VHCF and some life prediction model for VHCF et al. Some testing results of the researches on VHCF crack initiation and growth are discussed as a focus. Some problems of existing theories and models for VHCF are pointed out and some valuable prospective research directions and practical methods are discussed.