Thefatiguebehaviorofahighstrengthsteel300Minthegigacycleregimewasinvestigated.Fullyreversedtension-compressionfatiguetestsatambienttemperaturewereperformedusinganultrasonicfatiguesystemoperatingat20kHz.Thestaircasetestmethodwasemployedtoobtainaccuratevaluesofthemeanfatiguestrengthcorrespondingtofixednumbersofcyclesupto10~9.Theseresultswerecomparedtothecurvewhichisestimatedbythedatatestedinthemid-longliferegimeonconventionalservohydraulictestmachineat20Hz.Resultsindicatethatthefatiguestrengthdeterminedfromultrasonicfatiguetestingislightlyhigherthanconventionaltestingintherangeof10~6-10~7cycles.Itisobviousthatnucleationsoffracturestendtooccurbelowthesurface,iffractureshappenaftermorethan10~7cycles.AllthefracturedspecimensfailsfrominternalSiO_2inclusionsorsmallercarbidesandcarbideclusters.
