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1. INTRODUCTION
Fatigue is commonly referred to as a process in which damage is accumulated in a material undergoing
fluctuating loading, eventually resulting in failure even if the maximum load is well below the elastic limit of
the material. Fatigue is a process of local strength reduction that occurs in engineering materials such as
metallic alloys, polymers and composites, eg. concrete and fibre reinforced plastics. Although the
phenomenological details of the process may differ from one material to another the following definition
given by ASTM [1] encompasses fatigue failures in all materials:
Fatigue - the process of progressive localised permanent structural change occurring in a
material subjected to conditions that produce fluctuating stresses and strains at some point or
points and that may culminate in cracks or complete fracture after a sufficient number of
fluctuations.
The important features of the process relevant to fatigue in metallic materials are indicated by the
underlined words in the definition above. Fatigue is a progressive process in which the damage develops
slowly in the early stages and accelerates very quickly towards the end. Thus the first stage consists of a
crack initiation phase, which for smooth and mildly notched parts that are subjected to small loads cycles
may occupy more than 90 percent of the life. In most case cases the initiation process is confined to a small
area, usually of high local stress, where the damage accumulates during stressing. In adjacent parts of the
components, with only slightly lower stresses, no fatigue damage may occur and these parts thus have an
infinite fatigue life. The initiation process usually results in a number of micro-cracks that may grow more or
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less independently until one crack becomes dominant through a coalescence process at the microcracks start
to interact. Under steady fatigue loading this crack grows slowly, but starts to accelerate when the reduction
of the cross-section increases the local stress field near the crack front. Final failure occur as an unstable
fracture when the remaining area is too small to support the load. These stages in the fatigue process can in
many cases be related to distinctive features of the fracture surface of components that have failed under
fluctuating loads, the presence of these features can therefore be used to identify fatigue as the probable
cause of failure.
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fatigue cracks advance across grain boundaries as indicated in Figure 3, ie. in a transcrystalline mode.
However, at high temperatures or in a corrosive environment, grain boundaries may become weaker than
the grain matrix, resulting in intercrystalline crack growth. The fracture surface created by stage II crack
growth are in ductile metals characterised by striations whose density and width can be related to the
applied stress level.
Since crack nucleation is related to the magnitude of stress, any stress concentration in the form of external
or internal surface flaws can marked reduce fatigue life, in particular when the initiation phase occupies a
significant portion of the total life. Thus a part with a smooth, polished surface generally has a higher fatigue
strength than one with a rough surface. Crack initiation can also be facilitated by inclusions, which act as
internal stress raisers. In ductile materials slip band deformations at inclusions are higher than elsewhere and
fatigue cracks may initiate here unless other stress raisers dominate.
In high strength materials, notably steels and aluminium alloys, a different initiation mechanism is often
observed. In such materials, which are highly resistant to slip deformation, the interface between the matrix
and inclusion may be relatively weak, and cracks will start here if decohesion occurs at the inclusion
surface, aided by the increased stress/strain field around the inclusion. Slide 4 shows small fatigue cracks
originating at inclusions in a high strength steel. Alternatively, a hard brittle inclusion may break and a
fatigue crack may initiate at the edges of the cleavage fracture.
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4. FATIGUE LOADING
The simplest form of stress spectrum to which a structural element may be subjected is a sinusoidal or
constant amplitude stress-time history with a constant mean load, as illustrated in Figure 4. Since this is a
loading pattern which is easily defined and simple to reproduce in the laboratory it forms the basis for most
fatigue tests. The following six parameters are used to define a constant amplitude stress cycle:
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The stress range is the primary parameter influencing fatigue life, with mean stress as a secondary
parameter. The stress ratio is often used as an indication of the influence of mean loads, but the effect of a
constant mean load is not the same as for a constant mean stress. The difference between S-N curves with
constant mean stress or constant R-ratio is discussed in the section on fatigue testing.
The test frequency is needed to define a stress history, but in the fatigue of metallic materials the frequency
is not an important parameter, except at high temperatures when creep interacts with fatigue, or when
corrosion influences fatigue life. In both cases a lower test frequency results in a shorter life.
Typical stress-time histories obtained from real structures are one shown in Figure 6. The sequence in Figure
6a has a constant mean stress, individual stress cycles are easily identifiable, and it necessary to evaluate
this stress history in terms of stress range only. The more "random" stress variations in Figure 10b is called a
broad band process because the power density function (a plot of energy vs. frequency) spans a wide
frequency range, in contrast to the one in Figure 6a which contains essentially one frequency. The
difference is illustrated in Figure 7. The load history in Figure 6 can be interpreted as a variation of the main
load with superimposed smaller excursions that could be caused by eg. second order vibrations or by
electronic noise in the load acquisition system. In case of true mean load variations not only the range but
also the mean of each cycle needs to be recorded in order to estimate the influence of mean load on the
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damage accumulation. In both cases it is necessary to eliminate the smaller cycles since they may be below
the fatigue limit and therefore cause no fatigue damage, or because they do not represent real load cycles.
Thus a more complicated evaluation procedure is required for identifying and counting individual major
stress cycles and their associated mean stresses. Counting methods such as the range pair, rainflow and the
reservoir methods are designed to achieve this. These procedures are described in paragraph 7.
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A characteristic feature of fatigue tests is the large scatter in fatigue strength data, this is particularly evident
when a number of specimens are tested at the same stress level, as illustrated in Figure 9. Plotting the data
for a given stress level along a logarithmic endurance axis gives a distribution which can be approximated by
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the Gaussian (or normal) distribution, hence endurance data are said to have a log normal distribution.
Alternatively the Weibull distribution may be used, but the choice is not important since about 200
specimens, tested at the same stress level, are required to make a statistically significant distinction between
the two distributions. This number is about one order of magnitude larger than the quantity of specimens
that typically are available for fatigue testing at one stress level.
Assuming the life distribution to be log normal, the associated mean life curve and the standard deviation
can be used to define a design S-N curve for any desired probability of failure.
When the crack propagation stage dominates fatigue life, design data may be obtained from crack growth
curves, an example of which is shown schematically in Figure 10. The stress intensity factor K uniquely
describes the stress field near the crack tip, and is therefore used in the design against unstable fracture.
Likewise, the range of the stress intensity factor, DK, may be expected to govern fatigue crack growth. The
validity of this assumption was first proved by Paris [3], and later verified by many other researchers. The
crack growth curve, which has a sigmoidal shape, spans three regions as indicated schematically in Figure
10. In Region I the crack growth rate drops off asymptotically as DK is reduced towards a limit or threshold,
DKth, below which no crack growth takes place. Life fatigue endurance data, crack growth data show
considerable scatter and test results must be evaluated by statistical methods in order to derive useful design
data.
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The first three tests are idealised tests that produce information on the material response. The use of the
results from these tests in life prediction of components and structures requires additional knowledge of
influencing factors related to the geometry, size, surface condition and corrosive environment. S-N tests of
components are also normally standardised tests that make life predictions more accurate compared with the
three other tests because the uncertainties regarding the influence of notches and surface conditions are
reduced. Service loading or variable amplitude testing normally requires a knowledge of the response of the
actual structure to the loading environment, and is therefore normally used only for prototype or component
testing at a late stage in the production process.
Rotating bending machines were used in the past to generate large amounts of test data in a relatively
inexpensive way. Two types are shown schematically in Figure 11. The computer-controlled closed loop
testing machines are widely used in all modern fatigue testing laboratories. Most are equipped with
hydraulic grips that facilitate the insertion and removal of specimens. A schematic diagram of such a testing
machine is shown in Figure 12. These machines are capable of a precise control of almost any type of
stress-time, strain-time or load pattern and are therefore replacing other types of testing machines.
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Other types of diagrams are used, for instance to demonstrate the influence of mean stress; examples are the
Smith or Haigh diagrams which are shown in Figure 14. Low cycle fatigue data are almost universally
plotted in strain vs. life diagrams since strain is a more meaningful and more easily measurable parameter
than stress when the stress exceeds the elastic limit.
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For real life components, the effects of notches, surface roughness and corrosion reduce the fatigue
strength, the effects being strongest for the higher strength materials. The variation in fatigue strength with
the tensile strength is illustrated in Figure 16. The data in Figure 16 are consistent with the fact that cracks
are quickly initiated in components that are sharply notched or subjected to severe corrosion. The fatigue
life then consists almost entirely of crack growth. Crack growth is very little influenced by the static strength
of the material, as illustrated in Figure 16, and the fatigue lives of sharply notched parts are therefore almost
independent of the tensile strength. An important example is welded joints which always contain small
crack-like defects from which crack start growing after a very short initiation period. Consequently the
fatigue design stresses in current design rules for welded joints are independent of the ultimate tensile
strength.
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=C
(3)
An implication of Equation 3 is that at equal crack growth rates, a crack in a steel plate can sustain three
times higher stress than the same crack in an aluminium plate. Thus, a rough assessment of the fatigue
strength of an aluminium component whose life is dominated by crack growth can be obtained by dividing
the fatigue strength of a similarly shaped steel component by three.
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Sm = Sa
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(4)
the effects on life are not the same, ie. testing with a constant value of R does not have the same effect on
life as a constant value of Sm, the difference is shown schematically in Figure 18.
As indicated in Figure 19a, testing at a constant R value means that the mean stress decreases when the
stress range is reduced, therefore testing at R = constant gives a better S-N curve than the Sm = constant
curve, as indicated in Figure 19b. It should also be noted that when the same data set is plotted in an S-N
diagram with R = constant or with Sm = constant the two S-N curves appear to be different, as shown in
Figure 20.
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The effect of mean stress on the fatigue strength is commonly presented in Haigh diagrams as shown in
Figure 21, where Sa / So is plotted against Sm / Su. So is the fatigue strength at a given life under fully
reversed (Sm = 0,R = -1) conditions. Su is the ultimate tensile strength. The data points thus represent
combinations of Sa and Sm giving that life. The results were obtained for small unnotched specimens, tested
at various tensile mean stresses. The straight lines are the modified Goodman and the Soderberg lines, and
the curved line is the Gerber parabola. These are empirical relationships that are represented by the
following equations:
Modified Goodman Sa/So + Sm/Su = 1 (5)
Gerber Sa/ So + (Sm/ Su)2 = 1 (6)
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The Gerber curves gives a reasonably good fit to the data, but some points fall below the line, ie. on the
unsafe side. The Goodman line represents a lower of the data, while the Soderberg line is a relatively
conservative lower bound that is sometimes used in design. These expressions should be used with care in
design of actual components since the effects of notches, surface condition, size and environment are not
accounted for. Also stress interaction effect due to mean load variation during spectrum loading might
modify the mean stress effects given in the three equations.
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Kf =
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(8)
From Figure 22 it is evident that Kf varies with fatigue life, however, Kf is commonly defined as the ratio
between the fatigue limits. With this definition Kf is less than Kt, the stress increase due to the notch is
therefore not fully effective in fatigue. The difference between Kf and Kt arise from several sources. Firstly,
the material in the notch may be subject to cyclic softening during fatigue loading and the local stress is
reduced. Secondly, the material in the small region at the bottom of the notch experiences a support effect
caused by the constraint from the surrounding material so that the average strain in the critical region is less
than that indicated by the elastic stress concentration factor. Finally, there is a statistical variability effect
arising from the fact that the highly stressed region at the notch root is small, so there is a smaller probability
of finding a weak spot.
The notch sensitivity q is a measure of how the material in the notch responds to fatigue cycling, ie. how Kf
is related to Kt. q is defined as the ratio of effective stress increase in fatigue due to the notch, to the
theoretical stress increase given by the elastic stress concentration factor. Thus, with reference to Figure 21
q = (smax,eff - sn)/(smax - sn) = (Kfsn - sn)/(Ktsn - sn) = (Kf - 1)/(Kt - 1) (9)
where smax,eff is the effective maximum stress, see Figure 23. This definition of Kf provides a scale for q that
ranges from zero to unity. When q = 0, Kf = Kt = 1 and the material is fully insensitive to notches, ie. a
notch does not lower the fatigue strength. For extremely ductile, low strength materials such as annealed
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copper, q approaches 0. Also materials with large defects, eg. grey cast iron with graphite flakes have values
of q close to 0. Hard brittle materials have values of q close to unity. In general q is found to be a function
of both material and the notch root radius. The concept of notch sensitivity therefore also incorporates a
notch size effect.
The fatigue notch factor applies to the high cycle range, at shorter lives Kf approaches unity as the S-N
curves for notched and unnotched specimens converge and coincide at N = 1/4 (tensile test). In
experimental investigations involving ductile materials it was found that the fatigue notch factor need to be
applied only to the alternating part of the stress cycle and not to the mean stress. For brittle materials,
however, Kf should be applied to the mean stress as well.
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Examples of components for which the latter effect is important are welded joints and threaded fasteners.
The critical locations for crack initiation are the weld toe and the thread root, respectively. In both cases the
local stress is a function of the ratio of thickness (diameter) to the notch radius. In welds the toe radius is
determined by the welding process and is therefore essentially constant for different size joints. The t/r ratio
therefore increases and also the local stress when the plate is made thicker, with r remaining constant. A
similar situation exists for bolts, due to the fact that the thread root radius is scaled to the thread pitch,
rather than the diameter for standard (eg. ISO) threads. Since the pitch increases much slower than the
diameter the result is an increase in the notch stress with bolt size. For bolts as well as welded joints the
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increased notch acuity effect comes in addition to the notch size effect discussed earlier, the result is that
the experimentally determined size effects for these components are among the strongest recorded. An
example of size effects for welded joints is shown in Figure 25. The solid line represents current design
practice, according to eg. Eurocode 3 and the UK Department of Energy Guidance Notes. The equation for
this line is given by:
(10)
The exponent n, the slope of the lines in Figure 25a, is the size correction exponent.
The experimental data points indicate that the thickness correction with n = 1/4 is on the unsafe side in
some cases. As indicated in Figure 25a thickness correction exponent of n = 1/3 instead of the current value
of 1/4 gives a better fit to the data in Figure 25a. For unwelded plates and low stress concentration joints in
Figure 25b a value of n = 1/5 seems appropriate [7].
There is experimental evidence that indicate a relationship between the stress gradient and the size effect.
Based on an analysis of experimental data similar the following size reduction factor has been proposed to
account for the larger stress gradient found in notched specimens [8].
n = 0.10 + 0.15 log Kt (11)
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Stresses can be introduced by mechanical methods, for example by simply loading the part the same way
service loading acts until local plastic deformation occurs. Local surface deformation a such as shot peening
or rolling are other mechanical methods frequently used in industrial applications. Cold rolling is the
preferred method to improve the fatigue strength by axi-symmetric parts such as axles and crankshafts. Bolt
threads formed by rolling are much more resistant to fatigue loading than cut threads. Shot peening and
hammer peening have been shown to be highly effective methods for increasing the fatigue strength of
welded joints.
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Thermal processes produce a hardened surface layer with a high compressive stress, often of yield stress
magnitude. The high hardness also produces a wear resistant surface; in many cases this may be the primary
reason for performing the hardness treatment. Surface hardening can be accomplished by carburising,
nitriding or induction hardening.
Since the magnitude of internal stresses is related to the yield stress their effect on fatigue performance is
stronger the higher strength of the material. Improving the fatigue life of components or structures by
introducing residual stresses is therefore normally only cost effective for higher strength materials.
Residual stresses have a similar influence on fatigue life as externally imposed mean stresses, ie. a tensile
stress reduces fatigue life while a compressive stress increases life. There is, however, an important
difference which relates to the stability of residual stresses. While an externally imposed mean stress, eg.
stress caused by dead weight always acts (as long as the load is present), residual stress may relax with time,
especially if there are high peaks in the load spectrum that cause local yielding at stress concentrations.
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Protection against corrosion can successfully be achieved by surface coatings, either by paint systems or
through the use of metal coatings. Metal coating are deposited either by galvanic or electrolytic deposition
or by spraying. The preferred method for marine structures, however, is cathodic protection which is
obtained by the use of sacrificial anodes or, more infrequently, by impressed current. The use of cathodic
protection normally restores the high cycle fatigue strength of welded structural steels to its in-air value,
while at higher stresses hydrogen embrittlement effects may reduce the fatigue life by a factor of 3 to 4 on
life.
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magnitude producing a stress history perhaps as shown in Figure 29. The problem now arises as to what is
meant by a cycle and what is the corresponding stress range. A number of alternative methods of stress
cycle counting have been proposed to overcome this difficulty. The methods most commonly adopted for
use in connection with Codes and Standards are the 'reservoir' or the 'rainflow' method.
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There are two other cycle counting methods, the 'range pair counting' method and the 'mean crossing level'
which are sometimes used although they tend not to be specified in Codes.
Example 1 This design example is based on the stress cycle history of Figure 29 as analysed above for stress
cycle counting purposes. Firstly the stress history represents a relatively short time period, and has to be
extrapolated to represent the total required life. Obviously the first requirement is to ascertain the required
design life, and to multiply the numbers of cycles of each stress range determined as above by the ratio of
the design life to the period represented by the sample time record taken. For example, if the design life was
20 years, and the sample time period was 6 hours, the numbers of cycles should be multiplied by 20 x 365 x
4 = 29200. Caution should be exercised with such an extrapolation however, as to whether such a short
length time sample is representative of long term behaviour. For example in the case of a bridge structure
the traffic flows are likely to vary at different times of day, peaking at rush hour times and falling to low
values in the middle of the night. Furthermore there is possibility that the heaviest loads may not have
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occurred during the sampling time considered. Problems of extrapolation from samples to full data are
common in the statistical world and statistical procedures may be necessary to ensure that potential
differences in scaling up the data are allowed for. To a large extent this depends on the absolute size of the
sample taken.
To check whether the design is satisfactory for any particular detail, it is necessary to decide on the
appropriate design S-N design curve for the detail. The basis of doing this for Eurocode 3 will be explained
in Lecture 12.9. For present purposes it will be assumed that the stress history of Figure 29 analysed above
applies to a detail for which the design S-N curve is S90, for which the design life is 2 x 106 cycles at stress
range 90N/mm2 with slope - 1/3 continued down to a stress level of 66N/mm2 at design life 5 x 106 cycles,
with a change in slope to -1/5 on down to a stress range of 36N/mm2 which is the fatigue limit at 10 million
cycles. For a twenty year design life assuming the stress history of Figure 29 is representative of 6 hours
typical loading the following table can be constructed:
Stress range
Cycles applied
Available cycles
N/mm2
120
29200
843750
0.0346
100
29200
1.458 x 106
0.0200
80
116800
2.848 x 106
0.0410
60
175200
8.053 x 106
0.0218
30
292000
0
0.1174
S n/N =
For these assumptions the loading is acceptable for the detail and life required. Indeed the 'Damage Sum'
value of 0.1174 based on a 20 year design life indicates the available design life is 20/0.1174 = 170 years.
For this particular case the stress range of 60N/mm2 fell in the intermediate range between 36 and 66N/mm2
and the available life N was calculated using the changed slope of the S-N curve for this region. The stress
range of 30N/mm2 is below the cut off for the S90 classification and does not contribute to the fatigue
damage.
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Stress range
Cycles occurring
180
160
10
140
100
90
120
1000
900
100
10000
9000
N/mm2
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80
100000
90000
60
1000000
900000
40
10000000
9000000
20
100000000
90000000
Some of the stress ranges will be found to be below the fatigue limit and hence will not contribute to the
Miners law damage sum. For example for the detail considered in Example 1 above, the cut off limit was
36N/mm2 and the stress ranges of 20N/mm2 would not contribute to the fatigue damage. The stress ranges
above this level will contribute however and their effects must be included. This is done by finding the value
of S SmN separately for the remaining stress levels above and below the change in slope of the S-N curve,
and for the figures given above this will be found to be 5.692 x 1010 for stress ranges of 80N/mm2 and
above, and 1.621 x 1015 for the 40 and 60N/mm2 stress ranges. For an S90 detail with the spectrum of
loading shown above, the fatigue damage from each part of the S-N curve has to be calculated based on the
appropriate value of SmN=constant as follows:
= 0.298
From these figures the damage sum factor calculated as 0.298 is acceptable. Detailed examination of the
figures leading up to this result would indicate that the majority of the damage calculated occurs at the
lowest stress ranges of 40 and 60N/mm2 contributing to the S5N part of the design curve.
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+ .... + = 1 (11)
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in an offshore structure. This diagram gives information on number of times different stress levels are
exceeded as well as the frequency data. The peaks at about 0.16Hz correspond to the applied loading
whereas the higher frequency peaks are those due to the vibration response of the structure.
With variable amplitude fatigue loading of this kind there are additional complexities with regard to
frequency effects to be considered. Where the stressing occurs close to or at a single frequency the
condition is known as 'narrow band' and when there are a range of different frequencies involved it is known
as 'broad band'. If the frequency domain response of Figure 35 is converted back into the time domain
response in which the data was originally recorded the result would look like Figure 36. Clearly some
assumptions must have been in the conversion of one diagram into the other and in this case it is that stress
cycle counting has been carried out by the reservoir method. In Figure 36 however, it is clear that because
the higher frequency stress cycles are superimposed on top of the lower frequency cycles, some of the
higher frequency cycles occur at higher mean stress or stress ratio.
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8. CONCLUDING SUMMARY
In this lecture it has been shown that fatigue is a weakest link process of a statistical nature in which a
crack will initiate at a location where stress, local and global geometry, defects and material properties
combine to give a worst case situation. The crack thus nucleates at a local peak spot, and may cause
failure of the structure, even if the rest of the structure has a high fatigue resistance. Good fatigue
design practice is therefore based on close attention to details that increases the stress locally and
therefore are potentially initiation sites for fatigue cracks.
A positive aspect of the local nature of the fatigue process is that only a relatively small area of highly
stressed material need to be improved in order to increase the load carrying capacity of the structure
when fatigue is the limiting design criterion.
Another general conclusion is that increasing the size of a structure generally leads to a lower strength
with respect to brittle fracture as well as fatigue. Size effects must therefore be properly accounted
for.
The larger number of factors influencing fatigue strength makes the combined effects of these factors
very difficult to predict. The safest way to obtain design data is therefore still to perform fatigue tests
on prototype components with realistic environmental conditions.
A normal structural design analysis must be carried out for the maximum design loads and for a series
of intermediate loads with known number of occurrences in the design life to give stress results at
typical details. Alternatively if the application Code gives an equivalent constant amplitude loading
condition and associated number of cycles this loading should be applied and stresses determined. The
stresses should be analysed for range of variation in principal stress or of direct stress aligned
perpendicular or parallel to the geometric detail as defined in Eurocode 3. Treatments for shear
stresses are given in Eurocode 3. The stress ranges should be multiplied by appropriate partial factors,
and for variable amplitude loading either combined together to give an equivalent constant amplitude
stress range and number of cycles or used to sum up fatigue damage.
The correct detail classification must be identified for typical critical details and the applied fatigue
damage for the design life checked against the design S-N curve for the detail concerned. If the design
is not satisfactory either the stress ranges must be reduced or the detail changed until satisfactory
results are obtained.
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9. REFERENCES
1. Metals Handbook, ASM 1985.
2. ISO Standard, 373 - 1964.
3. P.C. Paris and F. Erdogan, "A Critical Analysis of Crack Propagation Laws", Trans, ASME, Vol. 85,
No. 4, 1963.
4. J.M. Barsom, "Fatigue Crack Propagation", Trans, ASME, SEr. B, No.4, 1971.
5. H. Neuber, "Kerbspannungslehre", Springer, 1958.
6. R.E. Peterson, "Stress Concentration Factors", John Wiley & Sons, 1974.
7. O. rjaster et al, "Effect of Plate Thickness on the Fatigue Properties of a Low Carbon MicroAlloyed Steel", Proc. 3rd Int. ECSC Conf. on Steel in Marine Structures (SIMS'87), Delft, 15-18 June
1987.
8. P. J. Haagensen, "Size Effects in Fatigue of Non-Welded Components", Proc. 9th Int, Conf. on
Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, (OMAE), Houston, Texas, 18-23 February 1990.
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