Issues When Estimating Fatigue Life of Structures

Abstract

When estimating fatigue crack growth (FCG) life of structures, the use of crack growth models and knowledge of the values of their corresponding parameters are of vital importance. Inconsistency in using models with appropriate parameters can lead to enormous errors in FCG life prediction. In this paper examples are analyzed and compared with test results to show the possible problems, Consistency checks are necessary for avoiding some pitfalls, and also necessary for verifying the correct performance and accuracy of the used computer program.

Keywords

• Fatigue crack growth;
• fracture mechanics;
• fatigue life;
• crack growth model;
• consistency;
• computer program performance