A Review on Fatigue Life Prediction Methods for Metals

Abstract

Metallic materials are extensively used in engineering structures and fatigue failure is one of the most common failure modes of metal structures. Fatigue phenomena occur when a material is subjected to fluctuating stresses and strains, which lead to failure due to damage accumulation. Different methods, including the Palmgren-Miner linear damage rule- (LDR-) based, multiaxial and variable amplitude loading, stochastic-based, energy-based, and continuum damage mechanics methods, forecast fatigue life. This paper reviews fatigue life prediction techniques for metallic materials. An ideal fatigue life prediction model should include the main features of those already established methods, and its implementation in simulation systems could help engineers and scientists in different applications. In conclusion, LDR-based, multiaxial and variable amplitude loading, stochastic-based, continuum damage mechanics, and energy-based methods are easy, realistic, microstructure dependent, well timed, and damage connected, respectively, for the ideal prediction model. 2016 E. Santecchia et al.