AdvancedTopic 105 of 106Engineering Mechanics

Fatigue life prediction

Miner's rule sums damage ratios of load cycles to estimate remaining life.

In depth

Combine S-N or strain-life curves, cycle counting (rainflow) and Miner's rule ΣnᵢNᵢ=1 to estimate life under variable loading. Corrections for mean stress, size, surface and reliability are applied. Validate with tests.

Key points

  • Rainflow cycle counting
  • Linear damage accumulation
  • Safety factors on life
Example

A bridge detail's life is assessed from traffic load spectra.

Why it matters

Miner's rule estimates fatigue life under variable loading, which is common in real machines and vehicles.

Where this is used

  • Estimating the remaining life of a crane hook after mixed load cycles.
  • Planning inspection intervals for a truck chassis with variable loads.
  • Combining damage from a day of different machine loads.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fatigue life prediction?

Miner's rule sums damage ratios of load cycles to estimate remaining life.

Why is it important to understand fatigue life prediction?

Miner's rule estimates fatigue life under variable loading, which is common in real machines and vehicles.

What does Miner's rule compute?

The total damage is the sum of the fraction of life used by each load level, and failure is predicted when the sum reaches one.

What is a limitation of Miner's rule?

It ignores the order of loading and load interactions, so it can be non-conservative for some sequences.

How is Fatigue life prediction used in practice?

Typical applications include estimating the remaining life of a crane hook after mixed load cycles, planning inspection intervals for a truck chassis with variable loads and combining damage from a day of different machine loads.

What should I learn before Fatigue life prediction?

Study "Contact mechanics" first (topic 104 of 106 in Engineering Mechanics). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.

What are the key points of Fatigue life prediction?

Rainflow cycle counting. Linear damage accumulation. Safety factors on life.

Can you give an example of Fatigue life prediction?

A bridge detail's life is assessed from traffic load spectra.

What comes after Fatigue life prediction?

The next topic is "Nonlinear finite element analysis", which builds directly on this one.

How difficult is Fatigue life prediction?

It is classed as Advanced in Engineering Mechanics (topic 105 of 106). It is an advanced topic. It assumes you are comfortable with the intermediate topics in Engineering Mechanics.

Learning path

Want to practise? Open the interactive course for quick checks, quizzes, simulations and progress tracking.

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