An Analytical Model for Fatigue Life Prediction Based on Fracture Mechanics and Crack Closure

Fatigue in steel structures subjected to stochastic loading is studied. Of special interest is the problem of fatigue damage accumulation and in this connection, a comparison between experimental results and results obtained using fracture mechanics. Fatigue test results obtained for welded plate test specimens are compared with fatigue life predictions using a fracture mechanics approach. In the calculation of the fatigue life, the influence of the welding residual stresses and crack closure on the fatigue crack growth is considered. A description of the crack closure model for analytical determination of the fatigue life is included. Furthermore, the results obtained in studies of the various parameters that have an influence on the fatigue life, are given. A very good agreement between experimental and analytical results is obtained, when the crack closure model is used in determination of the analytical fatigue lives. Both the analytical and experimental results obtained show that the Miner rule may give quite unconservative predictions of the fatigue life for the types of stochastic loading studied.