Plastic Work Interaction Damage Rule Applied to Narrow-Band Gaussian Random Stress Situations

Fatigue life estimates that use a structural material’s constant amplitude stress life data values and a linear cumulative damage rule are always nonconservative for stress histories containing numerous subcycles and only a few large-amplitude cycles. Conservative fatigue life estimates were previously achieved by others with a plastic work interaction damage rule using the material’s overstrain fatigue life parameter values. Verification fatigue tests were run on laboratory specimens of 1020 steel using four selected variable amplitude stress wave form profiles. This paper extends the application of the plastic work interaction damage rule to narrowband Gaussian random stress situations. The derived stress life mathematical expression is of a power law form. The predicted fatigue life is more accurate than that predicted using a conventional linear damage rule.