Stochastic fatigue damage modeling under variable amplitude loading

A general methodology for stochastic fatigue life prediction under variable amplitude loading is proposed in this paper. The methodology combines a nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation rule and a stochastic S–N curve representation technique to achieve this objective. The nonlinear damage accumulation rule proposed in this paper improves the deficiencies inherent in the linear damage accumulation rule and still maintains its simplicity in the application. The covariance structure of the stochastic damage accumulation process under variable amplitude loading is included into the methodology by a new stochastic S–N curve approach. A wide range of fatigue data available in the literature is used to validate the proposed methodology, which covers different type of metallic materials under constant and variable amplitude loadings. The prediction results are also compared with existing fatigue models. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.