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6.4.4 Main Takeaways on Fatigue in aircraft Structures

Course subject(s) Module 6. Certification, Fatigue, and Durability

Characterizing Fatigue Life

Fatigue is a damage phenomenon whereby a material/structure deteriorates under repeated loading below its ultimate strength, deteriorating its load carrying capability. One common way of characterizing the fatigue performance of materials is to subject them to constant amplitude cyclic loading and plot the number of cycles to failure,

๐‘, vs. the applied stress amplitude, ๐‘† or ๐œŽ๐‘Ž.

This diagram (illustrated below) is known as a Wohler Curve, Fatigue Life Diagram, or sometimes the ๐‘† – ๐‘ curve.

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