Fatigue Limit Analysis of Notched Components by a Local Approach+

Abstract In this study, an attempt is made that the local approach for fracture analysis of sharp notches under static loading proposed by the author extends to fatigue limit loading. Under the assumption that the empirical equation of determining the fracture toughness under static loading proposed by the author is properly employed under fatigue limit loading, a local approach+ for the fatigue limit analysis of notched components is proposed. It is a united method that combines the local approach proposed in Yan (2023, “A Local Approach for Fracture Analysis of Sharp Notches Under Mode I Loading,” Eng Frac. Mech., 290(2023), p. 109404) with the empirical equation of determining the fracture toughness proposed in Yan (2023, “A Local Approach for Fracture Analysis of Sharp Notches Under Mode I Loading,” Eng Frac. Mech., 290(2023), p. 109404) for fatigue limit analysis of notched components. According to the local approach+, the basic fatigue test data required to be known are the fatigue limit σ0 of the plain material and fatigue limit σ0n of a notched component (sample notch) By using the two material data, fatigue limit of any notch, σ0n′, can be predicted by the local approach+. Validation verification by experimental data from the literature shows that the predicted fatigue limit, σ0n′, has high accuracy.