Low-cycle fatigue

Study in fatigue has been focusing on mainly two fields: size design in aeronautics and energy production using advanced calculation methods.

[1] Common factors that have been attributed to low-cycle fatigue (LCF) are high stress levels and a low number of cycles to failure.

Tests are used to plot an S-N curve, and it has been shown that the number of cycles to failure decreased with increasing temperature.

It was also discovered that performing low-cycle fatigue tests on specimens with holes already drilled in them were more susceptible to crack propagation, and hence a greater decrease in fracture ductility.

Thermal stresses originating from an expansion or contraction of materials can exacerbate the loading conditions on a part and LCF characteristics can come into play.

[6] Researchers at the University of Southern California analyzed the main areas of a ten-story building that were subjected to low-cycle fatigue.

Ultimately, this data was used to more accurately predict and analyze similar types of damage that the ten-story steel building in Northridge faced.

Many structural elements such as beams, walls and columns failed due to fatigue, exposing the steel reinforcements used in the design with clear signs of longitudinal buckling.