Fatigue and Fracture Analysis

3 units

The course objective is to demonstrate practical methods for computing fatigue life of metallic structural components. The course covers the three major phases of metal fatigue progression: fatigue crack initiation, crack propagation and fracture. Topics include: stress vs. fatigue life analysis, cumulative fatigue damage, linear elastic fracture mechanics, stress intensity factors, damage tolerance analysis, fracture toughness, critical crack size computation and load history development. The course focus is on application of this technology to design against metal fatigue and to prevent structural failure.