A simple model for fatigue life

A simple model to handle fatigue-life length problems is discussed. The characteristic property of the model is that it combines the Palmgren-Miner rule with time invariance. The model is applied to situations with both random strength and random load. The randomness in the life is generated by the random strength and not by the random load. The only property of the random load that affects the life is its damage intensity, which is independent of the particular realization in the ergodic-load case. The damage intensity is even independent of the distribution of the random function, provided its level-crossing intensity is known. Particular attention is given to simple random strength models. In general, the exhaustion density is a random function, but in the simple models the only randomness that appears in the strength is either randomness in the time scale or randomness in the amplitude scale. The model is well-suited for comparative calculations under different load conditions, since it connects fatigue life for random loads to fatigue life for periodically oscillating loads, which is usually measured in experiments