Comparison of TCD and SED methods in fatigue lifetime assessment.

Highlights • Local linear-elastic stresses allow notch fatigue to be assessed accurately. • Material length parameters are successful in estimating uniaxial/multiaxial fatigue lifetime of notched metals. • The MWCM/PM and the SED approach can be applied by post-processing linear-elastic FE results. Abstract This paper assesses the accuracy and reliability of the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD) and the Strain Energy Density (SED) approach in estimating the lifetime of plain and notched specimens subjected to cyclic loading. To validate the two approaches for plain and notched components under uniaxial and multiaxial fatigue loading, a large bulk of experimental data taken from the literature was re-analyzed, with the state variables, i.e. the stress distributions and the strain energy density, being calculated via the Finite Element (FE) method. The results obtained demonstrate that both the TCD and the SED approach can provide highly accurate fatigue life estimation. In addition, these two approaches require little computational effort and little calibration information to be implemented and used for fatigue design in situations of practical interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]