SEDL / STP / STP511-EB / STP35409S

Application of the Monte Carlo Technique to Fatigue-Failure Analysis under Random Loading

Itagaki, H
Visiting senior research associate, and professor of civil engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York

Shinozuka, M
Visiting senior research associate, and professor of civil engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York

Pages: 17    Published: Jan 1972

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Abstract

Analyzing the fatigue damage of a notched specimen subjected to a random-stress history of narrow-band characteristics, the crack propagation factor is treated as a homogeneous random process reflecting statistical variations of material property within the specimen. On the basis of the proposed statistical-mechanical model of fatigue failure, into which a crack propagation model and a fracture criterion are incorporated, statistical distribution of fatigue life is predicted with the aid of the Monte Carlo technique by digitally simulating the stress history and the crack propagation factor as random processes. The results indicate that the spacial randomness in material property can, and in fact should be considered in order to account for the larger scatter of fatigue life observed in the experiment performed under the conditions compatible with the assumptions used in the analysis.