SEDL / STP / STP404-EB / STP48339S

Fatigue Failure of a Redundant Structure

Heller, R. A.
Deputy director, Columbia University, New York, N. Y.

Donat, R. C.
Research assistant, Columbia University, New York, N. Y.

Pages: 12    Published: Jan 1966

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Abstract

Multiple-load-path redundant structures have been utilized in “fail-safe” design applications for a long time without a thorough investigation into the statistical nature of their failure. Experiments conducted at the Institute for the Study of Fatigue and Reliability, of Columbia University, on a model ten-member redundant structure subjected to constant-amplitude loads have been analyzed, and the statistical distribution of consecutive failures was determined. The experimental results are compared with various theoretical computations which were found to be conservative.