Scatter of fatigue life regarding stress concentration factor

The design process of new structural components requires to determine the fatigue life of those components at dynamic loads that change over time. To extend the fatigue life, the shape of the component must maintain the smallest possible stress concentration factor for all its surfaces. Verification calculations use the fatigue characteristics for each structural component (or determined for the material used corrected by the fatigue notch factor) with the probability of failure at 5% or lower. The probability is determined based on the analysis of risk for human life, economic losses, environmental risk etc. The study shows the effects of the shape parameter on the scatter of the test results. The tests were carried out on AW-6063 aluminium alloy, purchased as a 10 mm dia. drawn bar. The rotating bending fatigue tests were carried out on smooth and notched specimens with 1.4, 2 and 2.6 stress concentration factor. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of the ECF22 organizers.