Civil Engineering Association

This book is primarily a textbook written for engineers, students and teachers, and for people working on fatigue problems of engineering structures and materials. The book can be used for graduate and undergraduate courses, workshops, and short courses for people working in the industry or research institutes. The book also offers useful comments for researchers in view of the practical relevance of investigations and to plan future research.
An important theme of the book is the understanding of what happens in the material of an engineering structure subjected to a spectrum of cyclic loads in service. Knowledge of the fatigue mechanism in the material and how it can be affected by a large variety of practical conditions is essential for dealing with fatigue problems. The structure must be designed for durability, and thus against fatigue. This includes not only the overall concept of the structure and safety and economic aspects, but also questions on detail design, joints, production and material surface quality. The designer must predict the fatigue performance of the structure. Knowledge of the various influencing factors is essential. Similar considerations arise if fatigue problems occur after a period in service when decisions have to be made on remedial actions. A unique feature of the book is the integrated approach to fatigue of engineering structures as outlined in the picture on the front cover of the book.

This book is primarily a textbook written for people working on fatigue problems of engineering structures and materials associated with design, predictions, load spectra and experimental verifications. Many different fields of interest are involved, as the block diagram on the front cover indicates. It is of great importance that all these aspects are well recognized and understood. The author explains the various topics in a number of chapters. Understanding of the fatigue phenomena covering both crack initiation and crack growth is emphasized in view of possible influences of design variables, material selection, production technology and load spectra on the fatigue performance of a structure. Prediction methods for fatigue lives and fatigue crack growth are discussed as well as verification by experiments. Load spectra analysis and statistical aspects are also addressed.

The first edition of this book was well received and has been used extensively in various courses taught to staff members and students of universities and other technical colleges as well as in industries and at research institutes. Therefore it was considered time for a second edition. In general, the format of the first edition of the book has been maintained, but the whole text has been carefully revised. A major change is the CD which is now attached to the book. The CD contains exercises on all chapters which can be used in courses, but also for self-tuition and examinations. Secondly, the CD also includes more detailed information on design against fatigue, prediction scenarios, fatigue experiments (how and why), fractography, and analysis of case histories. Two survey papers from the literature have also been added.