Abstract
This paper is intended to make a small contribution to the body of fatigue data. The results are not intended to be used directly in the design of full-scale structures. The object was to examine the effect of stress concentration at the corners of the opening on the fatigue life of the specimen. The investigation covered both high and low-cycle fatigue.
The results are used to determine coefficients for Heywood’s fatigue-strength formulae for a plain specimen, for a specimen with stress concentration, and for size effect. The results give some support to the form of these expressions.
No experimental evidence is available for specimens having dimensions approaching those of a ship’s deck, but the size-effect formula would indicate that for such dimensions the fatigue limit strength-reduction factor is close to the stress-concentration factor. On this basis the Heywood expressions enable the life at a hatch corner, for a given stress amplitude, to be calculated. Large-scale tests are required to verify such calculations.
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