Blind Alleys On The Route To Fatigue-Failure Solutions: A Historical Perspective

摘要

For almost two-hundred years, engineers and scientists have wrestled with the problem of the fatigue failure of engineering components, and structures. During that time, many false trails and blind alleys have been followed. These paths have been compounded by misinterpretations and misrepresentations as the fatigue problem passed between scientists, each working in a different major discipline involved in failure analyses. No single discipline has provided the basis of a general solution and many designers of engineering plant remain sceptical, with some justification, of studies conducted on modem, and expensive research facilities that use small, highly polished, plain laboratory specimens. Consequently, even today, few artefacts are designed specifically to prevent fatigue failures. This paper looks back to past mistakes and incorrect judgements with the hope that history will indicate the best foundations on which to build a new strategy as we move into the new millennium and design more complex engineering plant subjected to complex loading and for which fatigue failures must be avoided.