ABSTRACT
In a narrow sense, the term fatigue of materials and structural components means damage and fracture due to cyclic, repeatedly applied stresses. In a wide sense, it includes a large number of phenomena of delayed damage and fracture under loads and environmental conditions. It is expedient to distinguish between high-cycle (classic) and low-cycle fatigue. This chapter deals with analysis of fatigue and related phenomena from the standpoint of solid mechanics. Initial information for the design of engineering systems against fatigue is based on standard fatigue tests. The role of the type of loading in low-cycle fatigue tests may be essential. The material behavior at unloading and reversed loading, in particular the shape and size of hysteresis loops, is of essential significance in low-cycle fatigue. Other fracture mechanics parameters sometimes are used to describe fatigue crack growth instead of the stress intensity factors.
