Probabilistic evaluation of the Step-Stress fatigue testing method considering cumulative damage

Abstract

A general testing and analysis framework for the Step-Stress fatigue testing method is identified, utilizing interval-censored data and maximum likelihood estimation in an effort to improve estimation of fatigue strength distribution parameters has been performed. The Step-Stress method’s limitations are characterized, using a simple material model that considers cumulative damage to evaluate load history effects. In this way, the performance including cumulative damage was evaluated and quantified using a probabilistic approach with Monte-Carlo simulations, benchmarked against the Staircase method throughout the work. It was found that the Step-Stress method, even when cumulative damage occurs to a wide extent, outperforms the Staircase method, especially for small sample sizes. Furthermore, positive results reaches further than the increase performance in estimating fatigue strength distribution parameters, where improvements in secondary information, i.e. S-N data gained from failure specimens, are shown to be distributed more closely to the fatigue life region of interest.