Approaches to Model Structural and Contact Fatigue

Failures caused by structural and contact fatigue of materials are a key issue in modern industry. In order to ensure the safe use of mechanical components, a variety of fatigue modeling approaches have been developed. The first part of this article focuses on the modeling of traditional fatigue; by approaching fatigue problems from a fracture point of view, fatigue life models for crack initiation and propagation are introduced; also, fatigue life modeling based on damage accumulation parameters are presented. The second part of this article reviews contact fatigue modeling approaches; the description of the complex stress state under contact fatigue is given first, followed by a review of plasticity-based material behavior models for contact fatigue; then a number of contact fatigue life modeling approaches are presented and compared; finally, the modeling of microstructural alterations under contact fatigue is introduced. The advantages and limitations of the introduced fatigue models are discussed as well.