The application of a statistical fatigue life prediction method to agricultural equipment

Abstract The derivation of the statistical expression for the fatigue life at a welded connection is outlined which requires only constant amplitude stress/life data and the standard deviation and ruling frequency of the stress history. The expression has been used to predict fatigue lives from wide-band stress histories from an agricultural soil cultivator. Standard deviations varied from 5 to 26 MPa and ruling frequencies from 10.7 to 20.1 Hz. A comparison with the rainflow cycle-by-cycle prediction method shows good agreement.