FATIGUE BENCHMARK REPOSITORY (FABER)

TÜBİTAK - AB COST Projesi , 2024 - 2028

Fatigue damage is the key factor in 80-90% of in-service failures of structural components. In any design, it

is essential to be able to estimate the potential fatigue damage safely and expertly. Commercial fatigue

solvers are program tools dedicated to allowing even a not very expert user to perform a straightforward

fatigue life prediction. However, the fatigue damage process is very complex. It involves a large number

and a large range of variables. The computation process is based mostly on empirical experience.

Currently-used fatigue solvers are based on experimental evidence acquired during first two thirds of the

20th century. Although very many experiments have been conducted in the meantime, the computational

basis has remained fixed, and little effort has been dedicated to a redefinition. The lack of interest of

academia in the topic, the tendency of fatigue solver developers to implement computational strategies

without understanding the problem adequately, the use by inexperienced and inexpert users, and final

warranty denial for the results of fatigue solvers have led to a critical mass of problems, which can be

marked as a loss of responsibility. Our project focuses on preparing a database of experimental fatigue

data, which will be easily accessible for creating benchmark sets. Users from academia and from

engineering sectors will be able to adopt the data quickly for testing various prediction hypotheses and

various computational tools. An open-source fatigue software will be prepared. Only such joint action can

restore a responsible attitude for the computational results presented by fatigue solvers.