Predictors of fatigue damage accumulation in the neighborhood of small notches

• A new predictor of damage accumulation for small surface features is presented.
• The predictor proposed by Peterson is shown to be a special case of the new predictor.
• The predictor is calibrated and validation is performed outside of the range of calibration.
• The ranking of predictors with reference to available data is illustrated by an example.

The effects of small notches on the predicted fatigue life of mechanical and structural components are examined. It is shown that the classical results of Neuber, Peterson and others can be interpreted to mean integral averages of stresses or strains over small volumes that depend on the solution of a problem of elasticity. This interpretation permits generalization of those results to cases that lie outside of the range of parameters considered in conventional mechanical design. Examples are presented.