An engineering point of view about fatigue of polymer matrix composite materials

High performance polymer composite materials reinforced by long fibres have a reputation for good fatigue behaviour. Let us note, in connection with the above statement, that the substitution of metals by composite materials is a success for aeronautical applications. However, fatigue of composite materials is still an important problem for an engineering point of view, because its nature is basically different of fatigue of metals. This paper is devoted to a comparison of fatigue damage between metals and composite materials.