Rapid determination of fatigue life based on temperature evolution

•We propose a rapid approach based on the temperature evolution to determine high cycle fatigue life.•There is only one parameter in the proposed model and the parameter is material and temperature dependent.•We construct a temperature measurement system based upon high-precision semiconductor temperature sensors.

This paper presents an approach to rapidly predict high cycle fatigue life based on the temperature evolution of a specimen under cyclic loading. The initial slope of the temperature evolution was proved as an indicator for rapid estimation of fatigue life theoretically. Meanwhile, a real-time temperature measurement system based upon high-precision semiconductor temperature sensors was developed to detect the temperature evolution based upon high-precision semiconductor temperature sensors. In order to verify the presented approach, constant-amplitude fatigue tests were carried out on A7N01 aluminium alloy and the welded joints, respectively. The predicted fatigue life based on proposed approach was in good agreement with experimental results.