Derivation of Palmgren Miners linear damage rule from Paris equation

Derivation of Palmgren Miners linear damage rule for parts where the lifetime is only
governed by crack growth i.e. no crack initiation is considered:
Assumption:
If the following load spectrum is applied to a part which lifetime is governed only by the crack
growth phase, fatigue failure will exactly occur:
-

n1 loads of magnitude 1

nj loads of magnitude j

nk loads of magnitude k

Now it is possible to express the relation between the number of load cycles for the individual
stress ranges and the corresponding crack growth, using the principles of LEFM. In order to do
this the expression for Paris equation is required:

d
d
=
=

()

which for constant can be written as:

=

() 2

Using this expression along with the load spectrum makes it possible to express the relation
between the number of load cycles, nq, and corresponding stress, q that will make the crack
grow from aq-1 to aq:
1 =

(1 ) 2

( )

In these expressions ai and af are known quantities whereas aj after the jth load application is
not known explicitly (but could be solved for if needed).
Using the expression for Np for constant enables the calculation of the lifetimes, nfat,q,
obtained if the part was subjected only to the individual stress ranges, q, during its entire
lifetime, i.e. the individual integrations are carried out from ai and af:
,1 =

(1 ) 2

, =

, =

( ) 2

Now that all the, nfat,q and , nq have been calculated it is possible to determine the damage, ,
that will just lead to fatigue failure:

=
=1

This leads to:

1 d

(1 ) 2
2
d
1

2
(1 ) 2
1

Which can be simplified to read:

+ +

,1

+ +

2
2
1

2
2
1

+ +

++

1
d

1
2
2
d
1

2
2


d
1

1
d

1
1
(
)

2
2

=
++
+ +

d
d
d
1
1
1

(1 )
( )

2
2
2
1
1
(1 )

It is important to notice that all the stress ranges are in fact effective stress ranges i.e. q=
q,eff, since effective values of Keff are being used in Paris equation, thus:
=

and

Now the result of the summation of the integrals can be investigated from:
1) There are no interaction effects, meaning that the material does not have memory.
2) There are interaction effects, meaning that the material does have memory.
If there are no interaction effects: Then previous loading cycles will not have any effect on the
subsequent loading. This means that the stress ranges in both the nominator and the
denominator are identical leading to:

=
or

+ +

+ +

2
d

2 = 1
d

So, it has been proved that when there are no interaction effects, then at the time of
fatigue failure = 1.

If there are interaction effects: Then previous loading cycles will have an effect on the
subsequent loading. This was illustrated by the fatigue experiment containing the single
overload, which was shown to increase the lifetime of the test specimen. In this situation, when
interaction effects are present, the stresses in the denominator and the nominator of the
previous sum of integrals, are not identical. The stresses, when they act alone in the entire
lifetime are denoted as q,eff,const and the stresses from the general load spectrum are denoted
as q,eff,spectrum, so we finally arrive at:

1,,

1,,

,,
,,

=
d
d


++
++

1
,, 1
,,
2
2
2

2
d

This expression cannot be simplified further, since in general q,eff,spectrum q,eff,const when
interaction effects are present. In these cases 1 at the time of failure.
In most practical situations, interaction effects are present, meaning that the detail has some
kind of memory. The effect of previous loads on the subsequent fatigue behavior of the
component will, however, be limited provided that loads in the spectrum are randomly
distributed since positive and negative large loads can rule out each other to a certain degree.
So, in spite of the interaction effects the value of may often be close to unity but large
deviations from this value may occur.
These facts does not exclude the use of the Palmgren Miner linear damage rule for practical
purposes. The reason is, that if the value of have been determined either by experiments or is
known from experience, this value of can be used later on for assessing similar parts loaded
by similar spectra.