The continuum damage mechanics for the fatigue damage caused by elastic deformation was briefly introduced and applied to the fatigue damage of the bolts under the condition of cyclic elastic loading. The material parameter for damage analysis was first determined so that it could reproduce the life span under the tensile loading in the vicinity of fatigue limit. Then the life span under the bending condition was evaluated with the determined parameter. The results agree qualitatively with the generally observed life span of bolts. It was shown based on this work that parameter refinement will make the continuum damage mechanics more effective for the life span prediction of the materials used in railway systems.

Copyright (c) 2001 Railway Technical Research Institute