Fatigue life predictions of notched members in Arabian Gulf water

The use of empirically developed procedures in fatigue life predictions is current practice for notched members under the joint action of mechanical loads and a corrosive environment. A simple model has been investigated where the total fatigue life of a notched member is considered to be the sum of: crack initiation, and crack propagation lives.;An experimental program was performed in an attempt to determine the fatigue properties of a modified Al-2.5 Mg aluminum alloy under constant amplitude cyclic loading. Testing environments include laboratory conditions and Arabian Gulf water. Fatigue life predictions were compared with experimental data of central notched specimens. Good correlation between the analytical predictions and experimental data was observed.;The local strain approach has been employed for the crack initiation life estimates. LEFM concept using Paris relationship was used for fatigue crack propagation life estimates. It is shown that the influence of the corrosive environment on fatigue life can be incorporated by determining the relevant material properties in the environment and at the frequency of interest.