In recent years there has been significant progress in the theoretical aspects of fatigue life prediction. Coincidentally, a significant increase in the amount of computing power per dollar has become available. These factors have created tremendous interest in reliable, easy-to-use software to facilitate the fatigue analysis process.
Structural Dynamics Research Corporation, SDRC1, has performed many strain gauge test projects since its inception in 1967 and has used computers in experimental stress analysis since 1974. However, our first widely distributed, commercially available fatigue analysis program did not become available until recently.
This paper reviews the development of the requirements for this software package, documents the basic approach used in the software architecture, and documents the method used to validate the software.