Fatigue Methodology - A Technical Management System For Helicopter Safety and Durability

Failure of materials from fatigue was not a problem before 1800. With the invention of the steam engine and the locomotives it powered, the industrial revolution started, and with it the advantages and frustrations in the use of rotating machinery. By 1850, when serious fatigue failures of locomotive axles were first experienced, a systems approach evolved for managing the interdisciplinary technologies that were required. It wasn't till about 1950 that the aircraft industry established systems management approaches for design to fatigue of aircraft structures.