A new iteration method for the thermographic determination of fatigue limit in steels

This paper presents a new thermographic method based on an iteration procedure for the determination of the fatigue limit of materials and components. This method is utilised to determine the fatigue limit of a mild steel Fe 510. Standard and notched specimens with semicircular notch have been fatigue tested by means of alternate symmetric (tension-compression) loads. The thermographic results have been compared to the corresponding obtained by means of a different thermographic method available in literature. These results have also been compared to those obtained by means of the Staircase Method or calculated by means of UNI Standard. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.