Material fatigue

10/24/16

“What happens when a material is subjected to multiple loads in a period of time?”

 

We all know that materials respond to loads through deformation. But what happens when a material is subjected to a heavy amount of cyclical loads? Well, let’s think about it like engineers. We know that when a material experiences a large amount of stress, microscopic cracks begin to appear in it’s structure. And we also know that if the structure continues to withstand more damage, then these cracks will be exacerbated until a rupture occurs. This effect (termed by engineers as material fatigue) can cause a structure to collapse even if the applied stress is far below the yield point.