Continuum damage mechanics application in low-cycle thermal fatigue

In this article, a fatigue model for low-cycle thermal fatigue formulated in a continuum damage mechanics framework is presented. The model is based on a unified damage law presented by Lemaitre for low-cycle fatigue, which has been extended to low-cycle thermal fatigue. The temperature dependencies of material parameters are considered in the damage evolution integration to take the non-isothermal condition of loading into account. This model considers the stress triaxiality and non-linearity of damage evolution, and it is developed to a fatigue damage accumulation rule in which the load sequence effect is also included. The stabilized structural response under thermomechanical loading motivates the use of uncoupled analysis approach making the model a fast tool suitable for design purposes in the costly and time-consuming field of thermomechanical fatigue life assessment. To demonstrate the capability and ease of use of this model for real industrial applications, the low-cycle thermal fatigue life of a stainless steel engine exhaust manifold which is in an early stage of design is assessed.