endurance limit
The endurance limit refers to the most extreme stress that may be applied repeatedly to a material without causing any possibility of failure over an infinite number of loading cycles; this is an important consideration in fatigue design and analysis with reference to metals undergoing cyclic or fluctuating stresses for a very long time.
Key Features:
- Fatigue Indicator: Fatigue is the material's ability to withstand repeated stress below some threshold without cracking or breaking.
- Material-Specific: While many ferrous metals, such as steel, exhibit a definite endurance limit, non-ferrous metals, such as aluminum, do not.
- Caution Applied in Design: It finds traction in the engineering design of components that may otherwise experience fatigue failure; examples include axles, springs, and rotating shafts.
The endurance limit is so important to the reliability and safety of parts being subjected to repeated loading. Some of these parts, for instance, will experience cyclic-stress environments in automotive engines/aircraft components and industrial machinery. Designing below the endurance limit ensures that the parts can practically be kept working for longer periods without running the risk of developing fatigue cracks.