Overrecentyears,thestudyofstatisticalmethodsappliedtofractureandfatigueof
materialshasescalated.Manyexperimentalprogrammeshavebeeninitiatedto
supply'real'data,uponwhichestimatesoffailureprobabilitiesmaybebased.There
isawealthofpublishedliteraturewhichthispaperattemptstocover.
Foreasyreference,thepapershavebeenclassifiedwherepossibleintobroad
categories.Initially,workofamoregeneralnatureisreviewed.Theproblemsof
inputdataarediscussedwithparticularreferencetotheflawdistribution,the
reliabilityofnon-destructivetesting,thefracturetoughnesspropertiesofthe
materialunderconsiderationandthegrowthofdefectsbyfatigue.
Applicationshavebeenespeciallyplentifulwherehighintegrityisrequired,suchas
inthepressurevesselandoff-shoreindustries.Thisisreflectedbythelargequantityof
literature.Finally,asectionisdevotedtorelevantmathematicaltechniques. |