The postion and the length of surface micro-crack has random properties. It is difficult to detect the progressive changes in surface micro-crack distribution that occur during fatigue stressing. In this paper to overcome this problem, fractal dimensi...
The postion and the length of surface micro-crack has random properties. It is difficult to detect the progressive changes in surface micro-crack distribution that occur during fatigue stressing. In this paper to overcome this problem, fractal dimension was introduced to characterized the change in two-dimensional surface micro-crack distribution during fatigue process. Box counting method was adopted to measure the fractal dimension. The features of surface micro-crack growth and coalescence have fractal property. Fractal dimension increases with the number of cyclic load. Remaining fatigue life of mechanical components can be predicted by the relation between fractal dimension and cycle ratio to fracture. Therefore, we proposed complex system design that uses fractal dimension in material design and structure design and safety estimation.