Special Issue "Advances in Service Fatigue Life Evaluation and Extension of Joint Details in Metallic and Composite Structures"

Dear Colleagues,

Structural joints often provide engineers with an economical technique for maintaining the desired function and freedom in metallic and composite structural design and development. Structural joints should be designed to fulfil the intended level of safety, serviceability, and durability and the ability to not only withstand the stresses provided for them, but also attain sufficient service life in the global analysis of the structures. However, the degradation of joint-induced structural deterioration or failure by aging inevitably exist when the discontinuity of rigidity and stress concentration at the structural joint make it ready to initiate and propagate fatigue cracks. Facing escalating costs for newly built infrastructures and economic downturn, the ways to extend the lives of the older structures well beyond their intended design life have become is a subject about which the engineering community have become increasingly concerned. To this purpose, the retrofit of structural joints has witnessed a considerable progress from earlier external mechanical strengthening to recent surface treatment and fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) laminate alternatives. This aspect is of particular interest to researchers in civil, mechanical, and aeronautical engineering involved in both the basic and applied research of structural joints related to experimental techniques, fracture mechanics, and fatigue assessment.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to gather updated information about the advances in service life evaluation and retrofitting of structural joints as key parts of making structures with the reliability and durability desired. The loading scenarios include high-cycle fatigue, low-cycle fatigue, and post-fatigue. Contributions are welcomed regarding our primary interest in the following topics: recent developments about the experimental techniques applied to the estimation of fatigue crack growth rate and deterioration progress; current state of knowledge relating to the geometric effects (notches, fillets, etc.); environmental and physical factors in the progressive lifetime deterioration of structural joints based on theoretical and numerical approaches; and finally, methodology in the suppression of fatigue crack growth and optimization of fatigue resistant structures. However, studies related to any other engineering materials and structures employed in fatigue approaches, fracture mechanics, and experimental techniques are also highly suitable regarding the aims and scope of this Special Issue.

Dr. Zhi-Yu Wang
Dr. Takeshi Hanji
Guest Editors

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• high-cycle fatigue, low-cycle fatigue, ultra-low cycle fatigue
• post-fatigue examination
• fatigue crack growth
• three-dimensional shape measurement
• fatigue life assessment and extension
• fatigue strength improvement
• repair and retrofitting
• in-plane bending and out-of-plane bending
• theoretical and numerical approaches
• progressive damage
• hot spot stress, residual stress
• surface treatment
• fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) laminate