Application of thermoelectricity in fatigue of metals

An online approach is proposed to predict the fatigue life of metallic specimens under cyclic loading using the concept of thermoelectricity. The working principle of the methodology is described, and experimental results are performed with a fully reversed bending fatigue testing apparatus to evaluate the efficacy of the approach. Results are presented that correlate the measured thermoelastic potential for low‐carbon steel 1018 specimens measured via an infrared camera. It is shown that the application of thermoelectricity provides a practical methodology for early prediction of fatigue.