System and method for generating a combined model for isothermal and anisothermal fatigue life

A system for generating a combined model for isothermal and anisothermal fatigue life of a material subject to cyclic loading, the system comprising:

• a testing unit configured and operable for performing a plurality of strain-controlled fatigue tests on the material, the testing unit comprising:
• a load determining device for determining a normalized load on the material for each test, wherein the normalized load is a function of a plurality of instantaneous load levels determined at different points in time during the test, and wherein each instantaneous load level is determined by normalizing a measured instantaneous stress at a respective point in time with a temperature dependent property of the material wherein the temperature dependent material property has a value which corresponds to an instantaneous temperature of the test at the respective point in time;
• a measurement device for measuring a number of cycles to occurrence of crack initiation in the material corresponding to the normalized load of each test;
• wherein the testing unit is configured to generate test data comprising the determined normalized load and the measured number of cycles to occurrence of crack initiation;
• and
• a modeling device configured and operable for processing the test data generated from the plurality of strain-controlled tests for generating a combined lifetime model defining a response of the number of cycles to occurrence of crack initiation to the normalized load.