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Abstract Building S-N curves for materials traditionally involves conducting numerous fatigue tests, resulting in a time- consuming and expensive experimental procedure that can span several weeks. Thus, there is a need for a more efficient approach to extract the S-N curves. The primary purpose of this research is to propose a reliable approach in the framework of thermodynamics for the rapid prediction of fatigue failure at different stress levels. The proposed method aims to offer a simple and efficient means of extracting the S-N curve of a material. A method is introduced based on the principles of thermodynamics. It uses the fracture fatigue entropy (FFE) threshold to estimate the fatigue life by conducting a limited number of cycles at each stress level and measuring the temperature rise during the steady-state stage of fatigue. An extensive set of experimental results with carbon steel 1018 and SS 316 are conducted to illustrate the utility of the approach. Also, the efficacy of the approach in characterizing the fatigue in axial and bending loadings of SAE 1045 and SS304 specimens is presented. It successfully predicts fatigue life and creates the S-N curves. The effectiveness of the approach is evaluated successfully for different materials under different loading types. The results show that the temperature rise is an indicator of the severity of fatigue and can be used to predict life. 

A method for detecting low-velocity impact damage in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is presented. It involves the use of the Impulse Excitation Technique (IET) and hysteresis loops to calculate the damping parameter of T700/NCT304-1 carbon/epoxy samples subjected to various low-velocity impact energies. The value of the coefficient of restitution (COR) is determined for each impact, ranging between 0.62 for the lowest impact energy to 0.48 for the highest one. The results reveal that a three-step increase in the damping parameter exists in all cases as the impact energy on the specimen increases. An abrupt jump in the damping parameter value is observed for impact energies exceeding ∼0.9 of the material's maximum capacity. Overall, at the highest impact energy equal to 3.65 J, the damping parameter increased by 43.3% compared to the pristine specimen. Additionally, two cases of cyclic tension-tension loading were applied to the specimens, with maximum stresses set at 150 MPa and 200 MPa. The measured values of plastic and elastic strain energy were used to determine the damping ratios. For both cases, the damping of the specimen subjected to the highest impact energy was ∼1.2 times greater than that of an intact specimen, with an increase pattern similar to the findings of the IET method. Optical microscope images of the specimens are provided to illustrate various damage modes observed in the composite materials. 

A reliable approach based on an entropy-damage model for assessing remaining useful fatigue life is presented. Two damage models are presented and evaluated to assess their effectiveness in predicting remaining useful life. The first model focuses on reduced toughness caused by fatigue degradation, while the second is based on accumulating entropy during fatigue loading. The entropy-based approach employs infrared thermography to anticipate entropy accumulation and damage status. Outcomes reveal that the entropy-driven technique offers enhanced precision. Moreover, its damage growth rate remains consistent, regardless of the number of cycles leading to failure, ensuring a more stable tracking of damage evolution. It successfully predicts the remaining useful life and can treat variable load sequencing without knowing the loading history. An extensive set of experimental results with carbon steel 1018 are presented to illustrate the utility of the approach.