Fatigue testing is an important characterization method in materials science and structural engineering, as many critical components in aerospace, automotive, and energy applications are subjected to cyclic loading throughout their service life. Reliable fatigue life prediction is essential for ensuring structural integrity, minimizing failure risks, and extending product longevity. In the context of advancing circular economy principles and life cycle engineering, the efficient and accurate assessment of fatigue of structural materials plays a crucial role in reducing resource consumption across product development and operation. This paper presents a novel methodology named Hysteresis-Life, which enables rapid fatigue capability prediction based on a single constant amplitude fatigue test. The approach enables the derivation of full S-N curves through analysis of stabilized hysteresis loops in the final fatigue cycles, effectively eliminating the need for multiple specimen tests. The method corrects stress-strain data for modulus degradation due to fatigue damage, ensuring accurate determination of cyclic stress-strain parameters. It was validated on two aluminum alloys, demonstrating excellent agreement between the calculated S-N curves and those obtained through conventional experimental methods. By minimizing testing resources and enabling faster material evaluation, this methodology contributes to sustainable engineering design and life cycle optimization, supporting the transition toward circular manufacturing ecosystems.
Koch et al. (Thu,) studied this question.