Reliability analysis of fatigue life for polymethyl methacrylate with edge joint structure

A low cycle fatigue life model was put forward based on bending experiment results of polymethyl methacrylate edge joint structures. Using this model, the reliability of the polymethyl methacrylate edge joint structure was analyzed by software MSC MARC. The material properties and fatigue load amplitudes were considered as random factors. The Monte-Carlo method and the forth moment method were utilized to get the fatigue life reliability of the polymethyl methacrylate edge joint structure under low cycle fatigue loading conditions. Comparing the two methods, it is found that the results are approximate with shorter analysis time for the forth moment method. Therefore, it is more suitable for reliability analysis of the polymethyl methacrylate edge joint structure. The parameter sensitivity was also analyzed with the mean value and standard deviation. The load amplitude is found to be the major factor.