← All parts of this equation

Equation 20 · Part 8 · Why Materials Fail: Fracture, Flaws and the Inspection Interval

change

dadN=C (ΔK)m.\frac{\mathrm{d}a}{\mathrm{d}N} = C\,(\Delta K)^{m}.
change

What this part means

Capital delta attached to a quantity marks a difference between two values of that quantity; the article’s sign convention determines the order.

Its job in the formula

Capital delta attached to a quantity marks a difference between two values of that quantity; the article’s sign convention determines the order.

The passage around this formula

The governing correlation is empirical. Paris and Erdogan proposed that crack growth per cycle depends on the range of the stress intensity factor over the cycle: dadN=C (ΔK)m\frac{\mathrm{d}a}{\mathrm{d}N} = C\,(\Delta K)^{m}. The parameters C and m are fitted, not derived, and depend on environment, frequency, temperature and stress ratio. A mechanics review that proposes a generalised form of the law opens by conceding that “fatigue life prediction is still very much an empirical art rather than a science”, and notes that the power law holds only in an intermediate regime, deviating near the threshold below which cracks do not propagate and again in the fast-growth stage approaching final fracture [ 6 ] . The same review sets out…

Read this part in the article →

Learn the underlying idea

Addition combines quantities; subtraction measures the signed difference between them. Parentheses show what is combined before the rest of the expression is evaluated.

Open the illustrated addition and subtraction in an equation guide →

Sources cited in the surrounding passage

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.