---
title: Fatigue & Fracture Mechanics Services | Fidelis Aerospace
description: Fatigue analysis, fracture mechanics, crack-growth analysis, flaw assessment, and structural-life engineering for spaceflight hardware.
---

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## *Fatigue & Fracture Mechanics Services*

# Specialized fatigue and fracture engineering for spaceflight hardware

Fidelis Aerospace provides fatigue analysis and fracture mechanics engineering for space hardware developers, manufacturers, suppliers, and engineering teams.

Work is scoped around the hardware decision in front of you and may include fatigue-life prediction, fracture mechanics, crack-growth analysis, flaw assessment, residual-strength evaluation, and the supporting stress or finite element analysis needed to establish a defensible result.

[Request a Technical Discussion](https://www.fidelisaerospace.com/technical-discussion?hsLang=en)

## Fatigue Analysis

Evaluate repeated loading to estimate structural life, identify fatigue-limiting details, understand sensitivity to mission usage, and support design, test, and qualification decisions.

- Stress-life and strain-life analysis when appropriate data are available.
- Load spectra, cycle counting, mean-stress effects, and cumulative damage.
- Local stress and strain evaluation for fatigue assessment.
- Notch, joint, and detail fatigue analysis.
- Life sensitivity to loads, material data, geometry, surface condition, and assumptions.
- Fatigue substantiation and analysis-test correlation.
- Evaluation of mechanical, thermal, and combined cyclic loading.

[Fatigue Analysis Services](https://www.fidelisaerospace.com/services/fatigue-analysis?hsLang=en)

## Fracture Analysis

Evaluate cracks, flaws, defects, and other fracture-critical conditions to understand crack growth, criticality, residual strength, and structural life.

- Stress-intensity factor and fracture-mechanics analysis.
- Fatigue crack-growth and life prediction.
- Critical flaw-size assessment.
- Residual-strength evaluation.
- Assessment of assumed initial flaws and manufacturing defects.
- Evaluation of discovered cracks, anomalies, and nonconformances.
- Fracture mechanics supporting spaceflight fracture-control activities.

[Fracture Analysis Services](https://www.fidelisaerospace.com/services/fracture-mechanics?hsLang=en)

## Supporting engineering methods

Fatigue and fracture problems frequently require supporting analysis to establish the stresses, strains, load paths, or local structural response that govern life or crack growth.

Fidelis applies the engineering methods needed to solve the fatigue or fracture problem, which may include:

- Classical stress and structural analysis.
- Finite element analysis.
- Global-local modeling and submodeling.
- Local stress and strain extraction.
- Elastic and elastic-plastic analysis.
- Thermal and mechanical stress analysis.
- Contact and joint analysis.
- Analytical and numerical stress-intensity solutions.
- Computational modeling and custom engineering calculations.

Structural analysis and finite element analysis are treated as supporting methods rather than standalone services.

## One structural life problem may require several methods

A fatigue or fracture assessment rarely begins and ends with a single calculation.

A typical problem may require loads and stress analysis to establish the local structural response, fatigue methods to estimate life under repeated loading, and fracture mechanics to determine how an assumed or existing flaw may grow.

Fidelis scopes the work around the engineering decision and applies only the methods needed to establish a technically defensible answer.

## Spaceflight hardware and program contexts

Fidelis focuses primarily on hardware developed for space applications, including:

- Spacecraft structural components and subassemblies.
- Payload structures and supporting hardware.
- Propulsion-system hardware and supporting structures.
- Mechanisms, joints, fittings, brackets, housings, and attachments.
- Pressure-system and fracture-critical metallic hardware.
- Additively manufactured and advanced-manufacturing hardware.
- Prototype, development, test, qualification, and flight hardware.
- Reusable spaceflight hardware subject to repeated mission loading.
- Metallic structures and other materials where appropriate methods, data, and expertise are available for the defined scope.

## Why space hardware teams engage Fidelis

- The hardware presents a specialized fatigue or fracture mechanics problem.
- Internal teams need additional fatigue or fracture capability.
- A crack, flaw, defect, or manufacturing anomaly requires engineering assessment.
- Structural life or crack growth must be established for a design or mission requirement.
- Test results do not agree with analytical predictions.
- A senior independent review is needed before a critical technical decision.
- The program needs specialized analysis without adding a permanent fatigue or fracture specialist.
- Existing methods are insufficient for an unusual loading condition, material, geometry, or manufacturing process.

## How scope is established

Fidelis does not sell standardized analysis packages.

Scope is developed from the hardware, configuration, loading environment, mission or service life, materials, manufacturing process, available test data, existing analyses, technical requirements, program phase, decision to be made, and documentation expectations.

The initial technical discussion is used to determine fit, identify the information needed, and define the most useful analysis path.

### Not sure whether the problem is fatigue or fracture?

Start with the hardware and the engineering question.

Fidelis can help determine whether the problem is primarily fatigue life, fracture mechanics, crack growth, flaw assessment, or an integrated structural-life problem requiring several analytical methods.

[Request a Technical Discussion](https://www.fidelisaerospace.com/technical-discussion?hsLang=en)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is the difference between fatigue analysis and fracture mechanics?

Fatigue analysis typically evaluates structural life under repeated loading and may predict the number of cycles or missions associated with fatigue initiation or another defined life criterion.

Fracture mechanics begins with an assumed or existing flaw and evaluates quantities such as stress intensity, crack growth, critical flaw size, residual strength, and remaining structural life.

Depending on the hardware and engineering question, both approaches may be required.

### Does Fidelis perform finite element analysis?

Yes. Finite element analysis is one of the engineering methods Fidelis uses when needed to solve a fatigue or fracture problem.

FEA may be used to determine local stresses and strains, resolve complex load paths, evaluate thermal-mechanical response, or provide inputs to fatigue and fracture calculations. It is not offered as a standalone general-purpose service.

### Does Fidelis perform structural analysis?

Yes, when structural analysis is required to support a fatigue or fracture assessment.

Classical mechanics, stress analysis, joint analysis, local-detail calculations, and other structural methods may be used to establish the inputs needed for structural-life or fracture calculations. General strength substantiation is not the primary focus of the practice.

### Does Fidelis perform damage-tolerance analysis?

Fidelis specializes in fatigue and fracture mechanics rather than aircraft damage-tolerance and inspection-program development.

Fracture mechanics, crack-growth analysis, critical flaw assessment, and related engineering may be performed when they support a spaceflight fracture-control or structural-life requirement.

### Can Fidelis evaluate manufacturing defects or anomalies?

Yes. Fracture mechanics and fatigue methods can be used, where appropriate data and methods are available, to evaluate the significance of cracks, defects, manufacturing anomalies, nonconformances, or assumed initial flaws. 

### Can Fidelis perform only part of a larger analysis program?

Yes. Fidelis can perform a defined fatigue or fracture task, develop supporting calculations or models, perform a crack-growth assessment, independently review client-generated work, support test correlation, or contribute specialized analysis within a larger client-controlled program. 

### What information is needed to begin?

A useful initial summary includes the hardware and configuration, the engineering question or requirement, mission or service-life requirements, available geometry and material data, loading information, manufacturing information where relevant, existing calculations or test evidence, and required documentation.

Sensitive technical data should not be submitted through the website contact form.

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Fatigue & fracture mechanics for space hardware

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