Beyond Miner's Rule: Free Energy Damage Equivalence

In this paper, we extend the concept of damage which was original developed empirically by Miner using the concept of thermodynamic work and free energy. We first explain the equivalency of free energy to damage. Then we develop ways to measure the free energy in products to help assess the amount of damage that a product can experience prior to failure. The main approach is to use product's ultimate work energy. Although Miner's rule and the cumulative damage concept is typically thought of as specific for cyclic work, we note that in most cases, damage accumulates during a product useful life prior to failure.