In fatique design of mechanical components and systems there are two main variables: the loading of the component and its strentgh. The ultimate goal of the manufacturer is to make a design that meets the wishes of the customers, i.e. neither too weak nor too strong. Therefore one needs to know the expected economical life.
In order to do so the manufacturer has to understand the properties of the loads and the mechanical behaviour of the material and its structure.

The goal of this study is the development of a guide to load data analysis.
We want to present and to further the understanding of the mathematical and statistical tools in load data analysis.
Our studies include:

• How many prototypes need to be tested? At what test duration?
• Either many short or few long tests?
• How to analyse the test results?
• Required statistical confidence level?
• Are different suppliers producing the same quality?
• Is it possible to expand a components homologation to a modified version?
• etc.

Especially these points ought to be included in the guide:

• Design of technical survival data and fatigue life experiments
• Data analysis with selected algorithms
• Graphical data reduction
• Consideration of small sample sizes
• Usage of all information coming from censored data
• Calculation of continuative experiments in case of refused homologation
• Analysis of variance