In this paper, the weakest link approach has been used to estimate the fatigue life of threaded segment specimens based on fatigue test data of smooth specimens of the same material. The segment specimens are cut outs from an ACME threaded component with a thread geometry typically used in subsea connectors.
Fatigue life estimates of the threaded specimens were also made by means of the local stress approach which is often the prescribed method in standards and recommended practices, such as DNV-RP-C203. This method uses the von Mises stress range at the most severe location of the specimen when estimating the fatigue life.
The estimated S–N curve based on the weakest link approach shows good correspondence with fatigue test results of the threaded segment specimens. The estimated S–N curve based on the local stress approach is well below the S–N curve for the threaded segment specimen. A factor between two and three on stress is observed. Hence, the inherent level of conservatism related to the local stress approach when assessing the fatigue strength of components with very high stress concentration factors is considered to be high.