11. Conclusion

In a number of cases, fatigue can be decisive for the dimensions and design of the structure and/or its constructional details.

However, it should not be forgotten that it may be pointless to impose certain requirements if a simple increase in thickness, for example, costs less and satisfies the fatigue test: it's all –– a question of means.

A corollary to the service life problem is the determination of inspection times and maintenance decisions for these details. Such a problem can be tackled using reliability theory and economic maintenance optimizations. But that's another subject.