Theory 213/Bridges/Ratio lens
Bearing Life Is Load Against Capacity
The claim
Bearing life is set by the ratio of applied load to rated capacity raised to a power, so modest overloads consume life disproportionately.
01Mechanism
Fatigue damage accumulates with load to an exponent above one; the ratio determines the rate.
02Prediction
Life should fall sharply above a ratio of one.
03Refutation
Life tracking load linearly would remove the exponent.