Originally Posted by dragonwlkr

I recall some 20 years or so back about 20 people died over that theory, applied to the real world.

It was a large power catamaran that ran a taxi service around the Bahamas. The hulls were connected by a series of large steel I beams, well maintained with paint etc, and deemed such serious overkill at to give the boat the highest commercial rating. But the stress cycles built up over time (many years), and there was a series of popping noises that every beam broke off before they figured out what the sound was ( maybe three minutes ) and they suddenly were two boats sinking where there had been one before.

Only a couple people survived to tell the story and it was quite a lot of comment at the time, but I came away with a lot of respect for repeated stress, and the need to spread it out and not allow it to focus. Also sudden shocks to a rigid system produce stresses thousands of times greater than if there is a shock absorber (a main reason for inflated rubber tires).

To that end I am investigating linear fiberglass rod or tubing for the long bits with attached stainless tips to allow for flexing and take a bit of harshness out of the ride on a tadpole trike. If anyone has tried this, I would like to hear about the results.