The approach for determining the residual lifeofthe vehicles’thin-walled metal elements with cracks under the action of cyclic loads and corrosive environment isdevelopedbased on the first law of thermodynamics and the fracture mechanics principles. Based onthe results of the mathematical description of electrochemical reactions and separate data of fracturemechanics, the equation describing the kinetics of thecorrosion-fatigue cracks propagation is deduced. This equationand the initial and final conditionsarea mathemat-ical model for determining the residual lifeof structural elements.The correctness of the developed analyticalmodels is confirmed by the experimental data known in the litera-ture. The performance of this modelis demonstrated on the example of determining the residual life of a plate made of 17G1Ssteel. The plate wasdiluted by a crack in a 3% NaCl solutionandsubjected to cyclic loading.An increase in the initial size of corrosion-fatigue cracksis significant to reducethe period of their subcritical growth
