1. A method in a computer system for estimating a number of life cycles a component having a defect can experience before failure, the component being subjected to an operating temperature and an operating stress during operation, the defect being definable by a defect dimension, the method comprising: providing a temperature range comprising a plurality of temperature index values, a stress range comprising a plurality of stress index values, and a dimension range comprising a plurality of dimension index values; providing a plurality of index value data sets, wherein each index value data set comprises one temperature index value, one stress index value, and one dimension index value; determining life cycles estimates for a plurality of the index value data sets; selecting two temperature index values that bracket the operating temperature, two stress index values that bracket the operating stress, and two dimension index values that bracket the defect dimension; determining a temperature interpolation factor based on the two bracketing temperature index values and the operating temperature, a stress interpolation factor based on the two bracketing stress index values and the operating stress, and a dimension interpolation factor based on the two bracketing dimension index values and the defect dimension; and determining a life cycles estimate for the component having the defect based on the temperature interpolation factor, the stress interpolation factor, the dimension interpolation factor, and a plurality of the index value data set life cycles.