Ratcheting is a phenomenon, which is defined as the accumulation of deformation or strain with cycles. When a piping component is subjected to a force-controlled cycle, deformation may accumulate in the component (global ratcheting), or when a point in a component is subjected to a stress-controlled cycle, strain may accumulate at that point (local ratcheting). It has been demonstrated experimentally that ratcheting may cause structural instability (global failure) or fatigue failure (local failure) of a component. The ratcheting phenomenon has been know to researchers from the turn of the twentieth century, but the implication of the phenomenon to safe design of a structure is yet to be fully explored. One main reason of lagging behind in this area is the general belief of the phenomenon of shakedown, which is defined as the complete cessation of ratcheting after few cycles.