AdvancedTopics FatigueStudiesandPropertiesLecture FatigueStudiesAndProperties.

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Fatigue Studies and Properties

Fatigue Analyses determine the log life of a component under cyclic loading.

Model with Cyclic Loading

Fatigue Analysis LectureNotes

Fatigue Analyses In a static analysis it is assumed that the load is constant with time and will never change. Analyzing a model under static loads usually involves determining the stresses and comparing the output to models yield limits or other failure criteria. Thin metal components (for example, wire or sheet metal) can be broken by repeatedly bending them back and forth. However, for models that experience intermittent or oscillating load, failure can occur even if the stress never exceeds the elastic limit. This mode of failure is known as fatigue. It is almost impossible to detect any progressive changes in material behavior during the fatigue process, so failures occur often without warning. In addition, periods of rest, with the fatigue stress removed, do not lead to any measurable healing or recovery. There are several engineering applications in which fatigue failure is relevant. A gear mounted on a shaft exerts a normal force (among others) that bends the shaft. If the shaft rotates, then the tension and compression sides of the bending are being reversed with each rotation. If an airplane takes off the fuselage is subjected to low pressures in high cruising altitudes and then returns back to atmospheric pressure upon landing. Fatigue is a major concern for the majority of engineering applications. Fatigue is a function of the material, the surface finish, the model geometry, and the loads the model is subject to. In order to analyze a fatigue analysis in Mechanica, you not only have to create a fatigue analysis, but you also have to enter fatigue properties for the material used. When defining fatigue properties for a material, the following information is required:

Tensile Ultimate Strength: The Ultimate Tensile Strength for the material needs to be entered. This information needs to be obtained for the specific alloy being used. Material Type: Your can select from Unalloyed Steels, Low Alloy Steels, Titanium Alloys, and Aluminium Alloys. Surface Finish: Define the surface finish of the model. For Titanium and Aluminium alloys, results are only reliable for the Polished surface finish option. Fatigue Strength Reduction Factor: If the part contains unmodeled features that can cause stress concentrations (for example, welds), then you can account for them here. This factor is commonly known as Kf in external references. Features such as notches, slots, and grooves are not included in this factor because they are already part of the model geometry. If there are no unmodeled features that can cause a stress concentration, then enter a value of 1.0.

When defining a Fatigue Analysis in Mechanica, the following options are available:

Desired Endurance: Enter the number of cycles the component is expected to endure before failure. Constant Amplitude Loading: Use this option if the load amplitude is constant. You can select Peak-Peak or Zero-Peak. Peak-Peak is for applications in which the load completely reverses directions, such as a rotating shaft that is subject

to bending. Zero-Peak indicates that the load is intermittent; the load is applied and then removed, and then applied again. Variable Amplitude Loading:You can define, in steps, the profile for a single cycle of the load. The values should be normalized so the maximum value is 1.0. Calculate Factor of Safety: When the fatigue life on the model is greater than the desired endurance, Mechanica will calculate a factor by which the load may be increased without failing before the desired endurance.

Best Practices When determining the desired endurance of the part, you typically will follow an inhouse guideline or industry standard. However, if that is not available, you must give some thought as to the period of time each loading cycle takes, and how many cycles the component should be expected to perform in its lifetime. Therefore, an aircraft fuselage that is designed to last 50,000 cycles (landings and take offs) could be sufficient for the life of the aircraft. But if the crank shaft of a car was designed to last 50,000 cycles, then failure would occur in a matter of minutes. Because of the exponential nature of fatigue, many associated quantities are expressed in logarithms. When the log life of a model is reported to be 4, this means that the model is expected to last 104 = 10,000 cycles before failure. Similarly, the log damage is the ratio between the log of the accumulated fatigue cycles and the log of the number of cycles to failure. Finally, the fatigue analysis is not intended to replace the methods, tools, and expertise of fatigue specialists. It is intended to provide the engineer with a tool that can quickly compare alternatives, investigate changes or trends, and avoid poor designs. FatigueStudiesandPropertiesDemonstration FatigueStudiesAndProperties_demo.mp4 FatigueStudiesandPropertiesProcedure

Procedure: Fatigue Studies and Properties

Scenario
The model being analyzed is a brake component. The fatigue load is the torque created by the disc (not included in the model) when the brakes are applied. Though the brakes can be applied when the vehicle is in reverse (hence the torque being in the opposite direction), this is assumed to be negligible when compared to the number of instances when it is applied with the vehicle moving forward. In this procedure, the user will create a material with fatigue properties, and a fatigue analysis.

caliper_hanger

caliper_hanger.prt

Task 1. Create a material with fatigue properties.

1. Click Applications > Mechanica. Every fatigue analysis requires a static analysis to be defined. The analysis has already been defined for this model.

2. Click Materials Model list.

and Add Material

to add AL2014.MTL to the Materials in

3. Right-click AL2014 in the Materials in Model list, and select Properties. 4. Complete the Material Definition dialog box.

For the Tensile Ultimate Stress, type 480 and verify the units drop-down menu to the right of this field is set to MPa. Change the Fatigue option from None to Unified Material Law (UML). For the Material Type, select Aluminium Alloys. The Surface Finish should be kept at the default Polished setting. Set the Failure Strength Reduction Factor to 1.

5. Click OK to accept the changes and then OK again to close the materials dialog box. 6. Select Material Assignment and assign AL2014 to the part by clicking OK.

Task 2. Create a fatigue analysis.

1. Click Mechanica Analyses/Studies and then click File > New Fatigue.

2. Type Caliper_Fatigue in the Name field. 3. Set the desired endurance to 2e+07 cycles. This means the component should last 20 million applications of the brake.

4. Select Constant Amplitude for the Loading Type, if required. 5. Select Zero-Peak for the Amplitude Type, if required.

6. Click OK to create the analysis.

Task 3. (OPTIONAL) View the Log Life results.

1. Run the analysis defined in Task 2. 2. Once the analysis is complete, highlight the fatigue analysis and click Results 3. Select Fatigue for the Quantity and Log Life for the Component, if necessary. 4. Click OK and Show. .

The majority of the model appears to have a log life of 20, which means that 1020 cycles will pass before a crack initiates. Some parts of the model have a log life of 3.378, which means that fatigue failure could begin after 103.378 = 2388 cycles or brake applications. From this result the engineer might consider changing the geometry in that area.

5. When you are through reviewing the results, click File > Exit Results > No to leave the results mode. 6. If necessary, return to the Standard Pro/ENGINEER mode by clicking Applications > Standard. 7. Click Save from the main toolbar and click OK to save the model. 8. Click File > Close Window from the main menu. 9. Click File > Erase > Not Displayed > OK to erase the model from memory. This completes the procedure.