Effect of residual stresses on the fatigue behaviour of welded joints depending on loading conditions and weld geometry

The structural durability of welded structures is determined by the interaction of different influencing parameters such as loading mode, spectrum shape, residual stresses and weld geometry among others. Examples from plant, offshore, transportation and automotive engineering show how these parameters influence the fatigue life and to what extent they are considered in design codes. Especially, under spectrum loading, the stress decreasing effect of tensile residual stresses is not as high as under constant amplitude loading; this knowledge benefits light weight design. The overloads harmed only the low strength joints under pulsating bending. In all other cases investigated, with low, medium and high-strength steels, a significant decrease of fatigue life was not observed; on the contrary, significant improvement of fatigue life could even be observed. However, a systematic interaction with material strength, loading mode and residual stresses was not apparent.     

Frame weight and anti-fatigue co-optimization of a mining dump truck based on Kriging approximation model

In order to reduce frame redundant weight caused by the traditional experience design and delay the crack initiation occurrences at local positions during early service period, a structural weight and lifetime co-optimization method for frame of a mining dump truck based on Kriging approximation model was proposed. Considered as the most sensitive factor to the frame fatigue life and weight, the thickness of several steel plates was chosen as design variables in terms of un-allowed change of structure shape, while achieving weight reduction and improving fatigue life were together regarded as the optimization targets. An experiment design with 20 sample points obtained by the Latin hypercube sampling method was conducted to figure out the sensitivity of design variables, whose response values were acquired through repeated simulations. Those data were supposed to set up the approximation model constructed based on the Kriging interpolation technique and its fitting precision was certified by comparison of the finite element computational results and the approximation model calculated ones. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) was utilized to optimize the thickness of the steel plates based on the approximation model. The tolerance between the results of the simulation and the approximation model was less than 1% when using the optimal design variables and the weight of the optimized frame was lessened by 22.3% while the minimum fatigue life and maximum static stress were only decreased by 3.8% and 4.6%, compared with the initial frame. These optimized results were acceptable for frame lightweight almost without expense of fatigue life and static strength.     

具有单向离合器的多楔带附件驱动系统旋转振动建模及参数优化设计

建立有单向离合器装置的三轮-多楔带附件驱动系统的非线性旋转振动数学模型。用Gear数值算法求解从动轮与张紧臂的角度波动。计算结果表明,有单向离合器装置时从动轮与张紧臂的角度波动、各带段的动态张力、带-轮间的滑移率等系统动态特性均明显减小。计算、研究单向离合器弹簧刚度的大小、附件轴与从动轮转动惯量比的大小对系统动态特性的影响。以张紧臂角度波动、单向离合器弹簧扭矩、带-从动轮间的滑移率最小为优化目标,建立单向离合器弹簧刚度和附件轴转动惯量两参数优化设计数学模型。结果表明,优化后的系统参数,三轮-多楔带传动系统的动态特性均得到一定程度的改善。文中单向离合器装置三轮-多楔带传动系统的建模、动态特性求解及参数优化设计方法,为发动机前端附件驱动系统的旋转振动控制提供参考。     

Characterization of Cut-Edges for Improved Automotive Chassis and Suspension Fatigue CAE Life Predictions

The durability of safety-critical automotive vehicle steel structures has been observed to be influenced significantly by the condition of the component??s cut-edge properties. The importance of the mechanical cut-edge properties on structural durability has been observed due to surface imperfections generated during the cutting process. These then become the preferred initiation sites for fatigue cracks due to the increased intensity of stress applied to a structure. The current work outlines the development of an improved finite element (FE)-based life prediction method, based on strain-life fatigue data of S355MC steel cut-edges. The resulting best method of predicting fatigue lives of cut-edges using the Coffin?CManson method has been determined as providing the best means for predicting the durability of high strength steel components. This process has been validated using a bespoke laboratory test component representative of those in automotive chassis and suspension assemblies. The outcome of this work is that it allows increased reliance on FE life predictions rather than extensive physical laboratory testing.     

Failure Analysis and Design Optimization of the Steady Rest Hanger Rod Pipe Assembly

This article investigates the failure of the steady rest hanger rod pipe assembly weld joints of an automotive exhaust system. Rig testing of the exhaust system showed the presence of crack at the steady rest hanger rod and brace weld joints. Metallurgical investigation was performed in order to determine the root case of failure and contribution factors. Metallurgical analysis methods included visual examination, thickness measurements, optical and scanning electron microscopy, chemical analysis of the material and weld evaluation. A CAE analysis was performed to simulate the rig test. Finite element simulation of the system also showed high damage at the steady rest hanger and brace weld locations. A DOE study was conducted to identify the design variables that could impact the dynamic response of the system like the thickness of the parts, the weld characteristics of joints, etc. Design changes were proposed; to improve the fatigue life of steady rest hanger rod pipe assembly based on the results of DOE-based study. The new design was analyzed using finite element analysis and compared with the original design for fatigue life, which showed a considerable improvement in the durability of the joint.     

The influence of porosity on the fatigue life for sand and permanent mould cast aluminium

The automotive industry always strives to achieve light weight components to reduce fuel consumption and to meet environmental requirements. One way to obtain weight reduction is to replace steel components with components made of aluminium or other light weight materials. Aluminium has good corrosion properties and a high strength to weight ratio which makes it favourable in many applications. The increased use of aluminium castings in the automotive industry does also imply that the need for design data for aluminium increases. Especially for castings, the influence of casting defects are always an issue. For this reason fatigue properties for as-cast sand and permanent mould specimens with different contents of porosity have been studied.

Sand cast and permanent mould cast aluminium specimens of two different geometries were fatigue tested in cyclic bending at R = −1. Prior to fatigue test specimens were examined by X-ray and sorted into three quality groups depending on the porosity level. The aim of this work was to investigate the fatigue life for sand cast and permanent mould cast AlSi10Mg with different amounts of porosity. An additional aim was to predict the largest defect contained in a specified volume of a component, by using a statistical analysis of extreme values, and relate it to the fatigue life.

The results showed that fatigue strength for a smooth specimen geometry decreases by up to 15% with increased porosity. For specimens with a notched geometry, no influence of porosity on the fatigue strength was found. This is believed to be due to a much smaller volume subject to high stress than for specimens with low stress concentration.     

Fatigue life estimation of ultrasonic spot welded Mg alloy joints

Lightweight magnesium alloys are increasingly used in automotive and other transportation industries for weight reduction and fuel efficiency improvement. The structural application of magnesium components requires proper welding and fatigue resistance to guarantee their durability and safety. The objective of this investigation was to identify failure mode and estimate fatigue life of ultrasonic spot welded (USWed) lap joints of an AZ31B-H24 magnesium alloy. It was observed that the solid-state USWed joints exhibited a superior fatigue life compared with other welding processes. Fatigue failure mode changed from interfacial failure to transverse-through-thickness crack growth with decreasing cyclic load level, depending on the welding energy. Fatigue crack initiation and propagation occurred from both the notch tip inside the faying surface and the edge of sonotrode indentation-footprints due to the presence of stress concentration. A life prediction model for the spot welded lap joints developed by Newman and Dowling was adopted to estimate the fatigue lives of the USWed magnesium alloy joints. The fatigue life estimation, based on the fatigue crack growth model with the global and local stress intensity factors as a function of kink length and the experimentally determined kink angle, agreed fairly well with the obtained experimental results.     

Analysis of manufacturing effects on fatigue failure of an automotive component using finite element methods

In this study, the fatigue life of an automotive suspension component was analysed using finite element methods with regard to stamping and welding effects. Because automotive suspension components are produced by forming and welding sheet metal, there are various effects on the final product, such as uneven thickness distribution, residual stresses and weld notches. Manufacturing effects may change the mechanical performance of the automotive components; therefore, it is desirable to consider these effects in the early design stage. Residual stresses due to work hardening and thermal deformation were investigated through process simulation. The redistribution and relaxation of residual stresses in a component were investigated in fatigue life analysis under a cyclic loading condition. Various equivalent relaxation curves were investigated and one was selected after comparisons with test results. The fatigue simulation results were compared to the test results; a good correlation between the two was achieved for the residual stress effects in terms of life cycles and failure locations. The simulation results also show that welding produces more detrimental effects than stamping with regard to the fatigue life of a component.     

Numerical analysis of wheel cornering fatigue tests

In automotive engineering, the wheels are one of the most critical components and their function is of vital importance n human safety. The cornering fatigue test is one of the traditional durability tests for wheel prototype verification. In this paper, a bi-axial load–notch strain approximation for proportional loading is proposed to estimate the fatigue life of a passenger car wheel during the cornering fatigue test under plane stress conditions. The elasto-plastic strain components are calculated analytically using the total deformation theory of plasticity. The input for the load–notch strain analysis is the measured or calculated plastic strain state at the notch together with the materials stabilised cyclic stress–strain curve evaluated with unnotched tension specimens. The damage accumulation is based on the Palmgren–Miner rule. The methodology is implemented in a program called “Metal Fatigue Prediction and Analysis” (MFPA). The life prediction of a passenger car wheel during the cornering fatigue test is performed. The results of the analysis is compared with two cornering tests on the same design. The result is very encouraging and the application of the developed MFPA program provides time and the cost savings in the analysis of wheel cornering fatigue tests.     

Bending fatigue behaviour of bearing ropes working around pulleys of different materials

Nondestructive quantitative detection and artificial detection were carried out to study bending fatigue behaviour and failure mechanisms of wire ropes. When working around nylon pulleys, wire ropes exhibit a slowly increasing of fracture rate and total damage in one lay length. The bending fatigue life of wire ropes is twice longer than that of ropes working around steel pulleys. The primary failure mode of wire ropes working around nylon pulleys is fatigue fracture and the fracture surfaces of wires exhibit a wide crack propagation zone and narrow tear zone.     

Stress-Based Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis Using Methods Described in FKM-Guideline

The process of prevention of failure from structural fatigue is a process that should take place during the early development and design phases of a structure. In the ground vehicle industry, for example, the durability specifications of a new product are directly interweaved with the desired performance characteristics, materials selection, manufacturing methods, and safety characteristics of the vehicle. In the field of fatigue and durability analysis of materials, three main techniques have emerged: nominal stress-based analysis, local strain-based analysis, and fracture mechanics analysis. Each of these methods has their own strengths and domain of applicability??for example, if an initial crack or flaw size is known to exist in a structure, a fracture mechanics approach can give a meaningful estimate of the number of cycles it takes to propagate the initial flaw to failure. The development of the local strain-based fatigue analysis approach has been used to great success in the automotive industry, particularly for the analysis of measured strain time histories gathered during proving ground testing or customer usage. However, the strain life approach is dependent on specific material properties data and the ability to measure (or calculate) a local strain history. Historically, the stress-based fatigue analysis approach was developed first??and is sometimes considered an ??old?? approach??but the stress-based fatigue analysis methods have been continued to be developed. The major strengths of this approach include the ability to give both quantitative and qualitative estimates of fatigue life with minimal estimates on stress levels and material properties, thus making the stress-based approach very relevant in the early design phase of structures where uncertainties regarding material selection, manufacturing processes, and final design specifications may cause numerous design iterations. This article explains the FKM-Guideline approach to stress-based uniaxial fatigue analysis. The Forschungskuratorium Maschinenbau (FKM) was developed in 1994 in Germany and has since continued to be updated. The guideline was developed for the use of the mechanical engineering community involved in the design of machine components, welded joints, and related areas. It is our desire to make the failure prevention and design community aware of these guidelines through a thorough explanation of the method and the application of the method to detailed examples.     

Analytical durability modeling and evaluation—complementary techniques for physical testing of automotive components

As a result of the commercial pressure new methods of durability evaluation have to be explored, automotive suppliers are now being asked to develop new components and subsystems in shorter times and using fewer physical prototypes. The need for the verification of the existing methods for the durability assessment have been increasing and this turns out to be the only way to propose new computational models to validate the final product within these reduced time scales and resources. The paper reviews some of the computational aspects of fatigue damage analysis and life prediction, and a practical fatigue evaluation tool is presented to meet this challenge. The computational methodology based on the local strain approach is described in detail for the fatigue damage assessment of metallic components under general multiaxial fatigue loads. The application of the proposed methodology is illustrated with an industrial example; the numerical simulation of biaxial cornering tests of light-alloy wheels is conducted, and correlations between the cornering test cycles and predicted cycles using different damage models are provided and comparisons in terms test failure locations and estimated crack initiation sites are given.     

Failure Analysis and Robust Optimization of an Exhaust Manifold Diffuser Plate

Diffuser plates in exhaust system manifolds are designed to provide uniform flow pattern within the manifold for maximum utilization of the catalytic converter substrate during high-temperature applications. In this paper, failure analysis of a diffuser which survived only 20% duration of a manifold crack test and various design optimization studies of the diffuser plate using computer-aided engineering (CAE) analyses are presented. During the manifold crack test, the failure occurred at the inner and outer periphery of the diffuser. Metallurgical failure analysis coupled with CAE thermal fatigue analysis of the component concluded that thermal fatigue was the root cause of the failure. The new recommended robust design showed considerable improvement in the thermal durability of the diffuser plate assembly.     

Fatigue tolerant design of steel components based on the size of large inclusions

Fatigue failures in high strength steel components often originate from large, brittle inclusions. The durability of the components is strongly dependent on the size of the inclusions and the magnitude of the local stresses caused by the applied loads. A successful design must consider both the size and the number of large inclusions as well as the stress distribution arising from the geometry and loading of the component. This paper presents a new approach to the safe fatigue design of steel components based on the size distribution of large inclusions in a component with a given stress distribution. The procedure is illustrated using the example of the stress distribution around a hole in a plate, with the size of large inclusions in a large volume of steel estimated by the Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) method. It is found that the single largest inclusion is unlikely to lie in a highly stressed volume, but that the more frequently occurring slightly smaller inclusions contribute more to the probability of a fatigue failure. Knowledge of the shape of the size distribution over a range of large sizes, not solely that of the largest size, is therefore essential. The new approach offers a quantitative measure of the improvement in durability to be expected from reduction of the design stress range of a component and from improvements in steel cleanness.     

Neue Methoden zur Beurteilung der Betriebsfestigkeit im Fahrzeugauslegungs‐ und ‐absicherungsprozess

Advanced durability evaluation in vehicle design and validation process The modern process of evaluation and validation conducted in the automotive industry uses experimental, metrological, and calculation‐based methods. Offering various examples, the present paper describes new developments in the determination and evaluation of operating strength, particularly in terms of virtual methods and their application in practice. The first point considered is the virtual determination of load data, the second is the improvement of calculated fatigue life. Two current examples in the development of methods are presented in this context: The first example examines the inhomogeneity of materials in calculating aluminium castings. The second example describes the approach taken in the configuration of components made of short‐fibre‐reinforced polymers, applying a new method of calculation.     

汽车悬架稳定杆连杆支架的疲劳仿真分析及结构优化

针对某型车辆常规耐久性试验过程中稳定杆连杆支架出现断裂的问题,对稳定杆连杆支架进行疲劳寿命分析和结构优化.首先运用ANSYS软件建立稳定杆连杆支架的有限元模型;然后基于静态有限元疲劳分析方法对连杆支架进行强度分析计算,并依据强度分析结果对稳定杆连杆支架进行疲劳寿命预测分析;其次根据等强梁理论对稳定杆连杆支架进行结构优化,支架截面由原来的等截面改为变截面,并对优化后的结构进行疲劳寿命预测;最后通过疲劳台架试验和裂纹断口分析,验证仿真分析结果.通过台架试验和仿真结果的对比可以得出,稳定杆连杆支架优化前后其疲劳寿命预测准确,优化后结构疲劳寿命符合预期.     

Durability of automotive jounce bumper

This study was carried out to predict the durability of automotive car jounce bumper using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Fatigue life correlations were taken from literatures and it was incorporated into FEA codes. The simulated results were validated with experimental work. The FEA results showed good agreement with the experiment conducted on the jounce bumper in term of load–displacement response. In term of the durability of the component, the fatigue life predicted shows agreement at lower fatigue strains. However, the error becomes larger as the fatigue strains become higher. The differences between the predicted fatigue life and the experimental fatigue life were discussed. Finally, the predicted crack initiation side was also validated in the experiment.     

The needs of understanding stochastic fatigue failure for the automobile crankshaft: A review

This paper reviews the fatigue failure mechanisms for the automobile crankshaft under service loading through the stochastic point of view. Fatigue failure of crankshafts are reviewed in general, as it is a major concern due to the uncertainties that arise i.e. randomness in structural materials, the geometric shape of the component and randomness of service loads. There has been very little research carried out in assessing the fatigue failure using the stochastic process in predicting the fatigue life of crankshafts. This review paper discusses the durability aspects of the component and is followed by a review of the characteristics of loading and the stochastic fatigue failure effect on the components. In addition, the stochastic approach from empirical model aspect using a safe-life approach from the more recent advances in computational methods to assess stochastic fatigue failure was discussed and reviewed in the context of this paper. The integration between the empirical and probabilistic methods can be quantified using statistical models, which evaluate the damage that leads to fatigue and eventually fatigue failure. Hence, this review provides a platform for understanding the stochastic fatigue failure for an accurate predictive prediction on the structural integrity of components, especially in the automobile industry.     

Multiaxial fatigue behaviour of a short‐fibre reinforced polyamide – experiments and calculations

This paper deals with the fatigue behaviour of a short fibre reinforced thermoplastic under multi‐axial cyclic stress. Based on experimental results on notched and plain specimens, limits of existing methods for the fatigue life estimation in the design process of components exposed to complex multi‐axial loads were investigated. During the manufacturing process of short fibre reinforced thermoplastic components, a moderately anisotropic behaviour in stiffness and strength arises. Because of the material's anisotropy, classical failure hypotheses for the assessment of multiaxial load cases do not apply. In this study, a fatigue failure hypothesis was implemented that assesses the stress components in accordance with the correlating fatigue strengths in the material coordinate system, considering potential interaction between the stress components. Striving for a verified multi‐usable fatigue life assessment method, multiaxial load cases were examined experimentally. The experimental results on unnotched and notched specimens and the fatigue life estimation on the basis of the Tsai‐Wu‐failure hypothesis will be presented.     

Experimental characterisation of a CuAg alloy for thermo‐mechanical applications. Part 2: Design strain‐life curves estimated via statistical analysis

Strain‐life fatigue data on copper alloys, especially type CuAg, are seldom available in the literature. This work fills this gap by estimating the strain‐life curves of a CuAg alloy used for thermo‐mechanical applications, from isothermal low‐cycle fatigue tests at 3 temperatures (room temperature, 250°C, 300°C). Regression analysis is used to estimate the median fatigue curves at 50% survival probability. The comparison of median curves with the Universal Slopes Equation model, calibrated on monotonic tensile properties, shows a fairly good agreement. Design strain‐life curves with a lower failure probability and given confidence are estimated by several approximate statistical methods (“Equivalent Prediction Interval,” univariate tolerance interval, Owen's tolerance interval for regression). When higher survival probabilities are considered, the results show a marked decrease in the allowable design strain at a prescribed fatigue life. The suggested procedure thus improves the durability analysis of components loaded thermo‐mechanically.