Vibration fatigue

Vibration fatigue is a mechanical engineering term describing material fatigue,

caused by forced vibration of random nature. An excited structure responds
according to itsnatural-dynamics modes, which results in a dynamic stress load
in the material points.[1] The process of material fatigue is thus governed largely
by the shape of the excitation profile and the response it produces. As the
profiles of excitation and response are preferably analyzed in the frequency
domain it is practical to use fatigue life evaluation methods, that can operate on
the data in frequency-domain, such as power spectral density (PSD).
A crucial part of a vibration fatigue analysis is the modal analysis, that exposes
the natural modes and frequencies of the vibrating structure and enables
accurate prediction of the local stress responses for the given excitation. Only
then, when the stress responses are known, can vibration fatigue be successfully
characterized.
The more classical approach of fatigue evaluation consists of cycle counting,
using the rainflow algorithm and summation by means of the Palmgren-Miner
linear damage hypothesis,that appropriately sums the damages of respective
cycles. When the time history is not known, because the load
is random (e.g. a car on a rough road or a wind driven turbine), those cycles
cannot be counted. Multiple time histories can be simulated for a given random
process, but such procedure is cumbersome and computationally expensive.
Vibration-fatigue methods offer a more
effective approach, which
estimates fatigue life based on moments of the PSD. This way, a value is
estimated, that would otherwise be calculated with the time-domain approach.
When dealing with many material nodes, experiencing different responses (e.g. a
model in a FEM package), time-histories need not be simulated. It then becomes
viable, with the use of vibration-fatigue methods, to calculate fatigue life in many
points on the structure and successfully predict where the failure will most
probably occur.
Vibration-fatigue-life estimation
Random load description
In a random process, the amplitude cannot be described as a function of time,
because of its probabilistic nature. However, certain statistical properties can be
extracted from a signal sample, representing a realization of a random process.
An important characteristics for the field of vibration fatigue is the
amplitude probability density function, that describes the statistical distribution
of peak amplitudes. Ideally, the probability of cycle amplitudes, describing the
load severity, could then be deduced directly. However, as this is not always
possible, the sought-after probability is often estimated empirically.

Effects of structural dynamics

First natural mode of a cantilever beam.

Random excitation of the structure produces different responses, depending on
the natural dynamics of the structure in question. Different natural modes get
excited and each greatly affects the stress distribution in material. The standard
procedure is to calculate frequency response functions for the analyzed structure
and then obtain the stress responses, based on given loading or excitation. By
exciting different modes, the spread of vibration energy over a frequency range
directly affects the durability of the structure. Thus the structural dynamics
analysis is a key part of vibration-fatigue evaluation.
Vibration-fatigue methods
Calculation of damage intensity is straightforward once the cycle amplitude
distribution is known. This distribution can be obtained from a time-history
simply by counting cycles. To obtain it from the PSD another approach must be
taken.
Various vibration-fatigue methods estimate damage intensity based on moments
of the PSD, which characterize the statistical properties of the random process.
The formulas for calculating such estimate are empirical (with very few
exceptions) and are based on numerous simulations of random processes with
known PSD. As a consequence, the accuracy of those methods varies, depending
on analyzed response spectra, material parameters and the method itself - some
are more accurate than others.[4]
Applications
Vibration fatigue methods find use wherever the structure experiences loading,
that is caused by a random process. These can be the forces that bumps on the
road extort on the car chassis, the wind blowing on the wind turbine, waves
hitting an offshore construction or a marine vessel. Such loads are first
characterized statistically, by measurement and analysis. The data is then used
in the product design process.
The computational effectiveness of vibration-fatigue methods in contrast to the
classical approach, enables their use in combination with FEM software
packages, to evaluate fatigue after the loading is known and the dynamic
analysis has been performed. Use of the vibration-fatigue methods is well-suited,
as structural analysis is studied in thefrequency-domain.

Common practice in the automotive industry is the use of accelerated vibration

tests. During the test, a part or a product is exposed to vibration, that are in
correlation with those expected during the service-life of the product. To shorten
the testing time, the amplitudes are amplified. The excitation spectra used
are broad-band and can be evaluated most effectively using vibration-fatigue
methods.