ME 571 Reliability in Engineering Design:

Module 18.3: Time-to-Failure Models for

Mechanical Systems - Examples
Ganesh Subbarayan
Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering
Purdue University
 Example 1
An industrial cooling system is to be designed for heavy load
applications. An array of rotating fans are arranged in a compact
matrix. The system will be operational with high uptime. The compact
arrangement results in tight clearance (Δ𝑥) between the rotating
blades and the enclosure. The rotating blades are each modelled as a
unit mass (𝑀 = 0.4 𝑘𝑔) at the end of a massless rod (𝑅 = 12 𝑐𝑚
long, cross sectional area 𝐴 = 3 𝑐𝑚2 ). The designed operational
speed of the rotating blades is 3200 revolutions per minute (rpm). The M
designer is worried that the tensile stress in the small diameter
connecting rod (during normal operation) may be excessive and creep
Δx
will eventually cause the blades to contact with the enclosure walls
causing the component to fail. To test his hypothesis, the engineer
decided to use accelerated testing and subjected the component to R
accelerated operation at 9500 rpm for an extended period of time. The
component failed in 23 hrs, because of creep.

G. Subbarayan, Purdue Univ. ME 571 Reliability in Engineering Design 2

Assume the following material properties for the alloy connecting rod:
tensile strength σTS = 0.85 GPa, modulus E = 78 GPa, a negligible yield
point, and a stress dependence power-law exponent of n=5.
a) Find the stress in the connecting rod during 9500 rpm accelerated
operation.
b) Find the stress in the connecting rod for the expected normal 3200 rpm
operation.
c) Given that the component lasted 23 hrs at 9500 rpm, how long would
the component last during normal operation at 3200 rpm?

G. Subbarayan, Purdue Univ. ME 571 Reliability in Engineering Design 3

 Example 2
A bolted outdoor basketball post is subject to a cyclic stress at the base
plate due to sway caused by wind. For the first half of the cycle, one side is
under tension and the opposite side is under compression. The roles are
reversed in the second half of the cycle.

Cyclic Loading

G. Subbarayan, Purdue Univ. ME 571 Reliability in Engineering Design 4

Accelerated testing is done on the base plate to ensure that the posts don’t fail in use.
During testing, a cyclic load with amplitude 200 MPa and mean 0 MPa was applied. The
life of the post during testing was 5,000 cycles. Assume a power law exponent 𝑛 = 5.
The material used has tensile strength of 300 MPa and has no defined yield strength.

• Find an estimate for the cycles to failure in a use case with load amplitude 60 MPa
and load mean 0 Mpa, i.e., by ignoring the load due to the overhanging structure

• Find an estimate for the cycles to failure with load amplitude 60 MPa and load mean
25 MPa due to the board being fixed to the overhanging structure

G. Subbarayan, Purdue Univ. ME 571 Reliability in Engineering Design 5