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During the running of automobile, the stabilizer bar is frequently subjected to the impact of complex random loads, which is prone to fatigue failure and accident. In regard to this, the purpose of this paper is to study and discuss fatigue life of automobile stabilizer bar.

Durability bench test shows that failure is located at the joint of sleeve and stabilizer bar body. Based on the collection and compilation of micro-strain load spectrum of the stabilizer bar, the strain-life model is studied considering the influence of average stress and maximum stress at failure area. Seven-grade strain-life curves of the stabilizer bar are established. According to the principle of linear damage accumulation, the relationship between fatigue life and damage is discussed, then the fatigue life of stabilizer bar is predicted. Fatigue life evaluation is carried out from three aspects: reliability analysis, static analysis and fatigue life simulation.

The results show that the reliability of the test sample is 99.9 percent when the confidence is 90 percent and the durability is 1,073 load spectrum cycles; the ratios of predicted and simulated life to design life are 2.77 and 2.30, respectively.

Based on the road load characteristics of automobile stabilizer bar, the method of fatigue life prediction and evaluation is discussed, which provides a basis for the design and development of automobile chassis components.

The purpose of this paper is to present the author’s method of conservative load spectrum (LS) derivation and close-proximity LS extrapolation applying a correction for measurement uncertainty caused by too low sampling frequency or signal noise, which may affect the load histories collected during the flying session and cause some recorded load increments to be lower than the actual values.

Having in mind that the recorded load signal is burdened with some measurement error, a conservative approach was applied during qualification of the recorded values into 32 discrete load-level intervals and derivation of 32 × 32 half-cycle arrays. A part of each cell value of the half-cycle array was dispersed into the neighboring cells placed above by using a random number generator. It resulted in an increase in the number of load increments, which were one or two intervals higher than those resulting from direct data processing. Such an array was termed a conservative clone of the actual LS. The close-proximity approximation consisted of multiplication of the LSs clones and their aggregation. This way, the LS for extended time of operation was obtained. The whole process was conducted in the MS Excel environment.

Fatigue life calculated for a chosen element of aircraft structure using conservative LS is about 20%–60% lower than for the actual LS (depending on the applied value of dispersion coefficients used in the procedure of LSs clones generation). It means that such a result gives a bigger safety margin when operational life of the aircraft is estimated or when the fatigue test for an extended operational period is programed based on a limited quantity of data from a flying session.

This paper presents a proposal for a novel, conservative approach to fatigue life estimation based on the short-term LS derived from the load signal recorded during the flying session.

The purpose of this paper is to present a study on methods for load spectrum (LS) determination and extrapolation, basing on data obtained from experiments.

A sequence of loads registered in flight becomes an object of analysis aimed to calculate full cycles of loads, and on this basis two possible types of LS are determined, i.e. as the transfer array, or in classic form (as the plot presenting appearances of load increments, called “incremental load spectrum”). While the use of incremental LS enables just application of deterministic extrapolation methods, the transfer array enables application of the stochastic method of extrapolation that consists of random redistribution of the transfer array cell values.

The paper presents a comparison between the results of application of deterministic or stochastic extrapolation methods. Attention was focused on the LS registered during thermal flights. The stochastic extrapolation method is less conservative than the deterministic ones, and enables better adjustment of estimated LS to the reality.

The novel extrapolation method consists of cumulation of the results of stochastic redistribution of the values in transfer array obtained from the experiment.

Engineering components/structures are usually subjected to complex and variable loads, which result in random multiaxial stress/strain states. However, fatigue analysis methods under constant loads cannot be directly applied to fatigue life prediction analysis under random loads. Therefore, the purpose of this study is how to effectively evaluate fatigue life under multiaxial random loading.

First, the average phase difference is characterized as the ratio of the number of shear strain cycles to the number of normal strain cycles, and the new non-proportional additional hardening factor is proposed. Then, the determined random typical load spectrum is processed into a simple variable amplitude load spectrum, and the damage in each plane is calculated according to the multiaxial fatigue life prediction model and Miner theory. Meanwhile, the cumulative damage can be calculated separately by projection method. Finally, the maximum projected cumulative damage plane is defined as the critical plane of multiaxial random fatigue.

The fatigue life prediction capability of the method is verified based on test data of TC4 titanium alloy under random multiaxial loading. Most of the predicting results are within double scatter bands.

The objective of this study is to provide a reference for the determination of critical plane and non-proportional additional hardening factor under multiaxial random loading, and to promote the development of multiaxial fatigue from experimental studies to practical engineering applications.

This review aims to give a critical view of the wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue in railway bogie.

Vibration fatigue of railway bogie arising from the wheel/rail high frequency vibration has become the main concern of railway operators. Previous reviews usually focused on the formation mechanism of wheel/rail high frequency vibration. This paper thus gives a critical review of the vibration fatigue of railway bogie owing to the short-pitch irregularities-induced high frequency vibration, including a brief introduction of short-pitch irregularities, associated high frequency vibration in railway bogie, typical vibration fatigue failure cases of railway bogie and methodologies used for the assessment of vibration fatigue and research gaps.

The results showed that the resulting excitation frequencies of short-pitch irregularity vary substantially due to different track types and formation mechanisms. The axle box-mounted components are much more vulnerable to vibration fatigue compared with other components. The wheel polygonal wear and rail corrugation-induced high frequency vibration is the main driving force of fatigue failure, and the fatigue crack usually initiates from the defect of the weld seam. Vibration spectrum for attachments of railway bogie defined in the standard underestimates the vibration level arising from the short-pitch irregularities. The current investigations on vibration fatigue mainly focus on the methods to improve the accuracy of fatigue damage assessment, and a systematical design method for vibration fatigue remains a huge gap to improve the survival probability when the rail vehicle is subjected to vibration fatigue.

The research can facilitate the development of a new methodology to improve the fatigue life of railway vehicles when subjected to wheel/rail high frequency vibration.

The ultimate aim of the stress calculation of aircraft structures is to reduce the frequency of defects in service to an acceptably low level. If this is to be done without undue structure weight the design loads, the factors of safety and the allowable stresses must be chosen with great care. In principle, there must be some relation between the probability of failure and the design strength. On a new design this function is always unknown and the designer must rely on experience of previous aircraft to guide his judgment. However, the required service life and the expected conditions of service, including temperature effects, vibration, etc., must be foreseen and taken into consideration.

In this paper, the C80 special coal gondola car was taken as the subject, and the load test data of the car body at the center plate, side bearing and coupler measured on the dedicated line were broken down to generate the random load component spectrums of the car body under five working conditions, namely expansion, bouncing, rolling, torsion and pitching according to the typical motion attitude of the car body.

On the basis of processing the measured load data, the random load component spectrums were equivalently converted into sinusoidal load component spectrums for bench test based on the principle of pseudo-damage equivalence of load. Relying on the fatigue and vibration test bench of the whole railway wagon, by taking each sinusoidal load component spectrum as the simulation target, the time waveform replication (TWR) iteration technology was adopted to create the drive signal of each loading actuator required for the fatigue test of car body on the bench, and the drive signal was corrected based on the equivalence principle of measured stress fatigue damage to obtain the fatigue test loads of car body under various typical working conditions.

The fatigue test results on the test bench were substantially close to the measured test results on the line. According to the results, the relative error between the fatigue damage of the car body on the test bench and the measured damage on the line was within the range of −16.03%–27.14%.

The bench test results basically reproduced the fatigue damage of the key parts of the car body on the line.

SEVENTEEN papers were presented during the three days of the conference on a variety of topics affecting fatigue in aircraft structures. The conference was organized under the joint auspices of the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University, and the Air Research and Development Centre, U.S.A.F., Baltimore.

The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of the author’s method of fatigue properties assessment of polymer composite structures, especially structures having nodes of concentrated force introduction (NCFI) using fatigue test data of coupons of similar composites and the ratio of their structural stress rate factors.

Basing on fatigue properties of pure composite shells coupons subjected to cyclic loads, and basing on the static strength difference between pure composite shells and shells having the structure affected by NCFI – (considered here as not only a manner of load introduction but also a kind of structural discontinuity), a method of relative fatigue properties reduction (RFPR) was developed. In the RFPR evaluation process, the author used the results of experiments on a special type of an NCFI named “a labyrinth non-adhesive node of concentrated force introduction” (LNA-NCFI) applied in certain composite gliders for fitting glider wings with the fuselage and also referred to design directives relating to primary structure of composite gliders, which are presented in the form of lightness factors linking stress with a structural mass.

The result of RFPR method application matched well with the results of fatigue tests of the LNA-NCFI type of a NCFI. The RFPR method may significantly facilitate the estimation of fatigue life of a structure with a structural discontinuity or an NCFI.

The RFPR method may significantly facilitate the estimation of fatigue life of a structure with a structural discontinuity or an NCFI.

The paper presents a proposal of a novel simplified method for fatigue life estimation of composite structures having a kind of structural discontinuity or an NCFI.

This paper aims to present some aspects associated with the life prediction of structures with fatigue cracks growing from small natural discontinuities in aluminium alloy (AA)7050‐T7451 for a surface condition that is present in F/A‐18 A/B aircraft critical structure.

Fatigue results are presented for thick section AA7050 plate coupons loaded with a representative fighter aircraft wing root bending moment loading spectrum. Detailed quantitative fractography (QF) was used to gain a deeper understanding of issues relevant to an improved fatigue life predictive capacity for this material by using the QF results to investigate the “effectiveness” of the fatigue initiating discontinuities.

Estimates of the “effectiveness” of the fatigue initiating discontinuities as quasi pre‐existing fatigue cracks (“equivalent pre‐crack size” (EPS) here) were made with the aid of a simple crack growth model. This model, based on experience, was found to be valid for the applied spectrum and stress levels used. These stress levels were chosen to represent those that may be found in highly stressed locations of fighter aircraft; and as such would usually lead to the limiting fatigue life of such a structure.

The method has been extended to other crack growth situations and is being used to build a database large enough to determine the best probability distribution of the “effectiveness” of the fatigue initiating discontinuities for not only the surface condition reported here but several other surface conditions typical of aircraft metallic structure.

The EPS of the discontinuities from which the cracks grew were used to investigate distributions that may be used in a risk‐based assessment using deterministic crack growth measurements from such discontinuities. Some of the problems that remain to be resolved in such an analysis, prior to its use in a risk‐based assessment are discussed.

This work improves the understanding of the interaction of small fatigue cracks generated by representative loading spectra with the small discontinuities from which they grow and shows that the fatigue process is remarkably consistent down to very small sizes.