Computer aided fatigue design

This paper investigates the integrating of commercially available software packages (finite element analysis and fatigue life evaluation) to assess the integrity and durability of engineering components at the design stage. A forged steering has been used as a basis for this investigation. The stress field obtained from a 3-D F.E.A. was reduced to an equivalent uni-axial stress-strain using yield criteria. This was incorporated into both an energy density and Neuber's approach to plot a number of load-local strain curves for the calibration of a strain-time service history. Crack initiation tests were performed using multi-axial fatigue testing machine and were then compared with a fatigue life assessment software package.