Fatigue Life Prediction An applicative case on IVECO Tector vehicle

The objective of this paper is to show an applicative case study in Fatigue Life Prediction applied on an Iveco component. The full process concerning Virtual Fatigue Analysis will be considered: experimental acquisition of input acceleration multi body approach to determine the input fatigue load finite element method to calculate stresses, strains and correlate to measurements acquired during the test Fatigue Life estimation Design optimisation Starting from the proving ground tests, the acquisition inputs were acquired using a prototype vehicle having the correct characteristics regarding the relevant components. The vehicle was updated with accelerometer sensors and strain gauges in order to obtain input applied accelerations and subsequent strain levels. Using the acceleration experimental as virtual input, a Multi Body model of the system was developed and used for the load time history calculation. Clearly, fine tuning of the model is required using the accelerometer mounted on the loaded component in order to verify the correctness of the model. At this point it is possible carry out the next step, that of evaluating the stress levels on the relevant component with a Finite Element model and comparing this to the data acquired on the proving ground. All the information required to evaluate the component fatigue life is available and, where necessary, suggest new design proposals for an improved result. This work also includes a continuously evolving methodology for fatigue life prediction that allows optimisation of time and quality of the final result.