Functional data analysis for assessing the fatigue life of construction equipment attachments

In construction machinery, attachments, such as buckets and breakers, that are mounted on the equipment convert the fluid energy of the construction machine into impact energy, vibration energy, etc., depending on the purpose. To ensure the reliability of such attachments under repeated or excessive stress, the fatigue life of the structure must be evaluated in terms of strength and rigidity. The present study focused on symmetric structures. A functional analysis was performed on the field data obtained from the construction machine with an attached vibration hammer, and the fatigue life of the symmetric bracket was assessed. The results were used to develop an accelerated fatigue-life test algorithm for the prediction and health management. Residual-useful-life prognostics of basic data in the prediction of life and failure of attachments used in construction machinery as well as the integrity management of their symmetric structures.