Integration of Fatigue Analysis and Laboratory Simulation Requirements in the Field Data Acquisition Process

One of the most challenging aspects of a ground vehicle design project is the acquisition of fatigue service history for subsequent use in laboratory simulation tests and fatigue life analyses. This paper addresses the trade-offs involved in selecting data sampling rates for purposes of frequency domain characterization versus those for amplitude preservation in the time/cycle domain for fatigue life analysis. Fatigue life predictions on representative data are presented using tools designed to integrate the analysis and testing aspects of the mechanical engineering process.