eBook-Fatigue Ebook

EBOOK
Learn Fatigue Analysis with Altair

OptiStructTM
© Altair Engineering, Inc. All Rights Reserved. / altair.com / Nasdaq: ALTR / Contact Us
eBook / Learn Fatigue Analysis with Altair OptiStructTM
© Altair Engineering, Inc. All Rights Reserved. / altair.com / Nasdaq: ALTR / Contact Us 1
CONTENTS
1. About This Book .................................................................................................................... 5
2. Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................. 6
3. Disclaimer .............................................................................................................................. 7
4. Introduction To Fatigue ........................................................................................................ 8
4.1 Why Fatigue Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 8
4.2 Static, Dynamic and Fatigue Analysis Comparison ............................................................................ 8
4.3 Definitions ................................................................................................................................................ 9
4.4 Cyclic Loading Parameters .................................................................................................................. 11
4.5 Fatigue Fracture Growth Mechanism .................................................................................................. 12
4.6 Factors Influencing Fatigue Life .......................................................................................................... 12
4.7 Various Approaches in Fatigue Analysis ........................................................................................... 14
5. Fatigue Concepts ................................................................................................................ 16

5.1 Stress-Life Approach ............................................................................................................................ 16
5.2 Strain-Life Approach ............................................................................................................................. 17
5.3 Mean Stress Influence .......................................................................................................................... 20
5.4 Damage Model ....................................................................................................................................... 22
5.5 Rainflow Cycle Counting ...................................................................................................................... 23
5.6 Additional Correction Parameters ....................................................................................................... 24
5.7 Fatigue Results...................................................................................................................................... 26
6. Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis ................................................................................................... 27

6.1 Fatigue Loading..................................................................................................................................... 27
6.2 Fatigue Parameters (FATPARM) .......................................................................................................... 32
6.3 Fatigue Materials & Properties ............................................................................................................ 34
6.4 Fatigue Load Step & Analysis Run...................................................................................................... 40
6.5 Fatigue Results...................................................................................................................................... 40
6.6 Tutorial: Uniaxial Stress-Life Fatigue Analysis of a Spring Link ..................................................... 41
6.7 Tutorial: Uniaxial Strain-Life Fatigue Analysis of a Control Arm ..................................................... 50
7. Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis................................................................................................. 58

7.1 Multiaxial Stress-Life Technical Background .................................................................................... 58
7.1.1 Damage Models .............................................................................................................................. 59
7.1.2 Minimum Circumscribed Ellipse ...................................................................................................... 59
7.1.3 Findley ............................................................................................................................................. 60
7.1.4 Goodman ......................................................................................................................................... 62
7.1.5 Dang Van ........................................................................................................................................ 63
7.2 Damage Models in OptiStruct .............................................................................................................. 63
7.3 Analysis Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 64
7.4 Tutorial: Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis of a Knuckle ............................................................................ 66
8. Factor Of Safety Analysis ................................................................................................... 77

8.1 FOS Analysis Setup .............................................................................................................................. 78
8.2 Tutorial: FOS Analysis of a Spring Link ............................................................................................. 79
9. Seam Weld Fatigue Analysis .............................................................................................. 85

9.1 Seam Weld Elements ............................................................................................................................ 86
9.2 Seam Weld Properties Setup ............................................................................................................... 90
9.3 Tutorial: Weld Fatigue Analysis of a Seam Welded Frame ............................................................... 95
10. Spot Weld Analysis ........................................................................................................... 104

10.1 Stress calculation................................................................................................................................ 105
10.2 Spot Weld Fatigue Analysis Setup .................................................................................................... 105
10.3 Tutorial: Spot Weld Fatigue Analysis of a Welded Beam ............................................................... 108
11. Vibration Fatigue ............................................................................................................... 116

11.1 Sine Sweep Fatigue Analysis............................................................................................................. 117
11.2 Tutorial: Fatigue Analysis under sine sweep loading ..................................................................... 119
11.3 Random Response Fatigue Analysis ................................................................................................ 124
11.4 Tutorial: Fatigue Analysis of a cantilevered part under random loading...................................... 127
12. Hyperlife ............................................................................................................................. 135

12.1 Fatigue Capabilities in HyperLife ...................................................................................................... 135
12.2 Benefits of HyperLife .......................................................................................................................... 135
12.3 Fatigue methods in HyperLife............................................................................................................ 136
12.4 HyperLife Workflow............................................................................................................................. 136
13. eFatigue.............................................................................................................................. 139

13.1 Fatigue Calculator ............................................................................................................................... 139
13.1.1 Constant Amplitude Stress-Life Analysis ...................................................................................... 140
14. Appendix A ........................................................................................................................ 143

15. Appendix B ........................................................................................................................ 144
15.1 Fatigue Analysis based on a Local Submodel ................................................................................. 144
15.2 Amplitude Based MATFAT ................................................................................................................. 145
15.3 Static Loading Applied Sequentially in Fatigue Analysis ............................................................... 147
15.4 Random Response Fatigue Analysis with Strain-Life Approach ................................................... 147
15.5 Multiple Mean Stress SN curve Definition ........................................................................................ 148
1 About This Book

This study guide aims to provide a fundamental to advanced approach into the exciting and challenging world of Structural
Analysis. The focus will be on aspects of Fatigue Analysis. As with our other eBooks we have deliberately kept the theoretical
aspects as short as possible.
The tool of choice used in this book is OptiStruct. Altair ® OptiStruct® is an industry proven, modern structural analysis solver for
linear and nonlinear structural problems under static and dynamic loadings. OptiStruct is used by thousands of companies
worldwide to analyze and optimize structures for their strength, durability and NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) characteristics.
In this eBook, we will describe in some detail, how to perform a Fatigue analysis with different approaches and Optimization
including:
• Uni-Axial and Multi-Axial Fatigue Analysis
• Factor of Safety Analysis (Dang Van)
• Weld Fatigue Analysis
Please note that a commercially released software is a living “thing” and so at every release (major or point release) new methods,
new functions are added along with improvement to existing methods. This document is written using OptiStruct 2017.2.3. Any
feedback helping to improve the quality of this book would be very much appreciated.
Thank you very much.
Dr. Matthias Goelke
On behalf of the Altair University Team
2 Acknowledgement
A very special Thank You goes to all the many colleagues who contributed in different ways:
The Editors, Gabriel Stankiewicz, Premanand Suryavanshi and Koushik Chandrashekhar for creating and testing chapters
contained in this eBook. Prakash Pagadala and Obul Reddy Burra for helpful discussions and explanations. Rahul Rajan for
reviewing and compiling “Appendix” section into the book.
Rahul Ponginan for overall review of the book. For sure, your feedback and suggestions had a significant impact on the “shape”
and content of this book.
Junji Saiki, Warren Dias, Hariprasad Venkate Gowda and Ujwal Patnaik from HyperWorks Core Development.
Mike Heskitt, Sean Putman, Nelson Dias, Pavan Kumar & Dev Anand for all the support.
Nitin Gokhale from “Finite to Infinite” for all his passion about CAE, the inspirational collaboration, and the friendship.
The entire OptiStruct Documentation team for putting together 1000’s of pages of documentation and recently released OptiStruct
verification and example section.
Lastly, the OptiStruct Development team deserves huge credit for their passion & dedication! It is so exciting to see how OptiStruct
has evolved throughout the last couple of years.
Thank you very much.
Your Altair University Team
3 Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to keep the book free from technical as well as other mistakes. However, publishers and authors will
not be responsible for loss, damage in any form and consequences arising directly or indirectly from the use of this book.
© 2021 Altair Engineering, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, or
translated to another language without the written permission of Altair Engineering, Inc. To obtain this permission, write to the
attention Altair Engineering legal department at:
1820 E. Big Beaver, Troy, Michigan, USA, or call +1-248-614-2400.
4 Introduction to Fatigue
This chapter includes material from the book “Practical Finite Element Analysis (From Finite to Infinite)”.
4.1 Why Fatigue Analysis
• Fatigue accounts for 90 % of service failures.
• Manufacturers give warranty on the components (in terms of kms or years). Fatigue analysis helps in predicting life
of the component in design phase itself. Static or dynamic analysis can tell us about stress, displacement,
acceleration etc. but not how long the component will survive.
• Many a times static or dynamic analysis predicts location of failure not matching with lab test or field failure and then
analyst keep on thinking whether something is wrong with boundary conditions or material properties or geometry of
the component. But when fatigue analysis is carried out using same static or dynamic results, it reveals correct
location of failure.
• Failures or crack usually initiates at surface. Life of the component depends on surface condition (like grinding,
induction hardening, shot preening etc.). Static or dynamic analysis cannot take in to account these details while
fatigue can.
What is fatigue?
Fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. Fatigue is the
most important failure mode for mechanical components under cyclic loading. It is important to recognize that fatigue failure is a
probabilistic event, and that a good design against fatigue should involve analyses, synthesis and testing.
4.2 Static, Dynamic and Fatigue Analysis Comparison
Static Dynamic Fatigue
Force vary with respect to time / Force vary with respect to time /
Force is static (dead wt.)
frequency frequency
Displacement is function of time / Calculations for life of the structure

Displacement is static
frequency when subjected to repetitive load
Static & dynamic analysis cannot

tell how long the component will
survive for given load. Also, there is
No velocity & acceleration due to Velocity & acceleration develop due no consideration for factors like
constant or fixed displacement to variation of displacement. surface finish, heat treatment,
decarburizing, alloying elements,
realistic representation of spot &
arc welds.
Damping force, inertia force due to

Kx=F velocity & acceleration
m x¨ + c x˙ + k x = F(t)
If force is doubled static &

dynamic stress will also be doubled
Solution Time ↓ Solution Time ↑
but fatigue life would be reduced by
10
a factor of 2 .
Output – Stress, Displacement,

Output – Life of the component or
Output – Stress, Displacement Velocity, Acceleration with respect
safety factors
to time/frequency
4.3 Definitions
What is Durability, Reliability and Fatigue?
Durability, Reliability and Fatigue are often loosely used for describing Fatigue related analysis. There is slight difference in these
three terms.
Durability describes overall life requirement, like to last for 2 years (or warranty period).
Reliability includes a probability of failure, such as to have a 95 % chance of survival (if we test 100 specimens, 95 will pass and 5
might fail).
Fatigue is the failure caused by application of repetitive load by the process of initiation of cracks and growth.
What is Life?
Total Crack Life = Crack Initiation life + Crack growth Life
Crack Growth Life – Ductile Materials ↑
Brittle materials ↓
What is the criteria for transition from crack initiation to crack growth life?
Life till crack of the size 2 mm detected is crack initiation life and remaining life after detection of crack is crack propagation or crack
growth life.
S – N Curve:
Life (abscissa) is always plotted on log scale while alternating stress on either linear or log.
Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF): Life of component is less than 100000 cycles, applicable for heavy duty application loading.
5
High Cycle Fatigue (HCF): Component subject to less sever loads and life > 10 cycles.
Infinite Life: Stress level below which material never fails is known as endurance limit or fatigue limit. Never fails or infinite life is a
6
relative term. For steel, test is stopped after 2 * 10 cycles (in case if till then failure is not detected) and said to have infinite life.
This is the point where S-N curve slop changes and it becomes parallel to x-axis.
Unlike steel, non-ferrous alloys have no specific endurance limit (S-N curve never become parallel to x-axis). Pseudo-endurance
8
limit for these materials is stress value corresponding to life = 5x10 cycles (something similar to proportionality limit for brittle
materials).
S-N curve shown above is based on constant amplitude rotating bending test (Shaft subjected to pure alternating bending stress).
Similar test could be conducted for tension, compression, shear and torsional stress. Bending fatigue strength is higher than
tension / compression and torsional fatigue strength is the lowest.
Damage and Endurance Factor of Safety
• Damage is calculated for Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) applications.
Damage = n/N = no. of cycles applied/ Total life
Damage < 1 ⇒ safe
Damage > 1 ⇒ fail
• Endurance Factor of safety is calculated for High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) applications.
Endurance factor of safety = Endurance strength/ FE stress Amplitude
Endurance factor of safety < 1 ⇒ fail Endurance
factor of safety > 1 ⇒ safe
4.4 Cyclic Loading Parameters
Before we start with material fatigue theories, we need to understand the features of cyclic loading, as they are the main part of
equations presented later.
As visible on the picture above:
• One cycle of load is one segment of the cyclic load path, that when repeated creates the complete load path, it is a
piece of load path between two maximum values or minimum values of load.
• Stress range is the difference between maximum and minimum possible stresses.
• Mean Stress is an average value of cyclic stress, calculated based on maximum and minimum stress.
• Stress amplitude can be said to be a pulse or maximum deviation of stress from a mean value (average) value –
difference between maximum or minimum value and mean stress.
NOTE: Stress amplitude is equal to half of stress range, therefore, cyclic load is explicitly defined just by giving either stress
range or amplitude.
4.5 Fatigue Fracture Growth Mechanism
During component’s life, the process of failure can last long for ductile materials and can be sudden for brittle materials. Generally,
failure due to fatigue is preceded by a degradation procedure, which can be divided into four steps:
• Crack nucleation
• Crack nucleation is a highly localized plastic deformation within the part structure
• Crack nucleation is normally a surface phenomenon
• Crack nucleation is a stochastic process
• Small crack growth in an elastic-plastic stress field
• Most of the fatigue life is consumed growing microcracks in the finite life region
• Macroscopic crack growth in a nominally elastic stress field
• Crack growth takes place in one of three modes:
• Mode 1, tensile mode, opens the crack
• Mode 2, torsion mode, lengthens the crack by in-plane shear
• Mode 3, also a torsion mode, lengthens the crack by out-of-plane shear
• Final fracture
N = 1,000 N = 2,000 N = 10,000 N = 40,000
Image: Ewing, J.A. and Humfrey, J.C. “The fracture of metals under repeated alterations of stress”, Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society, Vol. A200, 1903, 241-250
4.6 Factors Influencing Fatigue Life
Fatigue in a material will take place only if all of the following factors are present:
• Cyclic loading
• Tensile loading
• Plastic strain
Additionally, following factors are considered to influence fatigue strength (all these factors can be set up in an OptiStruct fatigue
analysis):
• Surface finish
Surface imperfections arising during manufacturing processes is a crucial factor defining the fatigue life of components, this is
because crack initiates at the surface. Any discontinuity on the surface is usually a weak spot, which presents lower fatigue
strength than the nominal value.
OptiStruct allows definition of surface treatment due to: polishing, grounding, machining, hot rolling and forging. These
processes of course decrease nominal fatigue strength, which is initially assumed to be at ideal surface conditions. OptiStruct then
applies a proper correction factor. The below image shows a sample surface finish parameter for steel
• Surface treatment
Surface of the material can be specially treated to increase fatigue resistance. In OptiStruct, following surface treatment processes
can be taken into account: nitriding, shot peening and cold rolling. These processes generally increase surface compressive
residual stresses and consequently increase fatigue life of a component. If one of these processes is chosen, OptiStruct will apply
appropriate correction factor, which will increase the material’s fatigue life.
• Notch presence
Notch is a typical example of crack initiation location, due to stress concentration. Notches can be of very small dimensions, which
in fact would not be in the discretized
model. User is therefore able to manually input a correction factor for notch consideration.
• Residual stresses
Residual compressive stresses can significantly improve a material’s fatigue life.
NOTE: The correction factor mentioned in the notch presence section, is generally meant to be used when any type of an influential
factor for fatigue needs to be considered. This factor can be used instead of defining the finish and treatment processes.
4.7 Various Approaches in Fatigue Analysis
Fatigue Analysis
Stress life Approach: Strain life Approach: Crack Propagation Vibration

Approach: Approach
• High Cycle • Low Cycle Frequency
Fatigue Fatigue • Fracture Fatigue:
• Total Life • Crack Initiation Mechanics • Resonance
• First Fatigue Life LEFM, EPFM effect
Input data for
analysis method • Developed in
fatigue
to be developed 1960’s Elastic • Rate of crack
calculations is
• Stress and and plastic growth Life left
dynamic
strains Could be used
strain elastic analysis results
• Strain Vs in combination
Uses stress Vs based on
Reversals Data with strain life
No. of cycles Transient,
(ε-N curve) approach to
plot (S-N Frequency
predict total life
domain or
curve) Power Spectral
Density input
Types of Fatigue Analysis with OptiStruct:
• Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis
Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis, using S-N (stress-life) and E-N (strain-life) approaches for predicting the life (number of loading cycles)
of a structure under cyclical loading may be performed by using OptiStruct.
• Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis
Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis, using S-N (stress-life), E-N (strain-life), and Dang Van Criterion (Factor of Safety) approaches for
predicting the life (number of loading cycles) of a structure under cyclical loading may be performed by using OptiStruct.
• Spot Weld Fatigue Analysis (New Feature)
Allows for the study of fatigue performance of spot welds in structures (Based on a paper by Rupp et al)
• Seam Weld Fatigue Analysis (New Feature)
The method implemented in OptiStruct is based on a research paper Fatigue Life Prediction of MAG-Welded Thin-Sheet
Structurespublished by M. Fermér, M Andréasson, and B Frodin.
• Random Response Fatigue Analysis
The study of fatigue life of structures under Random Loading.
• Sine Sweep Fatigue Analysis
The Study of fatigue life of structures under Sinusoidal loading
5 Fatigue Concepts
Now that you are familiar with cyclic load, you will understand that figures describing material behavior are expressed as a function
of load cycles (N). It is not really time that plays a role in case of fatigue, but the number of loading cycles.
Based on the initially observed state of the material, fatigue solutions are generally characterized in one of two ways for a
homogenous material:
• Safe Life: The material is free of initial visible defects: Stress-Life (S-N) or Strain-Life (E-N)
• Damage Tolerant: The material contains an initial defect or crack: da/dN
In the absence of a pre-existing defect, most of the life of a part is spent in microcrack growth within the plastic strain-dominated
region. This is fundamental to the development of both the stress-life and strain-life fatigue solutions.
5.1 Stress-Life Approach
Stress-Life approach is based on a chart, describing nominal stress as a function of the number of load cycles. This chart is specific
for a given material and it is called Wöhler’s curve. The relationship between material strength and number of cycles is the single
most important factor for fatigue analysis.
Chart line composed on a basis of empirical data N(cycle) axis expressed in log scale
provides possibility of linear assumption
The mathematical relationship between strength and number cycles can be modelled based on a logarithmic chart:
𝑏𝑏1
• 𝑆𝑆 = 𝑆𝑆1�𝑁𝑁𝑓𝑓 �
• Parameters needed (in OptiStruct):
• S1 (or SR1): fatigue strength coefficient (mathematical point on the chart, not related to real material property)
• Nf: fatigue cycles to failure
• b1: fatigue strength exponent
Stress-Life approach should be used when:
• High-cycle fatigue is considered (this is assumed to be above 10 000 cycles)
• Stresses oscillate within the elastic range and no plastic strains are seen except at the tips of fatigue cracks.
Major Assumptions:
• Most of the life is consumed in nucleating cracks
• Elastic deformation
• Nominal stresses and material strength control the fatigue life
• Accurate determination of Kf (Stress Concentration Factor) for each geometry and material
Advantages:
• Changes in material and geometry can easily be evaluated
• Large empirical database for steel specimens with standard notch shapes
Limitations:
• Does not account for notch root plasticity
• Mean stress effects are often in error
• Requires empirical Kf for predictive results
5.2 Strain-Life Approach
Strain-Life is based on a graph, which presents a logarithmic relationship between elastic and plastic strain components, together
with total strain and reversals to failure (1 load cycle consists of 2 reversals):
Where (parameters defined in OptiStruct, MATFAT extension):
σ f′
ε a = ε ea + ε pa = (2 N f )b + ε f ′ (2 N f )c
E
• σf´: fatigue strength coefficient
• b: is the fatigue strength exponent
• εf´: fatigue ductility coefficient
• c: is the fatigue ductility exponent
Strain-Life Approach should be used when:
• Cyclic loading subjects components to plastic strains (considering stresses in the chart is no more useful)
• We are considering Low-Cycle Fatigue (number of cycles below 10 000)
Major Assumptions:
• Local stresses and strains control fatigue behavior
• Plasticity around stress concentrations
• Accurate determination of Kf
Advantages:
• Plasticity effects
• Mean stress effects
Limitations:
• Requires empirical Kf for good results
• Long life situations where surface finish and processing variables are important
Since this is a nonlinear material problem, but the analysis type is not implicit nor explicit to allow nonlinear solution, Neuber
Correction is used to evaluate true stress and strain in the model, which is modelled with elastic-plastic material. For more
information regarding how Neuber Correction is applied in Fatigue analysis, please refer to an article by Axel Werkhausen using the
below link. (FEMFAT software by Magna Powertrain, Altair Partner Alliance):
http://innovationintelligence.com/the-neuber-correction-a-notch-above-the-rest-for-linear-stress/
𝜎𝜎𝑒𝑒
𝜎𝜎
σε = σ eε e
𝜀𝜀𝑒𝑒 𝜀𝜀
For the Strain-Life approach, further material properties need to be defined, which are related to setting up a so called Cyclic
Stress-Strain Curve.
Since in the plastic region stress-strain behavior is nonlinear, we need to consider cyclic hardening of the material due to plastic
strain. Please observe, the stress-time relationship when subjected to constant cyclic strain.
From the above image, cyclic hardening and cyclic softening can be distinguished for a material. Please note that if the material
would be subjected to elastic deformation only (Stress-Life approach) then the Stress-Strain chart would represent a line instead of
hysteresis loop.
By step-by-step construction of hysteresis loops, we can model a curve by connecting stress-strain peaks from each loop – the
created curve is then called Cyclic Stress-Strain Curve.
Described by following equation:
Where (further parameters will be required for OptiStruct, MATFAT extension):
• K': cyclic strength coefficient
• n': strain cyclic hardening exponent
5.3 Mean Stress Influence
It should be mentioned, that afore presented graphs and equations are experimentally evaluated relationships for fully reversed
cyclic loading, which means mean stress was equal to 0. However, in real conditions, cyclic loading may happen to be of various
kinds, where mean stress is far from the zero value, example of such loading may be a pulsating load, where minimum stress is
equal to zero, but maximum stress is equal to stress range and two times greater than mean stress and stress amplitude. Hence a
few theories are available to introduce stress correction due to mean stress.
For Stress-Life (S-N) approach:

Two correction graphs are developed for Haigh diagram (maximum stress range as a function of mean stress):
• Goodman line
• Gerber curve
Notice that Goodman line shows linearly variable stress range for tensile mean stress and ignores mean stresses in compression.
The Goodman approach is recommended for brittle materials.
Gerber curve treats both tensile and compressive mean stress influence onto stress range. This correction model is recommended
for ductile materials.
Please note that for UTS value of mean stress, the stress range for both corrections is equal to zero. This in fact confirms that a
constant stress exceeding UTS value leads to material failure.
For Strain-Life (E-N) approach:

Two other correction methods are developed when Strain-Life approach is used:
• Morrow
Morrow approach takes into account the fatigue stress coefficient (σf’) and subtracts the value of mean stress in the equation
according to the following formula:
Where:
σ0 – mean stress
This method is recommended when loading is mostly compressive.
• Smith, Watson and Topper (SWT)
This method introduces mean stress indirectly, i.e. the equation is modified by amplitude to maximum stress fraction, which would
be equal to 1 in case mean stress is equal to 0 (stress amplitude = maximum stress) and would not influence the equation:
Where:
σmax - maximum in 1 cycle
σa - amplitude in 1 cycle
This method should be used when loading is mostly tensile.
In OptiStruct, user may choose between these correction methods when setting up analysis parameters (FATPARM card), no
additional values are required.
5.4 Damage Model
Real fatigue load history usually does not provide constant parameters, instead it consists of random peaks (random maxima and
minima), which cannot be replaced with any equivalent cyclic loading. Therefore, OptiStruct uses Palmgren-Miner’s linear damage
accumulation rule, to evaluate when damage in the material occurs. The formula is as follows:
ni
∑ Di
= ∑N ≥ 1.0
i, f
Where:
• Ni,f – material fatigue life from S-N/E-N curve for the reference stress/strain of the particular stress level i (mean
correction should be applied)
• ni – number of stress cycles at this load level i
To better explain that, let’s consider a few cases:
1. Constant stress of 250 MPa with material life of 100 000 cycles at this stress (Wohler’s curve). In this case there would
be one fragment in the equation, where N = 100 000. The damage occurs when D exceeds 1, so it means there need to
be n = 100 000 to cause the damage. This sounds logical.
2. There are three different loading stages: 10 000 cycles with 190 MPa peak stress, 50 000 cycles with 170 MPa peak
stress and 40 000 cycles with 165 MPa peak stresses. Based on Wohler’s curve, the material life at 190 MPa loading is
50 000 cycles, at 170 MPa 100 000 cycles and at 165 MPa 120 000 cycles. Now everything must be put into equation:
10 000 50 000 40 000
𝐷𝐷 = + + = 0.2 + 0.5 + 0.3 = 1.0 ≥ 1.0
50 000 100 000 120 000
The value of D exceeds 1, therefore the damage will occur after this sequence of loading.
5.5 Rainflow Cycle Counting
Rainflow Cycle counting is used in fatigue calculations to simplify the fatigue load history, by omitting insignificant load peaks, which
mostly do not influence the damage process. The best understanding can be obtained by following an example:
The following simple 9-point example is shown with its associated rainflow algorithm:
LOAD HISTORY
5 D
4 H
3 F
2 A BC D E FG H I
Force/Stress
1 B
0
E
-2 1 -3 5 -1 3 -4 4 -2
-1
-2 A I
-3 C
-4 G
-5
Time
1. S=A; Y=|A-B|; X=|B-C|; X>Y. Y contains S, that is, point A.
S=B.
2. Y=|B-C|; X=|C-D|; X>Y. Y contains S, that is, point B.
S=C.
3. Y=|C-D|; X=|D-E|; X<Y.
4. Y=|D-E|; X=|E-F|; X<Y.
5. Y=|E-F|; X=|F-G|; X>Y.
Count |E-F| as one cycle and discard points E and F.
A cycle is formed by pairing range E-F and a portion of range F-G
6. Y=|C-D|; X=|D-G|; X>Y. Y contains S, that is, point C.
S=D.
7. Y=|D-G|; X=|G-H|; X<Y.
8. Y=|G-H|; X=|H-I|; X<Y. End of data.
9. Append uncounted points up to the starting point S to the end of the history
LOAD HISTORY
5 D D D
4 H H
3 F F
2 D E F G H I A B C D
Force/Stress
1 B B
5 -1 3 -4 4 -2 -2 1 -3 5
0
-1 E E
-2 A I A I
-3 C C
-4 G G
-5 Ti Time
10. S=D; Y=|H-I| ; X=|I-A|; X<Y. I = A eliminate point I.
11. Y=|H-A|; X=|A-B|; X<Y.
12. Y=|A-B|; X=|B-C|; X>Y.
Count |A-B| as one cycle and discard points A and B.
13. Y=|H-C|; X=|C-D|; X>Y.
Count |H-C| as one cycle and discard points H and C.
14. Y=|D-G|; X=|G-D|; X=Y. Y contains S, that is, point D.
Count |DG| as one cycle and stop
5.6 Additional Correction Parameters
Besides already mentioned correction parameters like Surface Finish or Treatment (both defined in PFAT load collector), we can
also define:
• Parameter for Rainflow counting: Gate in FATPARM card to define threshold value for load peaks simplification:
• For shell elements, which layer should be used to recover results – should it be top or the worst from these two?
(PFAT card load collector):
As you can see, PFAT load collector allows one to define layer for results, surface properties and a general correction factor KF
(user-defined real value).
• Certainty of survival (by default 0.5 – 50%) (SURVCERT in FATPARM). Since Wöhler’s curve is a statistical
approximation of a number of experimental data, it makes half of the experimental data points lay under the
Wöhler’s curve and half above, this is a result of a stochastic nature of crack nucleation and growth.
This simply says that if a component reaches maximum number of cycles defined by Wöhler’s curve, there is actually a 50%
chance that the real fatigue strength at that load value is actually more than the statistically approximated value by Wöhler’s curve.
By defining a statistical parameter called Standard Error of Log10N cycles (SE in MATFAT card), we specify the scatter of real data.
Having defined the scatter of real data, we can specify what percentage of certainty we need to have so that our model actually
survives the loading when reaching the Wöhler’s curve point. Certainty of Survival then offsets the curve, so that if we, for instance,
defined 0.9 (90%) certainty of survival (SURVCERT), 90% of real data (distribution specified by Standard Error) lays above the
offset curve.
5.7 Fatigue Results
What type of stress (max. principal or vonMises or max. shear stress) is used for fatigue calculation?
Fatigue calculations are based on absolute max. principal stress or signed vonMises or signed max. shear stress.
Signed principal stress or absolute principal stress:

This term is commonly used in fatigue analysis. Fatigue calculations are based on amplitude and mean stress. It has been
observed that if the calculations are just based on only maximum principal stress or only minimum principal stress then stress
range (σ– σ) is less and leads to higher fatigue life. Remedy is to find max. value out of the two at a point over given period of time
and then find the stress range or amplitude and mean stress based on this data(say max. principal stress at a node at time 1 sec. is
+ 250 and min. principal is – 400 then absolute principal stress = -400, collect the data over a period of say 10 sec and then find
stress range based on max. and min absolute stress values out of the 10)
Signed vonMises stress:

vonMises and max. shear stress values are always positive. If these values are used for fatigue calculations then stress range
would be reduced to half resulting in higher fatigue life. Remedy is to find sign of absolute principal stress at the point at a given
time instance and assign it to corresponding value of vonMises or max. shear stress. Say absolute max. principal stress is -300 at
time 2 sec and corresponding vonMises stress at time = 2 sec is 315 then signed vonMises stress would be -315.
In general max. principal stress is recommended over vonMises and max. shear. vonMises and max. shear stress are not
directional i.e. direction of crack propagation could be better answered by using max. principal stress.
For fatigue calculations what kind of stress is recommended; average stress or unaverage, element (centroidal) or nodal
stresses?
Nodal stresses are recommended over elemental, similarly unaverage over average. In some situations, this might lead to lesser
fatigue life than actual but from design point of view it is always safer and recommended. In OptiStruct element stresses are used
for fatigue
6 Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis

Setup of a Fatigue analysis involves creating a specific card structure, which is conveniently presented on the figure below:
The Fatigue subcase definition consists of three main parts:
SUBCASE
FATDEF FATPARM FATSEQ
PFAT FATEVNT
MATFAT FATLOAD
TABFAT
• FATDEF – data containing fatigue material parameters and component properties, which influence fatigue life.
• FATSEQ – one master load collector with card image FATSEQ gathers the whole of fatigue loading.
• FATPARM – defines all the remaining parameters except material and components properties and loading. It
defines the kind of fatigue analysis (uniaxial or multiaxial) and concept that is used (S-N or E-N), correction method
for mean stress, Neuber Correction, Rainflow cycle counting parameters, certainty of survival and many more for
each kind of fatigue analysis.
6.1 Fatigue Loading
Fatigue loading setup allows a very comprehensive approach to setup a loading history. In Uniaxial Fatigue analysis, multiple load
histories are merged by means of superposition. Generally, there are four different card images which are used to model a loading
structure:
SUBCAS
E
FATPAR
FATDEF FATSEQ
M
FATEVN
PFAT
T
FATLOA
MATFAT
D
TABFAT
1. Fatigue Table (TABFAT)
At the bottom of the hierarchy is a TABFAT load collector, this is a one column tabular data containing load peaks scaling factors.
This is a single load history sequence. This can be created manually, by choosing TABFAT card image for a load collector.
TABLEFAT_NUM is used to define the number of load peaks. By clicking on Data: y, user can enter all the load peaks scaling
factors
The other option is to import a ready tabular data of .xlsx or .csv extension. User needs to open a TABLE Create utility available in
Utility browser. Then importing options are available, TABFAT card image must be chosen:
2. Fatigue Load (FATLOAD)
• FATLOAD collector is used to associate TABFAT load peaks to a static loadstep, which means this card will
contain following information:
SUBCAS
E
FATPAR
FATDEF FATSEQ
M
FATEVN
PFAT
T
FATLOA
MATFAT
D
TABFAT
LOAD (location
and direction)
Static Subcase
SPC
TABFAT
Magnitude of
FATLOAD
LOAD
Scale
Offset
As visible on the chart, FATLOAD defines one single fatigue load with final magnitudes. TABFAT load peaks are multiplied by
Magnitude of LOAD entered manually by user, which location and direction is referred by LOAD in static subcase. SCALE is used
to apply further scaling for the load magnitudes and OFFSET is defined for offsetting the load history in time. Example:
3. Fatigue Event (FATEVNT)
Next comes the Fatigue Event setup (FATEVNT card image load collector). This is basically a definition of a full event, that gathers
all FATLOADs taking place at one time. If more than one FATLOAD is used, OptiStruct uses superposition to create an uniaxial
loading based on these FATLOADs.
SUBCASE
FATDEF FATPARM FATSEQ FATLOAD1
FATEVNT ...
PFAT FATEVNT
FATLOADn
MATFAT FATLOAD
TABFAT
4. Fatigue Sequence (FATSEQ)
On the top of the ladder is the Fatigue Sequence (FATSEQ). As the name says, it defines a sequence of loading. For
that, either FATEVNT or other FATSEQ cards can be used. Each referred FATEVNT or FATSEQ (it is then called sub-
sequence) is defined together with a number instances, i.e. the number of times they will be repeated. FATSEQ card
allows a setup of very complex loading, such as is visible on the example below:
SUBCASE
PFAT FATEVNT
MATFAT FATLOAD
TABFAT
An example of FATSEQ definition is shown below. Please note that initially N number of instances cannot be entered through
Entity Editor. User needs to right click on FATSEQ load collector and choose Card Edit to enable N setup (image shows N values
entered through Card Edit and viewed in Entity Editor, with already activated N setup)
Here: FATEVNT_1 will be first repeated 100 000 times, next when the first event is done FATEVNT_2 will be repeated 100 000
times and finally FATEVNT_3 is going to be conducted for 100 000 times.
6.2 Fatigue Parameters (FATPARM)
One of the three subcase entries in Fatigue load step is dedicated for FATPARM load collector, within this card, all relevant
analysis parameters are defined. Therefore, below are presented parameters that are applicable for Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis:
SUBCAS
E
FATPAR
FATDEF FATSEQ
M
PFAT FATEVNT
MATFAT FATLOAD
TABFAT
• Type of analysis (TYPE)
Type of fatigue analysis that is defined.

SN = Stress Life
TYPE
EN = Strain Life
FOS = Factor of Safety Analysis
Within this option we can select the approach that will be used for analysis. As mentioned before, SN approach should be used
when fatigue loading is limited to elastic range and we are considering high-cycle fatigue (above 10 000 cycles). EN approach on
the other hand is useful for low-cycle fatigue (below 10 000 cycles) and when the cyclic loading causes plastic deformation.
• Stress usage parameters (STRESS field)
This field is specially dedicated for choosing the proper fatigue theories regarding stress calculation. Different options are available
for SN and EN type, therefore user needs to be aware of the fatigue theories, which were presented earlier on in this book.
Stress-Life (TYPE = SN) Strain-Life (TYPE = EN)
Default = ABSMAXPR
(ABSMAXPR = Abs Max Principal MAXPRINC = Max Principal
MINPRINC = Min Principal VONMISES = von Mises
SGVON = Signed von Mises TRESCA = Tresca
Stress SGMAXSHR = Signed Max

COMBINE combination SGTRESCA = Signed Tresca Shear
method.
XNORMAL = X Normal YNORMAL = Y Normal
ZNORMAL = Z Normal XYSHEAR = X-Y Shear
YZSHEAR = Y-Z Shear ZXSHEAR = Z-X Shear)
SWT – Smith-Watson-Topper =
GOODMAN = Default
Default
Mean stress GERBER - Gerber mean stress correction
MORROW – Morrow correction
CORRECT correction GERBER2 – ignores effect of negative
MORROW2 – ignores effect of
method. mean stress
negative mean stress
SODERBERG
NONE
FE analysis The Unit is necessary because the S-N/E-N curve (MATFAT card) might be
STRESSU Stress Tensor defined in different unit, and FEA stress needs to be converted before looking up
Unit. the fatigue life for a given stress level on the S-N curve.
Neuber
NEUBER = Default
PLASTIC correction for Not applicable
NONE
EN analysis
• Rainflow cycle counting parameters (RAINFLOW field)
During analysis, OptiStruct converts loading data using Rainflow counting method and user may want to check and update
following parameters:
LOAD = Load-time history = Default

RTYPE Rainflow data type.
STRESS = Stress-time history
The reference value is the maximum range multiplied by

Relative fraction of maximum
GATEREL GATEREL, and used for gating out small disturbances or
gate range.
"noise" in the time series.
A few comments of Rainflow data type:
RTYPE = LOAD is valid when there is only one static load case defined in an event. The cycle counting results (load Ranges and
Means) will be scaled by combined FEA stress. Doing rainflow counting on load-time is much faster than doing it on stress-time
(RTYPE=STRESS), especially when the load-time history is complex and contains a large number of time points, but it is less
accurate.
If the event contains multiple static load cases, RTYPE will automatically be set to STRESS because there will be stress super-
positioning among different load cases; doing rainflow counting on load-time history cannot deal with it. The stress-time history has
the same length as load-time, while each point of the stress time is the combined stress value where the stress tensor is FEA
stress scaled by y point value of the corresponding load-time history.
• Certainty of Survival (CERTNTY)
As mentioned before in this book, this parameter is based on Standard Error, provided in MATFAT card to define the scatter of real
data used for creating Wöhler’s curve. The value that is entered in SURVCERT field depicts percentage of component’s survival
chances. This parameter offsets the Wöhler’s curve from initial position (averaged curve, which when reached, gives 50% chances
of survival as half of the real data points are below and half above the curve).
SURVCERT Certainty of survival based on the scatter of the S-N curve. Default = 0.5 (0.0 < Real < 1.0).
6.3 Fatigue Materials & Properties
The MATFAT bulk data card is used in addition to an existing material card to include material fatigue properties. Its continuation
lines depend on whether SN or EN analysis is to be run.
SUBCASE
PFAT FATEVNT
MATFAT FATLOAD
TABFAT
MATFAT is activated by checking the box next to MATFAT in MATi material card. First there are some general parameters that are
defined regardless of Fatigue analysis type:
Defines the units of stress values specified on the YS, UTS, SRI1, FL, Sf, and Kp
UNIT
fields
STATIC Indicates that static material properties are defined in the following fields.
YS Yield strength.
UTS Ultimate tensile strength.
UTS or YS is used in mean stress correction (SN) and surface finish correction (SN and EN). If both UTS and YS are defined, UTS
will be used both UTS and YS cannot be blank.
• Material data for S-N curve
If the analysis type is chosen to be SN. Material data for SN section need to be defined to model the S-N curve. Following
parameters are available:
SR1 Fatigue Strength Coefficient.
B1 First Fatigue Strength Exponent.
In one-segment SN curve, this is the cycle limit of endurance.

NC1
In two-segment SN curve, this is the transition point
B2 Second Fatigue Strength Exponent.
FL Fatigue Limit; No damage occurs if the stress range is less than FL.
SE Standard Error of Log(N)
These parameters then model one of following curve:
Fig 1a Fig 1b
Fig 2
Figure 1a: One-segment S-N curve in log-log scale (b2=0) (Nc1 is not defined or less conservative than FL)
Figure 1b: One-segment S-N curve in log-log scale (b2=0) (FL is not defined or less conservative than Nc1)
Figure 2: Two-segment S-N curve in log-log scale
NOTE: Stress values are defined for Stress Range, not Stress Amplitude.
• Material data for E-N curve
This section should be filled when the analysis type EN is chosen.
SF Fatigue strength coefficient.
B Fatigue strength exponent.
C Fatigue ductility exponent.
EF Fatigue ductility coefficient.
NP Cyclic strain-hardening exponent.
KP Cyclic strength coefficient.
NC Reversal limit of endurance.
SE
Standard Error of (Log(N) from elastic strain.
E
SE
Standard Error of (Log(N) from plastic strain.
P
First four parameters are used to model E-N curve:
NP and KP are used for defining Cyclic Stress-Strain Curve. For more information, please refer to previous chapter about E-N
approach.
• Component Fatigue Features (PFAT)
All the component features, connected with manufacturing processes or geometrical shapes, which are used for correction of
component’s fatigue limit are defined within PFAT load collector. It must be noted that PFAT is not a property card image, i.e. it is
not an actual property definition which links components and materials, rather a load collector card image.
SUBCASE
PFAT FATEVNT
MATFAT FATLOAD
TABFAT
If shell elements are used, it is necessary to specify the appropriate

Region Layer for shell layer or specify surface of results to use Top or Bottom. Worst case
Layer
elements. is then the worst result of Top and Bottom (the one with larger
damage).
Default = NONE (NONE, POLISH, GROUND, MACHINE,

Material Surface
Finish, a result of HOTROLL, FORGE or any float value between 0.0 and 1.0)
Finish
manufacturing When it is a float value, it will be used to modify the fatigue limit by
process. multiplying it with the original fatigue limit.
Default = NONE (NONE, NITRIDED, SHOTPEEN, COLDROLL or

Material Surface any float value greater than 0.0)
Treatment Treatment for
When it is a float value, it will be used to modify the fatigue limit by
Material S-N Curve.
multiplied with the original fatigue limit.
Fatigue strength reduction factor takes into account the effect of

notch effects, size effects, and loading type influence,
Fatigue strength
Kf Kf = Cnotch Csize Cloading
reduction factor.
where, Cnotch, Csize, and Cloading are correction factors for notch
effect, size effect, and loading type influence.
As you can see, all of these parameters are aimed to apply correction value for Fatigue Limit due to geometrical features of
component. When a specified manufacturing process is used, OptiStruct applies appropriate value of correction.
• Regions for Fatigue Analysis (FATDEF)
FATDEF card (also load collector card image) is more similar to classical property setup, since this aims to define the regions
that are included in fatigue analysis and associate PFAT component features to them. For Uniaxial Analysis, it can be either
referring to an element set (ELSET) or actual properties (PTYPE). FATDEF card allows multiple associations, so that each property
in the model can have a different PFAT card assignment:
SUBCASE
PFAT FATEVNT
MATFAT FATLOAD
TABFAT
ELSET/Property1
PFAT1 ID
ID
NUMIDS = x
FATDEF ... ...
ELSET/Propertyx
PFATx ID
ID
6.4 Fatigue Load Step & Analysis Run
The last step is the creation of Fatigue load step. As visible on the fatigue analysis setup image, shown a few times before, three
load collectors are referred in Fatigue load step, that is: FATDEF, FATPARM and FATSEQ. Fatigue load step definition looks as
follows:
Before you run the analysis, make sure that the analysis type is Uniaxial:
Activation:
• Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis is run by default in any fatigue analysis
• Make certain that the MAXLFAT field on the FATPARM Bulk Data Entry is set to NO or blank.
• Also make certain that the Type field on the FATPARM Bulk Data Entry is not set to FOS.
Input and Control:
• The Type field on the FATPARM entry can be used to select the Stress-Life or Strain-Life approach.
• Fields are available on the SN and EN continuation lines on the MATFAT bulk data entry to provide additional
information.
6.5 Fatigue Results
Fatigue analysis output request is required to obtain life, damage and Rain Flow results. They can be requested either by:
• GLOBAL OUTPUT REQUEST card.
• Fatigue subcase, under OUTPUT option.
DAMAGE:
Where TYPE should be chosen to be one of the following:
• SUB – total damage from the fatigue subcase.
• EVENT – damage contribution for all FATEVNTs and total damage will be available.
• ALL – total damage from fatigue analysis.
Reminder: Damage is calculated from Palmgren-Miner’s damage accumulation model:
ni
∑ Di
= ∑N ≥ 1.0
i, f
As can be seen, the equation consists of a sum of damages coming from one certain load i, therefore when SUB is selected
damage fraction from each FATEVNT can be presented.
LIFE:
Life tells us the number of cycles each part (element) of the component is able to withstand with current fatigue loading.
Rain Flow:
This entry can be used to output the Rainflow Cycle count history for a particular fatigue subcase. The Cycle number, Stress
Range, Mean Stress, and Damage, for each fatigue event for each element are output to .rnf file.
6.6 Tutorial: Uniaxial Stress-Life Fatigue Analysis of a Spring Link
This exercise introduces user to set up Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis with Stress-Life approach. The Spring link will be subjected to
cyclic loading in 3 different directions in a sequence: cyclic bending in two directions and simple tension-compression. Each event
will consist of 100 000 cycles, which in total gives 300 000 cycles of loading.
Open the model file: altair_spring_link.hm
1. Review the model, notice that three static subcases: Vertical, Longitudinal and Radial are already created, they are
necessary for FATLOADs setup.
2. Create one TABFAT load collector to define simple reversal cycle:
• Create new load collector named TABFAT and set card image to TABFAT
• Define the number of table lines: TABLEFAT_NUM = 2
• Click on Data: y and enter following values: -1, 1
3. Define 3 FATLOAD load collectors for each static subcase and assign it with created TABFAT
• Create new load collector named FATLOAD_vertical
• Set card image to FATLOAD
• Under TID: choose created TABFAT one cycle table
• For LCID choose Vertical load step.
• Set load magnitude of 1.0 in LDM field
• Set load scale of 1.0 in SCALE field
• Define the two remaining FATLOADs as on the images below:
*Note:
LDM is used to scale the units if the unit of loads in FEA and test are different.
It is best advised to maintain consistency of units between FEA and TEST and thereby keeping the value of LDM as 1.
For ex:
Units of Load in FE = Load History Unit in the TestData, then LDM would be 1.
4. Create three Fatigue Events - FATEVNT, one for each FATLOAD.
• Create new load collector and name it FATEVNT_1
• Set card image to FATEVNT
• Set FATEVNT_NUM_FLOAD equal to 1
• Click on table icon next to Data: FLOAD
• Choose FATLOAD_vertical load collector in the pop-up window.
• Repeat the steps to define two remaining Events, choose appropriate FATLOADs for each. See images below.
5. Create Fatigue Sequence, which will order the before created Events in following order: FATEVNT_1, FATEVNT_2,
FATEVNT_3.
• Create new load collector named FATSEQ
• Set card image to FATSEQ
• In FATSEQ_NUM = field, enter 3, to define 3 entries for a sequence.
• Click on Data: FID,… table icon
• Choose Fatigue Events as visible on the image below.
Notice that it is not possible to enter the number of instances N for each Event here. This must be done through Card Edit panel.
• Right Click on FATSEQ load collector and choose: Card Edit
• For each Event, enter 100 000 instances under N(i) fields. See image below.
• Click return.
• Click again on table icon in Entity Editor for FATSEQ load collector to verify if N numbers are already present.
• Close the pop-up window. Fatigue loading is now fully defined.
6. Now define Components Fatigue Features with PFAT load collector
• Create new load collector named PFAT
• Set card image to PFAT
• Define parameters like on the image below:
7. Assign Fatigue Features load collector PFAT to solid property with FATDEF load collector
• Create new load collector named FATDEF
• Set card image to FATDEF
• Check the box next to PTYPE and then check the box next to PSOLID
• Click on table icon next to Data: PID, … to associate PFAT load collector with spring_link solid property.
8. Define Fatigue Material properties within MATFAT extension to existing material MAT1
• Review if the structural material properties are as on the image below:
• Check the box next to MATFAT extension
• Check the box next to SN, to define that Stress-Life curve will be provided
• One can specify if the curve is Amplitude based on Range based by selecting A/R on MATFAT. By default it is
Range based
• Define Wöhler’s curve parameters as on the image below:
9. Define Fatigue Analysis Parameters within FATPARM load collector
• Create new load collector with name FATPARM
• Set card image to FATPARM
• Set TYPE of the analysis to SN
• Set stress combination method COMBINE to Absolute Max Principal ABSMAXPR
• Set mean stress correction method to GOODMAN
• Stress units STRESSU should be MPA
• Rainflow RTYPE set to STRESS, since we have multiple events in the analysis
• Set the Certainty of Survival SURVCERT to 0.92 (this can be defined because Standard Error in MATFAT card
has be defined)
10. Create and set up a Fatigue load step.
• Create new load step named Fatigue
• Set Analysis Type to Fatigue
• Refer FATDEF load collector in FATDEF subcase entry
• Refer FATPARM load collector in FATPARM subcase entry
• Refer FATSEQ load collector in FATSEQ subcase entry
11. Add output requests for Damage and Life results
• Remain in Entity Editor of Fatigue load step
• Check the box next to OUTPUT in SUBCASE OPTIONS
• In OUTPUT options, check the box next to DAMAGE, set FORMAT to H3D, TYPE to ALL, OPTION to ALL
• Check the box next to LIFE, set FORMAT to H3D and OPTION to ALL.
12. Run the analysis and postprocess the results
• In OptiStruct panel, set export options to custom, run options to analysis and click OptiStruct.
• When analysis is done, load results to Hyperview
• Switch Subcases to Subcase 4 (Fatigue)
• View contours for Damage (s)
As you can see, the maximum Damage is 0.05102, which tells us that the component will fail when such loading would be applied
approximately another 19 times. You can also view the results for each Fatigue Event.
6.7 Tutorial: Uniaxial Strain-Life Fatigue Analysis of a Control Arm
This exercise introduces the user to setting up strain-life (E-N) analysis on a control arm model shown below using a manual setup
method. This model is primarily 3-dimensional elements overlaid with a skin of 2D shells. The available loads include braking and
vertical loading conditions, and both will be used in this fatigue analysis.
Problem Setup
You should copy the file: en_carm.hm, load1.csv, load2.csv
Step 1: Open the model en_carm.hm in HyperMesh Desktop
Step 2: Create TABFAT TIMEHIST1 for the time history curve load1.csv and TIMEHIST2 for load2.csv
Step 3: Create a new FATLOAD card FATVERT to associate the TIMEHIST1 time history curve with the Vertical load case, an
LDM of 1, and a Scale of 5. Similarly, create another FATLOAD FATBRAKE with TID TIMEHIST2 and LCID Brake using LDM 1
and Scale 5.
Step 4: Create a new FATEVNT with 2 FATEVNT_NUM_FLOAD entries using FATVERT as the first FLOAD in the sequence and
FATBRAKE as the second FLOAD in the sequence
Step 5: Define the fatigue sequence of a single cycle (N=1) of the previously created FATEVNT in a new FATSEQ card
Step 6: Create a FATPARM card with analysis type set to EN. Use the signed von Mises SGVON stress combination, SWT stress
correction method, MPA stress units, NEUBER plasticity correction with STRESS rainflow type and survival certainty of 0.5.
Step 7: Activate the MATFAT section of the material properties for Aluminum to include the following fatigue parameters for strain
life analysis:
Step 8: Create a new PFAT load collector and set the following properties
Step 9: Create a new FATDEF fatigue definition load collector that links the skin shell elements to the fatigue element property
PFAT
Step 10: Create a new load step for fatigue analysis named Fatigue
Step 11: Request output using Control Cards
Step 12: Run the analysis
1. In the OptiStruct panel under the Analysis page, ensure that the export options: is set to all, the run options: is set to
analysis.
2. Click OptiStruct to run the fatigue analysis, exporting the *.fem file with the default naming convention.
Step 13: Review the results in HyperView
1. When the run has completed, from the OptiStruct panel, click on the HyperView button to launch the post-processing
report en_carm.mvw which was automatically created from the analysis.
2. Using the subcase selector in the Results Browser, change the active subcase to Subcase 3 (Fatigue).
3. Expand the Components list in the Results Browser and click the mesh display icon next to PSOLID_2 and PSOLID_5
to turn off the display of those components.
4. Click the Shaded Mesh Display button to show the displayed mesh with mesh lines.
5. Enter the Contour panel and set the Result type to Damage (s). Click Apply to contour the displayed mesh with
damage results.
6. Click on the Legend tab in the Contour panel and click Edit Legend… to bring up the Edit Legend checkbox. Enter the
values as shown below and click Apply to apply the new contour maximum value and OK to exit the dialog box. (for
Logarithmic Display)
EXERCISE RESULTS: en_carm.h3d
7 Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis

The main difference between Uniaxial and Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis is the stress conversion:
• In Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis, OptiStruct converts the stress tensor to a scalar value using user-defined combined
stress method (von Mises, Maximum Principal Stress, and so on).
• In Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis, OptiStruct uses the stress tensor directly to calculate damage. Multiaxial Fatigue
Analysis discussed in the following sections are based on the assumption that stress is in the plane-stress state.
Only free surfaces of structures are of interest in multiaxial fatigue analysis in OptiStruct.
• For solid elements, a shell (membrane) skin is automatically generated by OptiStruct, shell elements are used as-is.
If the loading is uniaxial, that means there is one principal stress produced, uniaxial analysis is used.
If the loading is proportional biaxial, which means that different loading contributors are acting cyclically in the same phase,
resulting in one directional resultant stress, then multiaxial analysis is used.
If the loading is non-proportional multiaxial, that means different load components are in different cyclic phases, then multiaxial
analysis is used.
7.1 Multiaxial Stress-Life Technical Background
(Ref:https://www.efatigue.com/multiaxial/background/stresslife.html)
Fatigue occurs on the surface where one of the principal stresses is usually zero. As a result, multiaxial fatigue problems are
usually biaxial in nature. Here we have assumed that the stress normal to the free surface is zero in all the calculations. Any stress
concentration effects must be included in the input loading data.
Multiaxial Fatigue Calculators are used for constant amplitude loading where the largest cycle is assumed to do all of the fatigue
damage. The Multiaxial Fatigue Analyzer counts cycles and sums fatigue damage for all cycles. More damage models are available
with the Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis.
7.1.1 Damage Models
There are many damage models used for multiaxial fatigue analysis. We have implemented some of the most common and useful
methods including Findley, Sines, Goodman and Dang Van.
A common feature of many stress based multiaxial fatigue criteria is that they are expressed as a general form that includes both
shear stress amplitude τa and normal stress σn during a loading cycle. Multiaxial fatigue models differ in the interpretation of how
the shear stress amplitude and normal stress are defined. One of the fundamental problems is to evaluate the effective amplitude
and mean values of the shear/normal stresses on a material plane.
Fatigue cracks begin on or near the surface. On the surface the stress state is one of plane stress so that there are only three
stress components σx, σy and τxy. All other stresses are zero. For these stress states, the accumulation of fatigue damage that will
eventually lead to fatigue cracks will occur on planes that are oriented either 45° or 90° to the free surface.
The normal stress is easy to evaluate on any plane. Its direction is fixed, and the magnitude varies. But the shear stress can vary in
both magnitude and direction. There are two shear stresses acting on the 45° plane. An in-plane stress, τA and an out-of-plane
shear stress τB. How should these two-shear stress be combined? One possibility is to consider both shear stresses separately
because only one of the two slip systems will be activated in an individual grain of the material.
• OptiStruct searches for the most damaging plane by 10 degrees of θ.
• On each plane, OptiStruct assesses damage using both tensile crack damage model and shear crack damage
model.
• Tensile Crack Growth takes place along planes perpendicular to the free surface.
• Shear Crack Growth takes place along planes oriented at 45° to the free surface.
• The shear stress A is an in-plane shear stress and causes microcracks to grow along the surface.
• B is a maximum out-of-plane shear, microcracks growth into the material
• At the end of a search, OptiStruct reports damage at the most damaging plane which is a critical plane.
7.1.2 Minimum Circumscribed Ellipse
(de Freitas M., Li B, Santos JLT. Multiaxial Fatigue and Deformation: Testing and Prediction, 2000, ASTM STP 1387)
An example of the MCE is shown below.
First, the shear stress loading history is determined for a plane. For proportional loading this will always be a straight line.
Nonproportional loading histories will have some complex shape. In this case, the the major axis of the ellipse is defined as the
smallest circle that will contain all of the shear stresses. This is denoted RA in the example. Using the major axis as a reference, the
minor axis, RB is defined as the maximum distance of any stress point in the loading history from the major axis. An equivalent
shear stress is then used in the fatigue calculations. This shear stress may be used with any damage model.
𝜏𝜏𝑎𝑎 = �𝑅𝑅𝐴𝐴 2 + 𝑅𝑅𝐵𝐵 2
7.1.3 Findley
(Findley, W. N., "A Theory for the Effect of Mean Stress on Fatigue of Metals Under Combined Torsion and Axial Load or Bending,"
Journal of Engineering for Industry, Nov. 1959, 301-306)
Findley reviewed much the same experimental data as Sines but came to a slightly different model. He suggested that the normal
stress σn, acting on a shear plane might have a different linear influence on the allowable alternating shear stress, Δτ/2.
∆𝜏𝜏
( 2 + 𝑘𝑘𝜎𝜎𝑛𝑛 )max= 𝑓𝑓
Parabolic forms were investigated but Findley concluded that the linear form was sufficient to describe the experimental data. Here
k is a material constant that is related to the materials' sensitivity to normal stresses and f is directly related to the materials' fatigue
strength.
Mohr's circle for both tension and torsion are show below. Both loading conditions have the same shear stress. In an R= -1 fatigue
test, both tension and torsion loading will have the same shear stress range acting on a small microcrack located on maximum
shear stress plane. But Mohr's circle shows that tension loading will also have a normal stress cycle with the same range as the
shear stress acting on this shear plane. The result is that for the same shear stress range, tension loading will always be more
damaging than torsion.
Findley's model differs from Sines' or other yield criteria models in that it identifies the stress acting on a specific plane within the
material. These are termed critical planes and can be defined as one or more planes within a material subject to a maximum value
of a damage criterion. Fatigue life is controlled by the combination of stresses and strains acting on a critical plane. Findley
identifies a critical plane for fatigue crack initiation and growth that is dependent on both alternating shear stress and maximum
normal stress. The combined action of shear and normal stresses is responsible for fatigue damage and the maximum value of the
quantity in parentheses is used rather than the maximum value of shear stress. This concept is easily illustrated for torsion loading.
The stresses σθ and τθ on a plane oriented at an angle θ can be computed from the applied shear stress τxy as
𝜎𝜎𝜃𝜃 = 𝜏𝜏𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 sin(2𝜃𝜃)

𝜏𝜏𝜃𝜃 = 𝜏𝜏𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 cos(2𝜃𝜃)
Values of τθ + kσθ for a value of 0.3 are plotted below and failure is expected to occur on the plane that has the largest combination
of Δτ/2 + kσn.
Findley criterion for torsion

The maximum value of the parameter occurs at angles of about 82° and -8°. In the case of pure torsion, it can be shown as:
∆𝜏𝜏
�1 + 𝑘𝑘 2 = 𝑓𝑓
2
and for pure bending or axial loading with a stress amplitude σa and maximum stress σmax
�(𝜎𝜎𝑎𝑎 )2 + 𝑘𝑘 2 (𝜎𝜎𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 )2 + 𝑘𝑘𝜎𝜎𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 2𝑓𝑓
The constant k is determined experimentally by performing fatigue tests involving two or more stress states. Examples of solutions
for k based on the ratio of fatigue strength for two stress states are given below.
For ductile materials, k typically varies between 0.2 and 0.3.
The Findley criterion is often applied for the case of finite long-life fatigue. An equation of the form
is used where tf* is computed from the torsional fatigue strength coefficient, tf', using
The correction factor typically has a value of about 1.04.
7.1.4 Goodman
The traditional Goodman diagram can be used with the principal stresses to evaluate fatigue under multiaxial loading. Care must be
taken when using principal stresses for loading which involves both tension and compression. The principal stresses and their
directions are shown below for both tension and compression loading.
By convention, the principal stresses are always ordered so that σ1 >= σ2 >= σ3. Note that during a simple tension compression
loading the principal stress direction rotates 90°. To avoid these problems, the normal stresses are computed for each plane and
the range of normal stress acting on a plane is used to compute fatigue lives. The Goodman correction is used to account for mean
stresses on each plane. The plane with the lowest fatigue life is considered the critical plane.
7.1.5 Dang Van
(Dang-Van, K., "Macro-Micro Approach in High-Cycle Multiaxial Fatigue," in Advances in Multiaxial Fatigue, ASTM STP 1191, D.L.
McDowell and R. Ellis, Eds., American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, 1993, 120-130.)
Dang Van has proposed an endurance limit criterion based on the concept of microstresses within a critical volume of the material.
This model arises from the observation that fatigue crack nucleation is a local process and begins in grains that have undergone
plastic deformation and form characteristic slip bands. It is hypothesized that because cracks usually nucleate in intragranular slip
bands, the microscopic shear stress on a grain must be an important parameter. In the same way, it is reasoned that the
microscopic shear stress on a grain must be an important parameter. In the same way, it is reasoned that the microscopic
hydrostatic stress will influence the opening of these cracks or slip bands. The simplest failure criterion involving these two
variables is a linear combination
𝜏𝜏(𝑡𝑡) + 𝑎𝑎𝜎𝜎ℎ = 𝑏𝑏
where τ(t) and σh are instantaneous microscopic shear stress and hydrostatic stress and a and b are constants. The constant b is
the fatigue strength determined from a torsion test and a is related to the sensitivity of the material to hydrostatic stress.
7.2 Damage Models in OptiStruct
Since there are two different crack growth mechanisms in multiaxial fatigue, two damage models are used simultaneously by
OptiStruct, one for tensile crack growth search and second for shear crack growth search. Following damage models are used by
default:
Stress-Life (S-N) Approach:
• Goodman for Tensile Crack Growth
• Findley for Shear Crack Growth
Strain Life (E-N) Approach:
• Smith-Watson-Topper (SWT) for Tensile Crack Growth
• Fatemi-Socie and Brown-Miller for Shear Crack Growth
Damage models are selected by default, if user wants to select them manually anyway, the option MDMGMDL allows choice of
multiple damage models for multiaxial analysis.
It is available in FATPARM load collector.
7.3 Analysis Procedure
OptiStruct determines the damage assessment search according to the following methods:
SN Flowchart:
Elastic Stress
Proportional Yes
Loading?
No
Assess damage. No Plane
search is required.
Assess damage. Plane

search is required
End
EN Flowchart:
Two models are available for multiaxial strain life analysis.
For non-proportional multiaxial cyclic loading:
• OptiStruct runs Jiang-Sehitoglu plasticity model to calculate the total strain and elasto-plastic stress.
• Note that in OptiStruct, the isotropic hardening part is removed from Jiang-Sehitoglu's original model.
• The Jiang-Sehitoglu model is the OptiStruct default for this loading type.
For proportional biaxial loading:
• OptiStruct runs (by default), the Hoffman-Seeger method to calculate stress and strain from pseudo stress.
• Proportional Biaxial Loading is typically a result of a single static load referenced in FATEVNT, however if the CHK
field on the FATPARM Bulk Data Entry is set to NO, then the Jiang-Sehitoglu plasticity model is used regardless of
loading.
*Jiang-Sehitoglu plasticity
Nominal Stress model
**HS Biaxial model
Proportional Yes Simple Plasticity

Loading? correction**
No
Full Plasticity Model*

Assess damage. No Plane
search is required.
Assess damage. Plane

search is required
End
Setup tips for multiaxial analysis:

• In order to activate multiaxial fatigue analysis in a model, set MAXLFAT field on the FATPARM Bulk Data Entry to
YES.
• Multiple Damage models are allowed in E-N Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis. The MDMGMDL continuation line on the
FATPARM Bulk entry can be used to define damage models. By default, the SWT and FS damage models are
active.
• In E-N Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis, the CHK field on the FATPARM Bulk Data entry can be used to choose the
treatment method for Proportional Loading.
• The MXLMSTRN field on the MATFAT bulk data entry can be used to set the maximum strain value for E-N
Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis.
• Fields are available on the SN and EN continuation lines on the MATFAT bulk data entry to provide material and
damage model control information.
• The automatic skin generation for multiaxial analysis is done within by default activated SURFSTS, YES in
FATPARM card.
7.4 Tutorial: Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis of a Knuckle
This exercise introduces the user to setting up multiaxial fatigue analysis on a knuckle model.
Problem Setup
You should copy the file: altair_knuckle.hm, load1.csv, load2.csv
Step 1: Open the model altair_knuckle.hm in HyperMesh Desktop
Step 2: Create TABFAT cards to represent the time history curves
Tip: Import load1.csv into TABFAT load1 and import load2.csv into TABFAT load2.
Step 3: Associate the time history curves & load cases using the Matrix Browser
1. Create a new FATLOAD named FATLOAD_FX_900457 referencing LOAD1, LCID (1) IR-FX_900457. Set LDM to 1 and
Scale to 1000.
2. Duplicate this loadcase 9 times to produce a total of 10 FATLOAD cards with identical information.
Tip: Modifying the individual FATLOAD cards names and information can be completed through the Entity Editor or, alternatively,
through the Matrix Browser as detailed below.
3. Open the Matrix Browser by selecting Tools > Matrix Browser from the pull-down menu.
4. When the new worksheet comes up, go to the selectors at the bottom of the screen. Select DataSource HMdata,
Entities loadcols and click Query.
5. The HyperMesh Desktop panel area shows a loadcols entity selector. Click on the entity selector and select the
FATLOAD_FX_900457 load collector and its 9 duplicates and click proceed to close the entity selector panel and return
to the Matrix Browser.
*Tip: The ids of the load collectors selected should be populated in the first column of the Matrix Browser.
6. Click to highlight the first column in the worksheet of the Matrix Browser. When the first Datanames entries are
populated, select the options name, FATLOAD, FATLOAD_LCID, FATLOAD_LDM, FATLOAD_OFFSET,
FATLOAD_SCALE, and FATLOAD_TID.
7. Click Query to load these entries into the Matrix Browser alongside their corresponding loadcol id.
8. Change the data within the Matrix Browser as shown below:
*Tip: Note that when entries in a card are changed within the Matrix Browser, the default settings of the Matrix Browser update
the corresponding database entries within the HyperMesh Desktop database as well. Please be aware of the values and data
entries that you are editing.
*Tip: Note that in the Matrix Browser, certain integer data types such as ID numbers may be shown as a floating point value with
separator.
*Tip: Note that all of the Z-loadcase IDs utilize FATLOAD_TID 13 and the X-loadcase IDs use FATLOAD_TID 12.
9. Switch to the Model Browser tab to review the new load collectors and verify the information. Once the information is
correct, close the Matrix Browser.
*Tip: There is no need to save the existing worksheet data from the Matrix Browser.
Step 4: Create a new fatigue event card that references all ten of the multiaxial fatigue loads
Step 5: Define the fatigue sequence using a FATSEQ card with N=100
*Tip: Right-click on FATSEQ in the Model Browser and Card Edit to enable and update N.
Step 6: Define the FATPARM card for multiaxial stress with Stress rainflow counting type and activate the option for free surface
damage membranes. more than one damage models can be assigned by the user, if the user just specifies one, the tool calculates
only for that Damage model, user can specify both shear and tension damage models and the tool gives out the worst result. (Refer
FATPARM card)
Step 7: Extend the existing material properties to include fatigue parameters
Step 8: Create a new PFAT load collector and set the following properties:
Step 9: Create a new FATDEF fatigue definition
Tip: The knuckle component’s solid elements utilize a PSOLID property
Step 11: Request Damage and Life outputs in H3D format
*Tip: New output request cards can be created by accessing the menu selection Tools > Create Cards > <first letter of card
name>. Output request cards are marked with [OR] after their name. Example: DAMAGE [OR] is an output request for damage
results.
Step 12: Run the analysis in OptiStruct
Step 13: Review the results in HyperView with a contour plot of the knuckle component, showing the damage
*Tip: Edit legend and input values as shown below
EXERCISE RESULTS: altair_knuckle.h3d
8 Factor of Safety Analysis

Uniaxial and Multiaxial type of Fatigue analysis is conducted in order to evaluate an overall damage that is summed up throughout
the loading history. Regardless if certain load peaks exceed the Ultimate Tensile Stress or not, each load peak has its contribution
to the overall damage sum. This kind of approach is only useful when we are sure that the entire load history will remain below the
strength limit of the material.
What if the load history is clearly irregular and we are not sure whether a single load peak can cause a failure?
Factor of Safety Analysis (Dang Van) investigates if the component will fail during its entire loading history. The calculation of
maximum stresses for each element is done and factor of safety is calculated with respect to stress limit defined within shear stress
and hydrostatic pressure chart:
The calculation of Factor of Safety is done within a following formula:
Where:
• τ(t) - is the Shear Stress based on the deviatoric part of microscopic stress
• p(t) - is the hydrostatic part of macroscopic Stress
• a and b - are material constants (resp. TFL and HSS in MATFAT)
The approach of Factor of Safety analysis to investigate whether the component will fail during the entire load history is also
referred to as Dang Van Criterion.
• Examples of parts which may be analyzed using Dang Van approach include:
• Automobile components which undergo multiaxial cyclic loading
• Propeller shafts
• Jet turbine blades
Fatigue crack initiation usually occurs at zones of stress concentration such as geometric discontinuities, fillets, notches and so on.
This phenomenon takes place in the microscopic level and is localized to certain regions like grains which have undergone local
plastic deformation in characteristic intra-crystalline bands.
• The FOS calculation involves evaluating the Microscopic Deviatoric Shear Stress and Macroscopic Hydrostatic
Stress as functions of time for all time steps over the entire loading cycle. The worst FOS value (time domain) is
selected and output for each element in the fatigue space. If FOS is less than 1, the component cannot experience
infinite life. The FOS, Hydrostatic Stress, and Microscopic Shear output are controlled by the I/O Options.
8.1 FOS Analysis Setup
1. The FOS analysis is activated in FATPARM card by choosing TYPE as FOS. No other parameters are required in
FATPARM card, DANGVAN criterion is active by default
2. MAXLFAT must be set to NO or left blank
3. In MATFAT extension card, FOS field should be edited to define the shear stress – hydrostatic pressure relationship (a
and b constants):
• HSS is “a” constant
• TFL is “b” constant
• The Tfl field on the MATFAT Bulk Data Entry can be used to define either a value or an integer (table – multiple
slopes) to specify the Failure zone for Factor of Safety Analysis.
• The integer value references the identification number of a TABLES1 Bulk Data Entry that defines the intersection
points. The X-values represent Hydrostatic Pressure, and the Y-values represent Shear.
The STHETA and SSHEAR fields on the MATFAT Bulk Data Entry can be used to define the Safe Zones for Factor of Safety
Analysis.
4. I/O Option: FOS (H3D, SUB) = ALL
8.2 Tutorial: FOS Analysis of a Spring Link
This exercise introduces the user to setting up factor of safety analysis using the Dang Van method on a spring link model. Unlike
previous models which were set up from the beginning of the fatigue process, this model will be brought into HyperMesh Desktop
already set up for fatigue analysis. The model will then be modified to provide factor of safety as a result and analyzed.
Problem Setup
You should copy the file: altair_spring_link_FOS.hm
Step 1: Open altair_spring_link_FOS.hm in HyperMesh Desktop
Step 2: Modify the MATFAT of the material card for MAT1_FATIGUE, deactivating the
SN section and activating the FOS section, setting TFLmax to 102 and HSS to 0.424
Step 3: Update the FATPARM card for factor of safety analysis
Step 4: Update the output requests using the GLOBAL_OUTPUT_REQUESTS of the control cards to request FOS output in H3D
format
Step 6: Review the results in HyperView, contouring the FOS(FOS) result type in HyperView
Tip: Use the Edit Legend dialog box to import the FOS_legend.tcl file and create the legend as shown in the results image.
EXERCISE RESULTS: spring_link_FOS.h3d
9 Seam Weld Fatigue Analysis

This type of analysis is used to investigate seam welds exclusively. The method implemented in OptiStruct is based on a research
paper Fatigue Life Prediction of MAG-Welded Thin-Sheet Structures published by M. Fermér, M Andréasson, and B Frodin. The
method is a hot spot stress approach applicable to thin metal sheets. Hot spot stress is calculated from grid point forces at weld
line. The method showed a good agreement with laboratory test results for sheet thickness between 1.0 mm and 3.0 mm. The
method typically requires two S-N curves. One is a bending S-N curve which is dominated by bending stress, and the other is a
membrane S-N curve which is dominated by membrane stress.
Note on stress resultants

When considering an element with constant cross section, let’s say cylindrical, membrane stress results purely from compressive or
tensile forces, it causes pure tensile or compressive part of a stress that is constant throughout the thickness. Bending stress
however is resultant from bending moments, it is a pure bending part of the stresses, characteristic stress field is provided which
linearly changes from tensile to compressive part through neutral axis.
A typical seam weld presents a few characteristic features that results from the welding process, the features are named as follows:
9.1 Seam Weld Elements
In HyperWorks, seam welds are modelled as a row of CQUAD4 elements, which are usually connected to joined components in toe
locations – face elements. It can either be a row of face elements, or a combination of face elements, root elements or in other
than T-Junction welds, also a row of throat elements. All of these possible combinations are presented later in this chapter.
Generally, in order to define that a certain row of elements represents a seam weld, FATSEAM load collector is used to assign
weld features to existing elements. An example of T-Junction seam weld:
For FE modelling of seam welds, a few rules must be stated:
• Weld elements should be CQUAD4 elements, CTRIA3 elements are allowed for corner weld
• The connection line should be weld elements and adjacent elements define the toe location
• There should be one or two rows of CQUAD4 weld elements, 3 rows are allowed in case weld fillets in both toe
locations are necessary
• The thickness of the weld element is the same as the effective throat.
• Elements are defined as weld elements by referring them in FATSEAM load collector
• Element normal direction must point outward of the weld, that is opposite to root of the weld
In the discretized FE model, seam welds can be modelled as shown on the pictures below. Since in the FATSEAM card user must
choose between four types of welds:
• FILLET
• OVLAP (Overlap)
• LOVLAP (Laser Overlap)
• LEOVLAP (Laser Edge Overlap)
They were also grouped with respect to these options below:
Fillet
• T-Junction
A choice between these combinations is dependent on the depth of penetration of seam weld (see the light blue cross sections of
welds on the pictures below). As visible on the pictures, deep seam welds are modelled together with root elements, whereas seam
welds, which are meant not to penetrate the components much are represented only with face elements.
• Cross-joint
The same situation and rules as with T-Joint, when it comes to choice of weld modelling.
Overlap
Laser Edge Overlap
Laser Overlap
The failure that is expected in seam welds is actually predicted to be in certain locations, these locations are always assumed by
OptiStruct. For Fillet and Overlap welds they are located in the elements adjacent to weld elements, near toe of root locations:
Fatigue Bulk Data Cards: FATSEAM

The FATSEAM bulk data card is used to define parameters for seam weld fatigue analysis
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
FATSEAM ID WTYPE
PSHELL PID1 PID2 ... ... ... ... PID7
Where:
Each FATSEAM card must have a unique ID.

ID The FATPARM Subcase Information entry may reference this
identifier.
WTYPE Weld type.
PSHELL Indicates that the following property fields reference PSHELL entries.
PIDi Property identifier of weld elements
FATSEAM associates weld type WTYPE to PSHELL property, which in turn contains assignment of material to a group of CQUAD4
elements.
9.2 Seam Weld Properties Setup
The structure for seam weld analysis is similar to the “normal” fatigue analysis, loading setup is exactly the same except the
difference in FATPARM card and FATDEF structure:
SUBCASE
FATSEAM FATEVNT
PFATSM
FATLOAD
W
MATFAT TABFAT
Top Stress Fraction

(TOPSTR)
PSHELL
FATSEAM
FATDEF
Seam weld features
BRATIO, TREF,
PFATSMW
TREF_N
PFATSMW
Besides the additional FATSEAM card, described in the chapter before, PFATSMW property is used instead of PFAT load
collector. Please notice that this time it is the card image of a property.
Following parameters are defined within PFATSMW property:
BRATIO Critical bending ratio
TREF Reference thickness for thickness effect consideration
TREF_N Exponent for the thickness effect consideration
• BRATIO
The upper and lower curves on the picture below are referred to as Bending SN curve and Membrane SN curve, respectively. It is
recommended that membrane SN curve should be used when membrane stress dominates in an element and bending SN curve
should be used when bending stress dominates. Interpolation between the two curves may be carried out depending on the degree
of bending dominance.
Generally, bending ratio is defined as a contribution of maximum stress coming from bending moments in overall stress in weld
damage locations (toe, root, throat)
Where,
σB – is maximum bending stress
σM – is maximum membrane stress.
For all shell elements, considered in weld fatigue, an average bending ratio is evaluated and compared to critical bending ratio
BRATIO. If average bending ratio (rBAVG) is less than or equal to the critical bending ratio (rBCRIT), then the Membrane SN curve is
used to assess damage. If average bending ratio is greater than the critical bending ratio, then an SN curve that is interpolated
between membrane SN curve and the bending SN curve is used.
• TREF and TREF_N
The thickness correction process is for size effect correction. SN curves are based on test results from a particular size of the
specimen. In reality, the stress vs life curve may vary depending on specimen size. Therefore, thickness correction parameters can
be used to correct for this effect. It may be applied based on the thickness T of each shell element under consideration for Fatigue
calculation (that is, toe, root, or throat element). The calculations are:
If T ≤ TREF, then there is no Thickness Correction.
If T > TREF, OptiStruct increases stress based on the equation below:
The default values are 1.0 and 0.2 respectively. The defaults are in inches (English units), if the metric system is used, then the
values should be modified accordingly.
Thickness Correction can be turned on or off using the corresponding THCKCORR field on the FATPARM bulk data entry for
Seam Weld Fatigue Analysis.
FATDEF
FATDEF card, as in previous analyses, is used to assign properties to analyzed regions, usually PFAT property was assigned to
PSOLID or PSHELL property. This time PFATSMW is assigned to FATSEAM load collector, as FATSEAM already contains
assignment of weld features to PSHELL property.
FATDEF allows multiple pairs of FATSEAM and PFATSMW. Top Stress Fraction (TOPSTR) is used to define that only the highest
stress results are written to output, the stresses out of this fraction will result in no stress in the output.
Top Stress Fraction

(TOPSTR)
PSHELL
FATSEAM
FATDEF
Seam weld features
BRATIO, TREF,
PFATSMW
TREF_N
FATPARM
The Fatigue parameters are defined as usual, except SMWLD section must be checked and METHOD of weld fatigue analysis
must be chosen (only VOLVO is available).
(“Volvo Method” or “Hot Spot” Stress approach is used to calculate the hot spot stress from the nodal force at weld line)
When additional SMWLD is activated, FATPARM card can look as follows:
Of course, all the setup possibilities for fatigue calculation are available as for a uniaxial analysis. The SMWLD section allows
following parameters to be defined:
Flag indicating that the following parameters are used for seam weld fatigue
SMWLD
analysis.
Seam weld fatigue analysis method.

METHOD
Default = VOLVO (VOLVO or blank)
Mean stress correction indicator.

CORRECT
Default = NONE (FKM or NONE)
Certainty of survival.
SURVCERT
Default = SURVCERT value on CERTNTY continuation line (0.0 < Real < 1.0)
Thickness correction flag.

THCKCORR
Default = YES (YES or NO)
MATFAT
The MATFAT card parameters for Seam Weld Fatigue Analysis are filled in SMWLD section, it requires a setup of S-N or E-N
diagrams, the parameters are as follows:
SMWLD Indicates that seam weld fatigue analysis fatigue material properties follow.
Mean Stress Sensitivity parameter for mean stress correction based on FKM
FKMMSS_SM
guidelines for seam weld fatigue analysis
A/R Defines the interpretation of the defined SN curve.
Fatigue strength coefficient. It is the stress range intercept of SN curve at 1 cycle

SR1_SMi
in log-log scale.
The first fatigue strength exponent. It is the slope of the first segment of SN curve
B1_SMi
in log-log scale.
NC1_SMi In one-segment SN curve, this is the cycle limit of endurance
The second fatigue strength exponent. It is the slope of the second segment of
B2_SMi
SN curve in log-log scale
FL_SMi Fatigue Limit
SE_SMi Standard Error of Log(N)
Notice that the parameters used for building a S-N curve are exactly the same as for “normal” fatigue analysis, but each of them
has a suffix _SMi. Here i = 1 for bending SN and i = 2 for membrane SN.
For more information, please refer to OptiStruct Help documentation.
9.3 Tutorial: Weld Fatigue Analysis of a Seam Welded Frame
This exercise illustrates seam weld fatigue through the use of a frame structure. Users will review the welds and the partial fatigue
setup available and will continue the modeling by creating the necessary cards to complete the fatigue setup.
Problem Setup
You should copy the file: Frame_SeamWeld.hm
Step 1: Open the model Frame_SeamWeld.hm in HyperMesh Desktop
Step 2: Review the components of the model, paying particular attention to the seam weld elements and locations. Also review the
existing fatigue load collectors to determine the relationship between the load steps and fatigue loading curves.
Step 3: Create a new FATPARM card and activate the SMWLD section and set the METHOD to VOLVO
Step 4: Set up a new FATSEAM card for FILLET weld types that uses the PSHELL from the seam weld property
Step 5: Create a new property card of type PFATSMW which sets up necessary properties for analyzing seam welds in fatigue
analysis
Step 6: Create a new FATDEF card referencing the FATSEAM id as the fatigue analysis entity type
Step 7: Extend the existing material properties to include fatigue parameters for seam welding.
Step 8: Create a new load step for seam weld fatigue analysis
Step 10: Review the results in HyperView
*Tip: For seam weld fatigue analysis, results are available for the elements directly connected to the weld locations
EXERCISE RESULTS: Frame_SeamWeld.h3d
*Edit legend and input values as shown below for logarithmic display of result.
Click Apply > ok
10 Spot Weld Analysis

Before a process of spot welds analysis in OptiStruct will be presented, a few words about what actually a spot weld is – A Spot
Weld is created between two adjacent sheet elements as a result of current transfer through thicknesses of these sheets. The
electric current that is transferred from one electrode to another causes heating of the metal parts due to electric resistance of the
metals. Highly concentrated current (transferred through a small area) brings the metal parts to molten state and due to pressure
applied by electrodes a joining of melted sheet parts occurs. The area at the joint is called a nugget.
Spot weld fatigue analysis allows for the study of fatigue performance of spot welds in structures. Currently, only Stress-Life (SN)
based spot weld fatigue analysis is supported. spot weld fatigue can only be applied to spot welds between two shells. The spot
weld location is defined by three attributes, sheet 1, sheet 2, and the nugget. The sheets are defined by shell elements, and the
nugget is defined by CWELD, CBAR, CBEAM, or CHEXA elements. The nugget can be directly connected to the shells or RBE2/3
elements can be used to connect the nugget to the shells.
The nugget needs to be modelled between two nodes of a shell parts. It seems that when the actual thicknesses of the shells are
considered, the nugget should be a length of zero, since the shell parts are in contact. However, the shell meshes are represented
usually with zero thickness and so the nodes are placed in the middle of the theoretical thicknesses – in that case the length of the
nugget is equal to:
𝑡𝑡1 +𝑡𝑡2
𝐿𝐿 =
2
Where t1 and t2 are real thicknesses of the shells.
t1
Cross section
of joined
h ll
Nugget element
t2
10.1 Stress calculation
Fatigue analysis for spot welds involves examining the weld at three distinct locations, the center planes of the two attachment
sheets at the points of attachment and at the center of the nugget, based on a paper by Rupp et al. The cross-sectional forces and
moments at each of the three locations is determined and used to calculate corresponding stresses. These stresses are then used
to calculate Fatigue Damage using Rainflow counting and the SN approach.
The failure may occur due to two possible stress conditions:
• Failure at sheet due to radial tensile stress
• Failure at nugget due to bending and shear stress
10.2 Spot Weld Fatigue Analysis Setup
The structure of Spot Weld Fatigue analysis setup is very similar to Seam Weld Fatigue, the difference is in the FATDEF entries –
FATSEAM card is not defined in this case and FATDEF card associates the PFATSPW properties directly to nugget property
(PBARL, PBAR, PBEAML, PBEAM, PWELD, PSOLID)
SUBCASE
PTYPE FATEVNT
PFATSPW FATLOAD
MATFAT TABFAT
PFATSPW
Like in the seam weld fatigue PFATSMW is used, in spot weld fatigue the fatigue properties are defined with a PFATSPW property
card image.
SPTFAIL Damage assessment option type.
The value of α used to determine the AUTO option on the SPTFAIL field.
ALPHA
Default = 3.5.
Effective diameter of the spot weld that is generated using Hexahedron

HEXA_D
(CHEXA) elements
TREF Reference thickness for thickness effect consideration
TREF_N Exponent for the thickness effect consideration
SF Stress scale factor
The most important parameter is to define SPTFAIL, to choose whether the damage will be assessed at nugget or sheet location,
or both.
Following options are available:
Default = SHEET (SHEET, NUGGET, ALL, or AUTO)
SHEET – Only assess sheet damage at the spot weld location.
NUGGET – Only assess nugget damage at the spot weld location.
ALL – Assess both sheet and nugget damage at the spot weld location.
AUTO – Automatically assess damage based on the following condition, if:
𝐷𝐷 < 𝛼𝛼√𝑇𝑇 assess nugget damage at the spot weld location
𝐷𝐷 ≥ 𝛼𝛼√𝑇𝑇 assess sheet damage at the spot weld location
Where, D is the diameter of the weld connector, 𝛼𝛼 is set using the ALPHA field, and T is the thickness of the shell.
TREF and TREF_N parameters are used in the same manner as in Seam Weld Fatigue (see the chapter 6 for more information)
Beside the TREF, TREF_N fields, the stresses can be scaled directly within SF entry. By default, it is 1.0.
MATFAT
Material Fatigue properties for S-N approach for Spot Weld Fatigue Analysis are defined in the SPWLD field in MATFAT entry.
Indicates that the fatigue material properties for spot weld fatigue analysis
SPWLD
are to follow.
Mean Stress Sensitivity parameter for mean stress correction based on

FKMMSS_SP
FKM guidelines for spot weld fatigue analysis
A/R Defines the interpretation of the defined SN curve
Fatigue strength coefficient. It is the stress range intercept of SN curve at 1

SR1_Spi
cycle in log-log scale
The first fatigue strength exponent. It is the slope of the first segment of SN
B1_Spi
curve in log-log scale
In one-segment SN curve, this is the cycle limit of endurance

NC1_Spi
In two-segment SN curve, this is the transition point
The second fatigue strength exponent. It is the slope of the second

B2_Spi
segment of SN curve in log-log scale
FL_Spi Fatigue Limit.
SE_SPi Standard Error of Log(N)
Notice that again the parameters are the same as for Seam Weld and for the Wöhler’s curve parameters Spi suffix is used, where i
stays for:
i = 1 for the sheet 1 properties
i = 2 for the sheet 2 properties
i = 3 for the nugget properties
FATPARM
The FATPARM card has a SPWLD section for Spot Weld Fatigue parameters. They are the same as for Seam Weld section,
except the NANGLE parameter, which is available for the spot welds to define how many angles are to be examined for stress
calculation (see Help Documentation for more information) default is 18 degrees.
Flag indicating that the following parameters are used for spot weld fatigue
SPWLD
analysis.
METHOD Spot weld fatigue analysis method
CORRECT Mean stress correction indicator
SURVCERT Certainty of survival.
THCKCORR Thickness correction flag
NANGLE Number of angles to be examined on the sheet and nugget
FATDEF
As mentioned before, FATDEF card in case of Spot Weld Analysis assigns PFATSPW properties directly to the property of nugget.
The Top Stress Fraction can also be defined.
Top Stress Fraction

(TOPSTR)
Nugget elements,
FATDEF PTYPE
Material
PFATSPW SPTFAIL.... etc.
10.3 Tutorial: Spot Weld Fatigue Analysis of a Welded Beam
• Load existing file Fatigue_Spotweld_cbar_ini.hm
• Load in User Profiles, OptiStruct
• Change representation to ”1D Detailed Element Representation”
• Edit the existing Material “Steel” (MAT1) with the values as presented below
• Define Spotweld properties (σN Curves) by activating the MATFAT box
HINT: Here 1, 2, 3 represent sheet1, sheet2, and nugget
• Create Property PFATSPW; Card Image PFATSPW
• set SPTFAIL to SHEET
• Create Load Collectors FATDEF
o Card Image FATDEF

o set PTYPE to PBARL
• Assign Fatigue Property to SpotWeld with FATDEF
• Create Load Collector FATPARM
• Set the card image to FATPARM
o STRESS -> COMBINE - > SGVN

o CERTNTY, Survcert set to 0,5
o SPWLD checked
o Set CORRECT to FKM
o Enable thickness correction by setting THCKCORR to YES
• Create Load Step and refer the FATDEF, FATPARM and FATSEQ subcase entries by appropriate load collectors
• Start OptiStruct ANALYSIS
• Post-Processing in HyperView, Options, Visualisation, BAR, “Cylinder “
• Make 2 Windows to display
o displacement for static load on left side

o damage for fatigue analysis on rigid side
o Edit legend as per the values displayed
11 Vibration Fatigue
In this section, we talk about Fatigue in frequency domain.
1. Sine Sweep Fatigue
2. Random Response Fatigue
Sine sweep fatigue

• Cyclic load
• Stress amplitudes and their no. of cycles are determined by sweeping rate and FRF analysis results.
• Eventually, it’s fatigue in time domain.
Random response fatigue

• Not cyclic. But we all know the random signal causes damage.
• Stochastic approach.
• Probability of no. of cycles of certain stress amplitudes are suggested by
o Dirlik
o Lalanne
o Steinberg’s 3 bands
o Narrow band
E-N in vibration fatigue

Support of vibration fatigue based on Strain-Life in OptiStruct
• Random vibration fatigue
• Sine sweep fatigue
No additional input is required to activate eN vibration fatigue. Just specify EN in FATPARM. Optimization is supported in eN
random vibration fatigue.
11.1 Sine Sweep Fatigue Analysis
Sine Sweep Fatigue Analysis: Sine sweep is a well-known method of vibration testing which is conducted to evaluate the vibration
behavior of a specimen. It is the study of fatigue life of structures under Sinusoidal Loading.
• The setup is very similar to a Frequency Response Analysis setup, with an additional Fatigue subcase, and
additional required Sine Sweep parameters.
• The LCID field on the FATLOAD entry references the subcase ID of the Frequency Response Analysis subcase.
• Frequency Response Stress results from the Frequency Response Analysis are used to calculate the frequency-
dependent stress range, which are subsequently used to calculate Fatigue damage based on sweep rate.
• Both Stress-Life and Strain-Life approach is available for Sine Sweep Fatigue analysis.
Explanation on how to perform Frequency Response Analysis is not covered in this book. To know more about it, kindly go through
our eBook titled “Learn Dynamic Analysis with Altair OptiStruct”.
Acceleration Profile and Sweep rate
Steps for sine sweep fatigue

• Perform FRF analysis with given freq. range
• Get stress amplitude at the i-th freq.
• Figure out no. of cycles at the i-th freq.
• Calculate damage at the i-th feq.
• Add up damages through all the freq.
• Multiply the damage and no. of sweeps to get final damage
No. of cycles (n) at a freq, f

• If Hz/sec : f/v → freq. dependent
• If Oct/min : 1/(v *ln2) → feq. independent
FATPARM Bulk Cards

• The TYPE field on the FATPARM Bulk Data Entry can be used to identify stress-life (SN) or strain-life (EN) sine
sweep fatigue analysis.
• The SWEEP continuation line on the FATPARM Bulk Data Entry can be used to define the frequencies (NF or DF
fields) at which the sine sweep fatigue calculations are performed. Additionally, the STSUBID field can be used to
identify a static subcase for mean stress correction.
FATLOAD Bulk Cards

• The LCID field on FATLOAD Bulk Data Entry references a Frequency Response Analysis subcase.
• The SWEEP continuation line should be specified on FATLOAD Bulk Data Entry, and corresponding sine sweep
parameters, via SR (sweep rate) and SRUNIT (sweep rate unit) fields are required.
FATSEQ Bulk Cards

• The N# fields on the FATSEQ Bulk Data Entry identifies the number of sweeps of the corresponding FID# reference
and the T# fields define the time in sec.
Sine sweep Fatigue: Input Deck
11.2 Tutorial: Fatigue Analysis under sine sweep loading
This exercise introduces the user to setting up stress-life (S-N) analysis on a spring link arm subjected to frequency response (FRF)
loading. The coupling of a FRF subcase to a fatigue simulation is similar to setting up fatigue analysis a linear static loadcase with
the addition of a few important parameters.
Problem Setup
You should copy the file: 7a_sine_seep_fatigue_spring_link.
Step 1: Open the model 7a_sine_seep_fatigue_spring_link.hm in HyperMesh Desktop
Step 2: Create a new FATLOAD card FATLOAD to reference the frf load case, SWEEP <checked>, SR 0.1, SRUNIT HZPS.
Step 3: Create a new FATEVNTcontaining the single FATLOAD
Step 4: Define the fatigue sequence of a single cycle of the previously created FATEVNT in a new FATSEQ card
Step 5: Create a FATPARM card with analysis type set to SN. Use the VONMISES stress combination, MPA stress units, surface
stress YES and survival certainty of 0.92. Check the Rainflow option RTYPE to STRESS and SWEEP <checked>.
Note: Make sure the MATFAT section is activated and set for MAT1_FATIGUE material: UNIT: MPA; UTS: 450; SN: <checked>;
MEAN_STRESS_SENSITIVITY: 1slope; SRI1: 2401; B1: -0.135135; NC1: 2e6; FL: 338; SE: 0.3099.
Step 6: Create a new PFAT load collector and set the following properties
Step 7: Create a new FATDEF fatigue definition load collector that links the plate shell elements to the fatigue element property
PFAT
Step 10: Review the results in HyperView as a contour plot of damage
11.3 Random Response Fatigue Analysis
Random Response Fatigue analysis is available to study the fatigue life of structures under Random Loading. The setup is similar
to a Random Response Analysis setup, with an additional Fatigue subcase. The LCID field on the FATLOAD entry references the
subcase ID of the Random Response Analysis subcase. Power Spectral Density (PSD) results from the Random Response
Analysis are used to calculate Moments (mn) that are used to generate the probability density function for the number of cycles vs
the stress range. The PSD Moments are calculated based on the Stress PSD generated from the Random Response Analysis.
Explanation on how to perform Random Response Analysis is not covered in this book. To know more about it, kindly go through
our eBook titled “Learn Dynamic Analysis with Altair OptiStruct”.
OptiStruct supports Analysis only for the following modules/approaches:
• Uniaxial SN with Von-Mises stress and approximated principal stress
• Spot weld (CBAR, CWELD, CHEXA)
• Seam weld
Currently following options are available to define the damage model:
• Dirlik
• Lalanne
• Narrow band
• Steinberg's 3 bands
Note that multiple models can be specified. OS reports the worst damage. Mean stress correction requires static load subcase to
apply static stress offset.
Outputs include:
Damage/life of shell, solid, spot weld elements (CWELD, CBAR, CHEXA) and seam weld element (CQUAD4)
Fatigue Bulk Data Cards: FATPARM extensions for random fatigue
SUBCASE
PFAT FATEVNT
MATFAT FATLOAD
TABFAT
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
FATPARM ID TYPE MAXLFAT
STRESS COMBINE CORRECT STRESSU PLASTIC SURFSTS
… … … … … …
FOS FOSTYPE
RDMGMDL DM1 DM2 DM3
RANDOM FACSREND SREND NBIN DS TEXP STSUBID
Where:
RDMGMDL Indicates Random Response Damage Model information is to follow.
Damage models to be used in Random Response fatigue analysis. Multiple damage

DMi
models can be specified in the three DMi fields.
Indicates that parameters for Random Response Fatigue are to follow; only when the
RANDOM
LCID field references a Random Response Analysis Subcase.
FACSREND Calculates the upper limit of the stress range (SREND)
Can be used to directly specify the upper limit of the stress range.
SREND
Default = SREND based on FACSREND
NBIN Calculates the width of the range of stress ranges for which the probability is calculated
DS Can be used to directly define the width of the stress ranges
TEXP Total Exposure time of the initial source time domain Random Loading Sample
References the subcase ID of a Static Subcase to account for mean stress correction
STSUBID
with any loading that leads to a mean stress different from zero
Random Response Fatigue: Input Deck
11.4 Tutorial: Fatigue Analysis of a cantilevered part under random loading
This exercise introduces the user to setting up stress-life (S-N) analysis on a cantilevered shaped plate subjected to random
loading. The coupling of a random subcase to a fatigue simulation is similar to setting up fatigue analysis a linear static loadcase
with the addition of a few important parameters.
The random loading setup is complete, containing two PSDF of individual subcases and one coupled PSDF relating those two
subcases. Outputs are carefully selected to limit the amount of output from the random response analysis, limiting the results to
what is necessary to produce the fatigue analysis.
Problem Setup
You should copy the file: RandomFatigue.hm
Step 1: Open the model RandomFatigue.hm in HyperMesh Desktop
Step 2: Create a new FATLOAD card FATLOADto reference the randomload case with an LDM of 1,and a Scale of 0.1.
Step 3: Create a new FATEVNTcontaining the single FATLOAD
Step 4: Define the fatigue sequence of a single cycle of the previously created FATEVNT in a new FATSEQ card
Step 5: Create a FATPARM card with analysis type set to SN. Use the VONMISES stress combination, MPA stress units, and
survival certainty of 1e-3. Check the RDMGMDL box to enable damage modeling for random fatigue and select the DIRLIK model
as DM1. Check the RANDOM box and set a FACSREND of 6.0.
Tip: FACSREND is used with the RMS stress from the random response analysis to calculate the upper stress range for fatigue
analysis. For more information, see the HyperWorks Help Reference Guide for the FATPARM entry.
Step 6: Activate the MATFATsection of the material properties for Aluminum to include the following fatigue parameters for stress
life analysis:
Step 7: Create a new PFATload collector and set the following properties
Step 8: Create a new FATDEF fatigue definition load collector that links the plate shell elements to the fatigue element property
PFAT
Step 11: Review the results in HyperView as a contour plot of damage
12 HyperLife
HyperLife is an easy-to-learn fatigue analysis software developed on a solver-neutral framework. It provides a comprehensive
toolset for durability analysis, directly interfacing with all the major finite element analysis (FEA) results files. With an embedded
material library, HyperLife enables prediction of fatigue life under repetitive loadings experienced in a wide range of industrial
applications.
12.1 Fatigue Capabilities in HyperLife
1. Stress Life (SN) and Strain Life (EN)
Uniaxial and Multiaxial assessment options with multiple Mean stress correction theories. Various stress combination methods are
available for Uniaxial assessment. Critical plane implementation for Multiaxial assessment.
For Stain-Life (EN), Neuber plasticity option available for Uniaxial and Jiang-Sehitoglu plasticity model (default) for Multiaxial
assessment.
2. Factor of Safety
Factor of Safety calculations based on Dang Van fatigue limit criterion which is used to predict if a component will fail in its entire
load history.
3. Weld Fatigue
Weld Fatigue assessment type is available for Spot Welds and Seam Welds.
Spot Weld: Structural stress method implementation when spot weld nuggets are idealized with CHEXA, CWELD and
CBAR/CBEAM element representation.
Seam Weld: Structural stress method implementation for Seam welds idealized with plate or shell elements. The approach is
based on VOLVO method. Supported weld type is FILLET weld and the weld lines (root and toe) are automatically identified seam
weld fatigue analysis based on VOLVO method.
12.2 Benefits of HyperLife
1. Easy to Learn
The easy to use and easy to learn GUI will bring efficiency to simulation teams. The intuitive user experience enables novice to
expert users to perform Fatigue life predictions at ease.
2. Solver Neutral
The commonly used FEA result data from leading solvers can be interfaced as input file.
3. Accelerated Decision Making
Perform multiple variations of analysis settings without starting a new session there by accelerating decision making and saving
cost.
12.3 Fatigue methods in HyperLife
HyperLife supports following methods in different categories.
12.4 HyperLife Workflow
The following illustrated workflows show the steps involved in performing a fatigue analysis in HyperLife.
Fatigue Module Load Spectrum

Fatigue Material
Fatigue Calculation
Estimated life
Fatigue
Load
Fatigue Fatigue Spectru Estimated Life
Module Material
1 2 3 4
13 eFatigue
In the eFatigue website (https://www.efatigue.com/), you will find everything you need to make a fatigue assessment of a structure
or component.
The site is divided into several Fatigue Technologies listed in the left sidebar. These are grouped by types of problems being
analyzed. Start by selecting a Fatigue Technology from the left sidebar. Constant Amplitude is a good place to start.
Each technology is organized into major sections: Fatigue Calculators, Fatigue Analyzers, Finders and Technical Background.
Fatigue Calculators and Fatigue Analyzers do the calculations. Finders help you get the necessary input data, including stress
concentration factors and a database of standard material properties. Technical Background describes all the steps and equations
used in the calculations.
Every Fatigue Calculator and Fatigue Analyzer has an example problem that will guide you through a complete analysis. After
selecting an analysis type, click on the Learn By Example button for a step-by-step guide through all of the input data and results.
eFatigue also includes several documented benchmark problems containing all the information needed for fatigue analysis. Here
you can use the Fatigue Calculators or Fatigue Analyzers to compute fatigue lives and then compare the results of your analysis
with the experiments. These benchmark problems will give you experience in using eFatigue and increase your confidence in your
ability to solve other more complex fatigue problems.
Fatigue Analyzers are used for more computationally intensive problems such as processing finite element models and variable
amplitude analysis from large data files. Simply upload your file and process it directly. An eFatigue subscription is required to
access Fatigue Analyzers.
13.1 Fatigue Calculator
Fatigue Calculator is a portion of eFatigue website (https://www.efatigue.com/) which contains technologies and tools that are
needed for accurate fatigue assessments with an interface that is easy for the non-expert to navigate.
One can do the following things quickly with a Fatigue Calculator:
Conduct a simple fatigue analysis
Compare results from different methods
Find a stress concentration factor
Find material properties
Each Fatigue Calculator includes a "Learn by Example" button that will take you through its input parameters and methods.
Databases for material properties, stress concentration factors and stress intensity factors are included. Using a Fatigue Calculator,
any engineer can quickly and easily conduct a fatigue or a durability analysis.
Fatigue analysis methods are based on:
• Stress-Life
• Strain-Life
• Crack Growth
Fatigue Calculators are available in the following sections of eFatigue.
• Constant Amplitude
• Multiaxial
• Probabilistic
In the next section, Constant Amplitude Stress-Life fatigue calculator is explained with example values. Similarly, one can do any
combination from the earlier stated fatigue analysis methods and fatigue sections of eFatigue website.
13.1.1 Constant Amplitude Stress-Life Analysis
All structures and mechanical components that are cyclically loaded can fail by fatigue. With limited input data, constant amplitude
fatigue analysis is used to make a simple and quick estimate of the likely fatigue performance or durability.
Constant Amplitude Analysis provides analysis for simple constant amplitude loading for all of the methods. It is typically found in
power transmission applications such as shafts, gears etc. It is frequently used in the early stages of design to set the overall stress
levels and to select appropriate materials. Many design and testing specifications are written in terms of constant amplitude
loading.
The stress-life method is typically used for long life situations (millions of cycles) where the stresses are elastic. This method is
often referred to as infinite life design.
One can make use of the following button: Experienced user on/off. Turn it off if you are an experienced user and don’t need
explanation of each fatigue step. Turn it on for assistance in performing each fatigue step.
Make use of the button: Learn by example which performs a fatigue analysis using example values.
The steps involved in performing a constant amplitude stress life analysis with example values are as follows:
13.1.1.1 Loading
Loads can be entered as either the maximum and minimum values or as the alternating stress and mean stress. Note that,
Alternating stress is one half of the stress range.
Specified values:
Stress Amplitude, Sa or ea = 50 MPa
Mean Stress, Sm or em = 10 MPa
13.1.1.2 Material
You may load a material from the database by selecting it and clicking on “Load Material” or browse the database by clicking the
“Material Property Finder” button or specify individual properties directly. Clicking “Material Property Estimator” will show the default
properties that are computed from the input values.
We have selected 1020 cold rolled steel from the Material Property Finder. Default values will be used for any properties left blank.
For finite life design, the entire stress-life curve must be known. Stress life curves are characterized by a slope and an intercept.
Specified values:
Ultimate Strength, Su = 455 MPa
Elastic Modulus, E = 206800 MPa
Intercept, Sf′ = 814 MPa
Slope, b = -.118
Default values:
Fatigue Limit, SFL = 159 MPa
Fatigue Limit Cycles, NFL = 1.00E+06
13.1.1.3 Modifying Factors
Some of the important modifying factors are: Surface finish factor (kSF), the loading factor (kL ) and the size factor (ksize).
Fatigue usually starts at the surface so that the quality of the surface finish is very important. The surface finish becomes even
more important as the strength of the material increases.
Either specify the modifying factor directly or choose a finish from the drop-down box. If you don't know, select None and a default
value of 1 will be used.
Specified values:
Surface Finish Type = ground
Loading Factor Type = axial
Default values:
kSF = 0.939
kL = 0.923
ksize = 1.000
13.1.1.4 Stress Concentration Factor
All mechanical components contain some form of stress concentrators which can cause cracks to form. A well-designed structure
will have stress concentrations ranging between 2 and 4. Here, we select a stress concentration for a circular hole where Kt = 3.
You could obtain stress concentration factors for other geometries from the Stress Concentration Finder. If you leave Kt blank, a
default value of Kt = 1 will be used.
Small stress concentrations are less effective in fatigue than predicted by Kt. A fatigue notch factor (effective stress concentration in
fatigue) is used to account for this effect. It is related to the size of the local stress gradient and material strength.
Either specify Kf directly or enter Kt and the radius.
Specified values:
Kt = 3
Use Fatigue Notch Factor = No
Radius, r = 1 mm
13.1.1.5 Safety Factor
The Safety Factor represents how much you have underestimated the strength of the material in order to ensure a safe design with
a life equal to the fatigue limit.
If you wish to calculate a safety factor, leave this section blank and click the Calculate Life / Safety Factor button below. If you wish
to calculate the stresses, you must specify the desired safety factor and provide some additional information about the mean
stresses.
In this example, we want to calculate Life / Safety Factor. So, we will leave this ‘Safety Factor’ section blank.
If we choose to calculate stresses, all the stress information in the loading section will be ignored and only safety factor will be
considered.
13.1.1.6 Results
Click on the button ‘calculate Life / Safety Factor’. Any parameters determined during the analysis are given in the Computed
section. The equivalent stress Seq is computed from the Goodman diagram. The various modifying factors change the slope of the
material SN curve in the analysis. The value of the adjusted slope is given.
Results obtained are as follows:
Nf = 486000
Smax or emax = 60 MPa
Smin or emin = -40 MPa
Seq = 54 MPa
beq = -0.208
14 Appendix A
An extended version of Fatigue analysis subcase tree:
SUBCASE

Fatigue analysis parameters:
Regions for fatigue analysis. A sequence of FATEVNT and
-type of analysis (SN,EN,FOS),
This card is used to FATSEQ collectors. There is
-Uniaxial/Multiaxial
associate PFAT features with one major FATSEQ, which is
-stress calculation
element sets/actual referenced in subcase entry.
-rainflow
properties.
-multiaxial damage
-survival certainty FATEVNT
PFAT -Seamweld controls
Combination of
Defines component -Spotweld controls
FATLOADs taking place
fatigue properties: -Random response damage
at the same time.
shell element layer, model
finish, treatment, -random response
fatigue strength parameters FATLOAD
Association of TABFAT
correction Kf…
load peaks to a static
loadstep. Additional
MATFAT parameters: Load
Material properties for magnitude, scale,
the following fatigue offset.
models: SN, EN, FOS,
Spot Weld, Seam Weld. TABFAT
Tabular loading time
history: one column of
user-defined number
of load scaling factors
15 Appendix B
This section discusses new features regarding OptiStruct Fatigue analysis.
15.1 Fatigue Analysis based on a Local Submodel
Feature supported version: OptiStruct 14.0.220 or above
In Global-local analysis, a full model is solved using two or more submodels. One submodel represents the full structure, and parts
of the structure with small details, which require relatively higher accuracy, can be modeled as local submodels with a fine mesh.
Displacements from the coarser global model are interpolated and applied to the finer mesh of the local model at the transfer zone.
This allows for the local model to be driven by the results of the global model.
• This feature may help improve results in models with local stress concentrations. It allows faster solution time as
only parts of the structure is being resolved with a fine mesh.
• Solid-to-Solid, Shell-to-shell, and shell-to-solid zooming are supported.
• It is an approximate solution, under the assumption that the displacements are correct in the coarser global model.
• Until Version 14.0.220 only linear static analysis was supported
• In V14.0.220 Fatigue analysis is also supported
• Setup is similar to setting up any fatigue analysis
• Can pick either global subcase or a local subcase
• Can pick either global element set, or local element set
Example
• Symmetric Boundary Conditions
• Pressure Load applied on the plate
• Fatigue Analysis of both global and local submodel
Results
15.2 Amplitude Based MATFAT
The SN curve considered for fatigue calculation could be either Stress-range V/s No. of Cycles or Stress-Amplitude V/S No. of
cycles. Until Version 2017.2, only Stress-range based curves were supported. In Version 2017.2.1, we support both. The default is
still stress-range based curve.
How to setup in OptiStruct

The A/R field on the MATFAT card can be used to switch between stress-range and stress-amplitude based curves.
A/R defines the interpretation of the defined SN curve.
A: The SN curve is defined based on Amplitude.
R: The SN curve is defined based on Range.
15.3 Static Loading Applied Sequentially in Fatigue Analysis
Static loads can now be applied sequentially in fatigue analysis from Version 2017.2
Until Version 2017.2, static loads could only be super-imposed in fatigue analysis
The SQNTL flag on the FATEVNT entry can be used to switch the applied Static Fatigue loads to sequential loading instead of
super-positional loading.
TID field on FATLOAD card needs to be blank
Format
15.4 Random Response Fatigue Analysis with Strain-Life Approach
Static loads can now be applied sequentially in fatigue analysis from Version 2017.2 Strain-Life approach is supported for Random
Fatigue Analysis.
Stress life approach is already available.
Only Uniaxial Analysis is supported with combined stress as von-Mises stress.
The TYPE field on the FATPARM Bulk Data Entry can be used to identify stress-life (SN) or strain-life (EN).
15.5 Multiple Mean Stress SN curve Definition
Multiple SN data can be defined for different mean stress through the FATMCRV entry which can be referenced on the SNCM
continuation line of the MATFAT entry. The input on FATMCRV would be the mean stress and TABLEXN IDs. TABLEXN defines
stress vs life. Alternatively, TABLEXN can directly be referenced in MATFAT and in that case, there is single SN curve in analysis.
Stress type - A(Amplitude,) R(Range), or MAX (Maximum stress) is supported.
Available analysis type is static, transient, and random response analysis. No support for seam weld / spot weld.
The intermediate curves are interpolated for the damage evaluation.
Mean stress correction is redundant when Multiple mean stress SN curves are defined.
Multiple Mean Stress SN curve Definition: Bulk Cards

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Learn Fatigue Analysis with Altair

4.2 Static, Dynamic and Fatigue Analysis Comparison ............................................................................ 8

4.3 Definitions ................................................................................................................................................ 9

4.4 Cyclic Loading Parameters .................................................................................................................. 11

4.5 Fatigue Fracture Growth Mechanism .................................................................................................. 12

4.6 Factors Influencing Fatigue Life .......................................................................................................... 12

4.7 Various Approaches in Fatigue Analysis ........................................................................................... 14

5. Fatigue Concepts ................................................................................................................ 16

5.2 Strain-Life Approach ............................................................................................................................. 17

5.3 Mean Stress Influence .......................................................................................................................... 20

5.4 Damage Model ....................................................................................................................................... 22

5.5 Rainflow Cycle Counting ...................................................................................................................... 23

5.6 Additional Correction Parameters ....................................................................................................... 24

5.7 Fatigue Results...................................................................................................................................... 26

6. Uniaxial Fatigue Analysis ................................................................................................... 27

6.2 Fatigue Parameters (FATPARM) .......................................................................................................... 32

6.3 Fatigue Materials & Properties ............................................................................................................ 34

6.4 Fatigue Load Step & Analysis Run...................................................................................................... 40

6.5 Fatigue Results...................................................................................................................................... 40

6.6 Tutorial: Uniaxial Stress-Life Fatigue Analysis of a Spring Link ..................................................... 41

6.7 Tutorial: Uniaxial Strain-Life Fatigue Analysis of a Control Arm ..................................................... 50

7. Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis................................................................................................. 58

7.1.1 Damage Models .............................................................................................................................. 59

7.1.2 Minimum Circumscribed Ellipse ...................................................................................................... 59

7.1.3 Findley ............................................................................................................................................. 60

7.1.4 Goodman ......................................................................................................................................... 62

7.1.5 Dang Van ........................................................................................................................................ 63

7.2 Damage Models in OptiStruct .............................................................................................................. 63

7.3 Analysis Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 64

7.4 Tutorial: Multiaxial Fatigue Analysis of a Knuckle ............................................................................ 66

8. Factor Of Safety Analysis ................................................................................................... 77

8.2 Tutorial: FOS Analysis of a Spring Link ............................................................................................. 79

9. Seam Weld Fatigue Analysis .............................................................................................. 85

9.2 Seam Weld Properties Setup ............................................................................................................... 90

9.3 Tutorial: Weld Fatigue Analysis of a Seam Welded Frame ............................................................... 95

10. Spot Weld Analysis ........................................................................................................... 104

10.2 Spot Weld Fatigue Analysis Setup .................................................................................................... 105

11. Vibration Fatigue ............................................................................................................... 116

11.3 Random Response Fatigue Analysis ................................................................................................ 124

12. Hyperlife ............................................................................................................................. 135

12.2 Benefits of HyperLife .......................................................................................................................... 135

12.3 Fatigue methods in HyperLife............................................................................................................ 136

12.4 HyperLife Workflow............................................................................................................................. 136

13. eFatigue.............................................................................................................................. 139

13.1.1 Constant Amplitude Stress-Life Analysis ...................................................................................... 140

14. Appendix A ........................................................................................................................ 143

15.1 Fatigue Analysis based on a Local Submodel ................................................................................. 144

15.2 Amplitude Based MATFAT ................................................................................................................. 145

15.3 Static Loading Applied Sequentially in Fatigue Analysis ............................................................... 147

15.5 Multiple Mean Stress SN curve Definition ........................................................................................ 148

1 About This Book

• Uni-Axial and Multi-Axial Fatigue Analysis

• Factor of Safety Analysis (Dang Van)

• Weld Fatigue Analysis

Thank you very much.

Dr. Matthias Goelke

On behalf of the Altair University Team