A regression and beam theory based approach for fatigue assessment of containership structures including bending and torsion contributions

Container shipping has been expanding dramatically during the last decade. Due to their special structural characteristics, such as the wide breadth and large hatch openings, horizontal bending and torsion play an important role to the fatigue safety of containerships. In this study the fatigue contributions from vertical bending, horizontal bending and torsion are investigated using full-scale measurements of strain records on two containerships. Further, these contributions are compared to results from direct calculations where a nonlinear 3D panel method is used to compute wave loads in time domain. It is concluded that both bending and torsion have significant impacts on the fatigue assessment of containerships. The stresses caused by these loads could be correctly computed by full-ship finite element analysis. However, this requires large computational effort, since for fatigue assessment purposes the FE analysis needs to be carried out for all encountered sea states and operational conditions with sufficient time steps for each condition. In this paper, a new procedure is proposed to run the structure finite element analysis under only one sea condition for only a few time steps. Then, these results are used to obtain a relationship between wave loads and structural stresses through a linear regression analysis. This relation can be further used to compute stresses for arbitrary sea states and operational conditions using the computed wave loads (bending and torsion moments) as input. Based on this proposed method for structure stress analysis, an efficient procedure is formulated and found to be in very good agreement with the full-ship finite element analysis. In addition it is several orders of magnitude more time efficient for fatigue assessment of containership structures.     

Assessment of fatigue strength of steel butt-welded joints in as-welded condition – Alternative approaches for curve fitting and mean stress effect analysis

Experimental fatigue data for butt-welded joints in as-welded condition and under constant amplitude tensile loading (secondary bending included) were analyzed using the nominal stress system and the notch stress system. Two approaches were used; a standard fitting procedure and minimization of the sum of squared perpendicular distances from a line with a fixed and free slope. In all cases, the latter method gave better agreement between the experimental and predicted fatigue life and fatigue strength. The analyses showed both with all broken specimen data included and with reduced data that the FAT225 curve, as recommended by IIW, might be too optimistic for the notch stress approach in the case of butt-welded joints in as-welded condition. It was also found that use of the local stress ratio instead of the applied stress ratio might explain many issues concerning current observations and apparent inconsistencies in reported literature.     

Experimental and finite element analysis of fatigue strength for 300 mm2 copper power conductor

The fatigue strength of a 300 mm² stranded copper conductor was investigated experimentally and by finite element (FE) analysis. An analytical model was also developed and validated. Wires taken from the outer layer of the conductor were fatigue tested in tension–tension loading and compared with similar data for wires taken from a 95 mm² conductor. The wire cross section was deformed due to the compacting process that was applied during fabrication. When corrected for stress concentrations due to the deformation the data for the two sets of wire fell within the same scatter-band. Full scale testing was carried out in a specially designed rig with constant tensile load and reversed displacement controlled bending with a fixed curvature variation. The loading is a simulation of the loading of a power cable hanging from a floating vessel through a bellmouth. Conductors were tested in two states; dry and lubricated. A finite element model was established for the copper conductor. The model was formulated by a combination of elastic beam and beam-contact elements that included the effects of friction. The effect of local bending due to contact forces was included in the model. Two contact conditions were investigated; the point (trellis) contact between adjacent layers of wire and the inline contact within each layer and between the first layer (centre wire) and the second layer. The FE model was validated by a calibration test of a full scale conductor, and by sensitivity studies varying the size and the number of elements of the model. Fatigue analysis of the conductor was carried out, based on the S–N curve for individual wires. Taking into account the effects of friction and local bending, agreement was obtained between predicted and experimental fatigue strength of the conductor, for the FE model as well as the analytical model.     

Fatigue design for plug/ring type gas welded joints of sts301l including welding residual stresses

This paper presents a fatigue design method for plug and ring type gas welded joints, which incorporates welding residual stress effects. A non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) was first performed to simulate the gas welding process. The numerically predicted residual stresses of the gas welds were then compared to experimental results measured using a hole drilling method. In order to evaluate the fatigue strength of the plug and ring type gas welded joints, a stress amplitude (σ _a ) _R taling the welding residual stress of the gas weld into account was introduced and is based on a modified Goodman equation incorporating the effect of the residual stress. Using the stress amplitude (σ _a ) _R , the ΔP-N _f relations obtained from fatigue tests for plug and ring type gas welded joints having various dimensions and shapes were systematically rearranged into (σ _a ) _R -N _f relations. It was found that the proposed stress amplitude (σ _a ) _R could provide a systematic and reasonable fatigue design criterion for the plug and ring type gas welded joints.     

Prediction of fatigue life and estimation of its reliability on the parts of an air suspension system

Air suspension systems have been implemented in various commercial vehicles, such as buses and special purpose trucks, because of the comfortable ride and easy height control. An evaluation of the durability of vehicle parts has been required for service life and safety starting in the early stages of design. The cyclic load applied to the vehicle can cause fatigue failure of parts, such as the suspension frame. This paper presents a method to predict the fatigue life of the suspension frame at the design stage of the air suspension system used in a heavy-duty vehicle. To estimate the fatigue life using the SN method, the Dynamic Stress Time History (DSTH) is necessary for the part of interest. DSTH can be obtained from the results of the flexible body dynamic analysis using the Belgian road simulation and the Modal Stress Recovery (MSR) method. Furthermore, the reliability of the predicted fatigue life can be evaluated by considering the variations in material properties. The probability and distribution of the expected life cycle can be obtained using experimental design with a minimum number of simulations. The advantage of using statistical methods to evaluate the life cycle is the ability to predict replacement time and the probability of failure of mass-produced parts. This paper proposes a rapid and simple method that can be effectively applied to the design of vehicle parts.     

基于水动力—结构模型的VLGC强度和疲劳分析

超大型全冷式液化气船（VLGC）是国际上公认的设计及建造技术难度最大的船型之一,VLGC波浪载荷是船舶设计计算分析的重要载荷,准确的评估波浪载荷对船舶强度的设计非常重要。论文从DNV先进的水动力计算软件HydroD对VLGC船满载和压载工况下的波浪载荷进行了计算,得到了VLGC船相应工况下的运动响应和短期预报、长期预报值,并把计算出的波浪载荷传递到全船结构有限元结构模型中,加载分析得到了VLGC船的应力分布,对相应地方做了适当改进和加强,并对典型节点进行疲劳强度分析,得到了典型节点的疲劳寿命。对VLGC船整个波浪载荷传递到有限元模型的这一套流程做了分析和研究,也为进一步应用水动力方法计算其它船型的结构强度和疲劳寿命打下了良好的基础。     

复合轨枕无砟轨道疲劳试验研究

复合轨枕无砟轨道是一种新型轨枕无砟轨道结构,通过开展复合轨枕无砟轨道疲劳试验研究其疲劳性能。试验建立复合轨枕无砟轨道实尺模型并对其施加300万次疲劳荷载,观察轨道各部件在疲劳加载前后的伤损情况,测试疲劳加载前后钢轨、复合轨枕、道床板相对位移变化、轨距变化和道床板受力变化。试验结果发现:无砟轨道及其各部件在疲劳试验中均未出现疲劳损伤;轨道结构部件位移在加载前期略有波动,后逐渐减小并趋于稳定,道床板受力满足规范要求。研究结果表明:复合轨枕无砟轨道具有一定耐久性,为其进一步推广和应用奠定了基础。     

FPSO舷侧纵骨疲劳分析

文章以DNV在奥斯陆结构试验室所做全尺寸FPSO舷侧纵骨模型的试验为基础,通过MSC.Patran建立FP-SO舷侧结构有限元模型,再应用MSC.Nastran进行结构分析,得出应力和应变的结果,并采用MSC.Fatigue软件进行S-N方法以及疲劳裂纹扩展的寿命分析。通过与试验实测应力值的对比分析可知,实验数据与有限元分析数据基本吻合。     

燃料电池城市客车储氢瓶疲劳分析

为分析某燃料电池城市客车储氢瓶因悬置安装集成阀引起的瓶口附近疲劳问题,对储氢瓶模态和实车运行时的车顶加速度进行了测试,并导出了振动试验台重现振动所需的疲劳评价谱.利用该评价谱在振动试验台上对储氢瓶进行激振,测试储氢瓶瓶口在各种评价谱下的动态应力,并根据多轴疲劳理论分析了储氢瓶的疲劳特性.结果表明,该储氢瓶瓶口的疲劳强度在可接受的区域内,集成阀的振动不是储氢瓶瓶口疲劳的决定因素.     

不同数值积分方式对海洋结构物疲劳裂纹扩展模拟结果的影响

海洋结构物的疲劳寿命预报是当前的研究热点,文章根据第二作者率领的课题组提出的海洋结构物疲劳寿命预报统一方法比较了疲劳裂纹扩展模拟的三种数值积分方法：逐周数值积分法、△N积分法和△a积分法,并分析了每种方法的适用条件。随后,以中心表面裂纹承受单向交变拉伸载荷的平板为例,分别运用三种方法计算了裂纹扩展寿命和最终裂纹尺寸。同时,研究了△N和△a取值不同对结果的影响。最后,综合考虑计算耗时和计算结果精度,给出了△N积分法和△a积分法的建议值,即△N/N≤1.0%,△a≤0.1 mm。