Fatigue Design and Evaluation Committee 

April 19, 20 & 21, 1999 DaimlerChrysler - Auburn Hills, MI

Tuesday, April 20, 1999 - Divisional Progress Meeting

1. October 1998 Structural Analysis Division minutes were approved as written.

2. Status of Electronic Information Exchange on ATV Components - Dan Klann from John Deere Dan gave a brief progress report on the website and geometry and analysis. More details and overheads are presented in the minutes for the ATV session from Monday (19 April). Dan suggested the FE model to start with is the Fialek-Nelson model, which is available from the web site. Dan noted that the model is based on tube OD's (not midplanes) and uses 4 node elements. It is a nice mesh overall, but a few plate normals are not consistently oriented and the control arm bushing centerlines are not collinear. Suggestions for future work include: (1) Analyses of a simple test setup; or (2) Simply download the model and explore it, develop your analysis plan, develop a list of comments, questions, etc. To progress much beyond that would require load information from simulation.

3. Design Parameters for Stress Relief Grooves in Notched Shafts - Steve Tipton from University of Tulsa Steve presented the results of a project to optimize the design of stress relief grooves in notched shafts and potentially reduce bending stress by up to 30% based on finite element analysis.

4. Statistical Fatigue Life Analysis of Notched and Welded Components using the Monte-Carlo and Contemporary Deterministic Fatigue Analysis Theories - Gregory Glinka - University of Waterloo Gregory discussed the results of fatigue analysis theories applied to ice breaker propeller blades with stresses measured during assignments in the Southern Ocean.

5. Proposed Project to Develop A Method for Predicting Fatigue Life of Crankshafts-Tony Barr-DaimlerChryslerCorp. Tony discussed a proposal for committee work on the development of a method for predicting the fatigue life of crankshafts.

Copies of the overhead material from these presentations are attached to the US Mail minutes to provide further detail.

Wednesday, April 21, 1999 - Divisional Planning Session

In the planning session, Dan Klann of John Deere first reviewed a list of proposed tasks that can be pursued from for the ATV virtual prototype project before next meeting. The plan for the next six months is as follows:

Hari Agrawal, Mary Wickham, and Zhengxian Bai will obtain the current FEA model of the ATV frame, modify if necessary, and perform a number of linear analysis using NASTRAN, such as static stiffness, normal mode analysis, stress/strain prediction, and/or direct transient response analysis. It is also mentioned that we will need to work with S/K to make sure that we will simulate the lab test, so correlation level can be established.

Dan Klann, Hari Agrawal and Zhengxian Bai will also look into performing loads prediction using the current DADS and ADAMS models with modifications or exploring a Carsim model.