Effective strain damage model associated with finite element modelling and experimental validation

An efficient computational effort is required for sufficient analysis during component design stage to avoid expensive modifications during the later stages of the manufacturing process. A combination of the effective strain damage (ESD) model based FORTRAN code with finite element software was proposed to predict fatigue life under random loadings. The ESD model parameters were extracted from the experimental and finite element analysis representing the strain history for the most damaging node in an automobile lower suspension arm. The ESD model provides reliable fatigue life prediction under random loadings with only 12% minimum difference comparing to the experimental estimations.