Battelle researcher perfects method to revolutionize weld fatigue prediction
Battelle researcher perfects method to revolutionize weld fatigue prediction
Keywords: Welding, Fatigue
Battelle researcher Pingsha Dong recently has developed a method for predicting fatigue life in welded structures that could revolutionize the field and has the potential to save billions of dollars in the aerospace, automotive,bridge construction, shipbuilding, pipeline, and off-shore oil rig industries.
While previous stress concentration calculation methods were highly sensitive to the detail of the computerized model, Dong's method, referred to as the Veritye mesh- insensitive structural stress method, proved to be accurate regardless of that detail. And the accuracy surpasses any existing modeling method, so that fatigue lives of welded structures now can be reliably predicted regardless of the complexity of welded components and modeling details.
Modeling and testing regulations vary from industry to industry, but billions of dollars are spent every year on testing, modeling, and predicting the fatigue life of welded structures. Dong's method can eliminate the need for expensive testing and “over- engineering” that is done to compensate for uncertainties in current fatigue design practices in various industries.
“For the past 25 years, experts in the field have been trying to address the adequacies in stress analysis for fatigue design of welded structures so that companies would not have to compensate for poorly correlated test data”, Dong said. “Eventually, the industry and academia gave up. We did not give up.”
Verity was used to win a recent Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) fatigue design and evaluation committee Weld Challenge. Recently, one major automotive company began using the method for full-vehicle durability prediction and has seen considerable savings in new-vehicle development cost. Also, recognizing the impact of Verity tools in the automotive industry, SAE International awarded Dong and his team the Henry Ford II Distinguished Award for Excellence in Automotive Engineering.
