2008 International

ANSYS Conference

Reliability and Durability Analysis using

ANSYS Workbench and nCode DesignLife

Jeff Mentley
nCode International

2008 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Agenda
Company Overview
nCode DesignLife
Integration within ANSYS Workbench
Frequency Based Fatigue Example
Summary

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nCode International

25 years of helping customers:

eliminate unexpected structural failures and
improve product lifecycle performance
... through a unique combination of
measurement instruments, software and services

2008 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

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DesignLifeTM

Streamlining the Virtual Fatigue Engineering Process

Powerful Fatigue Analysis
Technology
Integrated Reporting and
Process Encapsulation
Fast, Expandable, and
Scalable

2008 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Features
Intuitive and easy to use software
for performing fatigue analysis of
finite element models
Efficiently analyze large finite
element models and complete usage
schedules
Wide range of fatigue analysis
capabilities including stress-life,
strain-life, multi-axial, weld analysis,
virtual shaker table, and more
Highly configurable for the expert
user
Single environment for both Test
and CAE data
Enables automation of complete
analysis processes and reporting

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Benefits
Perform virtual durability assessment
up front to reduce reliance on
physical test and avoid costly design
and tooling changes
Perform smarter and quicker
physical tests by simulating first
Design durability into your products
and reduce warranty claims
Assess more design options, consider
more realistic loading conditions and
more confidently reduce cost and
weight
Standardize analysis processes to
improve consistency and quality
Automate processes to better utilize
engineers time and workload

2008 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Capabilities

Stress-Life (single, multi-curve, Haigh diagrams)

Strain-Life (automated multi-axial corrections)
Notch sensitivity corrections
Seam welds and spot welds
High temperature corrections
Vibration fatigue (shaker simulation)
Multiple runs in a single analysis
Complete duty cycles / flight spectrums
Multi-processor enabled for fast results
Finite Element results supported
Static
Direct Transient
Modal Transient
Harmonic

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Signal Processing Capabilities

Function
Histogram Manipulation
Multicolumn Sort, Filter, Manipulation
Test Combination, Test Splitter
Units Conversion
Digital Signal Processing
Calculators; Multicolumn, Time Series
Graphical Editor
Sample Rate Adjustment
Rainflow Counting, Amplitude Distribution
Filters; Butterworth, Fast Fourier
Frequency Spectrum
Operators; Arithmetic, Differentiation, Integration
Statistics, Running Statistics
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Integration in ANSYS Workbench

DesignLife is a project page in Workbench
Page creation
Select simulation or environment
Select option from DesignLife section of project page
Materials assigned from parent simulation
Remaining setup completed in DesignLife page
Load Mapping
Fatigue solver options
Results from DesignLife solution included in the report
DesignLife accessible from DesignXplorer
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Engineering Data
nCode material database converted to MATML
Extensions to Engineering Data
Accept material formats
SN; Power law, Multicurve, Bastenaire
EN; Power law, Multicurve
Dang Van

Allow Editing
Automatically mapped onto DesignLife model

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Engineering Data

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Frequency Based Fatigue Example

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DesignLife Vibration Fatigue

Simulate vibration tests driven by random (PSD)
or swept-sine loading
More realistic and efficient than time-domain
analysis for such applications
Include static offset case
Consider duty cycles
Based on established
methods and military
standards
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Vibration Fatigue Procedure

ANSYS
Harmonic

COMPLEX

PSD

FRF

FRF AbsMax
stress

COMPLEX

FRF
Critical
plane

PSD cycle counter *

REAL

Swept Sine

Swept sine cycle counter

ANSYS
Static

Static
offset
principal

Offset
critical
plane

Rainflow
cycle count
(abs-max
principal
stress)

Rainflow
cycle count
(critical
plane
stress)

LIFE
*Dirlik, Lalanne, Steinberg, Narrow Band
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DesignLife Vibration Flow

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Validation Case Results

Experimental results B50 Life = 1680 s

Predicted mean life = 1660 s
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Presented by
Jeff Mentley
Email: jeff.mentley@nCode.com
Direct: (248) 945 4368

nCode International
Travelers Tower 1
26555 Evergreen Road
Suite 700
Southfield, MI 48076
Tel: (248) 350 8300
Toll free: (877) 737 4242

www.ncode.com

2008 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

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