PSI - Issue 17

Daniel Kujawski / Procedia Structural Integrity 17 (2019) 742–749 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

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related to fatigue analysis and optimal material selection. According to Forbes (2016), there is a high demand for new design engineers, but many engineering graduates don’t have design confidence, in particular in the area of fatigue analysis. This is partially due to lack of hands-on experience with fatigue software and lack of practical knowledge how to apply the theory into reality. Hence, a motivation for this web-based fatigue analysis tool is two-fold. Firstly, to provide engineering students with conducive undergraduate software to bridge the gap between classroom theory and its application in design, as it is illustrated in Fig.1. It also communicates a fundamental knowledge associated with popular fatigue life prediction approaches. Secondly, it presents a novel interactive web-based tool for learning a modern fatigue analysis

Fig. 1. Bridging theory with industry application.

and life prediction methodology. It would accelerate conceptual design phase associated with initial material selection and preliminary simulation as it is illustrated in Fig.2. This will allow to complement the existing “Top-Bottom” approach by an innovative “Bottom-Up” approach in industry setting. It will reduce the time and cost associated with a new product development and will provide educational know-how tool for mainstream engineers. A similar idea is implemented in Germany by promoting FKM Guideline (published in German in 2001 and in English 2004), which allows making informed material selections and design decisions in initial, pre-prototype stage of the development process of new components and products.

Fig. 2. Illustration of traditional (at left) versus proposed (at right) material selection process in initial design phase.

In order to satisfy both educational and application missions the proposed web-based software should be:  easy to use,  interactive with step-by-step approach,  informative with basic explanations of background theory,  cloud-based: accessible anytime and on any device. In an age of increased technological mobility, there lies opportunity to create tools which are easily accessible to students outside of the traditional classroom environment. This ‘e-learning’ trend among students in colleges is growing exponentially. In order to carry out a meaningful fatigue analysis by new graduates it requires some fundamental knowledge, which most students would not have learned during their undergraduate studies. Also, most practices in small companies are limited when it comes to fatigue analysis and life prediction know-how experiences. Currently, there exist some free web-based fatigue analysis tools [e.g. 1, 2], which include fatigue calculators, material databases and allow to perform limited fatigue analysis on the Web. However, both of these sites have limited interactive and self-explanatory capabilities.