eFatigue - Rainflow Counting Technical Background 15/08/2015

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Fatigue Technologies Rainflow Counting Technical Background
Constant Amplitude
Variable Amplitude
Fatigue Analyzers Rainflow counting is a process to obtain equivalent constant amplitude cycles. Its name comes from the
Stress-Life original description from the Japanese researchers Matsuiski and Endo where they describe the process
Strain-Life in terms of rain falling off a pagoda style roof. A more insightful description based on cyclic plasticity is
Crack Growth usually used to explain the method.
Multiaxial Stress-Life
Multiaxial Strain-Life
Finders
Stress Concentration
Stress Intensity In the figure above a simple loading history ( points A - I ) is plotted vertically so that it resembles a
Materials Japanese pagoda. The resulting deformation, stresses and strains, is plotted directly below the loading
Technical Background history. In the lower part of the figure, four cycles are easily identified. One large overall cycle, one
Supported File Types intermediate cycle in the center of the plot, and two smaller cycles. Each cycle has its own strain range
Rainflow Counting and mean stress. From a deformation viewpoint the process proceeds as follows. Start at A, the
Damage Summation
Stress-Life maximum strain, and unload the material to B. Then reload to point C and unload to D. When the material
Strain-Life reaches the strain at point B during the unloading from C to D the material remembers its prior
Crack Growth deformation and deforms along a path from A to D as if the event C-D never happened. This is better
Multiaxial Stress-Life illustrated in the next part of the loading. Load from D to E and unload to F. Now load from F to G. When
Multiaxial Strain-Life the material reaches the strain at point E during the loading from F to G the material remembers its prior
Finite Element Model deformation and deforms along a path from D to G as if the event E-F never happened. The same
Multiaxial
Probabilistic process occurs for G-H.
High Temperature
Welded Structures Rainflow counting will identify four cycles, A-D-I, B-C-B, E-F-E and G-H-G. Rainflow counting identifies the
Cast Iron major load excursions, for example D to I, and treats subcycles like E-F and G-H as interruptions to the
Small Defect Area overall loading event D-I
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