The effort of the dynamic simulation on the fatigue damage evaluation of flexible mechanical systems loaded by non-Gaussian and non stationary loads

Even if in fatigue application it is common to assume stationary and Gaussian excitation, the impact of non-Gaussian and non-stationary loadings on the service life of a mechanical component is known. Non-Gaussian and non-stationary excitations are generally observed in several industrial applications (i.e. automotive, aeronautical, etc.) and for this, the assessment of the effect of such loads results necessary. From this assumption, the activity herein presented starts from experimental results, previously obtained, that analysed the influence of non-Gaussianity (generally evaluated by kurtosis) and of non-stationarity of inputs on the fatigue life of an Y-shaped specimen. In the present paper the finite element model of the sample and its full validation obtained by numerical/experimental comparison is presented. Moreover, due to the relevant effect of the system's dynamics on the stress/strain response previously observed, a wider assessment of non-Gaussianity and non-stationarity influence on the fatigue life has been numerically analysed together with the influence of the multi modal behaviour of the component by adopting an excitation frequency range that excites two modes of the model.