Assessments of components under multiaxial service loading - calculations and experiments

This paper is focused on a research project supported by the German automotive industry and international software producers. Six multiaxially loaded components were tested under random multiaxial service loading conditions and evaluated by different algorithms. The results reveal a large scatter of calculated fatigue lives which are, in most cases, on the unsafe side. The contradictory unsatisfactory results are determined by the complex interaction of the multiaxial stress state with cumulative damage. Therefore, in case of safety critical components, experimental structural durability tests must be carried out.