Statistical Assessment of Uncertainties Pertaining to Uniaxial Vibration Testing and Required Test Margin for Fatigue Life Verification

Abstract: In the automotive industry uniaxial vibration testing is a common method used to predict the lifetime of components. In reality truck components work under multiaxial loads meaning that the excitation is multiaxial. A common method to account for the multiaxial effect is to apply a safety margin to the uniaxial test results. The aim of this work is to find a safety margin between the uniaxial and multiaxial testing by means of virtual vibration testing and statistical methods. Additionally to the safety margin the effect of the fixture’s stiffness on the resulting stress in components has been also investigated.