An Integrated System for Durability and Reliability Synthesis Using iSIGHT and FE-Fatigue 2003-01-1220

This paper describes a system developed to automate fatigue sensitivity and reliability analysis using design exploration software iSIGHT to drive FEA-based fatigue analysis software FE-Fatigue. By integrating codes into iSIGHT, repetitive tasks can be automated. However, for each application, the user must integrate his problem, define parameters and variations, choose synthesis methods, and post process results. By developing a special graphical user interface (GUI) for FE-Fatigue used within iSIGHT, the user does not have to manually integrate the process, improving productivity. More importantly, it allows engineers to focus on design, rather than repeated manual tasks. The system enables five types of analyses: (1) fatigue sensitivity with respect to durability channel loads; (2) fatigue sensitivity with respect to material fatigue parameters; (3) back calculation of durability load scale factor; (4) back calculation of material ultimate tensile strength; and (5) fatigue statistical distribution.