Vibration induced fatigue damage analysis of a mechanical component installed on an armored tracked vehicle using finite element method

Tracked armored vehicles, as commonly used land defense systems, are exposed to vibration caused by the interactions between the track and the ground. Vibration induced fatigue damage is common type of failure of mechanical components installed on tracked armored vehicle body. To be able to serve without being subjected to mechanical failure, vibration induced fatigue damage has to be considered in the design and material selection phases of mechanical structures installed on tracked armored vehicles. In this study, vibration induced fatigue damage of a mechanical structure installed on an armored tracked vehicle was investigated by using finite element method. Before the investigation, relationship between physical tests, random vibration and vibration fatigue analyses is investigated by shaker tests of nocthed beam specimens and good agreement was seen between analyses and tests. Finite element analyses were carried out for different frequency domain cycle counting methods and results were compared with shaker test results. It is found that Dirlik method gives the best results among other methods.