Multi-level Uncertain Fatigue Analysis of a Truss under Incomplete Available Information

Abstract

We predict the fatigue life of a planar tubular truss when geometrical parameters, material properties, and live loads are non-deterministic. A multi-level calculation uncertainty quantification framework code was designed to aggregate the finite element method and fatigue-induced sequential failures. Due to the incompleteness of the aleatory-type inputs, the maximum entropy principle was applied. Two sensitivity analyses were performed to report the most influencing factors. In terms of variance, the results suggest that the slope of the curve crack growth rate × stress intensity factor range is the most influencing factor related to fatigue life. Furthermore, due to the application of the entropy concept, the fatigue crack growth boundaries and fatigue crack size boundaries obtained provide the most unbiased fatigue crack design mapping. These boundaries allow the designer to select the worst-case fatigue scenario, besides being able to predict the crack behavior at a required confidence level.