Evaluation of Fatigue Damage and Life Estimation Using SOLIDWORKS Simulation

Durability often assessed through fatigue analysis is the ability of a component to withstand repeated loading over time. In real engineering applications, failures rarely occur due to a single overload; instead, they result from cyclic stresses that accumulate damage progressively.

Repeated loading and unloading can weaken components even when the induced stresses are well below allowable limits. This phenomenon, known as fatigue, is one of the most common causes of mechanical failure.

Each stress cycle contributes a small amount of damage. While individual cycles may appear insignificant, their cumulative effect leads to material degradation. After a sufficient number of cycles, the component becomes critically weakened and ultimately fails.

Fatigue is a primary failure mechanism in many engineering systems, particularly in metallic components. Typical examples include:

• Rotating machinery
• Bolts and fasteners
• Aircraft wings
• Automotive axles
• Bridges and offshore structures
• Consumer products
• Biological structures such as bones

Stages of Failure Due to Fatigue:

Fatigue failure develops progressively under cyclic loading. It is typically described in three stages, each with distinct physical behaviour and design implications.

Stage 1: Crack Initiation

Stage 2: Crack Propagation

Stage 3: Final Failure (Fracture)

Durability often assessed through fatigue analysis is the ability of a component to withstand repeated loading over time. In real engineering applications, failures rarely occur due to a single overload; instead, they result from cyclic stresses that accumulate damage progressively.

Repeated loading and unloading can weaken components even when the induced stresses are well below allowable limits. This phenomenon, known as fatigue, is one of the most common causes of mechanical failure.

Each stress cycle contributes a small amount of damage. While individual cycles may appear insignificant, their cumulative effect leads to material degradation. After a sufficient number of cycles, the component becomes critically weakened and ultimately fails.

Fatigue is a primary failure mechanism in many engineering systems, particularly in metallic components. Typical examples include:

• Rotating machinery
• Bolts and fasteners
• Aircraft wings
• Automotive axles
• Bridges and offshore structures
• Consumer products
• Biological structures such as bones

Stages of Failure Due to Fatigue:

Fatigue failure develops progressively under cyclic loading. It is typically described in three stages, each with distinct physical behaviour and design implications.

Stage 1: Crack Initiation

Stage 2: Crack Propagation

Stage 3: Final Failure (Fracture)

Durability often assessed through fatigue analysis is the ability of a component to withstand repeated loading over time. In real engineering applications, failures rarely occur due to a single overload; instead, they result from cyclic stresses that accumulate damage progressively.

Repeated loading and unloading can weaken components even when the induced stresses are well below allowable limits. This phenomenon, known as fatigue, is one of the most common causes of mechanical failure.

Each stress cycle contributes a small amount of damage. While individual cycles may appear insignificant, their cumulative effect leads to material degradation. After a sufficient number of cycles, the component becomes critically weakened and ultimately fails.

Fatigue is a primary failure mechanism in many engineering systems, particularly in metallic components. Typical examples include:

• Rotating machinery
• Bolts and fasteners
• Aircraft wings
• Automotive axles
• Bridges and offshore structures
• Consumer products
• Biological structures such as bones

Stages of Failure Due to Fatigue:

Fatigue failure develops progressively under cyclic loading. It is typically described in three stages, each with distinct physical behaviour and design implications.

Stage 1: Crack Initiation

Stage 2: Crack Propagation

Stage 3: Final Failure (Fracture)

Before performing fatigue analysis, a linear static simulation is first carried out. It uses stress results obtained from a reference structural study.

So essentially, we are simulating a situation where:

• The backboard side is fully constrained
• The rim is being pulled downward at a specific location

This setup helps us understand how the structure behaves under realistic conditions how it bends, where stress develops and which areas are critical.

The biggest advantage of SOLIDWORKS simulation is that design and simulation work together in a single environment any design change instantly reflects in the analysis.

The basketball rim is fixed at the mounting plate, representing its attachment to the backboard. A downward load of 1000 N is applied on the rim to simulate real-world conditions such as a player performing a slam dunk.

The stress and displacement results obtained from the analysis are presented below:

While the static nonlinear study shows how the rim behaves under a single high load, real-world usage involves repeated loading during gameplay. Every shot, dunk and impact applies cyclic stresses to the structure. To evaluate long-term durability a fatigue analysis is performed based on the stresses obtained from the static study.

Fatigue analysis:

The objective of this study is to estimate the life of the rim under repeated loading conditions and identify regions prone to fatigue failure.

Four types of fatigue studies are possible in SOLIDWORKS simulation:

1. Constant amplitude event study
2. Variable amplitude event study
3. Harmonic fatigue of sinusoidal loading
4. Random vibration fatigue

To run a fatigue study, an S–N curve must be assigned to material used in the model. This curve can be created by entering alternating stress versus number‑of‑cycles data or by selecting an existing S–N curve from the material database.

From material database the below S-N curve is applied for the fatigue study:

After material properties the most important step is to add loading events:

The below figure shows the definition of a constant amplitude fatigue event in SOLIDWORKS Simulation. The fatigue life is evaluated over 10,000 load cycles, using a zero‑based load ratio (R = 0) where the load varies from zero to the maximum value obtained from the associated rim static study.

Result Interpretation:

Above plot shows the fatigue damage percentage in the component after cyclic loading. The colour scale represents how much of the fatigue life is consumed at each location.

The highlighted region shows a maximum damage of 48.2%, meaning nearly half of the fatigue life is already used under the defined loading conditions. Blue areas indicate minimal damage, while warmer colours pinpoint fatigue‑critical zones caused by higher stress concentrations.

the part is safe for now but this region is the first to fail if loading continues.

Above plot shows the predicted fatigue life in cycles obtained from SOLIDWORKS fatigue analysis. The minimum life of approximately 20766 cycles identifies the most critical location, which governs the overall durability of the component.

Conclusion:

Fatigue analysis in SOLIDWORKS goes beyond checking whether a part is strong enough, it answers the more important question of how long the part will last under real operating conditions. By combining linear static results, material S–N curves and realistic loading events engineers can accurately predict fatigue life, identify critical regions and reduce the risk of unexpected failure.

SOLIDWORKS fatigue analysis bridges this gap by converting stresses into real‑world durability helping engineers design safer, longer‑lasting components with confidence.

Created By: Abhijeet Abhimanyu Shedage

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