Unit I: Design Against Static and Fatigue Loads

Session - 03
Design Against Static and Fatigue
Loads

Contents

3.1 Introduction 25
3.2 Wear Resistance 25
3.3 Heat Resistance 27
3.4 Vibration Stability 30
3.5 Reliability 31
3.6 Fatigue Failure 33
3.7 Fatigue Design 34

3.1 Introduction

In the preceding chapter, we studied the fundamental design criteria we

should look into in deciding upon the viability of a fundamental design, i.e;
any designed machine component should basically be strong enough to
withstand the design forces, without failure and distortion.
In this chapter we consider the other criteria which are required, basically
for a successful design, viz, wear resistance, heat resistance and vibration
stability.
Also, we will consider the concept of reliability in design and the means of
improving the reliability.

3.2 Wear Resistance

(a) We have seen a motor car tyre getting wasted in service. Outer
layers of the tyre are gradually worn out due to rubbing against the
road surface. Have you ever observed how brake liners of an
automobile wear out? Friction material riveted or mounted onto the
brake shoes get wasted due to abrasion against the inner surface of
the brake drum, during the application of brakes.
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(b) Have you observed that brake drums also get gradually worn out in
this process? What problems would this type of wear cause? Can we
allow the wear of both the brake drum and the liner?
(c) Have you ever noticed the wear of the components in an internal
combustion engine? What problems would arise if piston rings and
cylinder walls are worn out? Is it possible to avoid or reduce the
wear in certain components? Are there any means provided by the
manufacturers to mitigate the loss caused due to wear in an I.C.
engine.
You should, at this stage try to find solutions for the above problems so that
you would be enthusiastic in participating in the foregoing discussion.
Now we suppose, you would have observed that almost in every machine
component, moving in contact with each other that wear is an unavoidable
phenomenon. It adds to the operating cost of the machine and reduces the
machine useful life. Hence in machine components, this is undesirable and
we should design them in order to resist wear, as far as possible.
Wear resistance, therefore is the ability to withstand the surface erosion due
to abrasion.
Wear of a surface can occur as mechanical wear, which is due to the
abrasion of surface irregularities of moving parts, or molecular mechanical
wear. This is very often called seizing, caused due to surface particles of
rubbing components getting fused to each other.

Activity :01 Explain what type of wear could occur in the following
instances. What would be the consequences due to such
wear in each case?
1. Screw thread of a micrometre screw gauge.
2. Lead screw of a lathe.
3. Automobile crank shaft main bearings.
4. Gear teeth surface.
5. Impeller of a water pump.

Answer
1. Micrometre consists of a fixed jaw, which is integral with the body
and a movable jaw which is moving in a threaded barrel, each
revolution corresponding to a linear movement equal to the pitch of
the thread. The threads in the barrel and the jaw get wasted during
use, due to friction between the two parts. This gives rise to
slackness in the thread which is referred to as backlash.
2. Lead screw of a lathe is a power screw, on which the saddle moves.
The cutting force is exerted onto the saddle', by the front face of the
thread and in moving the saddle. It is therefore necessary to
overcome the massive frictional force generated due to the heavy
cutting force. This friction tends to cause abrasive wear on the lead
screw. It is only a certain portion of the length of the lead screw

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Unit I: Design Against Static and Fatigue Loads

which is frequently used. Consequently, nonuniform wear results

along the length of the lead screw.
3. In an automobile crank shaft, the main journal bearings are metaled
shells, onto which pressurized lubricant is directed, so that a thin
film of fluid lubricant is formed in between the bearing metal and
crank shaft surface. Nevertheless, in a newly fitted engine, there may
be certain undulations which might interfere with the lubricant film
and consequently abrasion would occur, and wear would take place.
After the initial period of running, the bearings get properly bedded
and continuous uniform surfaces now formed will reduce the
breakage of the oil film and hence reduce abrasive wear.
Nevertheless, in practice the lubricant pressure in the journal
bearings drops due to various reasons and foreign particles also get
embedded into the bearing metal thus forming micro irregularities.
In such situations, the oil film breaks, and mating surfaces rub
directly. This results in metal particles getting removed away from
the bearing surface and fused onto the journals. In this case, wear
occurs in the form of molecular mechanical wear and the final result
will be the seizure of the bearings.
4. In the case of gear teeth when working meshed with each other, the
lubrication system should be effective in providing the high fluid
pressure and in retaining the fluid film while the teeth are in contact.
Higher temperatures generated due to tremendous friction in
meshing of teeth may cause momentary fusion and subsequent
pulling apart. This will result in the metal particles being removed
out from the tooth surface in the form of molecular mechanical wear
and thus makes tooth surfaces irregular. Also the products of
corrosion on gear teeth may get rubbed off due to the abrasion of
gear teeth. Once the wear in gear teeth is manifested, it will cause
surface irregularities re suiting in incorrect tooth profiles and causing
tremendous amount of friction and the generation of heat. The
ultimate result will be that gear teeth will get knife edged or saw-
toothed thus leading to tooth damage.
5. The impeller of a water pump is constantly moving in contact with
water and the motion is imparted to water by the vanes of the
impeller. Water consists of corrosive media and as such the products
of corrosion get washed away with the moving water. This is more
so in cast iron impeller tending to become spongy due to the
corrosive action and cavitation.

3.3 Heat Resistance

Machine components are made out of various materials, which exhibit

different properties at different temperatures. A component designed to give
satisfactory service at a particular temperature, might be subjected to failure
at some other temperature. Hence, we have to study the effects of
temperature, on machine components so that we can design to counter such

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 Session 03: Basic Design Criteria II

effects or at least minimize the adverse effects. This can be ascertained by

selecting materials to suit the working temperature range and also by
various design strategies.
High temperatures operation may be characteristic in machine components
as inherent phenomena in certain machines like internal combustion
engines, boilers, heaters, heat exchangers etc. or it may develop as an
undesirable phenomenon as friction heat in certain other machines like
machine tools, gear drives compressors etc. Hence, we will list out the
following possible temperature properties of materials and analyse the
situations at which they may be significant.

1. Melting
Internal combust ion engines furnaces, heaters etc.
2. Variation of strength of materials, with temperature
Pressure vessels, boilers, cutting tools.
3. Changes in microstructure of materials
Heat treated or case-hardened items.
4. Thermal Expansion and contraction
Links, Pistons, fit joints.
5. Conductivity of material
Cooling fins, radiators, heat exchangers etc.
6. Warping or Distortion
Due to dissimilar contraction in welding and casting. Due to change
in microstructure in components.

Activity : 02 Explain the significance of temperature effects in the

following instances and how they have been dealt with so that
adverse effects are minimized.
1. Immersion heater
2. Lathe cutting tool
3. Journal bearing of an I.C. engine crank shaft.
4. I.C. engine block.

Answer
1. Immersion heater
Immersion heater is intended to generate high temperature and
transfer the heat to the water. Hence the, metal should possess
temperature resistant properties. At the same time the material
should possess good heat conductivity; these are for avoiding
cracking and melting. These properties are achieved by selecting the
materials to suit the above requirements and increasing the surface
area of the heater unit, to gain a larger contact area.
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Unit I: Design Against Static and Fatigue Loads

2. Lathe cutting tool

Heat generated on a lathe tool is unavoidable, due to friction
between the work piece and the cutting tool. This heat can cause loss
of strength and cracking of the tool shank, loss of temper, melting of
the tool tip, and expansion. To avoid localized heating of the tool tip,
normally, the tool shank is made larger and a coolant is introduced
onto the cutting area. The coolant reduces the friction between the
work piece and the tool, which is the cause for generation of heat, in
addition to carrying the heat away. Also the cutting angles are
designed to minimize the frictional force due to abrasion of the tool
with the work piece and the abrasion of the chip with the tool.
Selection of cutting tool materials to retain strength and sharp cutting
edge under the high temperature conditions is very important. In
case of tip tools it is important to select a correct brazing materials to
braze the tool tip onto the shank. Recently, excellent heat resistant
resins have been developed for this purpose.
3. Journal bearing of an I.C. engine crank shaft
In an I.C. engine, crank, shaft bearings are oil lubricated with
pressurized oil. This reduces the friction, thus reducing the heat
generation in bearings. A thin oil film is formed in between the
journal and the bearing so that metal to metal contact is avoided. See
Fig. 3.1. Any undulation in metal surface tends to break this oil film
causing abrasion and thus heat generation. Overheating of journal
bearings causes bearing metal to become soft and subsequent
abrasion may cause ridging on the bearing surfaces which will
eventually result in seizure of the bearings.

Fig 3.1

4. I.C engine block

I.C. engine block has to withstand high temperatures. Hence, various
ingredients are introduced to obtain the heat resistance in metal. In
design, a constant circulation of water is introduced to conduct heat
away and this flow of water is cooled in the radiator. The efficiency
of this cooling system reduces the adverse temperature effects which
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might otherwise take place. The possible effects otherwise for

instance may be distortion and thermal cracking, softening of the
cylinder bore causing excessive wear and surface pitting.

3.4 Vibration Stability

Most machine components are operated under periodic loading conditions.

This nature of operation gives rise to vibrations being set out in machinery.
Much attention has been given by the investigators', to the analysis of
vibrations in machine structures and several mathematica1 -models have
been formulated. We may distinguish between the following categories of
vibrations.

Free vibrations
This type of vibration is caused in a system, by the disturbance from its
equilibrium position. There is no continuous supply of energy into the
system, except for the initial disturbance.
Eg :
1. When a pendulum moved from its equilibrium position and
released.
2. A sudden shock on a link.
3. Vibration in a pneumatic hammer ram after an isolated blow.

Forced Vibrations
Occur when a mechanical system is excited by fluctuating external force
(driving force)
Eg:
1. Connecting rod in an I.C engine
2. Water pump impeller, driven by engine

Self-Excited Vibration
In this case a vibrating force is set out by a constant source of energy of a
nonvibratory nature.
Eg: Unbalanced forces in rotating machinery.

Parametric Vibrations
They are the result of periodic changes in a machine.
Eg: 1. Change in friction in a journal
2. Change in stiffness of a link.
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Unit I: Design Against Static and Fatigue Loads

Vibrations are set out in most machine components (during operations) such
as ball and roller bearings, impellers, gear drives, eccentric shafts etc. They
should be analysed as phenomena occurring on complete machine
structures.
Vibrations cause noises (as in machine tools), failures in machines, damage
to shafts, discomfort to operators and in vehicles to passengers. Therefore,
we should study how vibrations are damped in various instances and analyse
how vibrations could be avoided.
Most common methods are using dampers, shock absorbers, designing of
mounts for machine components, increasing stiffness and selecting of
materials possessing internal damping.
Vibrations will persist forever in a system, if the vibrating force is not
countered. ie. if the mechanical energy causing vibration is not transformed
and dissipated in the course of operation of the machine.
You would see that in a motor car, there are several devices introduced for
damping. Eg.
Flexible bolt mounting to isolate vibration transmission between engine and
chassis, shock absorbers to dampen out vibrations of the body.
Air cushioned tyres to dampen the vibrations due to undulations in the road
surface. Cushioned seats, to dampen the vibrations felt by the passengers.

3.5 Reliability

Reliability is a measure of the capacity of a machine component to operate

without failure, during a specified life time, giving specified performance in
service. This is really a probability measure, associated with no-failure
performance.
In designing for reliability, it must be borne in mind that equipment must
withstand actual service conditions for the specified period of time. There
are three approaches to achieve reliability in design.
(a) This approach makes a deliberate incorporation of a weak point,
while other components are designed strong.
Eg: 1. Fuse in an electric circuit prevents passing of higher currents
to the operating circuit, thus improving the reliability of the
latter.
2. Fluid coupling introduced in a transmission system prevents
overloading of the transmission or back-loading of the
engine, by slipping and disengaging.
(b) Second approach makes the assumption that all components should
be equally strong.
Eg: In a drive shaft of an automobile, all the parts viz the shaft,
joints etc. should be equally strong.
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(c) The 'worst case' approach considers the worst possible combination
of circumstances. Hence this assumption very often makes
overdesigning. Nevertheless, this approach is widely used.
However, much precaution we take in our design, we cannot exactly predict
the success or the failure in operation of the component we have designed.
Reliability in operation given number of hours before failure occurs cannot
be guaranteed. We can only predict the probability that a device will operate
for a specified number of hours, or that on an average, some number of
failures will occur in a given period of time or that there will be a certain
average time between failures. A given device might fail immediately after
being put into service or it might last for an abnormally long period.
Nevertheless, reliability will predict this. It is only a general statement as to
what might take place.
Hence what we should endeavour at is not the eternity of a system, but to
improve the reliability of a system we design. For achieving this you are
advised to adhere to the following important instructions.

1. Simplicity
Reduce the complexity of the system, by including the bare
minimum number of the operations and components. Addition of
any non-essential items will account only to reduction in reliability
2. Component reliability
Improve the reliability of each component of the system.
3. Parallel redundancy
Introduce one or more spare operations or components so that the
others will operate if one fails.
4. Stand by redundancy
Design a system of quick replacement of a failed item so that the
system will be corrected immediately.
5. Quality control
Design a system to check the adherence of the product to standards.
6. Repair maintenance
Estimate the optimum requirement of spares for your design, for use
in future servicing.
7. Preventive maintenance
Design a system whereby components are replaced by new ones
periodically even though they may not have failed by the time of
replacement.
Now, you would have realized that reliability design is not a concept by
itself but a factor which would indicate how successfully we had designed a
system. It is clear that it has significance not only in devising to give the

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Unit I: Design Against Static and Fatigue Loads

intended purpose satisfactorily, but also in ensuring the persistence of

satisfactory service.

3.6 Fatigue Failure

In Lesson No. 2, you studied about the importance of the strength of the
component designed so as to withstand the loading. Therefore, in designing,
you should make sure that the maximum stress developed within the
component being designed is sufficiently less than the ultimate strength of
the material used.
However, even when the stresses are well below the ultimate stress of the
material, it is observed that some components fail abruptly, i.e., without
giving any sign of failure before. This is indeed due to fatigue, and is called
fatigue failure. Fatigue failure is caused by cyclic type of stresses.
It is important to study the fatigue failure as almost all stress patterns in
engineering are cyclic. It is known that over 80% of the failures in
engineering components occur due to some form of fatigue.
Cyclic stresses are caused by the loads that vary in magnitude or direction or
both. The magnitude of a cyclic stress fluctuates between an upper limiting
value and a lower limiting value. This variation is periodic and hence the
word cyclic.
For convenience, the variation of stresses is considered to be sinusoidal. The
general type of stress variation is shown in Fig. 3.2.

Fig 3.2
This general type includes all forms of stress pattern available in practice.
(i) a = 0 : Static load

(ii) m = 0 : Pure cyclic 1oad

(iii)  m  a : Stress fluctuation between a positive value and a
negative value.
(iv)  m  a : Stress fluctuation between two positive values.

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3.7 Fatigue Design

Fatigue design is quite complicated and consists of a number of steps.

However, at this level, you should study only the fundamentals of fatigue
design.
Since, the fatigue failure occurs at a stress well below the ultimate stress, it
is essential for the designer to estimate the allowable stress^ in the case of
cyclic load. For this purpose, a special form of specimen is prepared and
subjected to the particular cyclic stress. At the beginning, very high
amplitude cyclic stress is applied and the number of cycles the specimen
withstands before failure is obtained. Numbers of cycles before failure are
then obtained for different amplitude cyclic stresses.
A graph of Amplitude Vs number of cycles before failure is plotted, (shown
in Fig. 3.3). It is clear that the curve approaches an amplitude below which
the design can be considered to be safe for that particular material. In
practice, the amplitude corresponding to number of cycles of 107 is
considered to be the allowable amplitude. This stress is called the endurance
limit. (Fig. 3.4)

NO OF 10’ NO OF
CYCLES CYCLES

Fig 3.3 Fig 3.4

When a component is designed under cyclic stress, the maximum amplitude

of the cyclic stress must be below the endurance limit. This is the basic
principle in fatigue design. However, the design is complicated due to the
stress pattern encountered in practice. There are a number of ways to tackle
these problems which are, however, not within the scope of this lesson.

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