SIMULIA fe-safe (created by Safe Technology Ltd. and acquired by SIMULIA DS), is a powerful and easy-to-use fatigue postprocessor for Abaqus. fe-safe uses proven techniques to accurately determine the fatigue life of metal components under complex cyclic loading. fe-safe combines finite element analysis results for multiple loading conditions from Abaqus with the cyclic load history to predict the life of the component. fe-safe includes a database of cyclic material property data, and permits users to add their own property data from fatigue tests. fe-safe reads structural analysis data from, and writes results to, Abaqus output database (.odb) files and results (.fil) files.  fe-safe fatigue results are displayed using Abaqus/CAE or Abaqus/Viewer as contour plots for damage, fatigue life and safety factors

fe-safe

fe-safe is the technical leader in fatigue analysis software for Finite Element models. fe-safe has been developed continuously since the early 1990's in collaboration with industry to ensure that it continues to set the benchmark for fatigue analysis software. fe-safe was the first commercially available fatigue analysis software to focus on modern multiaxial strain based fatigue methods. fe-safe provides unique capabilities for thermo-mechanical fatigue and creep-fatigue, the fatigue analysis of composite and rubber materials and the Verity Structural Stress method for welded joints.

fe-safe is renowned for its accuracy, speed, comprehensive capabilities and ease of use. Regardless of the complexity of your fatigue analysis,  fe-safe fits smoothly into your design process, enabling you to develop products that are designed for durability. fe-safe offers the user an easy-to-use fatigue analysis suite that provides reliable, accurate fatigue life predictions regardless of the complexity of your analysis.

fe-safe/Composites

Composites are an attractive material option for designers and manufacturers because of their high strength and stiffness to weight ratio, as well as the ability to tune the material properties for specific applications. As their use becomes more widespread, there is an increasing need to understand their behaviour and design life. Until now, an accurate and robust fatigue life prediction tool for composites has not been available.

Predicting fatigue life in composites is challenging because even simple load states lead to complex behaviour in the individual composite constituents. Furthermore, the effects of frequency and load history can only be dealt with adequately by using physics-based theories.

fe-safe/Composites meets these challenges head-on by combining Multicontinuum Theory with Kinetic Theory to introduce a game-changing technology for fatigue life prediction in composite structures.

Powered by Helius: Fatigue from Firehole Composites (recently acquired by Autodesk Inc), fe-safe/Composites provides the only commercial solution available that can extract constituent stresses for use with physics-based fatigue theories without substantial computational cost or the need for exotic material data. 

Composites are intrinsically different from metals and require a different approach to fatigue analysis. Composite fatigue failure is a diffuse accumulation of damage, including multiple damage modes and complex failure mechanisms. fe-safe/Composites uses proven, well documented technology and has undergone numerous government and industry validation exercises.

fe-safe/Rubber

Introducing the first commercially available software tool for the fatigue analysis of rubber and elastomers. Developers of rubber materials, components and systems increasingly rely on simulation as a routine means to address design issues. The call for simulation of durability is especially strong and durability often dominates development agendas. For metallic components, solutions for fatigue analysis from FEA have existed commercially for many years and have become an essential part of maturing and qualifying design concepts in many industrial sectors. Now a solution for elastomers is finally available as well.

fe-safe/Rubber is a:

• • Unique, patented solution for the simulation of fatigue failure in elastomers

  • Purpose-developed tool for elastomers, possessing a formidable validation case

  • Developed by Endurica, leaders in the development of elastomer technology

fe-safe/TMF

Thermo-mechanical fatigue occurs when both stress and temperature fluctuate. fe-safe/TMF (thermo-mechanical fatigue) was developed in conjunction with a major engine manufacturer to provide fast and accurate fatigue and durability analysis of structures subjected to fluctuating temperatures and stresses. fe-safe/TMF is used in conjunction with the standard version of fe-safe and incorporates additional time-dependent thermo-mechanical fatigue mechanisms. The analysis uses stress and temperature results from elastic Finite Element analysis. All the standard capabilities of fe-safe, such as critical plane multiaxial fatigue and analysis of cast irons, are included. Incorporates strain rate, phase relationship, pre-soaking, and bulk stress relaxation

fe-safe/True-Load

Safe Technology has partnered with Wolf Star Technologies, experts in loading calculation and FEA model correlation, to provide a unique and advanced solution for accurate in-situ load measurement. Historically, predicting fatigue life has been challenging because even simple structures undergo complex loading. Many engineering organizations rely on historical data or multi-body dynamics models for loading profiles, often without correlation to the FEA model.

The accuracy of the fatigue prediction is directly related to the accuracy of the loading profile and position of the strain gauges. Uncorrelated loading profiles will lead to incorrect fatigue calculations. Even small errors in loading knowledge can lead to large errors in fatigue life prediction because of the log-log nature of fatigue life models. With fe-safe/True-Load the unknowns in loading are eliminated.

fe-safe/TURBOlife

How does elevated temperature service reduce durability? What is the cause of failure - creep, fatigue, or creep-fatigue interaction? fe-safe/TURBOlife has the answers. fe-safe/TURBOlife creep-fatigue algorithms have been successfully applied to nuclear power plant components, power station boilers, gas turbine blades and steam turbine components. fe-safe/TURBOlife is used increasingly in the powertrain industry where creep and creep fatigue interaction is prevalent in automotive exhaust components and turbocharger impellers.

fe-safe/TURBOlife:

• • Consider complex and interacting damage mechanisms induced by creep and fatigue conditions

  • Identify whether the damage is predominantly fatigue, creep or creep-fatigue interaction

  • Allow for damage computations using ductility exhaustion with creep fatigue interaction or strain range partitioning.

safe4fatigue

safe4fatigue is an integrated system for managing durability analysis. It provides advanced multiaxial fatigue and durability analysis from measured or simulated strain signals, peak-valley files, cycle histograms and PSDs. safe4fatigue is available as a stand-alone product where signal processing only is required, and it is included in fe-safe as a no-cost module. Its development has been driven by the requirements of Safe Technology's consultancy projects, to provide all the capabilities needed to analyse practical durability applications without the overhead of complex ‘management' systems. Its attractive, easy-to-use user interface provides fast access to complex analysis procedures. Repetitive tasks can be automated using powerful macro-recording and batch processing.

Regardless of the complexity of your fatigue analysis, safe4fatigue fits smoothly into your design process, enabling you to develop products that are designed for durability.

Verity in fe-safe

For welded joints and welded structures, including spot welds, the prediction of failure locations and the calculation of fatigue lives have traditionally been notoriously complex and difficult tasks that can often result in poor correlation with test data. The Verity mesh-insensitive Structural Stress Method has been developed and patented by Battelle. It is recognised as a major breakthrough in the fatigue analysis of welded joints for Finite Element models.

Verity in fe-safe combines Verity for the fatigue of welded structures with the advanced features of fe-safe for fatigue analysis for finite element models. It allows companies to reduce or avoid the expense of testing to validate the integrity of designs and avoid the common practice of over-engineering due to the uncertainty of fatigue life.