Correlation of a Sinusoidal Sweep Test To Field Random Vibration

This paper presents a method for transferring the measured field random vibration into a sinusoidal sweep test by using the damage equivalence technique. This requires the fatigue damage generated in the sinusoidal sweep to be equivalent to the damage during the desired lifetime in the field operation. Based on this approach, a correlated lab-test specification, including the vibration level and test duration, can be determined according to the field random load input, the desired product life goal of a product, and the material/structural properties. If a generic test specification is required without knowing the material/structural properties, an approximate approach is proposed based on some engineering assumptions. In this paper, the development of a test specification for an automotive bracket is demonstrated as an application example.