An experimental rig to investigate fatigue crack growth under dynamic loading

A novel experimental rig capable of generating a versatile dynamic loading has been designed and tested to overcome the shortcomings of conventional fatigue testing machines such as the difficulty in providing zero crossing aperiodic loading. The main principle of this new design is based on two, single degree of freedom based excited oscillators, where inertial forces act on a specially designed specimen. By changing the natural frequency of the oscillator, the extent of the preloads and pattern of the excitation signal on the shaker, the rig provides a new and robust means of fatigue testing, particularly for aperiodic loading.