The Need

Fatigue qualification of metal components can require lengthy, expensive cyclic testing, particularly when component geometry, manufacturing history, and material gradients make coupon-level data insufficient. Thermal assessment offers a faster alternative, but conventional approaches rely on full-field infrared cameras, complex data processing, and substantial computing infrastructure. These costs and integration requirements can limit use in component development, production validation, and distributed monitoring of critical machinery.

The Technology

OSU engineers have developed technology that evaluates fatigue behavior by measuring temperature changes at a critical location on a cyclically loaded metal component using compact, single-point infrared sensors. The resulting thermal signals are processed to estimate fatigue condition and reliability-related parameters without requiring full-field thermal imaging. Testing on a case-carburized steel gear demonstrated component-level assessment and showed that a probabilistic fatigue limit could be determined in approximately one day, compared with several months for conventional testing.

Commercial Applications

• Accelerated fatigue characterization during component research and development
• Prototype qualification and preproduction design validation
• Manufacturing-process validation through sample-based component testing
• Potential embedded condition monitoring for cyclically loaded equipment, including gears, turbine components, powertrains, and structural hardware

Benefits/Advantages

• Lower instrumentation cost
• Faster fatigue assessment
• Simpler data architecture
• Component-relevant results