ht. J. Pres.

Vex & Piping 61 (1995) 315-327

0308-0161(94)00113-8 ElsevierScienceLimited
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FATIGUE FAILURE OF DECK SUPPORT BEAMS ON A VIBRATING

SCREEN

JACQUES STEYN
Anglo American Corporation of South Africa Limited
Mechanical Engineering Department
45 Main Street, Johannesburg, South Africa

ABSTRACT

Vibrating screens are widely used for ore processing in the mining industry. They are
subjected to an unusually high number of stress cycles during their lifetime - 10 million
cycles are typically reached in approximately 185 hours of operation. The design of
screens therefore calls for special attention to fatigue detail. An apparently insignificant
change in design detail can have a profound effect on the fatigue life of a screen. The
catastrophic failure of two deck support beams on a vibrating screen is evidence of the
above statement and the subject of this paper.

INTRODUCTION

An overview of fatigue

As the failure discussed is classified as a fatigue failure it would be appropriate to provide

a brief overview on the subject of fatigue.

Fatigue is defined in BS 5400 as the damage, by gradual cracking of a structural

part, caused by repeated applications of a stress which is insufficient to induce failure by
a single application. [l] This definition further calls for distinguishing between low cycle
and high cycle fatigue. The term low cycle fatigue indicates the presence of marked
plastic deformation in a loaded member and is associated with high stress ranges and a
low number of cycles to failure. High cycle fatigue on the other hand is associated with
relatively low stresses, in the elastic range, and a high number of cycles to failure -
typically above 100 000 cycles. Further discussion of the topic will be limited to high
cycle fatigue.

315
316 J. Steyn

The fatigue mechanism can be divided into two distinct phases, the initiation of a
crack and the propagation of this crack to a critical size resulting in sudden fracture.
Complete agreement on the microscopic details of crack initiation have not been reached
as yet and for the purpose of this paper the following will suffice : due to their crystalline
nature, metals consist of a large number of ordered crystals or grains. Above a certain
cyclic stress level localised deformation takes place along so-called active slip bands
resulting in surface intrusions and extrusions - see Figure 1. The initiation phase normally
constitutes the major portion of the fatigue life of a component. The surface intrusions
act as microlcracks that propagate along the active slip bands. The extension of this
initiation site takes place along slip planes inclined at approximately 45 degrees to the
direction of maximum principal stress. This part of the crack forming process is also
termed Stage I crack growth and is governed by the local shearing stress. At the end of
Stage I crack growth a physically observable discreet crack can be detected. At this point
the stress concentration formed at the crack tip becomes the dominant factor in crack
propagation.

SURFACE
EXTRUSIONS
ANDINTRUSIONS

Figure 1. Deformation along slip bands formed by reverse loading.

The propagation of the crack or Stage II crack growth is governed by the principal
stress in the vicinity of the crack tip. The crack propagates in a direction normal to the
maximum principal stress. This stage of crack growth is character&d by a smooth
 Failure of deck support beams 317

fracture surface with the presence of striations and beach marks. The striations and
beach marks can provide valuable information with regards to the stress levels and
number of cycles experienced. Finally, the crack reaches a critical length and an
additional stress cycle then causes sudden rupture.

FATIGUE ANALYSIS AND LIFE PREDICTION

For engineers and designers the ultimate question is - How long is it going to last? A
number of methods have been developed to address this question. Among these the two
most commonly utilised are probably the use of fatigue strength curves, more commonly
known as S-N curves and, alternatively, the use of linear elastic fracture mechanics with
the familiar Paris equation. The discussion in this paper will focus on the use of S-N
curves.

The S-N curve provides us with a plot of the number of stress cycles to failure (N)
as a function of the stress range (S) for a standard laboratory specimen. These curves
have been obtained from laboratory tests dating back to the 1850s. This highlights one
of the limitations of the S-N approach, namely extensive testing, which will receive some
more attention later. An example of a typical S-N curve can be seen in Figure 2.

\ i\,- _ ye\ Typical Ferrousalloy

------
-Fatigue limit

Fatiguestrengthat Mcycles

CYCLES
TOFAILURE
(LOGSCBLE
1 N

Figure 2. Typical S-N curves.

318 J. Steyn

Two typical S-N curves plotted on a Log-Log scale are shown in the figure on the
previous page. The top curve is a typical curve for most steels and ferrous alloys. A
number of interesting features need to be pointed out. The curve has a sloping portion
ending in a knee after which the curve remains parallel to the N-axis. The stress range
at which the curve becomes parallel to the N-axis is termed the fatigue limit. From the
curve we can then argue that at stress ranges below the fatigue limit, an infinite life can
be attained; in other words, the component or material is not affected by fatigue. Note
that the curves were constructed by tests undertaken in laboratory conditions in clean air -
effects like corrosion are thus neglected at this stage. The bottom curve is representative
of the fatigue behaviour of non-ferrous metals. It is important to note that the curve no
longer reaches a point where it becomes parallel to the N-axis. The material therefore
possessesno fatigue limit and will eventually fail as a result of cyclic loading even under
very low stress ranges.

Welding and fatigue

In the fatigue analysis of welded joints, the absence of a crack initiation phase is widely
accepted. The reason for this is the possibility of the existence of numerous flaws in the
welded joint. The following are a number of examples of such defects : weld undercut,
overlaps, slag inclusions, poor penetration, lack of fusion and porosity. A weldment, no
matter how good, also produces metallurgical discontinuities. At the weld three clear
regions can be identified : the parent metal, the weld metal and the heat affected zone.
Welds are further normally situated at geometrical and stiffness changes and are therefore
subjected to the associated stress concentrations.

It should be clear by now that the fatigue behaviour of a weld differs vastly from
the behaviour of the parent metal. The weld type and configuration also have a significant
influence on the fatigue behaviour. As mentioned earlier, one of the limitations of the
S-N approach is the amount of testing required to construct these diagrams. With regards
to welding, for example, it is necessary to construct an S-N diagram for every type of
weld configuration. Fortunately, a wide range of tests have been conducted through the
years and are today available in the form of design codes such as BS 5400 [l] and the
ECCS Recommendations for the fatigue design of steel structures. [2]

A point of criticism often directed towards S-N curves is the fact that the curves
are obtained by constant amplitude cyclic stress testing of specimens. In practical
applications the actual loading is very seldom sinusoidal and of a constant amplitude. The
methods used to assessfatigue damage due to random stressing will not be discussed. The
loading on vibrating screens is purely sinusoidal and of a constant amplitude, making the
application of S-N curves in their fatigue analysis ideal.

VIBRATING SCREENS

Construction and operation

It should be noted that the failure analysed, occurred on a screen with deck dimensions
of approximately 6.5 m by 3.0 m and the discussions that follow are aimed at similar size
equipment. Some general statements made may therefore not be applicable to smaller
 Failure of deck support beams 319

screens and should not be read out of context.

Figure 3 on the following page represents the general construction of a vibrating

screen. From the drawing it can be seen that the screen basically consists of two vertical
side plates with a number of deck support beams bolted between the side plates. The
actual screen, commonly called a deck, normally consists of polyurethane or stainless steel
panels bolted to stringers which are in turn fixed to the deck support beams. The screen
is excited or driven by one or two electric motors driving two or more contra-rotating
eccentric masses. These drive mechanisms are mounted on an exciter or drive beam,
fixed between the side plates. The complete screen is normally mounted in four places
on springs or rubber buffers, attached to the support structure. It is interesting to note
that the stroke, and therefore operation, of the screen depends on the excitation force and
the mass of the screen and is independent of the spring stiffness. An exception on this
statement would be resonant screens, which tend not to be used these days.

Vibrating screens are widely used in the mining environment in applications such
as sizing, sorting and drying. These screens normally operate at frequencies in the 12 to
16 Hz range and at strokes (peak to peak displacement) in the order of 6 to 14 mm. A
further fact which needs mentioning is that, especially on the diamond mines, most of
these screens run under wet applications. Process water is continuously sprayed onto the
screen. This water ranges from a mixture of clean and reprocessed water to raw sea
water in applications along the Namibian coast. It should be clear by now that a vibrating
screen is subjected to an extremely adverse fatigue environment under normal operating
conditions - a fact often neglected by manufacturers.

Loading and stresses

The loads on screen components are primarily a result of the cyclic acceleration of each
component with the other components attached to it. The drive beam is normally mounted
at an angle of approximately 45 to 50 degrees to the screen deck in order to perform a
shaking as well as transporting function. This becomes important when analysing stresses
in deck support beams as these beams are now accelerated in two planes simultaneously.

Due to the operating environment and nature of a vibrating screen the stresses in
components need to be very low in order to achieve an acceptable fatigue life in the order
of 30 000 operating hours. Setting specific limiting stress levels would depend on the
fatigue detail on a component. Two important factors need mentioning : In the design of
most components a fatigue life of 10 million cycles would be considered more than
adequate. However, a vibrating screen operating at 15 Hz would reach 10 million stress
cycles in approximately 185 operating hours which, in most processing plants, would
amount to less than two weeks of operation. The problem screen designers are faced with
is that most S-N curves are only verified by tests to 10 million cycles. There is thus
uncertainty about the accuracy of S-N curves extrapolated to a higher number of cycles
and therefore lower stresses.
320 J. Steyn

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Figure 3. Section through a vibrating screen

 Failure of deck suppoti beams 32

The second fact relates to the process environment of the screen. As mentioned
earlier, water is continuously sprayed onto the screen. It has been verified by several
authors and tests that in a corrosive environment no fatigue limit exists. Even tests
performed in plain distilled water have proved to reduce the fatigue strength of ordinary
structural steels to less than two thirds of its value in dry air. Although screens are
protected against corrosion in a number of ways, the vibrating motion and abrasive nature
of the material handled invariably leads to damage to the corrosion protection. From this
we can conclude by saying that no fatigue limit exists for most components on a vibrating
screen; that is a finite life can be expected.

VIBRATING SCREEN DECK BEAM FAILURE

Screen details

Screen type Double deck, horizontal, ore processing screen

Screen size 6.5 m long x 3.03 m wide
Operating speed 15 Hz
Stroke Stroke angle - 50 degrees
Vertical - 7.7 mm Peak to Peak
Horizontal - 6.4 mm Peak to Peak
Deck beam details

Section details H Beam - 203x203~60

Length 3.03 m

Loads on beam

Own weight 59.6 kg/m

Effective weight of stringers 26.85 kg/m
Effective deck weight 25.06 kg/m

Deck beam failure

Two deck beams failed on the screen analysed after approximately nine months of
operation. The number of operating hours would be in the order of 4 000 hours. Both
deck beams that failed were situated in between the spring supports on which the screen
rests. Both beams failed firstly in the weld between the top flange of the H-beam and the
end plate. The crack then progressed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the end
plate until final rupture. The manner in which the beam failed will be related to the stress
field at the end plate later on.

Fortunately only one beam failed catastrophically. The other beam had clear
indications that it was well on its way to a similar failure. Both ends of both beams had
cracks in the flange to end plate weld. These cracks range in length from approximately
50 to 100 mm. Figure 4 on the following page shows the position of the fracture face and
other cracks on the beam that failed catastrophically.
322 J. Steyn

Figure 4. Position of fracture face on failed deck support beam.

Fracture face and cracks shown as curved lines.
 Failure of deck support beams 323

Beam modelling

The beam end plate (10 mm thick) is welded to each end of the deck beam and fixed to
the side plates by means of swage lock bolts. The side plates are relatively flexible and
in design calculations the deck support beams are normally treated as being pinned at the
ends. This assumption has been validated by strain gauge tests. This would imply that
the stresses in the welds at the ends of the beams are relatively low. Theoretically the
only stress experienced at the beam ends will be shear stress normally accepted to be
carried by the web of the H-beam. The important point is that the flange welds do not
experience any significant stress due to bending. See Figure 5 on the next page. The
stresses are calculated at the tip of the flange of the H-beam.

Around the spring supports the screen side plates are however stiffened
significantly. The spring supports are constructed very rigidly as they are points of local
force application between the screen and the support structure. On this particular screen,
two of the deck beams were situated in between two of these supports - on previous
models this was not the case. The ends of the beam can no longer be treated as being
pinned but are closer to being built-in. The serious effect on the bending stress at the end
of the beam can be seen in Figure 6. From a zero stress in the pinned case the maximum
bending stress amplitude (0 to Peak) increases to approximately 17 MPa.

Using BS 5400 to determine an expected life before failure, yielded the following results:

Detail class F2
Stress range 34 MPa (2x17)
Probability of failure Operating life
2% 207 hours
50% 1 187 hours
98% 7 138 hours

The operating life to failure of approximately 4 000 hours compares well with the values
calculated.

In reality the bending stress will most probably be somewhat lower than the
theoretical value as the end of the beam is not truly built-in. Unfortunately the tests to
confirm the actual end condition and stress values could not be completed in time for this
report. What can however be said with reasonable confidence is that these beams can not
be treated as being pinned at the ends.

The manner in which the beam failed catastrophically confirms suggestions that the
beam end conditions are close to being built-in. The total bending stress, vertical plus
horizontal would be highest at the flange tip which is also the position where the cracks
started. The high bending stress would cause the crack to propagate along the flange weld
until the flange breaks loose from the end plate. The vertical bending stress and the shear
stress would then cause the crack to propagate at an angle to the end plate through the
web section.
 10 -- .. .-.-- .. Total.ben,&ng. StreSS j ;.

-5

-10

-15

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

DISTANCE ALONG BEAM (M)

 Failure of deck support beams 325

,O
cc;

vl
Pi

.o
c-4

. v, .
ri

.0 .
d

m
d

0
d

Figure 5. Bending stress distribution along deck support beam.

Ends pinned
326 J. Steyn

A number of factors contributed towards the failure and are listed below :

0 The position of a deck beam was changed without considering the influence on the
end constraints.
ii) A partial penetration fillet weld was used.
iii) Weld toes were not dressed or treated.
iv) No post-weld heat treatment was performed.
VI The end plates were not machined after welding. Inspection indicated that the end
plates had distorted from the weld operation. At installation the end plates are
then pulled straight against the side plates, resulting in high tensile stresses in the
welds.

Although not much can be done to change the end constraint conditions of the two
deck beams that failed, without some major modifications, an obvious solution would be
to increase the beam size in order to lower the bending stresses. There are further a
number of steps that can be taken to improve the fatigue detail :

0 Use a full penetration weld.

ii) Dress weld toes and grind out any stop/starts or other obvious weld defects.
iii) Perform post-weld heat treatment.
iv) Do a magnetic particle inspection of all welds to ensure that there are no surface
weld defects.
VI Machine the end plates to prevent any tensile stress in the welds.

CONCLUSION

In applications where high cycle fatigue occurs it is important to pay particular attention
to fatigue design detail. Every change to design detail should be carefully analysed.
Changing the position of components, although the loads and all other dimensions remain
the same, can have serious implications on the fatigue life of a component. Every effort
should be made to improve the fatigue detail of components whilst keeping the economic
implications in mind.
 Failure of deck support beams 327

REFERENCES

1. BS 5400, Steel concrete and composite bridges. Part 10. Code of practice for
fatigue.

2. ECCS Technical committee 6 - Fatigue. Recommendations for the fatigue design

of steel structures.

3. Boresi, A.P., Sidebottom, O.M., Seely, F.B., Smith, J.O., Advanced mechanics
of materials, John Wiley & sons, New York, 1978.

4. Collins, J.A., Failure of materials in mechanical design, John Wiley & sons, New
York, 1993.

5. Benham, P.P., Mechanics of solids and structures, Pitman, London, 1982.

6. Fuchs, H-0.) Stephens, R.I., Metal fatigue in engineering, John Wiley & sons,
New York, 1980.

7. Gurney, T.R., Fatigue of welded structures, Cambridge University Press, London,

1979.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to thank the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa Limited for
permission to publish this paper.