Time-Based Fatigue Analysis of Elastomer Components with Endurica DT

Time-Based Fatigue Analysis of Elastomer Components with Endurica DT


Elastomeric (rubber) materials play a critical role in many industries—automotive, defense, rail systems, industrial machinery, and medical applications—by providing vibration isolation, sealing, and impact damping. Throughout their service life, these components are exposed to varying load levels, cyclic loading with different amplitudes, and environmental effects.
For this reason, accurately predicting the lifetime of elastomer components is essential for product safety, reliability, and cost optimization.

This is exactly where Endurica DT (Damage Tracking) becomes a game-changing solution.

What Is Endurica DT?

Endurica DT is an advanced engineering software for time-based, incremental fatigue analysis of elastomer components.
While Endurica CL calculates how many repeats a single load history can withstand (repeats-to-failure), Endurica DT evaluates the combined effects of multiple load cases across the entire service life of the component.

In simple terms:

CL: “How many repeats will this load cycle survive?”

DT: “How will this component accumulate damage under real operating conditions, and when will it reach end of life?”

This ability makes Endurica DT uniquely suited for modeling real-world, variable-amplitude loading scenarios.

Key Benefits of Endurica DT

1. Realistic Simulation of Service Conditions

Standard single-cycle fatigue predictions often fail to fully represent the complexity of real operating conditions.
Endurica DT handles:

Variable load levels

Multi-step test sequences (e.g., FMVSS procedures)

Block cycle programs

Histogram-based load profiles

and tracks damage accumulation incrementally.

2. Tracking Damage Evolution Over Time

Endurica DT monitors critical parameters throughout the product’s operational life:

Crack size growth

Damage accumulation rate

Stiffness loss

Strain energy density evolution

Equivalent ageing time

This enables engineers to understand how the material truly ages in the field.

3. Remaining Life Prediction

The software determines the remaining useful life (RUL) based on your defined end-of-life criteria, such as:

a specific crack length, or

a defined percentage of stiffness reduction.

This provides exceptional value for warranty planning and durability management.

4. Co-Simulation with FEA

Endurica DT works seamlessly with leading FEA platforms such as Ansys, Abaqus, and MSC Marc.

As stiffness degrades over time, the FEA model is automatically updated:

stress distributions change,

strain energy values shift,

crack growth behavior evolves.

This enables truly realistic, physics-based fatigue simulations.

Standard Endurica DT Workflow

Below is the workflow used in typical elastomer fatigue projects completed by Fetech Advanced Engineering:

1. Material Characterization

Endurica requires specialized elastomer fatigue testing to generate a complete material database:

Crack growth tests

Fatigue-to-failure tests

Mullins effect & relaxation behavior

Temperature-dependent properties

Ageing behavior

Hyperelastic model parameters

These tests generate the Endurica Material File, which fully characterizes rubber fatigue behavior.

2. FEA Model Preparation

The engineering team prepares:

Proper meshing

Hyperelastic material model (Ogden, Yeoh, Arruda-Boyce, etc.)

Load boundary conditions

Strain/energy distributions across the geometry

The FEA output feeds Endurica with the required “strain history” data.

3. Definition of Load Case Sequences

A realistic duty cycle is constructed based on the real operating profile:

Low-load / high-load block cycles

FMVSS-type test sequences

Road load histogram data

Strain or acceleration time histories

Complex signals can be optimized using Endurica EIE.

4. Running the DT Solver

For each load step, Endurica DT incrementally updates:

crack length

damage level

stiffness loss

maximum strain energy density

equivalent ageing time

5. Co-Simulation with Updated FEA Results

At specified checkpoints, FEA simulations are repeated with:

updated stiffness,

aged material behavior,

evolved crack growth state.

6. Reporting and Engineering Evaluation

Endurica DT generates comprehensive outputs:

remaining life at critical points

time-dependent damage growth

stiffness degradation curves

sensitivity to duty-cycle variations

design improvement suggestions

Strategic Advantages of Endurica DT

● More Accurate Lifetime Predictions

Thanks to realistic multi-step load modeling.

● Reduced Design and Prototyping Costs

Fewer physical tests, faster development cycles.

● Optimized Warranty Strategies

Reliable lifetime estimations → more realistic warranty periods.

● Identification of Durability Risks Before Production

Critical regions and failure-prone zones detected early.

Industries That Use Endurica DT

Endurica DT is widely adopted across industries relying on elastomeric components:

Defense systems (suspension bushings, isolators)

Automotive (engine mounts, bushings, air springs)

Rail systems (rail pads, elastomeric bearings)

Industrial machinery (vibration isolators, seals)

Medical devices

What Fetech Advanced Engineering Offers

Fetech is one of the few engineering companies in Türkiye providing complete Endurica-based elastomer fatigue solutions.

We offer:

Full Endurica CL + DT fatigue simulation services

Hyperelastic material modeling with Ansys

Preparation of Endurica Material Files

Duty-cycle design and load-case creation

Test–simulation correlation

Project-based consulting & report preparation

This combination provides customers with safer, longer-lasting, and more cost-effective elastomer component designs.

 

Endurica DT is one of the most advanced and comprehensive tools for accurately predicting the lifetime of elastomer materials under real-world operating conditions.
With its incremental fatigue tracking, stiffness-loss modeling, and co-simulation capabilities, it brings unmatched precision to durability engineering.

At Fetech Advanced Engineering, we combine the full power of Endurica DT with our expertise in Ansys-based FEA to deliver high-confidence elastomer durability solutions aligned with global standards.