Application Brief
Shake, Rattle and Roll!
Simulating Vibration, Impact and Fatigue for the IoT
To design successful Internet of Things (IoT) devices, engineers must consider the stress their
products will experience when exposed to harsh environmental conditions. Damage from vibra-
tion, impact and fatigue can shorten a product’s lifespan, inflict warranty and repair expenses
and incur liability risks. ANSYS simulation can help you identify potential product failure early
in the design process, enabling you to anticipate potential design problems and optimize your
products.
Introduction
The Internet of Things (IoT) is migrating devices out of controlled office
environments and into the harsh world of extreme weather, severe colli-
sions and other hazardous conditions. IoT applications such as autono-
mous drones, wearables, self-driving automobiles and smart industrial
equipment must operate reliably in harsh environments such as exposure
to water or high humidity levels, extreme temperatures (high or low) and
temperature cycles, ingress of particulates, electrostatic discharge (ESD),
Consequences of Malfunction: electromagnetic interference (EMI), vibrations, and physical impact. De-
• High cost to repair/replace spite these conditions, IoT devices must stay active for extended periods
• Possible mission failure and across great distances without maintenance. In these extremes, a
• Puts lives at risk malfunction can result in significant investment to repair or replace the
system, mission failure or even an injury or death.
Consequently, engineers must consider these potential harsh environ-
ments as they design and test their devices. While manufacturers have
traditionally relied on limited testing of physical prototypes, many com-
panies are now using virtual simulation to expand their testing range and
optimize their products for extreme conditions.
Harsh Environments:
• Sudden change in pressure
• Temperature
- Very high or low, cycling
• Humidity
• Reactive chemicals
- Oxidation
Active mine challenges include vibration, fatigue, dust - Corrosion
and corrosion.
• Erosion
• Dust infiltration
• Electromagnetic interference (EMI)
• Vibration
• Impact
• Fatigue
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Simulating Vibration, Impact and
Fatigue for the IoT
Limitations of Physical Testing
Traditionally, device manufacturers have relied on creating physical
prototypes, testing the device under limited conditions, modifying the
design, building a new prototype and testing until the model meets the
necessary design criteria. But this approach is limited and gives you few
opportunities to optimize your product. Building physical prototypes is
expensive and time-consuming, limiting the number of design alternatives
that can be tested. The testing itself is more expensive and by necessity
limited; harsh environments are difficult to reproduce, especially if they
involve hazardous materials or extreme conditions (for example, consider
the conditions in an undersea petroleum field). It is much more difficult to
evaluate test results because physical prototypes are difficult to instru-
ment; fluid flows, for example, are altered by the sensors themselves.
Also, there are areas that just cannot be measured, such as the internal
components of an assembled device during a drop test.
Smartphone after impact
IoT sensors and monitors are extremely difficult to repair and
replace in this subsea petroleum operation. Sensors on this continuous miner are subjected to harsh environments
Advantages of Simulation
Using simulation mitigates many of the drawbacks of physical prototyping.
You can introduce testing early in the development cycle to pinpoint solu-
tions and guide trade-offs early, before big investments in the design have
been made. You can run iterative tests on the same model, saving develop-
ment and testing time. Simulation lets you record results where physical
measurements are not possible or practical, providing more accurate and
precise results. Finally, simulation enables you to test many more design
alternatives in less time, resulting in better performance at lower cost. While
testing determines whether a product will fail or survive in a harsh environ-
Simulation optimized this wearable belt clip for strength, fatigue ment, simulation gives you insight into the cause of failure, as well as at
life and thickness. what level of loading will cause a failure.
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Simulating Vibration, Impact
and Fatigue for the IoT
Vibration
When you consider the different harsh environmental conditions a product
may encounter, vibration may not immediately come to mind. However, vibra-
tion can be a major source of failure in many systems. Sources of vibrations
can range from natural, rhythmic movements, to those caused by the use of
a motor, to significant events like earthquakes. Electronics are subjected to
vibrational stresses in a wide spectrum of applications ranging from automo-
bile, train, and aerospace systems to oil drilling equipment, power stations,
and manufacturing plants. Even if intended for mild environments, most elec-
tronics are subject to some amount of vibration during their product lifecycle,
whether from shipping and transportation or simple everyday use.
Simulating Vibration: Designing a Lithium-Ion Battery
for Harsh Environments
Lithium batteries are notoriously temperamental devices. They are subject
to thermal stresses while in use and are subject to vibration due to exces-
sive movement, which causes impact between parts and variation in device
performance. To develop a lithium battery requires significant design and
testing efforts at the cell, module and assembly level, spread across a number
of teams and organizations. Testing is time-consuming, costly and exposes
the testers to toxic and potentially explosive chemicals. To study the battery
as a whole system, multiple physics must be studied together. And, as with
the design of any complex device, engineers go through multiple design and
testing iterations, potentially increasing lead time from paper to final design.
The objectives for the design of this lithium battery are typical: to optimize
Why care about vibration? A NASA study found that 45 percent of the design to ensure its long life, safety and durability, minimize the material
first-day spacecraft electronics failures are due to damage caused
and manufacturing cost and exceed global standards such as SAE, JIS, ECS
by vibrations during launch.
and UN 38.3.
The ANSYS platform enables engineers to test the battery’s integrity in many
areas, some of which are:
• Electrical and electronics:
- External short circuit protection
- Overcharge protection
- Over discharge protection
• Thermal flow and fluid flow:
- Fire resistance for short and long durations
- Thermal shock
- Over and underwater temperature protection
- Water intrusion
• Structural:
- Vibration
- Impact
- Durability
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Simulating Vibration, Impact
and Fatigue for the IoT
Self-Weight Analysis
This self-weight analysis studied the effects of the battery’s own weight
on the support structure. Engineers used ANSYS simulation tools to create
a model of the battery and its support structure, loaded standard earth
gravity, and detected the areas of deformation and stress points on the
support.
Pre-Stressed Natural Frequency Analysis
Using the same model, the engineering team also used ANSYS tools,
ANSYS Mechanical in this case, to evaluate the prestressed natural
frequencies of the battery assembly. To adequately simulate the range
Lithium-ion battery of frequencies needed for a Random Vibration analysis, they increased
the frequency range for the modal study by 1.5 times. They extracted 32
modes, which helped them identify the mode shapes as well as enable
them to look for any early issues.
Random Vibrational Analysis
To study vibration effects and ensure compliance with SAE standard
regulations for input spectra, engineers tested the battery model using
random vibrational analysis, also called Power Spectral Density analysis
Deformation occurs during stress test (PSD). In this analysis, random time domain input excitation is converted
into frequency domain data. Using the same base excitation for longitudi-
nal and lateral direction and employing a filtering technique, the engi-
neers created input spectra and applied it at the base.
Study of prestressed natural frequency for random vibrations
Random vibration analysis results
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Simulating Vibration, Impact
and Fatigue for the IoT
Thermal Stress Analysis
Calculating the loads from an electromagnetic analysis, the engineers used
ANSYS Maxwell to analyze thermal stress on the case.
Drop Test Analysis
Impact damage can occur anytime, from product manufacturing to end use
in the outside world. Using explicit dynamics, the engineers simulated im-
pact according to SAE standards, which suggest dropping the battery from
a height of two meters at a 45 degree angle, the casing’s most vulnerable
spot. In this case, the top and bottom part of the casing separated, indi-
cating the engineers would need to modify the design to strengthen
the bond between the two parts or use different materials.
Thermal Analysis on the case.
Total deformation after 5 percent solve time
Final Results
Steady State Thermal Simulation.
Using ANSYS simulation tools, the engineering team was able to perform
all of the simulations on the same model, testing one hundred times more
variations than would have been possible with physical prototypes. They
ensured that the battery met all the relevant standards, and found ways to
optimize the battery for all the potential forms of failure (random vibra-
tion, thermal and impact) that they could not have found using a physical
prototype. Using simulation not only saved them money and time, but also
minimized exposure to hazardous materials.
Impact and Drop Test
In 2016, it is estimated that there are 6.4 billion connected devices in use,
up nearly thirty percent from 2015. More than sixty percent of those de-
vices are consumer products, and most of them have been dropped during
Random Vibrational Simulation..
shipping or while in use. Ensuring that devices can survive the impact of
a fall has become a major concern of companies that manufacture devices
such as cell phones, tablets, remote controls, medical devices, and other
connected devices.
While in the past companies were able to accept maintenance, warranty and
possible legal action costs as simply the costs of doing business, the sheer
number of devices now make those potential costs unsustainable. And now
that the internet speeds product reviews around the globe in minutes, compa-
nies must also guard their image and the reputation of their products.
Drop Testing Physical drop testing is expensive, especially when prototypes are used. It
is only able to indicate whether failure occurs, but it cannot determine the
degree of failure.
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Simulating Vibration, Impact
and Fatigue for the IoT
You can, however, simulate and test a device design in the conceptual stage
long before you build a physical prototype. Not only does this enable you to
perform parametric testing to understand how design changes can affect the
device’s durability, but you can put “virtual gauges” anywhere in the model
to paint a complete picture of the dropped device’s response and gain insight
into the cause and degree of failure. A best practice for impact testing is to
simulate different angles and heights for a more comprehensive evaluation.
This graphic card drop test illustrates how ANSYS Workbench integrates mul-
tiphysics with the power of design exploration to optimize a single product
model for three different harsh environments: thermal, random vibration and
drop. The drop test shows the cooling fins separating from the circuit the CPU
on the board, clearly indicating the need for a redesign.
Design Optimization Simulating Impact: Smartwatch and Smartphone
Demonstrating how quickly modern designs can be implemented, a speaker
at a technical conference created a geometry of a smartwatch with built-in
antenna in five minutes using ANSYS SpaceClaim, optimized it with ANSYS
HFSS, and performed impact testing with ANSYS Explicit Dynamics. The
impact analysis showed how the LCD display would crack under various
levels of force.
The structural response of a mobile phone being dropped is evaluated in this
example using ANSYS explicit dynamics. You can evaluate damage to the
casing, the screen, and internal components by simulating the impact from
the drop. Simulation, unlike physical experiments, enables you to test a mod-
el long before the first prototype is built. In the rapidly changing develop-
ment environments for consumer products, the design can change before the
first simulation is set up and run. ANSYS Workbench can update the results
based on changes to the model geometry in a very short period of time with a
single mouse click. There is no better platform for modern product design in
a timely fashion.
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Simulating Vibration, Impact
and Fatigue for the IoT
Fatigue
Fatigue is failure under a repeated or otherwise varying load that does not
cause failure in a single application. Each cyclic loading is within the elastic
range of the material, but eventually slip bands form along the maximum
shear plane and initiate a crack. A device that operates with no visible sign of
damage during early use can suddenly fail before its expected lifespan from
fatigue failure.
It is very difficult to create a physical model that can identify fatigue stress.
Not only must you determine all of the environmental forces that add load
to your device — some consistently, some periodically — but you must find
a way to simulate how your device will function over days, weeks and years.
Typically such testing is limited by the physical capabilities of the testing
lab and the time available for testing.
Virtual fatigue analysis, however, helps design products for their entire ex-
Drop test
pected lifespan. Through fatigue analysis, you can model the basic product
during its real life usage cycles and identify the cause and timing of fatigue
failure. Fatigue analysis explores effects of variations in loading, geometry
or material to optimize design life and finds imperfections not detected by
static analysis.
Alternating Stress Fatigue Failure
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Simulating Vibration, Impact
and Fatigue for the IoT
Fatigue in Electronic Components
Even very low stresses and small strains can result in failure. For that
reason, home appliances are increasingly “connected” for remote diagnos-
tics. Even very low stresses and small strains can cause a device to fail. For
example, the power module switch for a washing machine was evaluated
for fatigue failure. In its lifetime, this power module will see more than
three hundred billion cycles as it is turned on and off, far more than most
products. Although the stresses induced in the bond wires from the switch-
ing current are small, fatigue failure can occur, especially after billions of
cycles. The life of the power module can be extended significantly by minor
changes in the size or shape of the bond wires.
Fatigue behavior of the power module can be assessed using a three-
part multiphysics simulation. The magnetic forces on the bond wires are
calculated by ANSYS Maxwell and transferred to ANSYS Mechanical where
the stresses/strains are calculated and passed on to ANSYS nCode Design-
Life to assess the damage caused by cyclic loading. The DesignLife results
Washing machine power module is evaluated for fatigue. Over
demonstrate that the bond wires of the power module are susceptible to
a lifetime, even relatively low stresses and strains can result in fatigue damage. Adding transient temperature analysis makes the results
significant fatigue failures. even more comprehensive. Thermo-Mechanical fatigue accounts for the
combined thermal transient and repetitive mechanical stresses to correctly
calculate fatigue life.
Simulating Fatigue: Wind Turbine Hub
ANSYS nCode DesignLife within ANSYS Workbench provides the best pos-
sible environment for fatigue analysis as it provides a logical, simple to
set-up workflow, has extensive capabilities that can be explored by experts,
but also can be used by engineers and designers with limited exposure to
fatigue theory.
For example, turbines on wind farms are becoming an important source of
green energy production. They are not only connected to the grid but also
controlled through the IoT to optimize energy production. They depend on
remote diagnostics to enable early failure prediction and prevention. In
this example, the forces and moments of a key component, the hub, were
measured over a period of several days under varying wind loadings (sunny
day, low wind, high wind). Using a historical combination of the three load-
ing conditions, engineers built a duty cycle that comprehensively repre-
sented the expected loading on the hub. The initial simulation indicated a
failure in the center hub after 4 months and 3 weeks.
The engineers were able to determine that minor changes to the geometry
extended the fatigue life of the hub. Iterative design analysis not only
pinpointed where the fatigue occurred, but helped figure out how to fix it.
It showed that by making a minor change — extruding the thickness of the
ring where failure occurred — they could lengthen the lifespan of the model
from 4 months to 8.5 years, a factor of 21 times the original design. The
analysis also helped them determine that extruding the ring inward had a
much greater effect than extruding outward.
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Simulating Vibration, Impact
and Fatigue for the IoT
Summary
Designing your products to withstand hazardous conditions ensures
customer satisfaction in the short term and reduces the long-term costs of
product maintenance, warranties, and liabilities in the long term. ANSYS
provides a comprehensive, reusable fatigue process, from model to solver
to design optimization, with the best-in-class explicit and fatigue solvers.
You can tailor your solution using its extensive Fatigue Material library for
accurate material definition and use its scripting tools to define custom and
proprietary methods. You can reduce design optimization and testing time
with greater accuracy and at a lower cost than you can accomplish with
physical prototyping.
Advantages of Simulation for IoT Devices
• More Accurate: Assess performance where physical measurements
not possible or practical
• Lower Cost/Faster: Pinpoint solutions and guide trade-offs early,
before big investments have been made
• Optimal Performance: Try many more options, resulting in better
performance at lower cost
Additional Resources
For more information about hazardous condition simulation, refer to these
resources on the Harsh Environments page at [Link]:
Webinars/Videos
- Flow Induced Vibration video
- Ensuring Impact Integrity with Drop Test Simulations webinar
- Using ANSYS Tools to Perform Efficient Explicit Simulations webinar
- Fatigue Module Upgrade: Designing for Durability in Real Life
Environments with ANSYS nCode DesignLife Webinar
Articles/White Papers
- Violet Satellite Project, ANSYS Advantage, Issue 1, 2014
- Engineering the Internet of Things white paper
Brochures/Product Pages
- Explicit Dynamics Application brochure - Impact products page
- ANSYS Mechanical Suite brochure - ANSYS nCode DesignLife
- Vibration Analysis products page product page
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