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Category: Time data processing Topic: Counting and histogramming

Introduction
In fatigue analysis, real life measurements of mechanical or thermal loads are used to assess and predict the damage inflicted by such loads over the life time of a product. Figure 7-1 shows such measurements made on a vehicle part over a period of around 5 minutes (330 seconds).
0.4

acceleration

(g) time (s)

-0.4

Figure 7-1

Typical load/time data

In terms of fatigue analysis it is the occurrence of specific events that are of more significance than the frequency content of the loads. The approach used is to scan such time histories looking for typical fatigue-generating events and then to register how often they occur. These typical events can be demonstrated with a zoomed-in section of a load time history, shown in Figure 7-2.

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Figure 7-2

Typical events in a data trace

The interesting events are: The occurrence of peaks at specific levels These are represented by the circles and are determined using Peak counting methods described in section 13.2.1. The exceedence or crossing of specific levels. These are represented by the squares and are determined using Level cross counting methods described in section 13.2.2. The occurrence of signal changes of a certain size. These are represented by the arrows and are determined using Range count methods described in section 13.2.3

The determination of the signal characteristics based on the events mentioned above is a two stage process Stage 1, counting The data is scanned for the occurrence of one of the events listed above. This in effect reduces the full time history to a set of mechanical or thermal load events. Stage 2 histogramming This involves dividing the counted occurrences into classes where for each event, its number of occurrences is specified.

One dimensional counting methods

The procedures described above deal with the counting of single events or occurrences which are further explored in this section. Section 13.3 describes a number of methods used to examine the occurrence of additional event circumstances. These methods are termed Two dimensional counting methods. Peak count methods The turning points in a data trace are termed peaks(maximums ) and valleys (minimums ). The number of times that peaks and valleys occur at specific levels is counted as shown below. You can choose to count both the peaks and the valleys (extrema) or just the peaks (maxima), or just the valleys (minima).

2 1 0 -1 -2

Figure 7-3

Counting of peaks and valleys

A histogram is then created by calculating the distribution of the number of occurrences as a function of the level at which the occurrence appeared. The Figure 7-4 shows the results of processing the above peak-valley reduction according to the three types of counting methods.
4 4 4

Nr of occurrences

Nr of occurrences

Nr of occurrences

1 0 -2 -1 0 level 1 2

1 0 -2 -1 0 level 1 2

1 0 -2 -1 0 level 1 2

Minima

Maxima

Extrema

Figure 7-4

Histograms of peaks (maxima), valleys (minima) and both (extrema)

Level cross counting methods This procedure counts the number of times that the signal crosses various levels. Distinctions can be made between an upward (positive ) and a downward (negative ) crossing as illustrated below. You can choose to count both the positive (up) crossings, the negative (down) crossings or both types.

Figure 7-5

Counting of level crossings

Peak counts and level cross counts are closely related. The number of positive crossings of a certain level is equal of the number of peaks above that level minus the number of valleys above it. This implies that a level cross count can be derived from a peak-valley count. A level crossing count is typically initiated by specifying a grid on top of the signal to determine the levels. The grid can be specified in ordinate units or as a percentage of the ordinate range. The resulting histograms for the above signal when up, down and both types of crossings are counted are shown below.
10
Nr of occurrences

10
Nr of occurrences

10
Nr of occurrences

8 6 4 2 0 -2 -1 0 level 1 2

8 6 4 2 0 -2 -1 0 level 1 2

8 6 4 2 0 -2 -1 0 level 1 2

up (+) crossings

down (-) crossings

up (+) & down (-) crossings

Figure 7-6

Histograms of level crossing counts

Range counting methods A range count method will determine the number of times that a specific range change is observed between successive peak-valley sequences. Counting of single ranges The range between successive peak-valley pairs is counted. Ranges are considered positive when the slope is rising and negative when the slope is falling.
4 1 + 1 + 1 + 1

+ 1

1 + 4

Figure 7-7

Counting of single peak-valley ranges

A histogram of the number of occurrences, as a function of the range, is generated.

Nr of occurrences

1 0 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4

Range

Figure 7-8

Histogram of single peak-valley ranges

Counting of range-pairs The counting of single ranges (usually indicated as a range-count), is both simple and straightforward but sensitive to small variations of the signal. Thus in the analysis of the left hand signal illustrated in Figure 7-9, single range counting would result in a large number of relatively small ranges.

Figure 7-9

Sensitivity of single range counting to signal variation

If this signal were passed through a filter, suppressing the small load variations, the resulting signal would reveal a count of only one very large range. As a consequence the two analysis results are completely different and the method is very sensitive to small signal variations. The range-pair counting method overcomes this sensitivity. Rather then splitting up the signal into consecutive ranges, it is interpreted in terms of a main signal variation (or range) with a smaller cycle (range pair) superimposed on it.

Figure 7-10

Range pair counting

If a pair of extremities are separated by a range that is less than the defined range of interest (R), then they are filtered out of the range count.

Two-dimensional counting methods

The counting methods described so far, consider the occurrence of single events in isolation from any other circumstances which may affect these events. However, it is also meaningful to count events differently, depending on other circumstances using two-dimensional methods. Such methods are discussed in this section. From-to-counting Such a combined event can be the occurrence of a peak at level j followed by a valley at level i. As an example, consider the combination of a valley at level A followed by a peak at level C as illustrated in Figure 7-11.

D C B A 2

12

3 1
From-to counting

11

Figure 7-11

In this example, the From!to sequence (1!2) is counted separately from the sequences (3!4) and (11!12), although the ranges involved are identical (C-A=D-B). The result of such from!to counting can be presented in a so called Markov-Matrix A[i,j]. The element aij gives the number of peaks at level j followed by a valley at level i. The matrix of results of counting the events in Figure 7-11 are shown below.

A
X 0 2 4 peaks

From j B C
0 X 1 2 1 1 X 1

D
0 2 2 X 1 3 2 0

A
To i

X 0 1 1

B C D

The lower left triangle of the Markov matrix contains the positive from!to events, the upper right triangle summarizes the negative transitions. The additional separate columns contain the counting results for peaks and valleys at a particular level. These results are easily obtained for the triangles of the Markov matrix.

Range-mean counting Another example of a two-dimensional counting method results in the so-called Range-mean matrix. The variation or range (i-j) is associated with its corresponding mean value (i+j)/2.

D C B A 1 B 3 C-A 2 C

4 C

12

D-B

11

D-B

Figure 7-12

Range mean counting

Instead of considering the actual values of A and C, the Range-mean method will consider the values C!A (the range) and B (= A+C / 2 the mean). Ranges, means and the number of occurrences can be displayed in a 3D format.

Number of events

Mean

Range

Figure 7-13

Display of range-mean counting

Range pair-range or Rainflow method A two-dimensional counting method of special interest, especially for fatigue damage calculations, is the range pair-range method. Such a method was also developed, simultaneously and independently in Japan, known as the Rainflow method. Both methods yield exactly the same results, i.e. they extract the same range-pairs and ranges from the signal, by combining the range-pair counting principle and the single range counting principle into one method. For further details see the references listed on page 91. Essentially the signal is split into separate cycles, having a specific amplitude (or range) and a mean. The result can be put directly into cumulative fatigue damage calculations according to Miners rule and into simple crack growth calculations. Three steps are involved in the complete procedure. 1 Conversion of the load history into a peak-valley sequence.

As the counting procedure considers only the values of successive peaks and valleys, the complete signal may first be reduced to a peak-valley sequence. In doing this it is usual to apply a specific range-filter or gate. For a range filter of size R, a peak (or valley) at a certain level is only recognized as such if the signal has dropped (or risen) to a level which is R lower (or higher) then the previous peak (or valley) level.

Figure 7-14

Conversion of a load history to a peak valley sequence

In the above example e1 is counted as a peak because the signal drops by more then the range filter size R after it. After counting the first peak, the next valid valley is looked for, which in this case is e2. This point is validated as a valley as the signal rises by more then R to go to e3. The algorithm then searches for the next valid peak. The first peak encountered is e3, but this is not counted as a valid peak as the signal does not drop sufficiently before reaching the next extremum in the signal (e4). So the algorithm checks whether the following peak is a valid one. Peak e5 is regarded as valid since the drop in signal level following it, is greater than R. In this example the range filter eliminated the small signal variation (e3,e4) from the peak-valley sequence. Note that increasing the range filter eliminates only those transitions from the histogram for which the range is smaller than the new value of R. This is important for fatigue purposes since it proves that the filtering is not that sensitive to the range filter size. 2 Scanning of the entire signal for range-pairs.

This phase of the counting procedure consists of taking a set of four consecutive points, and check whether a range-pair is contained in it. If not, the search through the peak-valley sequence continues by shifting one data point ahead. Once a range-pair is detected, the pair is counted and removed from the sequence. After this, the next new set of four points is formed by adding the closest two previously scanned points, to the two remaining after removal of the range pair. The fact that earlier scanned points are re-considered, clearly distinguishes Range-pair range counting from single range counting. 3 Counting the Residue

At the end of the second phase, a residue of peaks and valleys is left which is analyzed according to the single range principle. It can be shown that this residue has a specific shape, namely a diverging part followed by a converging part. Example The following example shows how the range-pair range method operates.

The second phase (scanning of the range-pair occurrences) starts by looking at the 4 first extremes. In this group (S1,S2,S3,S4), a pair is counted if the two inner extremes (S2,S3,) fall within the range covered by the two outer extremes (S1, and S4),. If this is not (as in this example), then the algorithm moves one step forward and considers the extremes S2,S3,S4, and S5. These do not satisfy the condition either, so the extremes S3,S4,S5, and S6 are considered and this time a range pair is counted.

Counting a range-pair implies deleting the counted extremes from the signal. Stepping backwards, the extremes S1,S2,S3, and S6 are now considered and another pair (S2,S3) is found.

From the remaining four extremes, no pairs can be subtracted. This forms the residue which is further counted as single from-to-ranges. Further considerations The result of the range pair-range counting depends on the length of the data record being analyzed at one time because the largest range counted will be between the lowest valley and the highest peak. This largest variation is often referred to as the half load cycle. If the lowest valley occurs near the beginning of a very long load cycle, and the highest peak near the end, you should consider whether it makes physical sense to combine such occurrences, so remote in time into one cycle. The counting method is insensitive to the size of the range filter applied. The only effect of increasing the range filter size from R to 3R, for example, is that all elements in a From-to counting for which |from-to|<3*R, become zero. In other words, the choice of the range filter size is not critical.

References
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Fatigue load monitoring of tactical aircraft, de Jonghe J.B., 29th Meeting of the AGARD SMP, Istanbul, September 1969. The monitoring of fatigue loads, de Jonghe J.B., IACS-Congress, Rome, September 1970 . Statistical load data processing, van Dijk C.M, 6th ICAF Symposium Miami, Florida USA, May 1971 . Fatigue of Metals subjected to varying stress, Matsuiski M. & Endo T., Kyushu district meeting, Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, March 1968 . Cycle counting and fatigue damage, Watson P., SEE Symposium of 12th February 1975, Journal of Society of Environmental Engineers, September 1976.