CAEfatigue

Frequently asked questions

What is CAEfatigue?

CAEfatigue is a random response and vibration fatigue solver working in the frequency domain, plus time domain capability.

When should fatigue be analysed in the frequency domain?

When loading is random or vibration-driven rather than a defined load cycle — typical for transport, marine and rotating machinery.

The fastest path from FEA to fatigue life — in minutes, not days.

CAEfatigue reads your existing FEA stress results directly and applies fatigue material data, load spectra and the correct analysis method to predict exactly where and when your structure will fail by fatigue — before you build a single prototype.

Watch Every Cycle Count

CAEfatigue processes variable-amplitude load histories in real time — extracting cycles, accumulating damage, and predicting life across the whole model.

CAEfatigue by Cadence is a dedicated fatigue analysis software that links directly to your FEA solver output. Where your stress solver stops — CAEfatigue begins. It takes the stress and strain fields from any major FEA package and applies validated fatigue analysis methods to predict life, damage and safety factors across every element in your model simultaneously.

Unlike general-purpose FEA solvers with bolted-on fatigue modules, CAEfatigue was built from the ground up for durability. This means it handles complex loading spectra, multi-axial stress states, welded joints, surface finish effects and probabilistic scatter — out of the box, at exceptional speed.

A full vehicle model with millions of elements, processed in minutes on a standard workstation. Not a solver approximation — full, validated fatigue analysis at every node.

• Reads FEA results directly — no manual data export required
• All fatigue methods in one platform: S-N, E-N, Dang Van, Volkov
• Built-in library of 4,000+ material fatigue curves
• Handles variable-amplitude loading via Rainflow cycle counting
• Random vibration fatigue (PSD and time-domain)
• Seam weld, spot weld and adhesive joint fatigue
• Thermo-mechanical fatigue for hot components
• Probabilistic fatigue — scatter factors and reliability prediction

Key Facts

See CAEfatigue in Action

We can run CAEfatigue on your FEA model and show you where fatigue is a risk — at no cost, before you commit.

Fast. Accurate. Production-Ready.

Trusted by automotive, aerospace and heavy-industry teams worldwide.

Every engineering fatigue scenario covered — in a single, integrated platform.

S-N (Stress-Life) Analysis

The industry workhorse for high-cycle fatigue. CAEfatigue applies S-N curves with Goodman, Gerber or Morrow mean stress corrections, surface finish and size factors. Handles fully-reversed, proportional and non-proportional loading with equal ease.

E-N (Strain-Life) Analysis

For low-cycle fatigue where local plasticity dominates. Uses Morrow and Smith-Watson-Topper (SWT) damage parameters. Ideal for automotive safety-critical components, pressure vessels and any part cycled near yield.

Random Vibration Fatigue

Full power spectral density (PSD) fatigue analysis in the frequency domain. Handles narrow-band and wide-band random loading. Dramatically faster than time-domain equivalents — essential for electronics, exhaust, HVAC and acoustic-loaded structures.

Weld Fatigue

Dedicated seam weld and spot weld modules. Accounts for weld geometry, toe radius, throat size and structural hot-spot stress. Covers IIW, BS 7608 and other standards. Critical for chassis, trailer, frame and offshore structural assessments.

Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue

For components subjected to combined thermal and mechanical loading. Handles out-of-phase TMF and isothermal fatigue. Essential for exhaust manifolds, turbine discs, cylinder heads and brake discs where temperature drives damage.

Multi-Axial & Critical Plane

Dang Van and Volkov critical plane methods for multi-axial fatigue where maximum principal stress varies in direction. Identifies the worst-case plane automatically. Required for rotating shafts, suspension uprights and complex 3D stress states.

The Wöhler Curve — at Your Fingertips

Every fatigue assessment begins with the S-N curve (Wöhler curve) — the relationship between stress amplitude and cycles to failure for a given material. CAEfatigue carries over 4,000 validated curves from steels, aluminium alloys, cast iron, composites and welds.

The software automatically selects the appropriate curve for each element based on material, surface condition, stress concentration and mean stress. No manual look-up tables. No guesswork. Just accurate life predictions across every node in your model.

• Mean stress correction: Goodman, Gerber, Morrow, SWT
• Surface finish factors: polished, machined, as-cast, corroded
• Size and stress concentration (Kt / Kf) effects
• Endurance limit modification and cut-off frequency
• User-defined curves for proprietary materials
• Weibull probabilistic scatter bands

Plug in to your existing FEA workflow in four steps — no new modelling required.

CAEfatigue reads stress and strain results directly from Nastran, ANSYS, Abaqus, LS-DYNA, Marc and more. No conversion tools needed.

Specify load histories, PSD spectra or duty cycles. Combine multiple load cases with time-correlated or independent channels.

Choose the fatigue method and pick from the built-in material database or define your own S-N or E-N curves.

Instant full-model output: life contour plots, damage maps, safety factors. Export back to your FEA viewer or directly to the report.

Fatigue kills structures in every sector. CAEfatigue protects them all.

Traditional durability assessment is slow, inconsistent and covers only a fraction of the structure. CAEfatigue changes the equation.

CAEfatigue reads results natively from every major solver. Drop it into your existing workflow with zero conversion effort.

CAEfatigue is also deeply integrated with MSC Nastran — fatigue analysis runs can be triggered directly from the Nastran input deck, with life results written back into standard Nastran output formats for seamless post-processing.

Know where your structure will fail — before it does.

Book a live demonstration with your own FEA results. We'll show you exactly what CAEfatigue finds — at no cost.

CAEfatigue reads existing FEA stress results and applies fatigue material data, load spectra and the correct analysis method to predict where and when a structure will fail from fatigue, before a physical prototype is built.

CAEfatigue reads stress and strain results from any major FEA solver, so it can be added to an existing simulation workflow regardless of which solver produced the structural results.

CAEfatigue supports S-N, E-N, critical plane and random vibration fatigue methods, as well as seam weld, spot weld, adhesive joint and thermo-mechanical fatigue.

CAEfatigue is built to process full vehicle-scale models with millions of elements in minutes on a standard workstation, rather than the days a bolt-on fatigue module in a general solver might take.

Yes — CAEfatigue includes a built-in library of over 4,000 material fatigue curves, in addition to any custom material data you supply.