In most high speed racing engines, almost all fatigue failures stem from resonance, while most lubricated surface failures are caused by stiffness mismatching of the structures behind the surfaces.

Our experience has shown that with the help of good quality stress analysis models, many component failures can be remedied by carefully specified modification to improve a stiffness balance, thereby relieving the weakest link from doing all the work.

This usually lowers the stress that caused the failure, meaning that the component is not only lighter, but more durable too.

Without good analysis results, the temptation is often to add material to the region that failed. This often works, but it does not quantify how close to failure the region remains. Perhaps more importantly, nothing is learned about how close to failure other regions of the component are. This brings a real danger that by fixing one local problem, another region becomes overloaded and fails. Analytical methods can avoid this danger completely

Stress analysis is possible on any powertrain component or subsystem, from pistons, gudgeon pins and con-rods through crankshafts and prop-shafts, to valves and valve-train.