Abstract: A joint between a side rail and a cross member in a vehicle frame includes a side rail having a generally closed C-shaped cross section defined by a vertically extending side portion, upper and lower horizontally extending flange portions, and vertically extending lip portions. At the location of the joint, the lip portions are flared away from the vertically extending side portion so as to extend horizontally with the associated flange portions. This permits the cross member to extend in overlapping fashion with and lie adjacent to the flange portions of the side rail. Vertically extending rivets or welds can then be used to secure the cross member to the adjacent overlapping flange portions of the side rail. The preferred cross member includes a cross piece and a gusset connected at each end of the cross piece.

Abstract: A method for obtaining fatigue life information for an article is disclosed. Initially, an area of interest is determined on the article. A durability schedule is defined for that article as a predetermined number of passes through each of a predetermined number of events, each of the events being defined by the generation of strains in the article having a predetermined range of magnitudes and frequencies. A total effective damage factor caused to the component by one pass through each of the events is next determined, which permits the determination of a total durability factor for all of passes for all of the events defined in the durability schedule. The article is then tested by subjecting it a plurality of passes through all of the events defined in the durability schedule until a termination criteria is reached. Then, a total actual damage factor can be determined based upon the number of tested passes through each of the events defined in the durability schedule.