Investigation of the Fatigue Behavior of the Discharge Frame in Electrostatic Precipitators Under Symmetric Cyclic Loading

The discharge frame is a vital structural component of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) and is frequently subjected to fully reversed cyclic loading from the rapping system. Because direct fatigue testing of the actual frame is impractical, this study proposes an indirect method to estimate its fatigue limit using experimental data from standard SS400 steel specimens combined with correction factors reflecting geometry, size, surface condition, and stress concentration. The fatigue tests established the S–N curve with parameters m = 8.43 and C = 26.05. The calculated fatigue limit of the discharge frame is significantly lower than that of the standard specimen, highlighting the effects of real structural conditions. The proposed approach provides a simple and effective tool for estimating the fatigue strength of large industrial components where direct testing or complex numerical analysis is not feasible.