Vibration fatigue analysis in mechanical structures using AI: Trends, challenges, and future opportunities

During their service life, mechanical equipment used in fields such as offshore engineering is subjected to complex vibration loads induced by wind and waves, leading to the accumulation of fatigue damage and posing a serious threat to equipment safety. Therefore, conducting vibration fatigue damage analysis is of practical importance for ensuring equipment safety. In recent years, with the advancement of AI, new solutions have emerged for damage analysis, creating an urgent need to systematically review existing methodology. This paper reviews recent research progress across four dimensions. Firstly, it discusses the mechanical structures subject to vibration damage analysis. Subsequently, it summarises research on damage assessment, damage detection, service life prediction and reliability analysis from the perspectives of both traditional methods and machine learning approaches. Finally, it analyses the transition from traditional methods towards AI-driven approaches, along with the challenges faced, and identifies potential directions for future research. This review aims to provide researchers in the field of vibration fatigue analysis with a systematic methodological reference, highlighting the potential of AI to drive the evolution of traditional methods towards intelligent analysis. It seeks to support the development of vibration fatigue damage analysis methods in fields such as marine engineering.