The bulk cement tanker trailer frame is the main load-bearing component, and it is manufactured by the welding method. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the fatigue strength of the trailer frame. In this study, the fatigue stress of this structure is determined by using the hot spot stress approach. First, a combined method of finite element (FE) analysis and multi-body dynamics (MBD) simulation is used to analyse the structural stress. Considering the factors of speed and road surface class in operating conditions in Vietnam, MBD simulation is used to determine the dynamic load acting on the trailer frame when the trailer is excited by an uneven road surface. The nodal stress in the time domain is determined by structural dynamic analysis of the trailer frame with this dynamic load. The linear extrapolation of stress at the reference points is then used to determine the structural hot spot stress of the critical locations. Finally, the selected fatigue curve that corresponds to the related fatigue class (FAT) is used to calculate the fatigue life. In the fatigue analysis model, the cumulative fatigue damage value is chosen taking into account the durability degradation due to the thermal influence of the welded structures
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