Crack aspect development curves and fatigue life prediction for surface cracks at weld toes in the presence of residual stress
Authors:
Yan-Lin Lu
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, P. R. China
Abstract:
An engineering procedure is proposed for estimating the crack growth behaviour and fatigue lives of semi-elliptical surface cracks at weld toes, based on a database of stress intensity factors. Some examples of crack aspect development curves (CADC) are given for some typical cracked welded joints subjected to service loading and residual stress conditions. The significance for predicting fatigue life according to the natural crack growth path, namely along the CADC, is emphasized through examples.