Fatigue analysis of non-load-carrying fillet welded cruciform joints

The goal of this investigation was to study the effect of local geometrical variations of the weld on the fatigue strength. Therefore the fatigue behaviour of non-load-carrying cruciform fillet welded joint under tensile loading has been studied parametrically. Several two-dimensional (2D) finite element models of the joint were analysed using plane strain linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) calculations in order to get the magnification function M_k. A maximum tangential stress criterion was used to predict the crack growth direction under mixed mode K_I-K_II conditions. The derived M_k solution was then applied both for continuous weld toe cracks and also for semi-elliptical toe cracks at the deepest point of the crack front. An experimental crack aspect ratio development curve was used for propagating semi-elliptical cracks. The as-welded condition was assumed with the result that no crack initiation period was considered and stress ranges were fully effective. The Paris crack growth law was used to predict the growth rate. The effects of weld toe radius, flank angle and weld size on the fatigue strength were systematically studied. Finally, predicted fatigue strength values corresponding to different assumed crack sizes were compared with the available test results.     

Fatigue strength of mash seam welded joints

Reversed bending fatigue tests have been conducted using four series of mash seam welded joints obtained from the coupling of two different steels and plate thicknesses. Fatigue strength was evaluated and the effects of material property changes resulting from welding were studied. Fatigue strength of all series of the welded joints decreased slightly compared with that of the base steel. Type of steel and plate thickness in the welded samples exerted very little influence on fatigue strength. In the welded joints between steels with the same plate thickness, fatigue failure took place at a location away from the weld zone in the plate with the lower strength, while in the welded joints between plates of different thickness, failure occurred at the shoulder between the thin and thick plate, i.e. at the weld zone. Regardless of the type of steel and the plate thicknesses joined, fatigue strengths of the mash seam welded joints were slightly higher than those of the laser welded butt joints.     

Fatigue strength improvement factors for high strength steel welded joints treated by high frequency mechanical impact

Numerous studies have observed that the fatigue strength of improved welds increases with material yield strength. This paper provides a comprehensive evaluation of published data for high frequency mechanical impact treated welds. In total, 228 experimental results for three weld geometries subject to R = 0.1 axial loading have been reviewed. A design recommendation including one fatigue class increase in strength (about 12.5%) for every 200 MPa increase in static yield strength is proposed and are shown to be conservative with respect to all available data. Special cautions are given for high R-ratio or variable amplitude fatigue and potential alternate failure locations.     

Fatigue of fillet welded A515 steel

A study has been made of the fatigue behavior of fillet welded ASTM A515 steel. As-welded and stress-relieved skip fillet weld specimens were tested under pulsed tension and altering cyclic load to determine stress-life and crack propagation behavior. Crack initiation and propagation features were determined from sectioned surfaces. All fatigue cracks were semi-elliptic and initiated from weld end toes. The length/depth ratio was approximately constant during propagation. There was no consistent effect of tensile residual stress on fatigue life under pulsed tension but there was a detrimental effect under alternating loads. An equivalent crack model has been proposed to quantify the stress concentration effect at the crack initiation site based on the application of the Paris equation. The test results show that the equivalent crack can give a reasonable prediction of the fatigue life of a welded structure and is a potentially convenient tool in fatigue design.     

Fatigue strength prediction of ultra high strength steel butt‐welded joints

First, fatigue tests were performed on butt‐welded joints made of novel direct quenched ultra high strength steel with high quality welds. Two different welding processes were used: MAG and Pulsed MAG. The weld profiles, misalignments and residual stresses were measured, and the material properties of the heat‐affected zone were determined. Fatigue tests were carried out with constant amplitude tensile loading both for joints in as‐welded condition and for joints after ultrasonic peening treatment. Finally, in fatigue strength predictions, the crack initiation phase was estimated using the procedures described by Lawrence et al. [Lawrence F V, Ho N J and Mazumdar P K (1981) Predicting the fatigue resistance of welds. Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci, 11, 401–425]. The propagation phase was simply estimated using S–N curves for normal quality butt welds, which may contain pre‐existing cracks or crack‐like defects eliminating the crack initiation stage.     

Fatigue strength of CFRP strengthened welded joints with corrugated steel plates

This paper presents an experimental and numerical research on the carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) strengthened welded joints with corrugated plates. The effectiveness of the strengthening in the improvement of fatigue strength has been examined experimentally on the test joints through varying the number and the layout of the CFRP laminates. The test results show that the joints with transition curvature region reinforcement and single side reinforcement produce slightly lower rigidity but longer fatigue life in contrast to those with full width reinforcement on the double side of the main plate. Furthermore, a simplified two dimensional analytical model which allows for the geometric characteristics of the joint has been proposed to investigate the stress intensity factor of mode I. The proposed analytical model has been simulated by finite element technique and its solution result is compared with previously reported theoretical calculation. Parametric studies have been performed to investigate the effects of the number of CFRP layers and the moduli of carbon fibre & adhesive on the stress intensity factor. The combined influence of the corrugation angle and crack depth has also been considered. It has been found that these effects on the stress intensity factor are more significant for the joints with smaller corrugation angle.     

Fatigue strength of fillet‐welded joints at subzero temperatures

Ships and offshore structures may be operated in areas with seasonal freezing temperatures and extreme environmental conditions. While current standards state that attention should be given to the validity of fatigue design curves at subzero temperatures, studies on fatigue strength of structural steel at subzero temperatures are scarce. This study addresses the issue by analysing the fatigue strength of welded steel joints under subzero temperatures. Although critical weld details in large welded structures are mostly fillet‐welded joints, most published data are based on fatigue crack growth rate specimens cut out of butt‐welded joints. This study analyses fillet‐welded specimens at ?20°C and ?50°C against controls at room temperature. Significantly higher fatigue strength was measured in comparison to estimates based on international standards and data from design codes even at temperatures far below the allowed service temperature based on fracture toughness results.     

Fatigue strength of welded butt joints in thin and slender specimens

This paper investigates the geometrical properties of the butt-welded thin and slender specimens and their influence on the fatigue strength. The fatigue tests and the finite element analysis are used to investigate the influence. The weld shape, axial misalignment and angular misalignment and the actual shape of the specimen are studied by the extensive optical geometry measurements. The structural hot spot and the notch stress method are used for the fatigue strength assessment. The results reveal that for thin and slender specimens the straightening under the axial loading is significant and thus the relationship between the structural and the nominal stress is highly nonlinear. The straightening effect is influenced by the slenderness and by the curved shape of the plate near the weld. If these effects are included by applying the geometrically nonlinear analysis the fatigue strength of thin and slender welded specimens in notch stresses at two million load cycles corresponds to that of thick welded specimens. The relationship between the structural and the notch stress is however constant regardless of the specimen straightening.     

Fatigue failure of a fillet welded nozzle joint

A fillet welded joint in a nozzle of a storage tank, made of AISI 304L stainless steel (SS), had failed very close to the weld fusion line during transportation. Visual examination of the weld showed deposition of excessive weld metal in the joint. Scanning electron microscope observation of the fracture surface revealed beach and ratchet marks on the fracture surfaces. The observation of in-situ metallography of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) anticipated sensitisation of the HAZ. Bending of the nozzle to 15° anticipated the final failure, which occurred due to overloading during transportation.     

An analysis of fatigue cracks in fillet welded joints

In most of the lower fatigue strength welded joints failure occurs by the propagation of a semi-elliptical surface crack which initiates at the weld toe. In order to analyse the progress of these cracks using fracture mechanics techniques, the solution for the stress intensity factor, K, is required. Fatigue cracks in most welded joints adopt shapes which give low a/2c values (up to approximately 0.3) while solutions in the literature are more applicable to a/2c values close to 0.5. Therefore, results in the literature were used to estimate the stress intensity factor for cracks with low a/2c values. Furthermore, the effect of the weld stress concentration factor was incorporated in the solution. The accuracy of the resulting solution was confirmed by using it to determine ΔK values of weld toe cracks for which crack propagation data were available. The results agreed with the expected da/dN vs. ΔK scatterband obtained from centre-notched specimens.     

Fatigue strength estimation of butt welded joints in magnesium AZ31 alloy using the genetic algorithm

Genetic Algorithm is applied to calculate the substitute structural length (SSL) and obtain the fatigue strength of welded joints in magnesium. Fatigue tests with unnotched and notched specimens of the base material metal (BM), the weld metal (WM) and the heat‐affected zone (HAZ) of magnesium AZ31 (MgAl3) were carried out in order to derive the unknown substitute structural length. Results of fatigue tests with geometrically similar welded joints with full and partial penetration were available. The comparison of the experimental and predicted substitute structural length using Genetic Algorithm Substitute Structural Length Estimation Model (GASLEM) shows that the developed models seem to be capable of predicting the SSL values. Fatigue strength values were also obtained using predicted SSL.     

Fatigue of high strength steel joints welded with low temperature transformation consumables

In the present paper constant (CA) and variable amplitude (VA) fatigue testing have been carried out on out-of plane gusset fillet welded high strength steel joints. The joints were welded with conventional weld filler material and martensitic low transformation temperature weld filler, LTT, in order to study the influence of the residual stress on the fatigue strength. Residual stress measurements were carried out close to the weld toe using X-ray diffraction technique in order to study the relaxation due to VA fatigue. The residual stress showed different level of relaxation depending on the VA spectrum loading used. The LTT joints show 40% increase in mean fatigue strength compared to the conventional joints in CA. The LTT joints show 12% increase in mean fatigue strength compared to the conventional joints. The LTT joints show 33% increase in mean fatigue strength in CA compared to VA testing. However, the improvement of the fatigue strength is less significant in variable amplitude testing mainly due to the relaxation of the compressive residual stresses.     

Fatigue strength of welded joints under multiaxial loading: experiments and calculations

In reality most welded components are loaded with a combination of different variable forces and moments that often cause a state of multiaxial stress in the fatigue-critical areas. If the multiaxial loading is non-proportional, traditional deformation-based hypotheses are not able to give a reliable lifetime prediction. This investigation is a cooperation between three German research institutes to build an experimental database for the verification of different concepts of lifetime prediction. In accordance with former investigations, a flange-tube connection made of steel P460 was used. The test program was divided into constant amplitude and variable amplitude tests. The ratio between the nominal bending and shear stress is 1. For the variable amplitude tests, a Gaussian-standard is used. A lifetime prediction software for multiaxial state of cyclic stress was developed. The software has a modular structure and allows calculations with different hypotheses and methods. The calculations are based on the local elastic stresses. This is an acceptable method for high-cycle fatigue. In this work, two general types of calculation, the Integral Approach and Critical Plane Approach and a local stress-based modification of the von Mises Criterion, the hypothesis of effective equivalent stress (EESH) are shown. The damage accumulation is performed with the elementary Miner's rule ( S – N curve without fatigue limit). The statistical distributions of the damage sums are also shown.     

Fatigue strength analysis of welded joints in closed steel sections in rail vehicles

A great need exists for practicability and reliability analyses of the various dimensioning concepts in railway vehicle production, as currently parts are commonly sized according to the nominal stress concept. Although Finite Element Analysis is used for the dimensioning of parts according to the nominal stress concept, no use is made of the locally resolved information from these calculation methods. Concepts based on local stress are highly applicable, as the Finite Element Analysis allows detailed modelling of critical areas of parts.     

Fatigue strength of shear loaded welded joints according to the notch stress concept

The NOTCH‐STRESS CONCEPT for the fatigue assessment of welded components in the version proposed by SEEGER [1] is presented in all aspects of material fatigue resistence formulation and application for local pure shear stress. Using the data from numerous tests with welded joints the concept is demonstrated up to the determination of local S– N‐curves and the characteristic fatigue reference values τ_a, A at N = 2·10⁶ load cycles from a statistical analysis of the test results.     

Fatigue strength assessment of tubular welded joints by an alternative structural stress approach

The tubular joints, frequently employed in the offshore industry, are submitted to stresses resulting from elementary loadings: tension/compression, in-plane bending and out-of-plane bending. This work concerns the analysis of the recommendations commonly used for the fatigue design of welded joints submitted to combined loadings. Particularly, it deals with the fatigue behaviour of T-joints submitted to deviated-bending: first, a finite element analysis was developed and a post-processing based on the structural stress approach, as proposed by the International Institute of Welding (IIW). Then, fatigue tests were conducted on T-joints submitted to deviated-bending. Comparisons between experimental and numerical results showed that this kind of recommendations is not systematically conservative. Thus, an alternative approach based on structural stresses and taking into account the multi-axial stress state in the weld toe was developed in order to complete the recommendations for the fatigue design of tubular welded joints.     

Fatigue of welded hybrid‐joints

Only for steels up to grade S690QL the well‐known fact is confirmed that the fatigue strength of welded joints is independent of the material. For higher strength steels a remarkable reduction of the fatigue strength is found. Some advice is given for designers in which situations the one or the other of the various approaches for the assessment of the fatigue strength of welds could be applied. In complex, real situations even the highly sophisticated effective notch stress approach might loose its applicability. A new alternative approach is proposed for these situations. It is based on stresses in real notches and an example is presented for the familiar case of a start‐stop position.     

Fatigue behaviour of laser repairing welded joints

This paper presents a fatigue study in Nd-YAG laser surface repairing welded joints in specimens of two base materials used in mould production. The tests were carried out in a servo-hydraulic machine in tension, under constant amplitude loading, with two stress ratios R = 0 and R = 0.4. Welded specimens were prepared with U notches and filled with laser welding deposits. The fatigue results are presented in the form of S–N curves obtained in welded and non-welded conditions. Complementary measurements of hardness and residual stresses profiles were carried out along the surface of laser welded specimens to understand the observed fatigue behaviour. The melted material was the weaker region, with lower values of hardness and higher tensile residual stresses, presenting also a high number of defects that are potential failure sites. The presence of such defects can explain the relatively poor fatigue strength of the laser repairing joints in comparison to base materials.     

Fatigue of welded steel joints under wideband loadings

Fatigue tests were conducted on high-strength welded steel cruciform-shaped specimens subjected to random loadings to investigate the effects of loading intensity, nonnormality and frequency bandwidth on the rate of fatigue damage accumulation. The test result are compared with predictions made using the Rayleigh approximation and rainflow analysis in terms of cycles and times to failure. Results indicate that nonnormality can significantly increase the rate of fatigue damage accumulation and result in nonconservative fatigue life estimates if it is effect is not accounted for properly. Likewise, frequency content was also found to influence the rate of fatigue damage accumulation, but to a lesser extent than nonnormality.