Fatigue crack growth analysis of welded aluminium RHS T-joints with manipulated residual stress level

The fatigue life of a welded aluminium T‐joint made from beams with rectangular hollow section (RHS) has been predicted using a crack propagation analysis and compared with experimental results from joints with different residual stress levels. To include the effect of the residual stresses, the stress ratio was calculated at the weld toe and, via Walker's equation, introduced into the analysis. How to obtain the Walker exponent has been discussed in detail. The introduction of a stress ratio at the weld toe provides good agreement between the experimentally and analytically found S–N curves. The effect of the residual stress was successfully included in the analysis.