Technical Paper
Re-Evaluation of Fatigue Evaluation Procedures for Weld Root Failure
2019-04-02
2019-01-0529
The FE modeling guidelines and the design master S-N curve for weld root failure was recently proposed using the mesh-insensitive structural stress method. Due to increasing demands to validate the design master S-N curve, various weld root fatigue failure cases were reanalyzed based on well-documented weld root fatigue failure studies including different weld shapes and sizes, plate thickness combinations, and loading modes. Also, the validations of the master S-N curve for weld root failure were conducted using a well-documented structural joint fatigue data set as well as additional fatigue test results. Through the analyses, the proposed weld root failure modeling guidelines and the structural stress-based master S-N curve approach were confirmed to be good to use for practical applications to predict weld root failure. The critical weld size using the ratio of weld size and plate thickness for load carrying cruciform joints under tensile loading was re-evaluated.