ASSESSING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FLAWS IN WELDS SUBJECT TO FATIGUE

Abstract

The substitution of fracture mechanics crack propagation data for simple S-N curves provides additional data on welds defects, other than applied stress and the influence of geometry. It allows the fatigue process to be entered (variation in initial flaw size) and left (variation in failure criterion) at will and variations in geometry and crack share to be taken into account. The value of the method has been confirmed by accurately predicting the fatigue behavior of fillet welds containing flaws on the basis of the generalized stress parameter.