0000000000180323
AUTHOR
Naman Recho
Fatigue Design of Cruciform Joints including V-notch Effect at the Weld Toe
Abstract The present paper proposes a new and more accurate fatigue life prediction model for fillet welded joints in steel subjected to constant amplitude loading. With the traditional fracture mechanics approach, the greatest difficulty when computing the fatigue life of a welded detail is to determine the initial crack size a0. The classical way to determine the stress intensity factor K (SIF) is by using the following formula Where σ is the applied stress, a is the crack size and g(a/T) the geometrical correction factor which has been determined by Gurney function or similar solutions. This approach is not accurate for short crack because of the singular V-notch behaviour close to the c…
Fatigue crack growth in welds based on a V-notch model for the short crack propagation at the toe
Abstract This work presents a new fatigue crack growth prediction model for non-load-carrying fillet welded steel joints. For this joint configuration the fatigue cracks will emanate from the weld toe region. Due to the presence of a V-notch in this region the crack initiation point becomes a point of singularity for the stress field. This may in many cases make it difficult to determine the Stress Intensity Factor Range (SIFR) for small cracks by conventional methods based on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM). The present approach solves this problem by using the Energy Release Rate (ERR) to determine the SIFR in the small crack growth regime. The model is fitted to crack growth cur…
Proposal for a more accurate physically based S–N curve for welded steel joints
Abstract The present article proposes a more accurate S–N curve in the high cycle fatigue regime for fillet welded joints in steel subjected to constant amplitude loading. The S–N curves are constructed based on a physical model of the fatigue damage evolution. It is a two phase model where the crack initiation is treated by a local weld notch approach. The subsequent growth is based on the concept of the stress intensity factor at the crack front by applying the Paris law. According to the proposed model, the time to crack initiation becomes the dominant part of the fatigue life at low stress range levels. The resulting S–N curves are non-linear for a log–log scale and they do not predict …
Risk Based Inspection Planning for Fatigue Damage in Offshore Steel Structures
High fatigue reliability is one of the most important design criteria for welded offshore steel structures. Due to repeated wave loading fatigue cracks may initiate and grow in welded joints that are important for the integrity of these structures. The present paper presents the methodology and the practical calculations for risk based inspection planning for fatigue cracks in welded details. Due to the uncertainty in the variables involved in the problem the planning has to be carried out by stochastic modeling and risk based assessments. Scatter in potential crack growth has to be analyzed by applied probabilistic facture mechanics and the uncertainty in the performance of the actual insp…