Ultra-Low Cyclic Fatigue Fracture of Q235B and Q345B Steels and Their Butt Welded Joints

Earthquake-induced fractures in steel structures are characterised by high-strain low-cycle conditions. In order to investigate the ultra-low cyclic fatigue fracture of steel welded joints under earthquakes, two most commonly used structural steels (Q235B and Q345B) and the corresponding welds were studied by experiments and numerical analysis in this paper. Specimens were extracted from the base material, the weld metal and the heat affected zone to investigate the behaviour in different parts of the welded joint. Eighteen smooth round bars were tested under large strain amplitudes, the hysteretic properties, damage degradation characteristics and failure process were analyzed. Constitutive model named Chaboche model was calibrated to describe the cyclic hardening behaviour of these materials. Seventy-two notched round bars with three different notch sizes and two loading protocols were tested to study the fracture behaviour of different materials at different stress triaxialities and different strain amplitudes. Two micromechanical fracture models: cyclic void growth model and degraded significant plastic strain model were calibrated based on the test results. The micromechanical models and Chaboche model were incorporated into numerical simulations by software ABAQUS with subroutine VUMAT to predict the materials fracture. The results show that the failure process under cyclic loads is opposite to that of monotone loads. The dissipation capacity of Q345B is superior to that of Q235B. The fracture resistance deteriorate more in the weld zone under the same loading conditions. The validated models can be used to effectively and accurately evaluate the fracture in steel welded connections under ULCF conditions.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the ultra-low cyclic fatigue fracture of steel welded joints under earthquakes through experiments and numerical analysis. The study finds that Q345B has a better dissipation capacity than Q235B, and the fracture resistance in the weld zone is weaker.