Effect of misalignments and welding penetration on the fatigue strength of a common welded detail: SED method predictions and comparisons with codes

This work exploits the SED method to investigate the effects of the main geometrical parameters and geometrical imperfections -uncomplete penetration, axial and angular misalignment -on the fatigue strength of cruciform welded joints. The predictions by the SED method have been compared with those of the most known codes. The volume-free procedure for an easy application of the SED method has been used. The SED method has been proved to be consistent with the codes; however, the codes estimations result to be always more conservative than the SED method predictions. The SED method has been proved to be a valid tool to investigate different loading and boundary conditions and to provide useful information to evaluate the most critical point in the component.

Automated summary

This study investigates the effects of geometrical parameters and geometrical imperfections on the fatigue strength of cruciform welded joints using the SED method, and compares the predictions with known codes. The SED method is proven to be a valid tool for studying different loading and boundary conditions, and providing useful information for evaluating the most critical point in the component.