Analysis of recent fatigue data using the structural stress procedure in ASME Div 2 Rewrite

In support of the ASME Div 2 Rewrite, a master S-N curve approach has been developed using a mesh-insensitive structural stress procedure for fatigue evaluation of welded components. The effectiveness of the master S-N curve approach has been demonstrated in a number of earlier publications for many joint types and loading conditions for pipe and vessel components as well as plate joints. To further validate the structural stress method, a series of recent test data (small weld details and a full-scale vessel) published by De Jesus et al. (2004, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, 27, pp. 799-810) were analyzed in this paper A comparative assessment of various existing procedures and their effectiveness in correlating the fatigue test data by De Jesus is also presented. These assessment procedures include current ASME Sec. VIII Div 2, weld classification approach in PD 5500, and the surface extrapolation-based hot spot stress approach in recently approved European EN 13445 Standards.