Effect of welding configuration on fatigue strength of GMA welded fillet joint of S420 steel grade

Abstract

In modern manufacturing and fabrication of structures, welding is an essential manufacturing technique for joining structural steels. Welded structures are everywhere in our global surroundings. In any welded steel structures, especially that is subjected to cyclic or fluctuating loads, the fatigue failure is primary concern. Several factors that significantly influence the structures fatigue failures and their effects can be measured experimentally or estimated analytically and numerically in anticipating and planning for possibilities for structure failure to ensure the performance of welded structures. This is where the importance of this study induces and instigated with objective of to learn more about significant factors that significantly influence or contribute to fatigue failure by investigating the fatigue strength of the welded joints fabricated in different welding configuration.

The nominal stress and structural hot spot stress approaches for fatigue strength assessment were utilized for fatigue strength assessment and for fatigue lives prediction for this respective experimentation. Results shows the welding configuration have impact on fatigue life of the welded structure. From experimental test measurement and computational work results revealed that pre-bent specimens accumulated an average of 59.43% higher number of fatigue cycles to failure compared to number of fatigue cycles to failure accumulated by free specimens. Thus, it can be concluded that however use of some welding configurations (pre-bent technique) may increase some expenses in welding procedure but can be utilized as suitable solutions to enhance the fatigue strength of the welded structures.