THE EFFECTS OF WELD GEOMETRY ON THE FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF WELDED CONNECTIONS

THE STUDIES REPORTED HEREIN WERE CONCERNED WITH THE EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL GEOMETRY ON THE FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF TRANSVERSE BUTT WELDED JOINTS IN STRUCTURAL STEELS. INCLUDED WERE STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF WELD PROFILE, THE STRESS CONCENTRATIONS PRODUCED BY THE WELD GEOMETRY, AND METALLURGICAL ASPECTS OF THE WELDS. THE WELD PROFILE WAS MEASURED IN TERMS OF THE RADIUS AT THE TOE OF THE WELD, THE FLANK ANGLE, THE WIDTH OF THE WELD, AND THE HEIGHT OF THE WELD. FOR THE ASTM A36 AND A441 STEELS STUDIED, THE HEIGHT OF THE CROWN OF THE WELD AND THE GENERAL ANGLE AT THE TOE OF THE WELD APPEARED TO PROVIDE THE BEST GEOMETRICAL CORRELATION WITH FATIGUE LIFE -- THE SHORTER LIVES WERE OBTAINED FROM SPECIMENS WITH THE HIGHEST REINFORCEMENT AND THE LARGEST ANGLE. THUS, THE STRESS CONCENTRATION PRODUCED BY THE FADIUS AT THE TOE OF THE WELD (DETERMINED THEORETICALLY AND BY PHOTOELASTIC MEASUREMENT) DOES NOT, AS HAD BEEN EXPECTED, NECESSARILY DEFINE THE FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF A BUTT WELDED JOINT. THE METALLURGICAL STUDIES OF THE FRACTURE SURFACES HELPED TO IDENTIFY AND DEFINE THE POINTS OF FATIGUE CRACK INITATION IN THE HEAT AFFECTED ZONE OF THE BASE METAL. THIS ASPECT OF THE PROGRAM DEMONSTRATED THAT THE EFFECTS OF THE METALLURGICAL NOTCHES AND THE MICRO-GEOMETRY RESULTING FROM THE WELDING PROCESS ARE APPARENTLY SUPERIMPOSING ON THE OVERALL GEOMETRICAL EFFECTS AND MAY HAVE A GREATER EFFECT ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE SITES OF CRACK INITIATION THAN SUCH EXTERNAL GEOMETRICAL PARAMETERS AS THE RADIUS OR ANGLE AT THE TOE OF THE WELD. /AUTHOR/

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  Urbana, IL  United States  61801

  Illinois Department of Transportation

  2300 S. Dirksen Parkway
  Springfield, IL  United States  62764

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Williams, H E
  • Ottsen, H
  • Lawrence, F V
  • Munse, W H
• Publication Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Base metal; Fatigue (Mechanics); Joints; Metallurgy; Stresses; Structural steel; Weld metal; Welding; Weldments; Welds
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fatigue life; Stress concentration; Welded joints
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00215950
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: Ihr-64
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 1 1971 12:00AM