Fatigue life prediction of out-of-plane gusset welded joints using strain energy density factor approach

Fatigue growth behavior of out-of-plane gusset welded joints is studied using the strain energy density factor approach. Fatigue tests on two types of specimens with curvatures of ρ = 0 and ρ = 30 were performed in order to estimate fatigue strength under tension. Fatigue crack growth analysis is carried out to show the effects of initial crack shape, initial crack length and stress ratio. Fatigue crack growth parameters were obtained from crack growth curves assuming constant crack shapes. The results of analysis for the assumed crack shapes agreed well with the experimental data. Fatigue propagation life of the ρ = 30 specimen was larger than that of the ρ = 0 specimen.