• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.181-196
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• 2023

Marine structures including offshore wind turbines (OWTs) always work under cyclic loads, which arouses much attention on the fatigue design. The tripod substructure is one of the typical foundation forms for fixed OWTs. The three-planar tubular Y-joint (3Y joint) is one of the important components in fatigue design as it is most likely to have cracks. With the existence of the multiplanar interaction effect, calculating the hot spot stress (HSS) of 3Y joints is complicated. To assist with fatigue design, the distributions of stress concentration factor (SCF) and multiplanar interaction factor (MIF) along weld toe curves induced by the out-of-plane bending moment are explored in this study. An FE analysis method was first developed and verified against experimental results. This method was applied to build a numerical database including 1920 FE models covering common ranges of geometric parameters. A parametric study has been carried out to reveal the distribution patterns of SCF and MIF. After multidimensional nonlinear fittings, SCF and MIF distribution formulas have been proposed. Accuracy and reliability checking prove that the proposed formulas are suitable for calculating the HSS of 3Y joints.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.3 s.70
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• pp.387-396
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• 2004

In this paper, stress analysis anda 3-point bending fatigue test were conducted on the full-scale specimen to investigate the effects of misalignment at the U-rib welded joint due to misfitting in the steel deck bridge. In addition, the researchers investigated the direction and starting point of fatigue cracks by SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) and beach mark. The results of the stress analysis show that maximum stress occurred at the bottom corner of the U-rib, and that the stress was large when the magnitude of the misalignment was large. On the other hand, the results of the static loading test of the full-scale specimen show that stress was large at the bottom corner of the U-rib. In addition, fatigue life was short when the misalignment was large and fatigue life was short when the misalignment was large and fatigue life was short when the misalignment was large and fatigue life was large when the misalignment was small, as indicated by the results of both the static loading test and the fatigue test. From the observation of the failure surface, fatigue cracks began manifesting at the root of the base metal and proceeded to the bead surface (weld toe).

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2016

With the recent increase in size of ships and offshore structures, there are more demand for thicker plates. As the thickness increases, it is known that fatigue life of the structures decrease. To improve the fatigue life, post weld treatments techniques, such as toe grinding, TIG dressing and hammer peening, are typically employed. However, these techniques require additional construction time and production cost. Therefore, it is of crucial interest steels with longer fatigue crack growth life compared to conventional steels. This study investigates fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) behaviours of conventional EH36 steel and Ferrite-Bainite dual phase EH36 steel (F-B steel). F-B steel is known to have improved fatigue performance associated with the existence of two different phases. Ferrite-Bainite dual phase microstructures are obtained by special thermo mechanical control process (TMCP). FCGR behaviours are investigated by a series of constant stress-controlled FCGR tests. Considering all test conditions (ambient, low temperature, high stress ratio), it is shown that FCGR of F-B steel is slower than that of conventional EH36 steel. From the tensile tests and impact tests, F-B steel exhibits higher values of strength and impact energy leading to slower FCGR.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.134-141
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• 1998

In this study, a fillet size for bending fatigue strength of one side fillet welded T-joint, used in box type girder and other welding structure, was investigated by bending fatigue test with or without edge preparation and burn through, with variation of joint shape. As a result, the following conclusions were obtained. (1) In one side fillet welded T-joint, the larger the leg length, the greater the bending fatigue strength. The increase in bending fatigue strength. (2) One side filet welded T-joint with edge preparation showed higher bending fatigue strength than that with twofold-large leg length and without edge preparation. (3) In one side fillet welded T-joint without edge preparation, both manual welding and automatic welding were carried out with same condition. In this case, automatic welding shoed deeper penetration and more increased horizontal leg length than manual welding, so that automatic welding offers grater bending fatigue strength. (4) For one side fillet welded T-joint without edge preparation, the ratio(h/t) of the leg length (h) and the main plate thickness (t) in which toe crack can occur was 1.2 over. (5) In one side fillet welded T-joint with edge preparation, the burn through led to reduced bending fatigue strength. However, this bending fatigue strength was higher than that of one side fillet welded T-joint without edge preparation and with a larger leg length.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2010

Submarine and deep sea diving structures are generally designed based on their ultimate strength. Fatigue strength at welded joint must be also taken into account because working stress is increased due to the increasing of diving depth and using high yield steel. The pressure hulls of submarine are subjected to fluctuating compressive loading. But in addition to the calculated stresses, high residual tensile stresses at welded part have to be considered. The state of stress level of pressure hull is tensile at surface and compressive at deep diving depth. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the crack initiation and growth at the weld toe of T welded joints of HY-100 steel plate under constant amplitude loading. It is also investigated the phenomenon of the fatigue failure and test methods. Fatigue tests have been using real scaled local structural models of full penetration T-welded joint, which is a part of the cylindrical shell structures reinforced by ring stiffeners. Several load ratios under constant amplitude loading are considered in the tests. Crack initiation and growth characteristics are examined based on the beach marks of the cracked section of the test specimens. A design stress-life curve including the design formula is suggested according to tested data.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.15 no.6 s.67
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• pp.629-637
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• 2003

This s paper presented the results of the three phases of fatigue tests to determine the fatigue strength of in-plane welded gusset joints, which are the most common details inevitably existing in the region of high stress range. A total of 57 fatigue specimens with varying thickness and strengths were made and tensile fatigue tests performed. One full-scale beam fatigue test was also performed. The validity of the fatigue strength of those details in the specification was confirmed, with the effects of thickness of flanges and welded attachments, length of attachments, and strength of applied steel examined. The characteristics of crack initiation and propagation were also observed. The test result was evaluated by comparing it with other test data and fatigue criteria of other countries. To determine the degree of stress concentration in the weld toe depending on geometric configuration such as attachment length and transition radius, analyses were performed. Compared to the present specification, analytical results indicate the need to revise and subdivide the detail categories.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.75-86
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• 2020

The grid structures with welded hollow spherical joint (WHSJ) have gained increasing popularity for use in industrial buildings with suspended cranes, and usually welded with steel tube (ST). The fatigue performance of steel tube-welded hollow spherical joint (ST-WHSJ) is however not yet well characterized, and there is little research on fatigue life prediction methods of ST-WHSJ. In this study, based on previous fatigue tests, three series of specimen fatigue data with different design parameters and stress ratios were compared, and two fatigue failure modes were revealed: failure at the weld toe of the ST and the WHSJ respectively. Then, S-N curves of nominal stress were uniformed. Furthermore, a finite element model (FEM) was validated by static test, and was introduced to assess fatigue behavior with the hot spot stress method (HSSM) and the effective notch stress method (ENSM). Both methods could provide conservative predictions, and these two methods had similar results. However, ENSM, especially when using von Mises stress, had a better fit for the series with a non- positive stress ratio. After including the welding residual stress and mean stress, analyses with the local stress method (LSM) and the critical distance method (CDM, including point method and line method) were carried out. It could be seen that the point method of CDM led to more accurate predictions than LSM, and was recommended for series with positive stress ratios.