Application of Local Approaches to the Assessment of Fatigue Test results obtained for Welded Joints at Sub-Zero Temperatures

TL;DR

This paper evaluates local fatigue assessment methods for welded joints at sub-zero temperatures, comparing their accuracy to the nominal stress approach and highlighting differences in prediction performance.

Contribution

It investigates the applicability of various local fatigue assessment methods to welded joints exposed to sub-zero temperatures, providing comparative analysis.

Findings

Significant differences in prediction accuracy among assessment methods.

Local approaches show varying effectiveness depending on failure location.

Nominal stress approach is less accurate for welded joints at low temperatures.

Abstract

Several studies have found significant increase in the fatigue strength of welded joints of structural steels at sub-zero temperatures. This study addresses the research by investigating the applicability of local fatigue assessment methods to welded joints exposed to sub-zero temperatures. For this purpose, fatigue test results of two fillet weld details with weld toe and weld root failure are evaluated at a range of temperatures using a variety of structural hot-spot and notch stress approaches, then are compared to the nominal stress approach. Large differences in prediction accuracy are found for the analysed assessment methods and both failure locations.