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Thickness Effect in Fatigue of Welded Butt Joints: A Review of Experimental Works

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Abstract

A review is conducted on the fatigue strength of thick butt joints in steel. The causes of the thickness effect are discussed with emphasis on the peculiarities of axially loaded butt joints. The available experimental investigations in the open literature are reviewed and discussed. Two specific investigations are highlighted, in which testing was conducted under particularly representative conditions, which both show limited/non-existing thickness dependency. It is concluded that the reduction of fatigue strength in current codes seem too conservative for the case of axially loaded butt joints.

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  1. Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Inge Lehmanns Gade 8, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark

    M. M. Pedersen

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Pedersen, M.M. Thickness Effect in Fatigue of Welded Butt Joints: A Review of Experimental Works. Int J Steel Struct 19, 1930–1938 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13296-019-00254-y

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