Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Multiaxial Fatigue Life Prediction Based on High-Cycle Uniaxial Fatigue Test of Steel Pipe Weldments with Welding Defects

  • Published:
International Journal of Steel Structures Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Welding defects are unavoidable for welded structures, which can lead to fatigue damage even under the random wind load with small amplitude. It is therefore necessary to explore the effect of welding defect on the fatigue properties of welded steel pipes. Three groups of welded steel pipe specimens were designed according to welding defect conditions, i.e. specimens without welding defect (Group I), specimens with incomplete fusion (Group II), and specimens with welding porosity (Group III). Uniaxial tension–compression and torsion high-cycle fatigue tests were carried out. S–N curves of uniaxial tension–compression and torsion tests were obtained by cyclic loading with equal stress amplitude. The test results show that the high-cycle fatigue strength of weldments is obviously lower than that of base metal with the same strength under uniaxial tension–compression and torsion loading. In addition, the welding defects result in a decrease in fatigue strength, while the decrease extent by welding porosity is greater than that by incomplete fusion. Finally, because of the inherent multiaxial loading characteristics of welded structures, the high-cycle multiaxial fatigue life of steel pipe weldments was also predicted by using the modified Wöhler curve method based on the uniaxial fatigue test results. It can be found that when the stress amplitude is constant, the fatigue life of welded steel pipe decreases and the modified Wöhler curves move downward more quickly with the increase of damage parameter defined as the ratio of normal stress amplitude to shear stress amplitude on the critical plane, which means that normal stress amplitude will accelerate the cracks growth and result in faster failure of the weld materials.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Backstrom, M., & Marquis, G. (2001). A review of multiaxial fatigue of weldments experimental results design code and critical plane approaches. Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, 24, 279–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagni, C., Askes, H., & Susmel, L. (2016). Gradient elasticity: A transformative stress analysis tool to design notched components against uniaxial/multiaxial high-cycle fatigue. Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, 39(4), 1012–1029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann, C., Kennerknecht, T., & Preussner, J. (2018). Micromechanical investigation and numerical simulation of fatigue crack formation in welded joints. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 198, 142–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpinteri, A., Boaretto, J., & Fortese, G. (2018). Welded joints under multiaxial non-proportional loading. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, 93, 202–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chai, G. C. (2006). Fatigue behaviour of duplex stainless steels in the very high cycle regime. International Journal of Fatigue, 28(11), 1611–1617.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Chapetti, M., & Steimberger, C. (2019). A simple fracture mechanics estimation of the fatigue endure of welded joints. International Journal of Fatigue, 125, 23–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crupi, V., Epasto, G., Guglielmino, E., & Marinò, A. (2021). Influence of weld-porosity defects on fatigue strength of AH36 butt joints used in ship structures. Metals. https://doi.org/10.3390/met11030444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong, Y., Garbatov, Y., & Soares, C. G. (2008). Fatigue crack initiation assessment of welded joints accounting for residual stress. Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, 8(41), 1823–1837.

    Google Scholar 

  • Findley, W. N. (1959). A theory for the effect of mean stress on fatigue of metals under combined torsion and axial load or bending. Journal of Engineering Industry, 1(81), 301–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GB/T3075-2008. (2008). Control method of axial force in fatigue test of metallic materials. Standards Press of China (In Chinese).

  • GB/T12443-2007. (2007). Test method for torsional stress fatigue of metallic materials. Standards Press of China (In Chinese).

  • Guerchair, R., Morel, F., & Saintier, N. (2017). Effect of the defect size and shape on the high-cycle fatigue behavior. International Journal of Fatigue, 100, 530–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbacher A. (Editor) (2004). Recommendations for fatigue design of welded joints and components. IIW document XIII-2151–07/XV-1254–07.

  • Hu, J. H., Song, K., & Xiong, L. M. (2020). Research on fatigue life of welding spot defects considering corrected average equivalent stress intensity factor. China Mechanical Engineering, 31(6), 740–745. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, Y., Zhang, Q. H., Guo, Y. W., & Bu, Y. Z. (2019). Research on surface defects and fatigue effects at rib-to-crossbeam welded joints of orthotropic steel bridge decks. Engineering Mechanics, 36(3), 203–213. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia, D. F., Liao, X. W., & Cui, J. (2016). Experimental study on high cycle fatigue behavior and γ-P-S-N curves of bridge steel Q345qD. Journal of Tianjin University (science and Technology), 49(S1), 122–128. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jie, Z. Y., Li, Y. D., & Wei, X. (2015). Effect of initial damage on fatigue performance of welded joints. Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University, 50(3), 423–427. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jin, H., & He, B. L. (2017). Research progress of very high cycle fatigue properties of aluminum alloy welding joints. Light Metals, 6, 48–52. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazzarin, P., & Susmel, L. (2003). A stress-based method to predict lifetime under multiaxial fatigue loadings. Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, 26, 1171–1187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S. B., Milker, K. J., & Brown, M. W. (1985). A criterion for fully reversed out-of-phase torsion and bending. Multiaxial fatigue: ASTM Special Technical Publication (STP)853. Philadelphia: American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), 553–568.

  • Liu, X. (2012). Fatigue testing research of component with welding defects. Chemical Engineering & Machinery, 39(2), 162–164. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma, S. Q., Gu, L. X., Yuan, Y. W., Zh, Z. W., & Huang, X. F. (2014). Research on influence of welding defects on fatigue life of EMU Aluminum-alloy Car Body. Journal of the China Railway Society, 36(2), 42–48. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marines, I., Bin, X., & Bathias, C. (2003). An understanding of very high cycle fatigue of metals. International Journal of Fatigue, 25(9), 1101–1107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngoula, D. T., Beier, H. T., & Vormwald, M. (2017). Fatigue crack growth in cruciform welded joints: Influence of residual stresses and of the weld toe geometry. International Journal of Fatigue, 101, 253–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shamsaei, N., & Mckelvey, S. A. (2014). Multiaxial life predication in absence of any fatigue properties. International Journal of Fatigue, 67, 62–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Socie, D. F. (1987). Multiaxial fatigue damage models. Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology (trans ASME), 109, 293–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susmel, L. (2009). Three different ways of using the modified Wöhler curve method to perform the multiaxial fatigue assessment of steel and aluminum welded joints. Engineering Failure Analysis, 16, 1074–1089.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susmel, L. (2008). Modified Wöhler curve method, theory of critical distances and EUROCODE 3: A novel engineering procedure to predict the lifetime of steel welded joints subjected to both uniaxial and multiaxial fatigue loading. International Journal Fatigue, 30, 888–907.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susmel, L. (2014). Nominal stresses and modified Wöhler curve method to perform the fatigue assessment of uniaxially loaded inclined welds. Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 228(16), 2871–2880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susmel, L. (2014b). Four stress analysis strategies to use the modified Wöhler curve method to perform the fatigue assessment of weldments subjected to constant and variable amplitude multiaxial fatigue loading. International Journal of Fatigue, 67, 38–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Susmel, L. (2010). A simple and efficient numerical algorithm to determine the orientation of the critical plane in multiaxial fatigue problems. International Journal of Fatigue, 32, 1875–1883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thévenet, D., Ghanameh, M. F., & Zeghloul, A. (2013). Fatigue strength assessment of tubular welded joints by an alternative structural stress approach. International Journal of Fatigue, 51(6), 74–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, B., Backer, H. D., & Chen, A. (2016). An XFEM based uncertainty study on crack growth in welded joints with defects. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, 86, 125–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, D. F., & Tong, G. S. (2006). Damage accumulation, fracture and post fracture analyses for initially flawed steel structures. Engineering Mechanics, 23(8), 160–167. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, T. Q., & Chan, H. T. (2009). Fatigue crack growth and fatigue life evaluation for welded steel bridge members with initial crack. Journal of Ship Mechanics, 13(1), 91–99. In Chinese.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, Z., Liu, H., & Liang, B. (2018). Bending capacity of corroded welded hollow spherical joints. Thin-Walled Structures, 127, 523–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The work described in this paper was supported by Hainan Provincial Joint Project of Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City(Grant No. 520LH058), Sanya Science and Education Innovation Park of Wuhan University of Technology (Grant No. 2020KF0011) and Key Laboratory of Building Structural Retrofitting and Underground Space Engineering (Shandong Jianzhu University) Ministry of Education (Grant No. MEKL202004), which are gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Roadway Bridge and Structure Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, China

    Hui Liu, Xiu-wen Lv, Shi-chao Chen, Qiang Zhou, Piao Zhou & Wei-lian Qu

  2. Hainan Institute, Wuhan University of Technology, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China

    Hui Liu & Qiang Zhou

Authors
  1. Hui Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiu-wen Lv
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shi-chao Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Qiang Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Piao Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Wei-lian Qu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qiang Zhou.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work; there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, H., Lv, Xw., Chen, Sc. et al. Multiaxial Fatigue Life Prediction Based on High-Cycle Uniaxial Fatigue Test of Steel Pipe Weldments with Welding Defects. Int J Steel Struct 23, 50–62 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13296-022-00678-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13296-022-00678-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation