Analysis of the Influence of Residual Stress on Fatigue Life of Welded Joints

Abstract This work presents a new computational approach to estimate the fatigue life in welded joints, taking into account three-dimensional, non-proportional, and out-of-phase stresses; the thermomechanical properties of steel; parameters of the welding process; and the effects of residual stresses. We use the mechanical equations of continuous and cumulative fatigue damage found from Multiaxial RainFlow, the Wang and Brown and critical plane methods, and the Findley criteria approach. The numerical finite element method, available with software, is used to simulate the formation of residual stress and quantify its influence by solving equations. Based on the analysis of numerical results, we were able to prevision the crack location and angles of propagation of a high cycle fatigue crack with totally random loads in a metallic structure. We conclude that the result of the computational method is valid and can be used to estimate and life in fatigue in welded joints.