Stress concentration at cruciform welded joints under axial and bending loading modes

Abstract

AbstractThe paper is concerned with the problem of stress concentration in cruciform fillet welded joints subjected to axial and bending load. Extended numerical analyses were carried out with the help of the finite element method. It made it possible to estimate stress concentration factors Kt for a variety of geometrical parameters defining the geometry of cruciform welded joints. It has been found that approximate Kt formulas, available in the literature, have two disadvantages, i.e. an unknown accuracy and small range of application with respect to geometrical parameters defining the weld shape. For these reasons, more general and accurate new formulas for stress concentration factors Kt have been derived. Even though the present approach is applicable to all types of welded joints, the analysis presented below has been conducted for a cruciform joint with the weld flank angle of θ = 45°. Final solutions have been given in the form of polynomial expressions, and they can be easily used in computer-aided design procedures.