Fracture-mechanics-based analytical prediction of remaining life of tubular T- and Y-joints

Abstract

This paper presents methodologies for analytical prediction of remaining life of tubular T- and Y-joints by using linear elastic fracture mechanics principles. Bowness and Lee proposed expressions for the computation of the stress intensity factor (SIF) for T-butt plates which can be used for SIF computation of tubular joints and which are also recommended in BS 7910. It is observed from the literature that these expressions have not been used for the remaining life prediction of tubular joints. In this paper, these expressions have been used for analytical prediction of remaining life of tubular T- and Y-joints under constant amplitude loading. The predicted remaining life for T- and Y-joints is found to be in good agreement with those of experimental values reported in the literature. The effect of the degree of bending (DoB) on remaining life has been studied. It is observed from the studies that, the higher the DoB, the longer is the remaining life.