Research on influencing factors of fatigue performance of cruciform welded joints on offshore platforms

Abstract

In this study, the fatigue life of load-carrying cruciform welded joints under various plate thicknesses and degrees of penetration was performed. The fatigue assessment results showed a significant “thickness effect.” The fatigue limit of the 25 mm-thick sample was 13.4% lower than that of the 16 mm-thick fatigue sample. Essentially, the fatigue life of the weld toe does not change with the degree of penetration. Plate thickness is the key factor affecting the fatigue life. The thickness effect is determined by both the stress gradient along the plate thickness and the degree of surface stress concentration. The correction result based on the effective notch stress approach is more accurate than the thickness correction formula in the ABS standard, which underestimates the thickness effect of load-carrying cruciform welded joints and may lead to danger. The penetration ratio a/t affects the fatigue failure position of load-carrying cruciform welded joints. The fatigue design of load-carrying cruciform welded joints can be performed by appropriately increasing the degree of penetration while achieving the damage at the weld toe.