Fatigue Life Evaluation of Fillet Welded Cruciform Joints with Load-Carrying Welds

Fatigue life of fillet welded cruciform joints with load-carrying welds conforming to Constructional Detail 26 (Detail Category 52) of IS 800: 2007 and made of IS 2062 Gr. E 300 steel plates of two different thicknesses was evaluated. The joints were formed by Manual Metal Arc welding conforming to IS 9595: 2003. The studies were carried out at various values of maximum stress which were decided as a percentage of the yield strength of the base material. The fatigue life values obtained were compared with the S–N data estimated based on the recommendations given in EN 1993-1-9 and IS 800: 2007. The effect of change in thickness of intermediate plate on the fatigue life of fillet welded cruciform joint with load-carrying welds was studied. Finite element analysis was also carried out using ABAQUS software; stress intensity factor range values were obtained and based on the principles of linear elastic fracture mechanics, fatigue life of the joint was predicted for different values of stress range.