A Notch Stress Intensity approach applied to fatigue life predictions of welded joints with different local toe geometry

In the Notch Stress Intensity Factor (N-SIF) approach the weld toe region is modelled as a sharp V-shaped corner and local stress distributions in planar problems can be expressed in closed form on the basis of the relevant mode I and mode II N-SIFs. Initially thought of as parameters suitable for quantifying only the crack initiation life, N-SIFs were shown able to predict also the total fatigue life, at least when a large part of the life is spent as in the propagation of small cracks in the highly stressed region close to the notch tip. While the assumption of a welded toe radius equal to zero seems to be reasonable in many cases of practical interest, it is well known that some welding procedures are able to assure the presence of a mean value of the weld toe radius substantially different from zero. Under such conditions any N-SIF-based prediction is expected to underestimate the fatigue life. In order to investigate the degree of conservatism, a total of 128 fillet welded specimens are re-analysed in the present work by using an energy-based N-SIF approach. The local weld toe geometry, characterised by its angle and radius, has been measured with accuracy for the actual test series. The aim of the work is to determine if the N-SIF-based model is capable of taking into account the large variability of the toe angle, and to quantify the inaccuracy in the predictions due to the simplification of setting the toe radius equal to zero