The mechanical behaviour and fatigue life of thin-walled, fillet-welded components made from various ductile steels used for bus frames have been investigated theoretically and experimentally under fully reversed constant amplitude cyclic loading. As a parametrical study, two types of finite element meshes - with and without explicit modelling of the weld - consisting of shell elements and one mesh consisting of solid elements have been used. The following remarks are made in conclusion: The test results identified the weld toes at the edges of the horizontal arm to be the failure critical locations. Few specimens failed at the corresponding weld toe of the vertical arm. The finite element analysis unraveled the locations, which were identified experimentally as failure-critical. Stress values measured close to the regions of the failure-critical locations in the horizontal and the vertical arm by means of strain gages are in good agreement with the corresponding stress distributions calculated by means of the solid element mesh. This result indicates a satisfactory reliability of this particular finite element mesh. The modelling of the weld with shell elements (mesh 2) and evaluation of the stresses as suggested by Fayard tends to (slightly) underestimate the stresses in the near of the real weld toes of the specimens investigated. The calculations by means of shell elements without modelling the weld yield the lowest stress results and the largest deviations from the corresponding experimental values. The fatigue life curve at constant amplitude loading based on the Hot Spot Stress Approach depends significantly on the modelling of the weld geometry, the type of the elements, and how hot spot stresses are calculated. In the present investigation, deviations up till to a factor of 10 in fatigue lives have been calculated dependent on the finite element mesh and the hot spot stress calculation methodology followed. Further investigations on this topic should try to clarify the feasibilities and limitations of the various weld-modelling suggestions and the capability of life prediction according to the hot spot stress approach. Additional clarifications are needed in refer to whether and how the recommended methodologies for the hot spot stress calculation could converge at comparable fatigue life predictions.


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    Titel :

    Fatigue behaviour of welded structures of bus frames


    Beteiligte:
    Savaidis, G. (Autor:in)


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2005


    Format / Umfang :

    14 Seiten, 9 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 20 Quellen



    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Konferenz)


    Format :

    Print


    Sprache :

    Englisch