A new model to predict the fatigue life of flux cored arc welded cruciform joints containing LOP defects

A mathematical model has been developed to predict the fatigue life of Flux Cored Arc Welded (FCAW) cruciform joints containing Lack of Penetration (LOP) defect. High strength, Quenched and Tempered steel ASTM 517 ‘F’ Grade has been used as the base material throughout the investigation. Two level, full factorial technique has been applied to design the experiments. The model has been developed by Response Surface Method (RSM). The adequacy of the model have been checked by ANOVA technique and correlation co-efficient. By using the developed model, fatigue life of flux cored arc welded cruciform joints, containing LOP defects, can be predicted at 95% confidence level.