FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF TWO FLANGE DETAILS

The fatigue behavior of a cover-plated beam with transverse end welds ground to a taper of 1:3 and of a butt welded beam with a flange plate thickness transition ground to a slope of 1:4 are examined. Both specimens were tested under constant and variable amplitude stress cycling. The finishing-process which reduced the stress concentration factor at the weld toe was found to be an effective method of increasing the fatigue resistance. The constant and variable amplitude fatigue lives correlate well when plotted versus the root-mean-cube stress range. /Author/