The influence of cracks on the static strength of tubular joints

The prediction of the ultimate capacity of tubular joints is based on the use of design equations for uncracked joints. However, the joint capacity is reduced by in-service cracking and consequently there is a need to develop procedures for the static strength assessment of cracked tubular joints if reliable predictions are to be made. The subject has been advanced in recent years and a number of investigations are currently underway. The program of work includes numerical analysis of tubular joints containing surface and through-thickness cracks and experiments on small-scale and large-scale tubular joint specimens. The experimental results are being used to establish the performance of cracked tubular joints and to validate the numerical predictions. This paper presents an overview of completed investigations on cracked tubular joints. The performance of cracked tubular joints is demonstrated by comparison of the results with predictions based on the use of the static strength equations for intact joints.