Effect of stress ratio on the enhancement of fatigue strength in high performance steel welded joints by ultrasonic impact treatment

In this study, we conducted fatigue tests under various stress ratios using cruciform welded joints to confirm the benefit of Ultrasonic Impact Treatment (UIT) for the fatigue strength of welded joints. The material used in the experiment is the JIS SBHS500 high performance steel for bridges. The fatigue life of the peened weld joint by UIT is significantly longer than that of as-welded joints, especially at a low stress ratio. We also estimated the fatigue life of these cruciform joints by crack growth analysis based on the crack opening and closure simulation using the modified strip-yielding model, accounting for the residual stress distribution created by welding or UIT. These estimation results demonstrate good agreement with experimental results obtained at various stress ratios.