Virtual Fatigue Life Prediction of Back Strip Butt Weld Joint under Bending and Torque Load Conditions

Abstract

The welding components used in automobile and aerospace industries are subjected to cyclic loading during field utilization. Understanding the behavior of the weld joints under fatigue loading is essential for designing components for optimum performance. This paper presents the study of virtual fatigue life prediction of back strip butt weld joint under bending and torque load conditions by varying weld joint parameters such as plate thickness, root gap and load. Virtual experiments are carried out on all samples by using finite element analysis (FEA) as per the concept of the design of experiment (DOE) approach. The response surface methodology, one of the DOE approaches, is used to obtain the different weld joint parameter combinations. Static structural analysis is performed to obtain the stress distribution in the weld model. Fatigue life is calculated by using the “E” Class S-N curve. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) approach is exploited to evaluate the influence of weld parameters of plate thickness, root gap and load on fatigue life.