Abstract
The accuracy of fatigue crack propagation analysis for surface crack length of out-of-plane gusset joints under bending have not been investigated, although fatigue damage cases on the joints under bending have been reported. The purpose of this research is to investigate accuracy of the fatigue crack propagation analysis for the out-of-plane gusset joints under bending based on the authors previous fatigue tests. There was a good agreement between the propagation analysis results and the fatigue test results for depth crack length. However, the results have not shown a good agreement of the propagation analysis in evaluation of surface crack lengths when surface crack length becomes longer. A simple improvement method for evaluating the surface crack length by using crack aspect ratio obtained from experimental data including the authors fatigue tests was applied. As a result, it was shown an improvement in evaluation of longer surface crack length.
