ESTIMATION OF SCATTER IN FATIGUE LIFE OF WELDED JOINTS

Abstract

 Scatter in fatigue life of welded joints is estimated by using crack propagation analysis based on probabilistic fracture mechanics and Monte Carlo simulation. The scatter observed in fatigue tests can be well simulated when not only the variations of parameters used in crack propagation analysis but the uncertainty of the crack propagation analysis are taken into account. In the end, an example of determination of the fatigue design curve with small number of fatigue tests is demonstrated.