Nondestructive measurements of residual stresses were successfully attempted by the acoustoelastic technique on butt-welded joints of a piping carbon steel plate. Based on the measurements and evaluations of the residual stresses, the prediction of the fatigue crack growth was done using the superposition technique, and results 'were compared with the experiments. The measurement of the initial residual stress distribution on the specimen before the fatigue test and the application of a proposed evaluation method of the material anisotropy can give a more correct prediction, The sensitivity of possible errors in the acoustoelastie measurement was analyzed and discussed.
