Damage Distribution Map Based Damage Accumulation Calculation Approach for Welded Joints

Fatigue damage accumulation under variable amplitude loadings is vital for the life prediction of welded structures. An approach based on distribution mapping presented. S-N curves joints are utilized to construct fatigue zones, and a corresponding polynomial fitting function derived from heat transfer FEA solution. Experimental results cruciform T tensile three-point bending employed validation. Compared with four existing models, proposed shows greater accuracy provides better description early stage fatigue.