Estensione del metodo della tensione di picco per la progettazione a fatica di strutture saldate mediante modelli a elementi finiti shell

Authors

  • Alberto Visentin Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova Author
  • Prof. Alberto Campagnolo Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova Author
  • Eng. Vittorio Babini Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. Author
  • Prof. Giovanni Meneghetti Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71439/19uf6y50

Keywords:

Welded joints, Fatigue design, Peak Stress Method, Shell FE models

Abstract

The Peak Stress Method (PSM) is an engineering local approach to rapidly estimate the fatigue lifetime of welded structures made of structural steel or aluminium alloys and subjected to constant as well as variable amplitude loadings by leveraging solid finite element models and appropriate PSM-based fatigue design curves, which have been validated over more than 2000 experimental fatigue data. In this work, a numerical procedure is proposed to extend PSM applicability by combining a global model of the full structure meshed with shell finite elements with local sub-models of critical regions meshed with solid elements. A case study taken from the literature is reported, concerning the fatigue strength assessment of full-penetration welds between Circular Hollow Section (CHS) braces and Square Hollow Section (SHS) chords made of structural steel and subjected to axial loading. The PSM results obtained through the shell-to-solid sub-modelling approach were compare with those derived from global solid models to prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach in providing an accurate fatigue assessment while reducing the computational effort.

Author Biographies

  • Alberto Visentin, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova

    Research Associate at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Padova

  • Prof. Alberto Campagnolo, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova

    Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Padova

  • Eng. Vittorio Babini, Antonio Zamperla S.p.A.

    -

  • Prof. Giovanni Meneghetti, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova

    Full Professor in Machine Design at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Padova

References

[1] Hobbacher AF, Baumgartner J. Recommenda-tions for Fatigue Design of Welded Joints and Components. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57667-6.

[2] Doerk O. Comparison of different calculation methods for structural stresses at welded joints. Int J Fatigue 2003;25:359–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-1123(02)00167-6.

[3] Fricke W, Kahl A. Comparison of different struc-tural stress approaches for fatigue assessment of welded ship structures. Marine Structures 2005;18:473–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marstruc.2006.02.001.

[4] Fayard J ‐L., Bignonnet A, Van KD. Fatigue Design Criterion for Welded Structures. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 1996;19:723–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2695.1996.tb01317.x.

[5] Fayard J-L, Bignonnet A, Dang Van K. Fatigue Design of Welded Thin Sheet Structures, 1997, p. 145–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1566-1369(97)80015-5.

[6] Bignonnet A. Fatigue Design in Automotive Indus-try. High-Cycle Metal Fatigue, Vienna: Springer Vienna; 1999, p. 145–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-2474-1_4.

[7] Van Dang K, Bignonnet A, Fayard JL, Janosch JJ. Assessment of welded structures by a local multi-axial fatigue approach. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2001;24:369–76. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1460-2695.2001.00399.x.

[8] Van KD, Bignonnet A. A Unified Model of Fa-tigue. Materials Testing 2008;50:286–93. https://doi.org/10.3139/120.100875.

[9] Turlier D, Facchinetti ML, Wolf S, Raoult I, Delat-tre B, Magnin A, et al. Seam weld shell element model for thin walled structure FE fatigue design. MATEC Web of Conferences 2018;165:21007. https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201816521007.

[10] Fermér M, Andréasson M, Frodin B. Fatigue Life Prediction of MAG-Welded Thin-Sheet Structures, 1998. https://doi.org/10.4271/982311.

[11] Dong P. A structural stress definition and numeri-cal implementation for fatigue analysis of welded joints. Int J Fatigue 2001;23:865–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-1123(01)00055-X.

[12] Dong P, Hong JK. The Master S-N Curve Ap-proach to Fatigue of Piping and Vessel Welds. Welding in the World 2004;48:28–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03266411.

[13] Dong P, Hong JK. A Robust Structural Stress Pa-rameter for Evaluation of Multiaxial Fatigue of Weldments. Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics: 35th Volume, ASTM International100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959; 2007, p. 206–22. https://doi.org/10.1520/STP45516S.

[14] Hong JK, Forte TP. Fatigue Evaluation Procedures for Multiaxial Loading in Welded Structures Using Battelle Structural Stress Approach. Volume 5: Materials Technology; Petroleum Technology, American Society of Mechanical Engineers; 2014. https://doi.org/10.1115/OMAE2014-23459.

[15] Hong JK. The Development of a Simplified Spot Weld Model for Battelle Structural Stress Calcula-tion. SAE International Journal of Materials and Manufacturing 2011;4:2011-01–0479. https://doi.org/10.4271/2011-01-0479.

[16] Alencar G, de Jesus A, da Silva JGS, Calçada R. A finite element post-processor for fatigue assess-ment of welded structures based on the Master S-N curve method. Int J Fatigue 2021;153:106482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2021.106482.

[17] Zhang L, Wu S, Dong P. A spot weld element for-mulation and implementation for mesh‐insensitive fatigue evaluation of lightweight structures. Fa-tigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2024;47:4248–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.14431.

[18] Zhang L, Wu S, Dong P. An Implicit Fillet‐Weld Element Formulation for Mesh‐Insensitive Fatigue Evaluation of Complex Structures. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2025;48:797–813. https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.14486.

[19] Tovo R, Lazzarin P. Relationships between local and structural stress in the evaluation of the weld toe stress distribution. Int J Fatigue 1999;21:1063–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-1123(99)00089-4.

[20] Meneghetti G, Tovo R. Fatigue strength assess-ment of welded structures by means of the Notch-SIF approach. Proceedings of the 8th International Fatigue Congress, Stockholm, Sweden: 2002, p. 1873–80.

[21] Meneghetti G. The peak stress method applied to fatigue assessments of steel and aluminium fillet‐welded joints subjected to mode I loading. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2008;31:346–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2695.2008.01230.x.

[22] Meneghetti G, Lazzarin P. Significance of the elas-tic peak stress evaluated by FE analyses at the point of singularity of sharp V-notched compo-nents. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2007;30:95–106. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2695.2006.01084.x.

[23] Meneghetti G, Campagnolo A. State-of-the-art re-view of peak stress method for fatigue strength as-sessment of welded joints. Int J Fatigue 2020;139:105705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2020.105705.

[24] Lazzarin P, Zambardi R. A finite-volume-energy based approach to predict the static and fatigue behavior of components with sharp V-shaped notches. Int J Fract 2001;112:275–98. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013595930617.

[25] Lazzarin P, Livieri P, Berto F, Zappalorto M. Local strain energy density and fatigue strength of weld-ed joints under uniaxial and multiaxial loading. Eng Fract Mech 2008;75:1875–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2006.10.019.

[26] Meneghetti G, Lazzarin P. The Peak Stress Method for Fatigue Strength Assessment of welded joints with weld toe or weld root failures. Welding in the World 2011;55:22–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03321304.

[27] Livieri P, Lazzarin P. Fatigue strength of steel and aluminium welded joints based on generalised stress intensity factors and local strain energy val-ues. Int J Fract 2005;133:247–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10704-005-4043-3.

[28] Meneghetti G. The use of peak stresses for fatigue strength assessments of welded lap joints and cov-er plates with toe and root failures. Eng Fract Mech 2012;89:40–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2012.04.007.

[29] Meneghetti G. The peak stress method for fatigue strength assessment of tube-to-flange welded joints under torsion loading. Welding in the World 2013;57:265–75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-013-0022-x.

[30] Meneghetti G, Campagnolo A, Berto F. Fatigue strength assessment of partial and full-penetration steel and aluminium butt-welded joints according to the peak stress method. Fatigue Fract Eng Ma-ter Struct 2015;38:1419–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.12342.

[31] Campagnolo A, Vecchiato L, Meneghetti G. Mul-tiaxial variable amplitude fatigue strength assess-ment of steel welded joints using the peak stress method. Int J Fatigue 2022;163:107089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2022.107089.

[32] Visentin A, Campagnolo A, Meneghetti G. Analyt-ical expressions to estimate rapidly the notch stress intensity factors at V‐notch tips using the Peak Stress Method. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.13912.

[33] Meneghetti G, Campagnolo A, Avalle M, Casta-gnetti D, Colussi M, Corigliano P, et al. Rapid evaluation of notch stress intensity factors using the peak stress method: Comparison of commer-cial finite element codes for a range of mesh pat-terns. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2018;41:1044–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.12751.

[34] Meneghetti G, Campagnolo A, Visentin A, Avalle M, Benedetti M, Bighelli A, et al. Rapid evaluation of notch stress intensity factors using the peak stress method with 3D tetrahedral finite element models: Comparison of commercial codes. Fa-tigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2022;45:1005–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.13645.

[35] Lazzarin P, Sonsino CM, Zambardi R. A notch stress intensity approach to assess the multiaxial fatigue strength of welded tube‐to‐flange joints subjected to combined loadings. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2004;27:127–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2695.2004.00733.x.

[36] Visentin A, Vecchiato L, Campagnolo A, Rigon D, Babini V, Meneghetti G. Implementation of the Peak Stress Method for the automated FEA-assisted design of welded joints subjected to vari-able amplitude multiaxial fatigue loads. Procedia Structural Integrity 2024;57:524–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2024.03.058.

[37] Gandhi P, Berge S. Fatigue Behavior of T-Joints: Square Chords and Circular Braces. Journal of Structural Engineering 1998;124:399–404. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9445(1998)124:4(399).

[38] Niemi E. Stress determination for fatigue analysis of welded components. Abington in association with the International Institute of Welding; 1995.

[39] Radaj D, Sonsino CM, Fricke W. Fatigue assess-ment of welded joints by local approaches. Woodhead Publishing Limited; 2006. https://doi.org/10.1533/9781845691882.

[40] Eriksson Å, Lignell AM, Olsson C, Spennare H. Weld evaluation using FEM : a guide to fatigue-loaded structures. Industrilitteratur AB 2003.

[41] Echer L, Marczak RJ. Optimization of shell FE modeling parameters in the simulation of weld fil-lets using the structural stress method. 5th Interna-tional Symposium on Solid Mechanics (MecSol 2015), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil: 2015.

[42] Aygül M. Fatigue Analysis of Welded Structures Using the Finite Element Method. Chalmers Uni-versity of Technology, 2012.

Downloads

Published

15-09-2026

Data Availability Statement

Research data has not been made available.

Issue

Section

Article

How to Cite

Estensione del metodo della tensione di picco per la progettazione a fatica di strutture saldate mediante modelli a elementi finiti shell. (2026). Scripta Mechanica, 1(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.71439/19uf6y50