Very high cycle fatigue behavior of bridge steel welded joint

Very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) behaviors of bridge steel (Q345) welded joints were investigated using an ultrasonic fatigue test system at room temperature with a stress ratio R = -1. The results show that the fatigue strength of welded joints is dropped by an average of 60% comparing to the base metal and the fatigue failure still occurred beyond 10(7) cycles. The fatigue fracture of welded joints in the low cycle regime generally occurred at the solder while at the heat-affected zone (HAZ) in the very high cycle regime. The fatigue fracture surface was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), showing welding defects such as pore, micro-crack and inclusion were the main factors on decreasing the fatigue properties of welded joints. The effect of welding defects on the fatigue behaviors of welded joints was discussed in terms of experimental results and finite element simulations. (C) 2012 The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.