Application of Finite Element Software in Fatigue Analysis of the Welded Joints

Based on the fatigue behaviors of welded structure and the distinction between static fatigue and vibration fatigue and sound fatigue, the general fatigue analysis methods of static fatigue and vibration fatigue are introduced in this paper, such as nominal stress method, structure stress method, hot stress method and power spectral density method. Especially application status and common software of finite element analysis are expounded and analyzed in fatigue analysis of the welded joint. In recent years, finite element technology is applied widely on analysis all kinds of welded joints, the main problems include two points, built suitable model and generated reasonable mesh. Nowadays, finite element software has many kinds of usage and different software has different functions. According to the stress analysis process of static fatigue and vibration fatigue, three large-scale general finite element software ANSYS, MSC.NASTRAN/PANTRAN and ABAQUS, some comparative analyses have been done in building model, partitioning mesh and applying method At last some important conclusions are given. Different finite element software has equivalent development background and reliable analysis performance. Different finite element software have different application platform. In order to get better analysis result, each other's merits are drew from different software and matched with the application.