Fatigue strength of cruciform joints and longitudinal joints with laser-arc hybrid welding

Abstract

This study examined the fatigue strength of cruciform joints and longitudinal joints fabricated with laser-arc hybrid welding. Load-carrying and non-load-carrying cruciform welded joints with plate thicknesses of 8, 16, and 25 mm were tested under tensile cyclic loads and out-of-plane bending cyclic loads. In longitudinal joints, four-point bending fatigue tests were performed on plate girders with flanges and a web connected by laser-arc hybrid welding. When assembling the plate girder, tack welds were installed at the flange-to-web connection to clarify their effect on the fatigue strength of the longitudinal joints. Measurements of weld toe profiles and residual stress were also conducted. The residual stress was measured using X-ray diffraction. The test results revealed that the fatigue strengths of hybrid welded joints are equivalent to those of arc welded joints and satisfy the fatigue design curves specified by the Japanese Society of Steel Construction. In addition, the effect of plate thickness on the fatigue strength was observed in hybrid welded joints as well as in arc welded joints.