Misalignment factors to affect the fatigue of welded load-carrying joints

To assess the effects of misalignment on the weld fatigue, we present experimental fatigue test results of load- carrying cruciform joints which are subjected to axial variable amplitude loading. The welds were produced from steel AH36 grade and fatigue strength improved by high-frequently mechanical impact treatment. We identify several misalignment factors affecting the fatigue by considering the real and reference welded joint geometries. Our methodology includes proposals for the empirical calibration functions and local stress analyses by using the Structural Hot Spot Stress, Effective Notch Stress and Peak Stress Method. Additionally, we apply our methodology to other sixteen data sets which are extracted from the literature for load-carrying cruciform and butt welded joints subjected to constant amplitude loading. Finally, we present the resultant calibration functions with respect to corresponding fatigue test data.