TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 215/1983
By J G Wylde
Background
This report presents the results of fatigue tests which have been carried out on specimens with
longitudinal and transverse fillet welded attachments containing repaired fatigue cracks. The fatigue performance of joints containing single sided weld repairs of part-through- and through-thickness cracks have been determined under pulsating tension loading, in the as-welded and disc ground conditions. The results show that, for part-through-thickness crack repairs the fatigue strength of the repaired joints was comparable with that anticipated from joints without repairs. For through-thickness repairs, a fatigue strength comparable with joints without weld repairs could be achieved, provided that a full penetration repair was achieved and the pre-existing fatigue crack was completely removed.