Fatigue crack growth of a welded tube-flange connection under bending and torsional loading

In this contribution the results of an experimental investigation into the fatigue crack growth of welded tube-to-plate specimens of steel StE 460 und er bending, torsion, and combined in-phase and out-of-phase bending/torsion loading are presented. The tests were performed at stress ratios of R = -1 and R = 0. The residual stresses were reduced by thermal stress relief. Th e fatigue crack development is compared with the prediction on the crack gr owth rates of Paris. Individual stress intensity factors for the semiellipt ical surface cracks in the tube-flange specimens are approximated on a weig ht function analogy using the published solutions of other workers.