(Elsevier) Review of Fatigue Assessment Procedures For Welded Aluminium Structures

International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijfatigue
Review of fatigue assessment procedures for welded

aluminium structures
S.J. Maddox
TWI Ltd, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge CB1 6AL, UK
Received 5 February 2003; accepted 24 February 2003
Abstract
This paper presents a review of methods and corresponding Codes and Standards for the fatigue assessment of welded aluminium
alloy structures. Methods for the fatigue evaluation of welded aluminium structures are assessed from the viewpoints of original
design and estimation of the residual life of existing structures. Based partly on a literature search, but also reference to data used
in the formulation of recent fatigue design Standards, it goes on to review the information available for such assessments in design
or guidance specifications in the light of relevant fatigue data. With regard to design specifications, particular attention is focussed
on recent fatigue data obtained from structural components representative of actual structures. Recommendations are made for
future research.
2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Aluminium alloys; Cumulative damage; Design codes; Experimental data; Fatigue design; Fatigue crack growth; Fitness for purpose;
Stress analysis; Structural fatigue tests; Variable amplitude fatigue; Welded joints
1. Introduction
There is growing interest in the structural use of aluminium alloys, for such applications as automotive and
railway vehicles, bridges, offshore structure topsides and
high-speed ships. In all cases, welding is the primary
joining method and fatigue is a major design criterion.
However, as is well known, welded joints can exhibit
poor fatigue properties. Thus, clear design guidelines are
needed to ensure that fatigue failures are avoided in
welded aluminium alloy structures. Apart from basic
design of new structures, there is also increasing interest
in methods for assessing the remaining fatigue lives of
existing structures.
Prompted by difficulties experienced in reaching a
consensus on fatigue design rules, extensive testing and
analysis of the fatigue performance of welded aluminium
alloys have been undertaken over the past 20 years. A
measure of the research effort is the series of Inter-
Corresponding author: Tel.: +44-1223-897762; fax: +44-1223892588.

E-mail address: stephen.maddox@twi.co.uk (S.J. Maddox).
0142-1123/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0142-1123(03)00063-X
national Aluminium Conferences (INALCO), which has

produced seven volumes of papers since 1981. The
fatigue research work culminated in the production of
new design specifications, notably BS 8118 [1], Eurocode 9 [2], the International Institute of Welding (IIW) [3]
recommendations and specifications from the Aluminum
Association [4] in the USA and the Canadian Standards
Association [5]. In relation to ships, DNV issued supplementary guidance [6] to their Rules for the Classification of High Speed and Light Craft based on the
ECCS recommendations [7], the forerunner to Eurocode 9.
Thus, it is an opportune time to review the various
fatigue design procedures for welded aluminium alloy
structures. This paper summarises methods for design
and remaining-life assessments of fatigue-loaded aluminium alloy welded structures and compares and contrasts the information contained in the various recent
fatigue design specifications. This includes assessment
of the corresponding design curves in the light of fatigue
test results, chiefly obtained in recent research programmes where a major aim was to reproduce the fatigue
performance of full-scale welded structures, particularly
with respect to the effect of high tensile residual stresses.
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S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378
Nomenclature
A
a
C
K
Km
m
n
ni
N
Ni
p
S
Seq
Y
K
constant in equation for SN curve

crack size
constant in fatigue crack growth law
stress concentration factor
stress magnification factor due to misalignment
slope of SN curve
exponent in fatigue crack growth law
number of applied load cycles at stress range Si (i = 1, 2, 3,)
fatigue life in cycles
fatigue life at stress range Si
exponent in plate thickness correction
stress range
equivalent constant amplitude stress range
correction factor in formula for stress intensity factor
stress intensity factor range
Finally, areas still requiring further research are identified.
fourth is not generally used for design but for assessing

known or assumed flaws. Thus, it would be applicable
in an assessment of residual fatigue life, as described in
Section 2.3.
2. Fatigue assessment methods

2.2. Design of a new structure
2.1. Background
Broadly speaking, any fatigue assessment involves
comparison of the actions which the component or structure under consideration will be required to sustain during its design life (e.g. fatigue loading history, resulting
stresses and the number of times they occur, any
environmental influences, etc.) with its resistance to
fatigue. Clearly, the resistance must be sufficient to withstand the actions without failure occurring. The form and
source of the resistance data depend on the type of
assessment being performed.
A useful summary of the four main methods for
assessing the fatigue lives of welded joints is contained
in the new IIW fatigue design recommendations [3].
They are:
(a) SN curves for specific welded joints used in conjunction with nominal stresses.
(b) SN curves for welds used in conjunction with hotspot stresses.
(c) SN curves for materials used in conjunction with
local notch stresses.
(d) The fracture mechanics approach, whereby fatigue
crack growth data are used in conjunction with the
stress intensity factor to calculate the progress of a
known flaw.
The first three are intended for application at the design
stage and are described in detail in Section 2.2. The
2.2.1. Method
Fatigue resistance data for design are usually
expressed in terms of SN curves, relating nominal
applied cyclic stress range S and the corresponding number of cycles N needed to cause failure. In the simplest
situation, the designer would ensure that the number of
applied load fluctuations, n, in the design life that
resulted in stress range S did not exceed N. In the more
general case of a detail, which will experience a spectrum of applied loads, the cumulative damage due to
individual load cycles would need to be determined. The
usual method is to apply Miners rule, which assumes
that the fatigue damage due to ni cycles of stress Si is
directly proportional to ni/Ni. An important step in the
assessment is estimation of the stress history that will
be experienced by the detail under consideration. In general, this involves identification of the loading history,
conversion from loads to stresses (e.g. by finite element
analysis (FEA) or strain gauge measurements) and,
finally, extraction of recognisable stress cycles from the
stress spectrum (the process of cycle counting) to provide input to Miners rule. The full procedure is illustrated in Fig. 1.
2.2.2. SN curves used with nominal stresses
The SN curves used in fatigue design depend on the
procedure being used. Referring to those mentioned earlier, by far the most common approach is to use SN
curves obtained from fatigue tests on specimens contain-
1361
Fig. 1. (a) Miners linear cumulative damage rule for estimating fatigue lives under variable amplitude loading; (b) analysis of fatigue loading
for cumulative damage calculations.
ing the weld detail of interest (Fig. 2). Such SN curves

appear in many codes and standards, including some that
apply to welded aluminium alloys. The design curve is
usually some statistical lower bound to published experimental data, typically mean2 standard deviations of
log N. Since the SN curves refer to particular weld
Fig. 2. Examples of design SN curves for welded joints (from IIW

recommendations for aluminium [3]).
details, there is no need for the user to attempt to quantify the local stress concentration effect of the weld detail
itself. Thus, the curves are used in conjunction with the
nominal stress range near the detail. In codes and standards, the curves are identified by arbitrary letters or,
increasingly, by the fatigue strength at a particular life,
usually 2 106 cycles. The current status of fatigue
design rules for welded aluminium alloys is discussed
in more detail later.
2.2.3. Hot-spot stress approach
The hot-spot stress method is an extension of the S
N curve approach in that it makes use of SN curves
obtained from tests on actual welded joints. However,
the SN curve is based on the hot-spot stress range rather
than the nominal. Nominal stress is easy to define in
simple laboratory specimens. However, in real structures
the presence of gross structural discontinuities, non-uniform stress distributions and through-thickness stress
gradients can be so complex that the nominal stress is
no longer obvious. Experimental (e.g. strain gauges) and
numerical (e.g. FEA) stress analysis methods are capable
1362
of providing detailed information about the stresses arising near welded joints. In such circumstances, the structural stress, which includes the effect of all sources of
stress concentration except the weld itself, can be used.
The hot-spot stress, which is discussed in more detail by
Niemi [8], is the structural stress at the weld toe. It is
usually necessary to determine it by extrapolation from
the stress distribution approaching the weld (Fig. 3).
However, parametric formulae exist for calculating the
hot-spot stress in some tubular joints [9], and more such
formulae are likely to be developed as the hot-spot stress
method becomes more widely used. A practical limitation is that the hot-spot stress method is only suitable
for assessing weld details from the point of view of
potential failure from the weld toe.
Apart from tubular joints, there are no established S
N curves for use with the hot-spot stress. The SN curves
for use with the nominal stress are not generally suitable
because they include some influence of the stress concentration effect of the welded joint. Thus, for example,
the SN curve for a fillet welded cover plate is below
that for a simple fillet welded stiffener because of the
greater stress concentration effect of the cover plate. An
obvious candidate for a hot-spot stress SN curve is that
for transverse butt welds, since there is essentially no
stress concentration effect due to the joint (provided it
is perfectly aligned), only the weld bead. Indeed this is
the case for tubular joints.
2.2.4. Notch stress approach
While the notch stress approach applies only to assessments of potential failure from the weld toe or root, the
method attempts to include all sources of stress concentration, including the weld itself, in the stress used with
the design SN curve. Thus, in principle, a single SN
curve is sufficient for a given type of material. A practical problem is that the local geometry of the toe or root
of a weld is highly variable and, at the design stage, not

known. In recognition of this problem, the weld
geometry is normally idealised as having a particular
shape and weld toe or root radius. The local stress is
then calculated by numerical analysis. Alternatively,
parametric formulae are available for a range of joint
geometries [10].
Until very recently [6,11], the notch stress method did
not appear in any fatigue design specifications. Indeed,
one of its protagonists [10] only recommends it for carrying out comparative studies of the fatigue performance
of different welded joint options. Furthermore, the
method has not been developed to any extent for aluminium alloys. Consequently, it is not considered further
in this report.
2.3. Remaining life of existing structures
Broadly three approaches can be envisaged for the
fatigue assessment of existing structures which have
already experienced some service duty. The approach
used will depend on the circumstances, particularly
whether or not the structure was designed for fatigue
loading, the time in service and what measures will be
taken to assess its current condition with respect to
potential fatigue damage already introduced during previous service.
Three assessment methods are described subsequently. Examples of their application or reference to
their development may be found in Refs. [1214].
2.3.1. Fatigue design assessment
This method follows the procedure outlined in Section
2.2.1 for original design. If the structure was designed
for fatigue loading, the same actions can be assumed,
after any modifications to allow for changes such as
reduced severity of the stress history from reinforcement
or a change in the operating conditions. Fatigue resistance is still represented by the design SN curves. If
repairs are introduced, the design curves may still be
applicable, but a safety factor could be introduced if the
repair was of uncertain quality. Post-weld improvement
of repair welds, for example by toe grinding (to be discussed in more detail later), would justify a higher SN
curve, which may be included in a design specification
or obtained from appropriate published information.
Finally, assuming Miners rule (see Section 3.3.5 regarding validity of this assumption), it is used to calculate
the fatigue damage introduced before and after the time
of the assessment, on the basis that

n/N
before

n/N
1 .
after
Then, the remaining life is given by:

Fig. 3. Stress distribution approaching a welded joint and the definition of the hot-spot stress.
Remaining life (e.g. in years)
(1)
life so far (years)
n/N
before
n/N
per year
after
2.3.2. Fatigue design review

The aim of a design review would be to improve the
accuracy of the original design process to provide a better estimate of the proportions of fatigue life used and
remaining at the time of the assessment. A fatigue design
process involves many assumptions and hence potential
inaccuracies. When assessing an existing structure, there
may be scope for improving the accuracy of some of
those assumptions. For example, records of the service
operation or even measurements made on the structure
may enable a more precise definition of the stress history. Knowledge of the actual structural arrangement and
weld details used, including their quality (e.g.
alignment), coupled with appropriate stress analysis may
allow the more precise hot-spot stress approach to be
used instead of the normal SN curves. A further
refinement might be the characterisation of actions
and/or resistance data in statistical terms to enable
reliability methods to be used to assess the risk associated with a particular estimate of remaining life. Some
progress has been made in such an approach in the context of steel bridges [15].
2.3.3. Fracture mechanics approach
The third method specifically addresses circumstances
in which it has been found, or it must be assumed, that
flaws (e.g. fatigue cracks) have been introduced during
the service life endured so far. Such flaws would be
those detected or measured by non-destructive testing
(NDT), or assumed flaws corresponding to the limit of
detection of the NDT methods used.
A fracture mechanics assessment [16] utilises the
same actions as those determined for design calculations.
However, fatigue resistance is represented by fatigue
crack growth rate data for the material under consideration, expressed in terms of the fracture mechanics stress
intensity factor parameter K. K is a function of
applied stress range (S), and crack size (a), such that:
K YSa
1363
with deviations as K approaches a threshold value

below which crack growth is insignificant (Ko) and as
Kmax approaches the critical value for fracture, as illustrated in Fig. 4. In practice, the gradual transitions from
the Paris law may be modelled more accurately by
defining several linear relationships. For a flaw size ai
and a critical fatigue crack size of af, the remaining
fatigue life N under stress range S is obtained by integrating Eq. (3):
af
ai
da
(YSa)n
CN
(4)
For variable amplitude loading the integration will be

performed for each individual cycle or block of equal
stress cycles, to give:
a1
ai
da
(YS1a)
a2
a1
da
(YS2a)n
% etc.
CN
3. Fatigue design data
3.1. Design specifications
As noted earlier, there is a wide choice of fatigue
design specifications for welded aluminium alloys. The
main ones, in chronological order, are as follows:
BS 8118:1991. Structural use of aluminiumPart 1
Code of practice for design, BSI, London 1991.
(2)
where Y is a function of geometry and loading. The use

of K ensures that the relationship between crack growth
rate and K can be regarded as a law applicable to any
geometry of the same material. The crack growth law
approximates to a linear relationship (usually referred to
as the Paris law):
da
C(K)n
dN
(3)
(5)
Fig. 4.
Fracture mechanics fatigue crack growth relationship.
1364
ECCS. European recommendations for aluminium alloy

structures, fatigue design, European Convention for
Constructional Steelwork, Document No. 68, 1992.
Canadian Standards Association CAN/CSA-S157-M92.
Strength design in aluminium, 1993.
The Aluminum Association. Specifications for aluminium structures, Washington, DC, 1994.
DNV. Class note: fatigue assessment of aluminium
structures, Technical Report No. LIB-J-000010, 1995.
International Institute of Welding. Fatigue design of
welded joints and components, Abington Publishing,
1996.
Eurocode 9. Design of aluminium structures. Part 2.
Structures susceptible to fatigue, ENV, 1999-2: 1998,
CEN, Brussels, 1998.
Apart from the DNV document, these all provide a
selection of design SN curves expressed in terms of
nominal stress ranges. In the DNV note, attention is confined to the use of the hot-spot stress range, a method
that is also referred to in the IIW recommendations and
Eurocode 9, but specific design data are not provided.
There are significant differences between the SN curves
in the rules and how they are used, and hence the different specifications will lead to different estimates of
fatigue life. In order to provide a basis for judging their
applicability to welded aluminium structures, key features are compared and where possible assessed in the
light of relevant published data.
3.2. Historical developments
In order to appreciate why so many fatigue design
specifications have been produced in recent years, it is
useful to review the developments over the past 20 years,
mainly in Europe, which have influenced them.
In 1979, it was decided that the British Standard
design specification for aluminium, CP 118, which was
the most comprehensive standard for aluminium at the
time and used throughout the world, should be revised
as a limit state Standard. This followed the publication
of new steel bridge design rules, BS 5400, on the same
basis. With regard to fatigue, as a starting point the
possibility was examined that the new rules for steels
could be simply factored in accordance with the difference in Youngs modulus between steel and aluminium
to provide the aluminium fatigue rules [17]. This
approach stemmed largely from the good correlation
between fatigue crack growth data for the two materials
on the basis of K/E and the assumption that the fatigue
lives of welded joints are dominated by fatigue crack
growth [18]. Thus, the fatigue design stresses for welded
aluminium alloys would be obtained simply by dividing
those for steel by 3. A review of published data tended
to support this approach and was adopted for the Draft
for Public Comment of the Standard that would replace
BS CP 118, BS 8118, in 1985. However, meanwhile

some industries had drawn attention to the fact that the
new rules were considerably more conservative than
those in BS CP 118 in the high-cycle regime, while
others felt that the steel/3 approach was too simplistic
and effectively penalised aluminium alloys as compared
with steel.
The initial review of fatigue data for welded joints in
aluminium alloys had drawn attention to the wide scatter
in published data and the fact that most data referred to
small-scale specimens of variable, unspecified quality.
Another important characteristic of small-scale specimens, particularly those incorporating transverse welds,
is that they will contain much lower tensile residual
stresses than would be expected to be present in a real
structure. It was felt that more realistic fatigue data relevant to actual welded structures were required. These
arguments influence the newly formed ECCS Committee
charged with the task of drafting a European Standard.
Consequently, they placed particular reliance on data
obtained from realistic structural specimens, mainly
beams. A large database was available from one source
(Alusuisse) and this was made available to the Committee. In addition, a number of new European projects provided additional data that were taken into consideration.
To some extent, the same results were used to review
the BS 8118 Draft for Public Comment and the fatigue
rules were revised slightly as a result.
The resulting ECCS [7] and BS 8118 [1] fatigue rules
were finally considered together as the basis of the new
Eurocode 9 [2] in the early 1990s. Even more large-scale
specimen data were available by then and so the final
form of Eurocode 9 is different from both BS 8118 and
the ECCS specification.
Other significant developments were the drafting of
fatigue design rules in the USA [4] and Canada [5], both
of which are known to have been influenced by the European activities [19].
3.3. Summary of design rules
3.3.1. Design SN curves
All the fatigue design specifications for welded aluminium alloys present a series of SN curves for particular weld details, with a classification scheme linking
a description of the welded joint with the appropriate
design curve. Examples of the SN curves provided are
shown in Fig. 5. The classification usually depends on
the joint type, geometry, loading direction and mode of
fatigue failure, as illustrated for one group of joint types
in Eurocode 9 in Fig. 2. Rather less comprehensive guidance is given by the Aluminum Association [4], which
only refers to joint types and loading direction. The S
N curves are derived from linear regression analysis of
log S versus log N fatigue data to establish mean curves
1365
endurance limit. A constant amplitude fatigue endurance

limit is introduced at an endurance of 5 106 cycles in
all the aluminium specifications. Two basic approaches
have been used to define the design SN curves:
(a) An arbitrary grid of SN curves, usually equally
spaced on loglog scales, is defined and the curve
closest to the selected lower bound to experimental
data of a particular detail is allocated to that detail.
The IIW recommendations [3] are based on this
approach with the SN curves defined in terms of
the stress range in N/mm2 at 2 106 cycles (see
Fig. 5(a)).
(b) The design SN curves are derived directly from
experimental data. In some cases, the fatigue lives
of different details are so similar that the experimental data can be combined to produce a single
class for all of them. The resulting SN curves,
which are not usually equally spaced, may be
described in terms of the fatigue strength at 2
106 cycles, and possibly the slope m of the SN
curve as in draft Eurocode 9 [2], or by arbitrary letters such as Class A, B, C, etc., in the Aluminum
Associations specification [4] (see Fig. 5(b) and
(c)).
In most cases, the SN curves get progressively
steeper as the fatigue strength of the detail decreases.
The steepest curve usually has a slope which is consistent with crack growth data (i.e. m = n, typically 34),
reflecting the fact that the lives of the low fatigue
strength details are dominated by crack growth [17,18].
Apart from the implied need to utilise mechanised
welding to achieve continuous welds without stop/starts,
no distinction is drawn between different welding processes. The bulk of the test data upon which the design
curves are based have been obtained from arc welds.
However, as other processes became more viable for
welding aluminium, notably friction-stir welding [20]
(see later) which seems to offer advantages from the
fatigue viewpoint as well as production, it may become
necessary to introduce new process-related categories.
Fig. 5. Examples of fatigue design SN curves for aluminium alloys

in recent specifications: (x) IIW [3]; (b) Aluminum Association [4];
(c) Eurocode 9 [7].
and statistical lower bound, usually mean 2 standard

deviations of log N. The SN curves have the form:
SmN A
(6)
where A and m are constants. The curves are assumed

to extend up to stress levels corresponding to the static
design limit for the material, and down to a fatigue
3.3.2. Effect of residual stress and mean stress

Welding introduces tensile residual stresses, which
modify the mean stress experienced by the welded joint
under fatigue loading. Long-range, or reaction, residual
stresses will also be introduced when welded subassemblies are connected together, due to imperfect fitup. It is generally assumed that tensile residual stresses
up to the proof strength of the material will be present
in a welded structure. As a result, its fatigue life will be
independent of mean stress and depend only on the
applied stress range, even if this is compressive [21].
Consequently, all the fatigue design specifications are
based on the use of full stress range regardless of
whether it is tensile or compressive.
1366
3.3.3. Material
A common feature of all the specifications is that no
distinction is drawn between different aluminium alloys
when welded, unless they are exposed to a corrosive
environment. This reflects the fact that fatigue crack
growth rates are not significantly different in different
alloys [22] and that fatigue crack growth dominates the
fatigue lives of welded joints. Consequently, precise
details of alloys used to produce welded test specimens
discussed later are only given if they are significant.
For unwelded material, some of the specifications
[2,3] provide higher design stresses for high strength
7000 series aluminium alloys as compared with all the
other alloy types.
3.3.4. Effect of plate thickness
It is generally acknowledged that the fatigue strengths
of welded joints failing from the weld toe can decrease
with increase in plate thickness [23]. This has led to
thickness effect penalties, applied to the fatigue strength
obtained from the SN curve, in many fatigue design
rules for welded steel of the form (tref/t)p, where t is the
thickness, tref the reference thickness (usually around 25
mm) and the exponent p = 0.25. Recent work showed
that the thickness effect also depended on the overall
proportions of the welded joint [24,25]. These influences
are incorporated in the fatigue rules in Eurocode 9. A
further refinement in the IIW recommendations [3] is to
modify the thickness correction exponent p for different
weld details. Values range from 0.3 to 0.1, reflecting the
fact that the thickness correction also depends on the
level of stress concentration introduced by the welded
joint. In contrast, the Aluminum Association take the
view that the database used to establish the design SN
curves covered the full range of thicknesses of aluminium alloy likely to be used in practice [19]. Hence,
there is no requirement to apply a thickness effect correction. This assumption may be reasonable for some
applications (e.g. automotive or railway vehicles where
plate thickness is unlikely to exceed 25 mm) but not for
large structures such as bridges or LNG tankers where
plate thickness may be 100 mm or more.
3.3.5. Cumulative damage
Miners rule is universally adopted as the method for
predicting fatigue lives under variable amplitude loading
using the constant amplitude design SN curves. However, the accuracy of the rule has been called into question in recent years as more and more fatigue tests
obtained under random loading conditions have produced failures in shorter lives than those predicted by
Miners rule [26,27]. It is thought that part of the reason
for this is that the crack closure conditions for a given
stress fluctuation are different under constant and variable amplitude loading, with the result that a stress range
may be more damaging in a variable amplitude sequence
than it was under constant amplitude loading [27]. However, a second problem concerns the damaging effect of
stress ranges below the constant amplitude fatigue limit.
Some specifications take account of such stresses by
assuming that the SN curve extends below the constant
amplitude fatigue limit at a shallower slope. For an S
N curve of the form SmN = A, the extrapolated curve
would be of the form Sm + 2N = A, (see Fig. 5(c)). However, on the basis of fatigue tests on large-scale welded
beams (to be discussed later), the Aluminum Association
[4] take the view that the SN curve should be extrapolated indefinitely below the constant amplitude fatigue
limit without a slope change. The extent to which these
modifications to the SN curve are successful will be
considered later in the light of new experimental data.
3.3.6. Hot-spot stress approach
Only the DNV note [6] gives specific guidance on the
use of the hot-spot stress fatigue design procedure. That
guidance is related to four SN curves from the ECCS
recommendations [7], one for unwelded material, two
for welded connections and the fourth for welds exposed
to a corrosive environment (presumably seawater). The
corresponding ECCS design curves are as follows:
DNV class
Material
ECCS SN curve
Unwelded
II
Welded
III
Welded
IV
Welded, in
corrosive
environment
Unwelded high
strength 7020
alloy
Flush ground butt
welds
As-welded
transverse butt
welds with good
profile
Not included:
25% reduction in
design stress from
Class III curve
Thus, for as-welded joints it is assumed that the butt

weld design SN curve is applicable to both butt and
fillet welds if the hot-spot stress is used. The reason for
the choice of the SN curve for the highest strength of
unwelded aluminium alloy (lower curves were provided
for other aluminium alloys) is not known. The corresponding SN curves in Eurocode 9 are lower than those
in the ECCS rules.
The curves are used in conjunction with specified
stress concentration factors, K, by which stress ranges
obtained from the specified design curve are divided, for
a variety of typical welded connections used in ships.
The range is not totally comprehensive and, as will be

seen later, no guidance is offered for some relevant
details.
3.3.7. Effect of environment
As already mentioned, the DNV note provides guidance on the effect of immersion in a marine environment
by adopting an SN curve which is 25% on stress below
the lowest curve for welded joints. That same curve
would be used for any detail, welded or unwelded. The
reduction in allowable stresses for as-welded joints of
25% is in-line with the results of an extensive series of
corrosion fatigue tests conducted in Norway in the early
1980s [28].
Eurocode 9 also provides guidance on the influence
of environment, industrial and marine. The basic
approach is to reduce the detail classification, by up to
three categories in the case of immersion in seawater,
and to reduce the fatigue endurance limit, as illustrated
in Fig. 6. The design penalty is most severe for 7000
series alloys, which are also susceptible to stress corrosion cracking, while no reduction in design category
is required for 3000 series and aluminiummagnesium
5000 series alloys, although the fatigue endurance limit
is still reduced. In general, the extent of the reduction
in fatigue strength due to environment depends on the
detail and endurance since the SN curves are not parallel. It is not clear how the category-reduction approach
should be applied to the lower category details, for
which the required reduction would take them below the
design categories provided.
4. Comparison of design proposals and recent

fatigue data
4.1. Background
All the recent design SN curves for welded joints in
aluminium alloys are claimed to have been derived from
Fig. 6.
1367
experimental data by linear regression analysis such that

they represent approximately 97.7% probability of survival [19,2931]. However, it is not always clear how
this has been achieved. It is evident that in most cases
some judgement has been applied and even some
assumptions, like the slope of the design SN curve,
have been imposed. It is also claimed that special attention was paid to the provision of data relevant to real
structures, particularly with respect to the influence of
tensile residual stresses. Thus, wherever possible the
main basis of the design curves has been experimental
results obtained from full-scale welded specimens, usually beams, or from specimens tested under high tensile
mean stress conditions to simulate the effect of high tensile residual stresses. In view of this, the design SN
curves should be consistent with such data, including
data generated since the curves were published. In order
to provide a basis for judging the validity of the proposed design curves, relevant published data have been
assembled and they are presented in comparison with
some of the design curves. In this exercise, whenever
possible, attention has been focused on test results
obtained from specimens made from material 816 mm
in thickness, since plate thickness is known to influence
fatigue performance. Furthermore, only design curves
from the four most recent specifications, namely the
Aluminum Association specification, Eurocode 9, the
IIW recommendations and the DNV design note, are
considered. The majority of the experimental data were
obtained under constant amplitude loading and presented
in terms of nominal stress range. Hence, these will be
used to assess the design SN curves intended for use
with nominal stress range. Many of the results for beams
were obtained from the compilation of data in Ref. [30],
which does not always give full details of the source
(which may have been an internal company report). Reference is made to the relevant series in that reference.
Limited data presented in terms of hot-spot stress
range are also available and these will be used to assess
the proposed hot-spot stress SN curves. Finally, some
Eurocode 9 [7] allowance for reduction in fatigue strength due to marine corrosion.
1368
data have been obtained under variable amplitude loading. These will be used to assess the validity of Miners
rule and the methods proposed to modify the SN curve
below the constant amplitude fatigue limit to take
account of the damaging effect of low stresses. The variable amplitude fatigue data will be considered in terms
of the equivalent constant amplitude stress range, calculated on the basis that Miners rule is correct using the
constant amplitude SN data obtained in the same investigation. This equivalent stress range is as follows:
Seq m
Smini
(7)
ni
where ni cycles were applied at stress range Si before

failure, ni the total number of cycles to failure and m
is the slope of the SN curve. In those cases where a
significant number of applied stress cycles were below
the constant amplitude fatigue limit, the SN curve was
assumed to be extrapolated below this limit at a slope
of m + 2, as proposed in most of the specifications.
for 5000, 6000 and 7000 series alloys in thicknesses

from 6 to 15 mm. They are shown together with relevant
design SN curves in Fig. 7(a) for welds without
stop/starts and Fig. 7(b) for welds with stop/starts.
Referring first to the results for welds without
stop/starts (Fig. 7(a)), it will be seen that they are most
consistent with the slope of the IIW design curves (i.e.
m = 3), although only the Category 40 design curve is
safe for all the results. The Eurocode 9 and Aluminum
Association design curves appear to be too shallow. This
may be a situation in which the slope of the design curve
has been imposed. Both the Eurocode 9 and Aluminum
Association specifications provide SN curves which
become gradually steeper as the fatigue strength of the
detail decreases and the adoption of a slope of m = 3
for such a high fatigue performance detail would introduce an anomaly into such a scheme. However, compared with actual data, the result is that both the Eurocode 9 and Aluminum Association design curves are
particularly conservative in the high stress/low fatigue
life regime.
The case for a shallow SN curve is better for welds
containing stop/starts positions, as seen in Fig. 7(b). This
4.2. Continuous longitudinal welds

The stress concentrations introduced by continuous
longitudinal butt and fillet welds, weld ripples or lumps
if stop/starts are present, are relatively minor. Their corresponding fatigue performance is relatively good. The
severity of a stop/start would be intensified if crater
cracking occurred, which is certainly a possibility when
welding aluminium alloys, but these would normally be
repaired if found.
In spite of the relatively good fatigue performance of
continuous longitudinally loaded welds, they are
important details, particularly in welded aluminium alloy
structures. Such details may be the governing ones in
well designed structures in which poorer transverse
welds have been avoided or located in low stress regions.
The potential for doing this is enhanced in the case of
aluminium alloys because of the enormous scope for
producing special extrusions, for example of sufficient
rigidity in relevant parts to avoid the need for welded
stiffeners.
Continuous longitudinal welds are not explicitly
included in the DNV note. Of the other specifications,
both the IIW and Eurocode 9 distinguish between welds
with and without stop/starts. The IIW recommendations
also draw a distinction between butt and fillet welds. The
Aluminum Association gives only one design category
for both butt and fillet welds with and without stop/starts.
Recent fatigue data obtained from structural components [30 (series C2, D1 and D2), 32,33] are confined
to I-section beams in which the test detail is either a
continuous butt weld in the web or, in the case of fabricated beams, the web to flange weld. Data are available
Fig. 7. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from (a) continuous longitudinal butt and fillet welds without stop/starts and design
curves and (b) continuous longitudinal fillet welds containing
stop/starts and design curves.
situation arises mainly because of the wide scatter associated with the fillet weld results. There are some fatigue
data below all the design curves, the IIW curve being
particularly non-conservative and the Eurocode 9 curve
being the most suitable. Further investigation of the reason for the low [29] results would be worthwhile. By
and large, it may be noted that the database does not
provide a strong indication that distinction should be
drawn between butt and fillet welds in design specifications, but the results do support the distinction between
welds with and without stop/starts.
4.3. Transverse butt welds
This section is concerned with transverse butt welds
made from one or both sides, with the condition that
they should be full penetration welds. A number of factors will influence the fatigue performance of transverse
butt welds and some of them influence the design curves.
In particular, a distinction may be drawn between welds
made from one or both sides and welds with different
profiles (expressed in terms of the weld toe angle).
Further conditions might be that the weld should be
proved free from significant defects (i.e. those which
might replace the weld toe as the site for crack initiation
and lead to a lower fatigue life) by appropriate inspection, and that the effect of misalignment as a source of
secondary bending stress should be taken into consideration when calculating the stress experienced by the
weld.
A reasonable database from structural specimens containing transverse butt welds is available, mainly from
I-section beams [30 (series B7, B8, B10, B11), 33,34].
These include specimens fabricated or extruded from
5000, 6000 and 7000 series alloys in thicknesses ranging
from 8 to 15 mm. In some cases, the weld toe angle is
reported. The data are shown in comparison with relevant design curves in Fig. 8.
There is some indication of an influence of weld toe
angle in that the highest results were obtained from
welds with a toe angle not exceeding 30, while the lowest were from welds with angles up to 60. However,
some good profile welds also gave lives near the lower
bound and overall the results do not indicate a strong
correlation between weld angle and fatigue strength.
Similarly, the results do not provide support for distinguishing between one- and two-sided full-penetration welds.
The DNV note distinguishes between one- and twosided welds and welds with different profiles. Default
stress concentration factor values (by which stresses
obtained from the DNV III curve are divided) of K =
1.7 and 1.3, respectively, are given for weld toe angles
up to 50. The IIW recommendation distinguishes
between one- and two-sided welds and different weld
profiles, Eurocode 9 only distinguishes between one- and
1369
two-sided welds, but the Aluminum Association provides only one design curve for any transverse butt weld.
Referring to Fig. 8, it will be seen that the Aluminum
Association Category C curve and the DNV curve for
welds made from both sides are very similar and provide
reasonable lower bounds to the data. The Eurocode 9
curves are unaccountably low while the IIW curves
appear to be too steep and, apart from FAT 28, too high.
However, it is interesting to note that regression analysis
of all the experimental data together results in a mean
SN curve with slope of m = 2.95, very similar to the
assumed slope of m = 3 in the IIW recommendations.
4.4. Transverse butt welds made on permanent
backing
One technique for ensuring full penetration for butt
welds from one side only is to use a permanent backing
bar or, in the case of aluminium alloys, backing lip
included in the extrusion. For joints in steel, the fatigue
strength of the resulting joint is lower than that obtained
from butt welds made from both sides, due to the severe
stress concentration introduced at the weld root between
the main plate and backing bar [21]. Since this is a geometric effect, it would be expected that the same would
be found from aluminium alloys. To some extent this is
the case, but the database is surprisingly limited in view
of the potential for extruding aluminium sections
incorporating backing lips. In fact, only one reference to
tests on structural components [35] could be found. In
view of this, data obtained from specimens are also considered. The data found in the literature search are given
in Fig. 9 together with the appropriate design SN
curves. These refer to plate specimens in 6005 and 7020
alloys [30 (series B4)], extruded bridge deck panels in
6005 alloy and specimens extracted from such panels
[35]. In fact, these specimens were reported to be severely misaligned (angular distortion) with the result that
secondary bending occurred at the weld. The corresponding stress magnification factor Km was estimated
by the authors and the results are presented in terms of
Km nominal stress range in Fig. 9.
It will be seen that most of the data lie above the DNV
and Aluminum Association design curves, which are
shallower than the IIW and Eurocode 9 curves. The data
tend to follow the slope of the shallower curves, but with
such a limited database confined to a very limited range
of relatively low endurances this may be a misleading
impression. Certainly, in the light of experience of joints
in steel, the slopes of the IIW and Eurocode design
curves seem to be more appropriate, but further experimental data are needed to confirm this.
4.5. Transverse cruciform joints
Fatigue data are available for I-section beams incorporating cruciform joints [30 (series F1), 33] in 15 mm
1370
Fig. 8. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from transverse butt welded 5000, 6000 and 7000 series aluminium alloy beams and design
curves.
presented. As will be seen, the data are widely scattered.

However, both the IIW and Eurocode 9 curves appear
to be representative of the slope of the data and close to
the lower bound. The DNV and Aluminum Association
curves are similar, but both seem to be too shallow.
4.6. Transverse fillet welded attachments and
stiffeners
Fig. 9. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from transverse

butt welds made on permanent backing and design curves.
thick 5083 alloy and 8 mm thick 6005 aluminium alloy

[34]. In all cases, fillet and full penetration joints, failure
was by fatigue cracking from the weld toe. Also, some
data have been obtained from a model of a structural
connection used in an aluminium alloy ship [36]. This
was essentially the joint between the hull, T-section
longitudinal stiffeners and a transverse bulkhead (see
Fig. 10). The specimens were made in 6.4 mm thick
5086 H116 alloy. In all cases, the fillet weld sizes were
sufficient to avoid failure in the weld throat in preference
to failure from the weld toe.
All the results are plotted in Fig. 11 in comparison
with the appropriate design SN curves. The detail is not
explicitly covered in the Aluminum Association specification but it has been assumed that the design curve for
transverse fillet welded stiffeners is appropriate. The
Eurocode 9 design curve depends on plate thickness and
joint proportions and the curve shown is applicable to
the sizes of specimens used to generate the data
Transverse non-load carrying fillet welded attachments and stiffeners are very common in actual structures. Like transverse butt welds, small-scale specimens
are unlikely to contain high tensile residual stresses and
hence be representative of real structures from this viewpoint. Therefore, fatigue test results obtained from structural specimens are particularly valuable.
A reasonable database now exists, as shown in Fig.
12. Most of the results were obtained from beams with
full or partial depth web stiffeners in 1115 mm thick
5000, 6000 and 7000 series alloys [30 (series E1), 37].
In all cases, fatigue failure was from the weld toe in the
flange. In addition, a few results were obtained from Isection beams in 12 mm thick 6061-T6 [34] or 15 mm
thick 7020 alloys [30 (series E8)] with simple transverse
attachments on the tension flange.
Fig. 12 also includes the relevant design curves from
the four specifications being considered. As will be seen,
the data strongly support the slopes of the Eurocode 9
and Aluminum Association SN curves, between m =
3.2 and 3.6, and indeed those design curves are close to
the lower bound to the data. The DNV curve appears to
be too shallow, with a result that it is unduly conservative in the short life regime. The IIW curve, on the other
hand, seems to be too steep and over-conservative in the
long life regime. However, introducing a set of results
[38] obtained from small-scale specimens makes the
Fig. 10.
1371
Structural detail representing intersection of hull, longitudinal stiffener and transverse bulkhead fatigue tested by Beach et al. [36].
Fig. 11. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from structural

specimens incorporating cruciform joints and design curves.
slope of the IIW curve seem more reasonable. These

specimens were tested with the maximum stress held
constant at a value close to proof strength, to simulate
the presence of high tensile residual stresses. As seen,
they are rather similar to the results for beams with simple attachments. Clearly, more data for the long life
regime are needed to clarify the slope issue.
4.7. Longitudinal non-load carrying fillet welded
attachments
Specimens incorporating longitudinal non-load carrying fillet welded attachments offer the advantage that
Fig. 12. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from beams with
transverse fillet-welded attachments or web stiffeners, or plates with
transverse fillet-welded attachments, and design curves.
high tensile residual stresses exist even in small-scale

specimens [18]. The detail itself is not particularly common in real structures, except perhaps as gussets to
stiffen corners. Fatigue failure occurs by crack growth
from the weld toe at the end of the attachment, the
fatigue life being similar whether or not the weld is continued around the ends of the attachment. However, the
fatigue life varies with attachment size, the stress concentration effect at the end of the attachment increasing
with attachment length.
Fatigue data are available for beams, extruded and
1372
fabricated, with attachments fillet welded to the tension

flange [30 (series E6, E7), 34,39]. These have been
obtained using specimens made from 5000, 6000 and
7000 [34] series alloys in thicknesses between 11 and
15 mm. Some of these were tested under variable amplitude loading [39]. The loading spectrum used was based
on strain measurements on a railway freight wagon.
Finally, partly to extend the range of endurances, but
also because they include further fatigue test results
obtained under variable amplitude loading, recent results
obtained from 10 mm thick 7019 alloy specimens can
be considered [38].
All these data are plotted in Fig. 13, together with
the appropriate design SN curves, including the curves
extrapolated below the constant amplitude fatigue limit
for use when performing cumulative damage calculations. As will be seen, the SN curves are rather similar
above the constant amplitude fatigue limit, with slopes
that are consistent with the experimental data. The
design curves also lie close to the lower bound to the
data. Thus, any of the design curves could be supported
by the database.
Comparing the data in Fig. 13 with those in Fig. 7,
which are representative of beams without stiffeners or
other attachments, provides a striking illustration of the
detrimental effect of attachments on fatigue performance. In practice, they should be avoided in highly
fatigue-loaded areas.
The variable amplitude fatigue test results for both
beams and specimens are consistent with the respective
constant amplitude data, supporting the validity of
Miners rule for the spectra used. Furthermore, the beam
data extend well below the constant amplitude fatigue
limit and hence provide a useful check on the validity
of the extrapolated SN curve. Again, the data could be
used to support any of the proposals, but the fact that
they appear to be consistent with the same SN curve
as the constant amplitude data provides support for the
Aluminum Associations approach for extrapolating the
SN curve without any slope change. More results in

the high-cycle regime are needed to check this further,
particularly for other loading spectra.
It will be noted that the results obtained from smallscale specimens are entirely consistent with those
obtained from beams, confirming that the two types of
specimen incorporated similar high tensile residual
stresses. This adds confidence to the use of small-scale
specimens for investigating the fatigue performance of
this particular detail.
Large cover plates welded to beam flanges represent

extremely high stress concentrations and consequently
result in the lowest fatigue performance for welds failing
from the weld toe. Consequently, beams with cover
plates have been widely investigated for providing
design data. This has resulted in a large database for
beams in aluminium alloys, chiefly from fabricated
beams in 1015 mm thick 5000, 6000 and 7000 series
alloys [30 (series F3), 37]. A large number of results
have also been obtained from smaller beams [40,41], in
4 mm thick 6261-T6 aluminium alloy. All these results
are plotted together in Fig. 14, along with the relevant
design SN curves from the four specifications considered.
It will be seen that the IIW and Eurocode 9 design
curves are very similar and consistent with the database
in terms of slope and position. The Aluminum Association curve is slightly lower but of similar slope, while
the DNV curve appears to be too shallow with a result
that it is excessively conservative in the short life
regime.
This detail is one in which the thickness effect would
be expected to apply, and indeed is evident from a comparison of the results obtained from 4 mm thick specimens with the remainder. This thickness effect is incorporated in both the IIW recommendations and Eurocode
Fig. 13. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from beams and
plates with longitudinal fillet-welded attachments and design curves.
Fig. 14. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from beams with
cover plates and design curves.
4.8. Beams with cover plates
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9 and higher design curves would be used for the 4 mm

thick specimens.
4.9. Fatigue data expressed in terms of the hot-spot
stress range
Although guidance exists for the determination of the
hot-spot stress, notably the IIW recommendations [8],
there is still the need for corresponding SN curves. Preliminary proposals for weldable aluminium alloys have
been made by Partanen and Niemi [42] on the basis of
fatigue data generated at their university over a period
of years. The data were obtained from a variety of buttand fillet-welded specimens in 5000 and 6000 series
alloys, including a model of the structural connection
between the deck, longitudinal stiffeners and a transverse
bulkhead in a naval ship. The range of plate thicknesses
was 36 mm. In all cases, hot-spot stresses were determined from FEA or strain gauges using the procedures in
the IIW recommendations. The results (Fig. 15) were in
reasonable agreement and the authors proposed that the
IIW FAT40 design curve for transverse butt welds,
which is included in this figure, was suitable as a hotspot stress SN curve for both butt and fillet welded
joints in plate thicknesses up to 6 mm.
This reference to thickness is important because the
thickness effect discussed earlier will still exist even if
fatigue strength is expressed in terms of the hot-spot
stress. This is evident from another set of results for a
wider range of thicknesses, 324 mm, also expressed in
terms of the hot-spot stress range [25]. The test specimens were all 6061-T6 aluminium alloy plates with
transverse fillet welded attachments. The results are
shown in Fig. 16. Since the lowest SN curve, for 24
mm thick specimens, happens to correspond exactly with
the FAT40 design curve, it is tempting to conclude that
these data support Partanen and Niemis proposal. However, the results clearly show a thickness effect that justifies different hot-spot stress SN curves for different
Fig. 16. Fatigue test results obtained from 6061-T6 beams with filletwelded attachments expressed in terms of the hot-spot stress range
which illustrate a thickness effect [25].
thicknesses. A much larger database is needed to establish such SN curves.

Other variables that might need to be considered
further are the influence of the joint type and the
through-thickness stress gradient. Referring to the data
from Partanen and Niemi, there is a tendency for the
higher results to be for butt welds and the lower ones
for fillet welds, suggesting that there may be a need for
different hot-spot stress SN curves for the two types of
joint. A notable exception is the single lap joint that gave
the highest results. This probably reflects the influence
of bending stress gradient, which would have been particularly high in these joints due to their inherent misalignment. The effect, which is particularly significant
in thin sections, is to increase fatigue resistance. Thus,
this is another thickness effect that needs to be considered when selecting data from which hot-spot stress
design curves could be deduced. In general, data for high
stress gradients should be excluded unless the hot-spot
stress curve will only be used for similar conditions.
Finally, in order to assess the DNV hot-spot stress S
N curves [6] mentioned earlier, they are included in Fig.
15. As will be seen, both curves look reasonable. However, it should be mentioned that many of the results in
Fig. 16, virtually all those for 24 mm thick specimens,
lie below curve III, suggesting that the thickness effect
correction should be introduced at a lower value than
that currently specified (i.e. 25 mm) in the DNV note.
4.10. Effect of marine environment
Fig. 15. Fatigue data presented by Niemi and Partanen [44] as a basis
for the hot-spot stress SN curve for thickness up to 6 mm.
Marine corrosion fatigue (full immersion and a saline

atmosphere) of welded aluminium alloys was studied in
some depth in Norway [28] in the early 1980s. Fatigue
tests were performed on transverse butt- and filletwelded joints in 812 mm thick 5052, 5083, 6351 and
7004 aluminium alloys. The tests on specimens in saline
atmosphere or immersed in seawater were carried out at
the low frequency of 1 Hz to allow time for the corrosion
1374
reaction to take place. The tests were conducted in bending which meant that relatively high fatigue lives were
obtained, as compared with those expected for axial
loading. Based on comparison of the fatigue performance in air and seawater, the results were consistent with
earlier studies by Sanders and McDowell [43] on 5000
series alloys. However, the effect of the environment
varied with alloy type, 5052 and 7004 alloys being more
susceptible to environment than the others. In general,
immersion in seawater produced fatigue lives approximately one-third of those obtained in air, corresponding
to a 25% reduction in fatigue strength. A saline atmosphere was generally less harmful, but not always. It produced a similar reduction in fatigue life to full immersion
in seawater in the 5052 alloy, while it produced an order
of magnitude reduction in fatigue life in the case of butt
welds in 7004 alloy. The effect was less severe in fillet
welds. The influences of environment and alloy type
seen in this study are reflected in Eurocode 9 (see Fig. 6).
Fatigue crack growth studies in Russian AlMg5 and
AlZnMg alloys immersed in 3% sodium chloride solution [44] showed rather similar effects of environment
for both alloy types. Crack growth rate was increased,
but only significantly, by up to seven times, at relatively
high crack growth rates, with little effect of environment
near the threshold. The threshold itself was effectively
independent of environment. These results suggest that
the effect of environment on SN data referred to earlier
may have been largely associated with crack initiation,
which might also explain why butt welded 7004 alloy
was more susceptible to environment than fillet welds.
5. Friction-stir welding
All the data presented so far were obtained from arc
welded specimens. A new welding process that offers
considerably better fatigue performance is friction-stir.
Friction-stir welding (FSW) was invented at TWI, and
the first patent application was filed in December 1991.
The process is an entirely new method of making continuous welds in several configurations using a solidstate process. The concept of FSW is illustrated in
Fig. 17(a). This shows a rotating tool that consists of a
shoulder and a pin. The former is pressed against the
surface of the materials being welded, while the pin is
forced between the two components by a downward
force. The rotation of the tool under this force generates
frictional heat which softens the work-piece, and the
movement of the rotating tool along the joint line causes
softened material to flow from the region ahead of the
tool to the region behind, consolidating to form a solid
phase weld. The process uses no filler, and for most
materials a shielding gas is not required. As the process
does not melt the materials being joined, materials such
as series 2000 and 7000 aluminium alloy, which are
Fig. 17. Friction-stir welding: (a) FSW process; (b) FSW joint in aluminium sheet.
often difficult to weld by fusion processes due to solidification problems, are readily weldable. Experience has
shown that as the process is fully mechanised, high levels of consistency can be obtained in weld quality. In
aluminium, it is possible to make full penetration single
pass butt welds in thicknesses of less than 1 mm to over
50 mm.
The process is used commercially by an ever-growing
list of companies in the aerospace, shipbuilding, railway
and automotive sectors. Almost all of the current commercial usage involves aluminium alloys, although some
copper and magnesium alloys are also being welded. The
joining of other materials, including titanium alloys,
steel and nickel alloys, is under development.
FSW of aluminium alloys produces joints of high
quality with static mechanical properties that equal, or
generally exceed, those of competing processes, but with
lower scatter. An example of a weld is shown in Fig.
17(b). In view of the favourable profile, it is not surprising to find that, under similar conditions, the fatigue
properties of friction-stir welds in aluminium alloys
compare very favourably with those for welds made by
MIG, the normal alternative. There are several examples
in the literature, all relating to 6000 alloys (since 2000
and 7000 alloys cannot be welded easily by the MIG
process), although they are mainly confined to tests on
relatively thin specimens [4547]. A typical example, for
5 mm thick 6082 alloy tested under the relatively severe
loading condition of R = 0.5 [45] is shown in Fig. 18.

In the same investigation FSW joints in 6005 alloy gave
fatigue test results close to those obtained from the
unwelded material, which is deliberately low to allow
for possible weld root flaws.
In principle, it is possible to make any weld design
which does not require the addition of a filler material
by FSW, although most experience to-date relates to
butt- and lap-joints. A particular benefit is that full penetration butt welds are readily achieved in joints made
from one side only, whereas such joints are highly vulnerable to root flaws in welds made by other processes.
Fig. 18 includes the current Eurocode 9 design curves
for transverse butt welds made from one or two sides,
for comparison with the test data. It will be clear that
friction-stir welds made from one side can achieve considerably better fatigue lives than those indicated by the
design curve. Root flaws can still arise in FSWs, but
they can be relatively large before they affect the fatigue
performance of the joint [48]. Unfortunately, FSW cannot be used to make fillet welds, as no filler is used.
Therefore comparative fatigue data for fillet welds do
not exist.
1375
geometry, e.g. dressing by machining, grinding or

TIG remelting.
(b) Introduction of compressive residual stresses, e.g.
peening (hammer, needle, shot and brush), ultrasonic
impact treatment.
In general, both types of improvement technique are
only readily applicable to surface stress concentrations,
notably weld toes. Improvement techniques have been
widely studied in the context of welded steel, but less
so in aluminium alloys. However, the general principles
should be applicable to aluminium, as confirmed in a
recent review by Hobbacher [49]. However, the review
showed that most published data referred to butt welds,
whereas in practice fillet welds present the greater potential fatigue problem. It was concluded that a fatigue
strength improvement at 2 106 cycles of around 1.4 or
more was justified for all the joint types reviewed, leading to the recommendations summarised in the following table:
Structural detail
Treatment
method
Transverse butt
welds
Laser dressing
TIG dressing
Brush peening
Shot blasting
Cruciform joint
fillet welds
Hammer
peening
Longitudinal
fillet-welded
stiffener
Grinding
Hammer
peening
Fatigue strength
improvement
factor
6. Fatigue life improvement methods

Fatigue life improvement techniques play an
important part in achieving higher design stresses when
the fatigue lives of structures are restricted by the presence of low fatigue strength details like fillet-welded
attachments. They may also be needed to ensure that a
weld repair of fatigue damage will survive longer than
the original detail. Thus, they are relevant to both the
original design and life extension of existing structure.
There are two main principles behind the various
improvement techniques [21]:
(a) Reduction of the stress concentration due to weld
Fig. 18. Comparison of fatigue data for 5 mm thick 6082 alloy butt
welded by MIG or FSW [45].
1.4
Transverse fillet- Brush peening

welded stiffener
A practical problem with aluminium that can arise in

the case of dressing techniques concerns porosity. Flushgrinding of butt welds or TIG dressing of butt or fillet
welds can result in previously embedded pores being
exposed. TIG dressing can actually cause surface-breaking pores [50]. They then act as crack initiation sites and
can actually reduce the fatigue life of the weld detail.
Although some design codes refer to the use of
improvement techniques, none provides recommendations on the improvement in fatigue life to be achieved. This partly reflects uncertainty about the correct
application of the techniques and their effect on the
fatigue performance of real structures. In relation to the
last point, it is known that the fatigue performance of
1376
welds treated by the residual stress techniques are significantly affected by mean stress, any benefit disappearing at stresses approaching yield [51]. Thus the techniques may not be suitable for large structures containing
high tensile residual stresses or there may be doubts
about their benefits in situations where the mean stress
is not known. The IIW is currently addressing both the
provision of specifications for the application of
improvement techniques and corresponding benefits in
terms of revised SN curves [52], including preliminary
recommendations for welded aluminium alloys.
7. Fracture mechanics assessment of fatigue

Fracture mechanics offers the ability to assess the
fatigue performance of aluminium structures containing
known or assumed flaws. In the context of the original
structure, these could be manufacturing flaws, when the
assessment might be required if the flaw exceeds the
manufacturing quality standard being worked to. In the
context of the assessment of existing structures, they are
likely to be cracks formed during previous service by
fatigue or other mechanisms.
Eurocode 9 contains an Appendix with guidance on
the use of fracture mechanics for assessing welded aluminium alloys. This includes recommended fatigue
crack growth laws based on a large database produced
by Alusuisse [22]. These are expressed as a series of
Paris laws, to model the data more accurately than a
single Paris law, as illustrated in Fig. 19. The same data
are referred to in BS 7910 [16] and the corresponding
IIW recommendations [53]. These also contain very
detailed guidance on the use of fracture mechanics for
assessing welded structures, including a comprehensive
Fig. 19. Example of multi-stage fatigue crack growth relationships

for aluminium alloys proposed by Jaccard [22].
set of stress intensity factor solutions for the types of

crack and welded joint geometry which are likely to be
encountered. One advantage of the procedure in the IIW
recommendations is that it is linked with the IIW fatigue
design curves for welded aluminium alloys to facilitate
direct comparison of the fatigue performance of flaws
and that of basic design details in the same structure.
However, BS 7910, which relates the fracture mechanics
assessment to British Standard design SN curves, is
more up-to-date.
The multi-stage Paris law crack growth data from Eurocode 9 have also been presented as polynomials [54],
in order to deduce better estimates of the probability of
failure associated with upper-bound curves. However,
regardless of the method of presentation, little has been
done to confirm that the same complex, multi-stage
crack growth relationship is a general law, applicable to
any cracks in real structures.
8. Future research
A number of aspects of both the design specifications
and residual life assessment methods considered in this
review would be improved by further research. The following are suggested as being the most important:
(a) Provision of fatigue data for non-arc welding processes, particularly friction-stir but also laser welding, and their incorporation in design specifications.
(b) Study of cumulative damage under realistic stress
spectra, with particular emphasis on the high-cycle
regime and the damaging effect of stresses below
the constant amplitude fatigue limit.
(c) Further fatigue tests and FEA of structural details to
establish hot-spot stress SN curves and guidance on
the practical application of the approach.
(d) Identification of potential fatigue design improvements that could be achieved by better use of special
extrusions, and generation of appropriate fatigue
data. Data are also required for transverse butt welds
made on the backing provided by an extruded lip.
(e) Establishment of specifications for applying
improvement techniques (of particular relevance for
life extension) to welded aluminium and experimental confirmation of their value under realistic
loading conditions (e.g. mean stress, loading
spectrum).
(f) As far as the use of fracture mechanics for estimating
residual fatigue life is concerned, the information
incorporated in BS 7910 probably represents the current state of the art. However, it does place particular
emphasis on steel and experimental work to decide
on the choice of fatigue crack growth relationships
appropriate for aluminium alloys and experimental
validation of the fracture mechanics approach in general would be useful.
1377
also grateful to his colleague Dr P.L.Threadgill for his

assistance with the section on friction-stir welding.
9. Conclusions
References
Based on a review of published information on fatigue

assessment procedures for welded aluminium structures
and supporting experimental data, the following conclusions can be drawn:
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[2] Eurocode 9. Design of aluminium structures: part 2: structures
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(a) Of the three fatigue design assessment procedures

described, that using the nominal stress SN curves
is the most developed and standardised, but the hotspot stress approach will probably prove to be the
most valuable for structural design in future.
(b) Several national and international fatigue design
specifications have been published in recent years.
Eurocode 9 and the IIW recommendations are the
most comprehensive.
(c) Even so, most design data refer to arc welded joints
and there is a need for corresponding data for other
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(d) There are significant differences between all the proposed design SN curves and the fatigue test database available for large-scale structural specimens,
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consistent with experimental data.
(e) There is a scarcity of data for weld details incorporating special extrusion shapes, (e.g. built in backing
lip) and little effort seems to have been made to
investigate improved fatigue performance of welded
aluminium structures by better use of extrusions.
(f) The fatigue performance of commonly welded aluminium alloys is not greatly influenced by immersion
in a marine environment. The recommendations in
Eurocode 9 are consistent with relevant published
data.
(g) There is little information in the literature on remaining life assessment procedures. The most appropriate
are the use of design SN curves or, if allowance
must be made for damage sustained during previous
service, fracture mechanics. Comprehensive guidance and recommended input data for the application
of fracture mechanics are contained in BS
7910:1999.
Acknowledgements
This work described in this paper was funded partly
by the Australian Maritime Engineering CRC Ltd. and
partly by Industrial Members of TWI Ltd. The author is
1378
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International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

Review of fatigue assessment procedures for welded

Corresponding author: Tel.: +44-1223-897762; fax: +44-1223892588.

national Aluminium Conferences (INALCO), which has

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

constant in equation for SN curve

Finally, areas still requiring further research are identified.

fourth is not generally used for design but for assessing

2. Fatigue assessment methods

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

ing the weld detail of interest (Fig. 2). Such SN curves

Fig. 2. Examples of design SN curves for welded joints (from IIW

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

of a weld is highly variable and, at the design stage, not

Then, the remaining life is given by:

Remaining life (e.g. in years)

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

life so far (years)

2.3.2. Fatigue design review

with deviations as K approaches a threshold value

For variable amplitude loading the integration will be

where Y is a function of geometry and loading. The use

Fracture mechanics fatigue crack growth relationship.

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

ECCS. European recommendations for aluminium alloy

BS CP 118, BS 8118, in 1985. However, meanwhile

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

endurance limit. A constant amplitude fatigue endurance

Fig. 5. Examples of fatigue design SN curves for aluminium alloys

and statistical lower bound, usually mean 2 standard

where A and m are constants. The curves are assumed

3.3.2. Effect of residual stress and mean stress

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

Thus, for as-welded joints it is assumed that the butt

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

The range is not totally comprehensive and, as will be

4. Comparison of design proposals and recent

experimental data by linear regression analysis such that

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

where ni cycles were applied at stress range Si before

for 5000, 6000 and 7000 series alloys in thicknesses

4.2. Continuous longitudinal welds

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

presented. As will be seen, the data are widely scattered.

Fig. 9. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from transverse

thick 5083 alloy and 8 mm thick 6005 aluminium alloy

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

Fig. 11. Comparison of fatigue test results obtained from structural

slope of the IIW curve seem more reasonable. These

high tensile residual stresses exist even in small-scale

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

fabricated, with attachments fillet welded to the tension

SN curve without any slope change. More results in

Large cover plates welded to beam flanges represent

4.8. Beams with cover plates

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

9 and higher design curves would be used for the 4 mm

thicknesses. A much larger database is needed to establish such SN curves.

Marine corrosion fatigue (full immersion and a saline

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378

S.J. Maddox / International Journal of Fatigue 25 (2003) 13591378