Disadvantages of traditional methods for the determination of stresses in stress concentration zones of welded joints discussed in the first part of this overview required to be classified and inspired the development of technologically advanced solutions. The article contains an overview of works concerned with methods and approaches to the determination of maximum local stresses present in the above-named stress concentration zones. The article provides classification of methods in accordance with international documents and regulations, presents advantages and disadvantages of existing assessment methods concerning near-weld stresses as well as discusses further research trends.

Various machinery parts or welded structure elements are characterised by significant cross-sectional changes along their length, leading to locally increased or accumulated stresses. The concentration of stresses is often of vital importance when determining structural stresses and strains, affects the service life of elements exposed to cyclic loads as well as influences the initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks. The article is an overview of works concerning conventional methods enabling the determination of maximum local stresses present in the stress concentration area triggered by the geometrical shape of welded joints.Keywords: welded joints, weld geometry, stress condition, concentration of stresses, computational methods doi: 10.17729/ebis.2017.4/7 The design of welded structures involves the adoption of input quantities excluding their premature fatigue failure and taking into consideration the economic aspects connected with the making of such structures. To satisfy these conflicting requirements it is necessary to precisely identify the fatigue service life at the early design stage and, when doing so, allow for the concentration of stresses determined by the geometry of welds. The stress concentration effect on the fatigue service life and crack resistance was addressed in many works. The problem concerning the determination of maximum stresses in relation to the shape of an element has remained a significant problem for over 50 years now.The traditional method used when determining maximum stresses during plastic strains involves the multiplication of nominal stresses by the theoretical stress concentration factor (SCF) used as the quantitative evaluation of stress accumulation. The recent decades have seen the development of both traditional and new approaches aimed to determine the SCF as well as the development of methods enabling the identification of maximum stresses without calculating the SCF.It is known that when preset external force factors affect a structural element containing a weld, the SCF does not depend on material properties but on the type of a concentrator, its sharpness and relative dimensions. It should also be noted that the concentration of stresses is limited to a specific area. Traditionally, the nature of stress distribution on the concentration zone was determined using two methods.