Fatigue strength of laser-arc hybrid welded joints with tack welds

Abstract

This study examined the fatigue strength of cruciform joints and longitudinal joints fabricated with laser-arc hybrid welding, in which tack welds were installed at the connection. The cruciform joints were tested under tensile cyclic loads and out-of-plane bending cyclic loads. In the longitudinal joints, four-point bending fatigue tests were performed on plate girders fabricated with the hybrid welding. In addition, finite element analysis was performed on the cruciform joint to investigate the effect of tack welds on stress concentration at weld toes. The test results revealed that the fatigue strengths of the hybrid welded joints are equivalent to those of arc welded joints with or without tack welds and satisfy the fatigue design curves specified in JSSC recommendation. Moreover, the analysis results indicated that tack welds have little influence on stress concentration at weld toes in cruciform joints fabricated with laser-arc hybrid welding.