Fatigue analysis of welded joints in a forestry machine : Utilizing the notch stress concept

Sammanfattning:

Welding is one of the most applied technics in the world for joining steel. Welds are liable to the phenomenon of fatigue, which is, primarily, the formation of a crack and consequently reduction of strength due to the action of time varying loads. Fatigue is one of the main causes of failure in steel structures. The aim of this thesis is to do static and dynamic analyses of a forestry crane with the purpose of using the analyses to determine the lifetime due to fatigue of welded components.

Two methods for fatigue assessment are used in this work, the Hot-Spot Method and the Notch Stress Method. The first boom, which is a key component for the crane, is analyzed in a Finite Element Method (FEM) software. The found principal stress in accordance with the notch stress method in the first boom is ±165 MPa for the analyzed load case, rendering in a stress range of 330 MPa. The fatigue strength class FAT-225 (m=3), leads to an expected number of 633000 cycles, with a probability of survival of 97,7% for this case.