The potential of HFMI treatment to increase fatigue life under service loading remains in debate. However, some recent studies show that even under variable amplitude loading (VAL), fatigue strength is increased compared to untreated welds. Discussions generally focus on the stability of initial compressive residual stresses, which may be reduced during VAL due to high peak stresses. In this context, the potential of HFMI treatment is often only attributed to residual stress stability. This study presents further results on the effect of VAL with a P(1/3) and a linear load spectrum on the residual stress stability of HFMI-treated transverse stiffeners (TS) made of mild steel (S355) and high-strength steel (S700M). The impact of random, High-Low and Low-High loading sequences on the fatigue strength as well as on the residual stress behaviour of HFMI-treated joints will be discussed.

This paper presents the influences of the irregularity “insufficient penetration welding” on the fatigue strength based on experimental and numerical investigations. For this purpose, the fatigue strength of partial penetration butt welds of mild steel (S355) with different non-welded gaps were subjected to fatigue loading. Three different planned gap dimensions ( h = 4, 6, 8 mm) at one-sided (Y-seam) and two-sided (DY-seam) partial penetration butt welds were analysed. The results were obtained on a small-scale test specimen with a steel plate thickness of t = 20 mm, without axial and angular misalignment. For the numerical effective notch stress approach, regression formula for efficient analysis of stress concentration factors was determined. The results show that butt joints which are not fully penetrated on one or both sides, and which were previously not permissible for welded joints subject to fatigue loading, can be evaluated in the future on the basis of these investigations.

It has been shown in several studies that methods to improve the fatigue strength of welded structures, such as high-frequency impact treatment (HFMI), can increase the fatigue life of welded joints [1–6]. The results of these investigations led to current guidelines and recommendations for the fatigue assessment of HFMI-treated welded joints. Nevertheless, in practice, there are reservations regarding the efficiency of HFMI-treated welded steel joints under variable amplitude loading. Recent results [7] from studies on transverse attachments of the material S355 and S700 under variable amplitude loading show that the fatigue strength increasing effect of the HFMI-treatment is maintained compared to the as-welded state. The aim of this study is to analyse the sequence effect on the fatigue strength of HFMI-treated transverse attachments and to validate the applicability of linear damage accumulation hypotheses for the design of as-welded and HFMI-treated welded details. In this paper, fatigue test results with random variable amplitude loading (VAL) and high-low VAL and low–high VAL with linear spectrum for the two states as-welded (AW) and HFMI-treated joints will be presented.

In the meantime, it’s well known that post-weld fatigue strength improvement techniques for welded structures like high-frequency mechanical impact (HFMI) treatment increase the fatigue live of welded joints. Although the current design recommendations for HFMI-treated welded joints give first design proposals for the HFMI-treated welds, in practice the application of HFMI treatment and the associated increase in fatigue resistance are still being discussed. There are, for example, reservations regarding the efficiency of HFMI-treated welded joints under variable amplitude loading (VAL). This paper analyses first results for the sequence effect of VAL of a p (1/3) spectrum on the service fatigue strength of HFMI-treated transverse stiffeners (TS) of mild steel (S355). Fatigue test results with random and high-low loading for the two states as-welded (AW) and HFMI-treated joints will be presented. The modified linear damage accumulation and the failure locations will be discussed. The experimental results show a clear change in the slope of the S-N curve from the as-welded (AW) state to the HFMI state and additionally in the HFMI state from constant amplitude loading (CAL) to variable amplitude loading (VAL). It was particularly noticeable in the experimental results of all tested HFMI series that the specimens failed exclusively in the base material 2–4mm before the HFMI-treated welds. The presented results of the investigations show that with application of the nominal stress concept, no sequence effect was recognizable.