Fatigue Strength of Fillet Welded Steel Structure Under Out-of-plane Bending Load

The effect of out-of-plane loads on the fatigue strength of welded steel structures is examined through fatigue tests with weldment of two fillet weld joint types. The results of the fatigue tests are compared with those under axial loads, on the basis of the hot spot stress range at the weld toe. From the result of the comparison, a method on how to incorporate the effect of the out-of-plane bending stress is proposed using design S-N curves derived from fatigue tests under the axial load. The proposed method is useful for rational assessment of the fatigue strength of fillet-welded structures, where combined stresses of the in-plane axial stress and the out-of-plane bending stress are induced simultaneously due to the complexity of applied loads and structural geometry.