• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.307-312
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• 2012

This study aims to investigate the effect of the post weld treatments on the fatigue life of T-type welded structure made by a SM50A steel material, generally used for excavators, because changes in the geometry, material and surface properties of welded regions affect the fatigue life of welded structures. T-type test specimens were prepared by the CO2 welding of rolled steel plates (SM50A steel) with a thickness of 10 mm at a welding speed of 30 cm/min and these Ttype welded specimens were further treated by UIT (Ultrasonic Impact Treatment) and/or toegrinding post welding treatment methods. In order to investigate improvements on the fatigue life of the samples. 3-point bending fatigue tests were conducted with a stress ratio of R=0.1 under a cyclic loading environment at a frequency of 5 Hz, via a hydraulic fatigue testing machine (${\pm}100\;kN$, MTS 809). The tests were performed at room temperature. The fatigue life of UIT specimens was approximately 25 times longer than that of as-welded specimens at a stress amplitude of 281 MPa, while toe-grinding specimens exhibited 4.15 times longer fatigue life. The current results could provide important guidelines to determine the proper post weld treatment methodologies of T-type welded parts for excavators with a satisfactory fatigue life although under severe operating conditions.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.73-79
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• 2013

Burr grinding, Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) dressing, ultrasonic impact treatment, and peening are used to improve fatigue life in steel structures. These methods improve the fatigue life of weld joints by hardening the weld toe, by improving the bead shape, and by creating the compressive residual stress. In this study, a new post-weld treatment method improving the weld bead shape and metal structure at the welding zone using Friction Stir Processing (FSP), a welding process, is proposed to enhance fatigue life. For that, a pin-shaped tool and processing condition employing Friction Stir Processing (FSP) is established through experiments. Experimental results revealed that fatigue life is improved by around 50% compared to as-welded fatigue specimens by reducing the stress concentration at the weld toe and by generating a metal structure finer than that of flux-cored arc welding (FCAW).

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2016

With the recent increase in size of ships and offshore structures, there are more demand for thicker plates. As the thickness increases, it is known that fatigue life of the structures decrease. To improve the fatigue life, post weld treatments techniques, such as toe grinding, TIG dressing and hammer peening, are typically employed. However, these techniques require additional construction time and production cost. Therefore, it is of crucial interest steels with longer fatigue crack growth life compared to conventional steels. This study investigates fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) behaviours of conventional EH36 steel and Ferrite-Bainite dual phase EH36 steel (F-B steel). F-B steel is known to have improved fatigue performance associated with the existence of two different phases. Ferrite-Bainite dual phase microstructures are obtained by special thermo mechanical control process (TMCP). FCGR behaviours are investigated by a series of constant stress-controlled FCGR tests. Considering all test conditions (ambient, low temperature, high stress ratio), it is shown that FCGR of F-B steel is slower than that of conventional EH36 steel. From the tensile tests and impact tests, F-B steel exhibits higher values of strength and impact energy leading to slower FCGR.