Fatigue performance and life prediction methods research on steel tube-welded hollow spherical joint

The grid structures with welded hollow spherical joint (WHSJ) have gained increasing popularity for use in industrial buildings with suspended cranes, and usually welded with steel tube (ST). The fatigue performance of steel tube-welded hollow spherical joint (ST-WHSJ) is however not yet well characterized, and there is little research on fatigue life prediction methods of ST-WHSJ. In this study, based on previous fatigue tests, three series of specimen fatigue data with different design parameters and stress ratios were compared, and two fatigue failure modes were revealed: failure at the weld toe of the ST and the WHSJ respectively. Then, S–N curves of nominal stress were uniformed. Furthermore, a finite element model (FEM) was validated by static test, and was introduced to assess fatigue behavior with the hot spot stress method (HSSM) and the effective notch stress method (ENSM). Both methods could provide conservative predictions, and these two methods had similar results. However, ENSM, especially when using von Mises stress, had a better fit for the series with a non- positive stress ratio. After including the welding residual stress and mean stress, analyses with the local stress method (LSM) and the critical distance method (CDM, including point method and line method) were carried out. It could be seen that the point method of CDM led to more accurate predictions than LSM, and was recommended for series with positive stress ratios.