Test of fatigue crack growth in welded specimens subjected to bending

The paper presents the test results on the fatigue crack growth under cyclic bending specimens at constant moment amplitude made of S355 steel with fillet welds. Plane specimens with stress concentrators in form of the external two-sided blunt notches were tested. The tests were performed under constant value of the stress ratio R = –1 without and after heat treatment. The article also presents the test results of the microstructure of welded joints taking into account changes in the material after heat treatment and the impact of these changes on the fatigue life of specimens. Keywords: welded joints, fatigue cracks length, number of cycle, bending, microstructure