Application of the weakest link analysis to the area of fatigue design of steel welded joints

A new approach in the area of fatigue life assessment of steel welded joints is being proposed with the following features: (i) methodology of fatigue life calculation is independent from geometry of welded element; (ii) fatigue life assessment is based on fatigue characteristic of introduced efficient material – suitable for different steel welded joints; (iii) the fatigue life assessment is carried on the desired level of failure probability. proposed method a material volume surrounding the weld is divided into volume elements and regarded as a serial system having its definition in the reliability theory (the weakest link concept). Failure probability distribution of the welded structure is characterized by the proposed S–N curve for efficient material and the shape parameter introduced to describe the volume effect.