The fracture behaviour of a welded tubular joint––an ESIS TC1.3 round robin on failure assessment methods: Part I: experimental data base and brief summary of the results

Experimental work was carried out to determine the fracture behaviour of welded tubular T-joints made of high strength TMCP-steel. Besides the load parameters, the crack profiles along the crack front were determined for the T-joints as well as for small SE(B)-specimens at different applied loads. This gave a direct information on the crack driving force. The aim of this work––which was part of an ESIS TC1 (subcommittee 3) activity on failure assessment––was an evaluation of various analytical failure assessment methods by carefully controlled experiments on a typical component. The main results of the various flaw assessment methods applied to the T-joints will be briefly summarised.