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ScienceDirect
Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2023) 000–000
Procedia Structural
Structural Integrity
Integrity 57 00
Procedia (2024) 618–624
(2023) 000–000 www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

Fatigue Design 2023 (FatDes 2023)

Fatigue Design 2023 (FatDes 2023)
Recent
Recent update
update of
of the
the IIW-recommendations
IIW-recommendations for
for fatigue
fatigue assessment
assessment
of
of welded
welded joints
joints and
and components
components
Baumgartner, J.a,∗, Hobbacher, A.b , Levebvre, F.c
Baumgartner, J.a,∗, Hobbacher, A.b , Levebvre, F.c
a Fraunhofer LBF, Institut for Structural Durability and System Reliability, Darmstadt, Germany
a Fraunhofer LBF, Institut for Structural Durability and System Reliability, Darmstadt, Germany
b Jade University of Applied Sciences, Wilhelmshaven Germany
b Jade University of Applied Sciences, Wilhelmshaven Germany
c CETIM, Senlis, France
c CETIM, Senlis, France

Abstract
Abstract
The IIW-Recommendations for Fatigue Design of Welded Components and Structures is an international guideline that contains
Therelevant
all IIW-Recommendations
information to designfor Fatigue
weldedDesign of Welded
structures under Components
cyclic loading.andWithin
Structures is an internationalall
the recommendations, guideline
relevantthat contains
assessment
all relevant information to design welded structures under cyclic loading. Within the recommendations, all relevant
approaches, i.e., nominal, structural and notch stresses as well as fracture mechanics, are included. In addition, the relevant influ- assessment
approaches,
ences i.e., nominal,
are covered, such as structural
the effect ofandpost-weld
notch stresses as well
treatment, as fracture
mean mechanics,
resp. residual stressesareand
included. In addition,
wall thickness. thecurrent
In the relevant influ-
update,
ences are covered, such as the effect of post-weld treatment, mean resp. residual stresses and wall thickness.
the structure is enhanced and straightened and with it the applicability is improved. As completely new content, the assessment of In the current update,
the structure
welded is enhanced
thin joints with theand straightened
notch and with
stress approach andit the
the impact
applicability is improved.
of post-weld As completely
treatment proceduresnew content,
on the the assessment
endurable stresses andof
welded
the slopethin joints
of the S-Nwith theisnotch
curve added.stress
It is approach
expected and
that the
the impact of post-weld
new update will havetreatment
the sameprocedures on the and
impact on design endurable stresses
other codes as and
the
the one.
old slope of the S-N curve is added. It is expected that the new update will have the same impact on design and other codes as the
old one.
©
© 2023
2024 TheTheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier B.V. B.V.
© 2023
This anThe Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open
open accessarticle
access article under
under the the
CC CC BY-NC-ND
BY-NC-ND license
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
This is an open
Peer-review
Peer-review access
under
under article under
responsibility
responsibilityof the thescientific
of the CC BY-NC-ND
scientific committee oflicense
committee theof (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Fatigue
the Design Design
Fatigue 2023 organizers
2023 organizers.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Fatigue Design 2023 organizers.
Keywords: IIW-recommendations; fatigue design guideline; welded joints and structures
Keywords: IIW-recommendations; fatigue design guideline; welded joints and structures

1. Introduction
1. Introduction
The IIW-Recommendations for Fatigue Design of Welded Components and Structures is a worldwide used guide-
lineThe IIW-Recommendations
to assess Fatigue
for of
the fatigue strength weldsDesign
under of Welded
cyclic Components
loading. and Structures ishave
These recommendations a worldwide
first beenused guide-
published
line to assess the fatigue strength of welds under cyclic loading. These recommendations have first
in 1996 and updated in 2006 and 2016 [1]. They represent the state of art and science and are based on the newest been published
in 1996 and updated
experimental, in 2006
methodical and 2016 [1].
and numerical Theythat
findings represent the state of art
have independently andvalidated.
been science and are based on the newest
experimental, methodical and numerical findings that have independently been validated.
The development of the IIW-recommendations takes place the within the International Institute of Welding
TheHere,
(IIW). development
the JointofWorking
the IIW-recommendations takes placeXIII
Group of the Commissions theand
within
XV the International
(JWG) has the taskInstitute
to gather Welding
of scientific
(IIW). Here, the Joint Working Group of the Commissions XIII and XV (JWG) has the task to gather
results on the fatigue assessment and fatigue design of welded joints and structures. The main sources are a) results scientific
results on the fatigue assessment and fatigue design of welded joints and structures. The main sources are a) results

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-6151-705-474.

∗ Corresponding
E-mail address:author. Tel.: +49-6151-705-474.
[email protected]
E-mail address: [email protected]
2210-7843 © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
2210-7843
This
2452-3216 ©
© 2023
is an open The
access
2024 The Authors.
article Published
under
Authors. by
by Elsevier
the CC BY-NC-ND
Published ELSEVIERB.V.B.V.(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
license
This
This is
is an
an open
Peer-review open access
underaccess article
article under
under
responsibility the CC
CC BY-NC-ND
thescientific
of the BY-NC-ND license
license
committee (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)
of the Fatigue Design 2023 organizers.
Peer-review
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of theFatigue
under responsibility of the scientific committee of the FatigueDesign
Design2023
2023organizers.
organizers
10.1016/j.prostr.2024.03.068
 J. Baumgartner et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 57 (2024) 618–624 619
2 J. Baumgartner et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2023) 000–000

from the various Working Groups (WG) within Commission XIII, b) papers presented and discussed during the
Annual Assembly of IIW that are published in the journal Welding in the World and c) publications in other journals.
The IIW-recommendations have reached a worldwide impact that can be identified by the currently 38.000 accesses
and nearly 400 references in journal papers for the 2016 version. One reason for its success is the fact, that the
recommendations are compiled from scientific results achieved by the leading researchers in fatigue. Therefore, the
document is based on a current scientific basis and is, beyond that, unrelated to any industrial branches. With this, a
broad application in various industries is possible.
The work on the update started in 2017. The publication of the new IIW-recommendations is expected in 2024. In
the following, an overview on the most relevant changes is provided and references to the source of the changes is
given.

Nomenclature

rref Reference radius

m General slope of an S-N curve
mσ Slope of S-N curve for normal stresses
mτ Slope of S-N curve for shear stresses
t Wall thickness
n Thickness correction exponent
N Number of cycles

2. Most important changes

2.1. Nominal stress approach

Due to evaluations of available data in literature, some changes of FAT-classes within the nominal stress approach
have been made, Table 1. Main important changes are the addition of laser-beam welded butt joints with a FAT80 for
steel and an increase in FAT-class of high-quality butt joints ground flush with additional requirements.

Table 1. Changes made in the structural details for the nominal stress approach

Detail No. Changes made

121 Added FAT-class for aluminum sheets with machine gas cut or sheared edges.
211 A reevaluation of S-N data [4] showed a higher fatigue for high-quality butt joints ground flush.
FAT125 is recommended for a max. misalignment of 5% and FAT112 for 10%. The slope is changed
to kσ = 5.
216a The detail ”Transverse laser-welded butt welds” was added with FAT80 for steel and FAT28 for
aluminum.
411 The detail ”Transverse stiffener with weld toes ground” was increased to FAT90 and FAT32 for steel
and aluminum resp. to be in line with the recommendations on the new assessment approach on
post-weld treated joints.

2.2. Notch stress approach and thin welded joints

One of the major changes in the updated IIW-recommendations is the consideration of smaller reference radii for
the assessment of thin-welded joints with thicknesses t ≤ 10 mm [2]. The choice of the reference radii depends on the
620 J. Baumgartner et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 57 (2024) 618–624
J. Baumgartner et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2023) 000–000 3

material thickness and the failure location; weld toe or weld root, Figure 1. Since no support effects are considered
when maximum stress for radii rref  1 mm are used [5], the FAT-classes depend in this case on the notch type, resp.
opening angle. In addition, a differentiation between stresses normal to the weld and shear stresses was added. A table
for all three reference radii rref = 1.0 mm, rref = 0.3 mm and rref = 0.05 mm is provided.

a) rref

1.00 mm 1

0.30 mm prior recommended for use

2

0.05 mm 3
t optionally correction necc.
1 2 3 5 10 20 30 50 mm due to potential change of
load path
b) rref

1.00 mm 1
Applicable, but larger
0.30 mm 2 radii recommended

0.05 mm 3
t
1 2 3 5 10 20 30 50 mm

Fig. 1. Choice of the reference radius depending on the sheet thickness and failure location

In addition, the slopes of the design S-N curves of welded thin joints are modified. Evaluations of fatigue data
show [2, 6] that in average, the slopes values kσ and kτ increase with decreasing thickness. Therefore, for thicknesses
t < 7 mm, shallower slopes of kσ = 5 and kτ = 7 are recommended.

2.3. Post-weld treated joints

Two additional improvement techniques have been included in the IIW-recommendations: Weld profiling and
HFMI-treatment.
Weld profiling is similar to weld toe grinding; however, the whole weld is mechanically ground [9]. This leads, in
comparison to weld toe grinding, to higher endurable stresses, since the typical undercut and subsequently a stress
raiser is avoided. For the nominal stress approach, a bonus factor of 1.4 is recommended, compared to a factor 1.3 for
weld toe grinding.
For HFMI-treated joints, the recommendations from [3] are integrated in a compact version, allowing an increase
in endurable stresses depending on the material strength.
In addition to the bonus factors that lead to an increase in endurable stresses, the slope of the S-N curve is changed
depending on the improvement technique. For weld toe grinding, weld profiling and TIG-dressing, the slope is set to
kσ = 4, for HFMI-treated joints, the slope is set to kσ = 5. The shallower slopes lead to a pronounced increase in
fatigue strength at high number of cycles (N > 2 · 106 ).
For all improvement techniques, the increase in FAT-classes is given for all three stress-based approaches, nominal,
structural and notch stresses.

2.4. Influence of wall thickness

It is well known that the endurable nominal and structural stresses decrease with increasing wall thickness, e.g.,
[12]. This effect is typically covered by power function with an exponent n that depends on the specimen type.
The influence of the wall thickness on the endurable nominal and structural stresses is now better captured for
transverse attachments and cruciform joints. The basis for the improved assessment is a data collection evaluated in
 J. Baumgartner et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 57 (2024) 618–624 621
4 J. Baumgartner et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2023) 000–000

the JWG [8]. The reduction factor for wall thickness tref > 25 mm is evaluated by

 t n  t 0.1
ref
f (t) = · (1)
t tattach

where tattach is the half the distance between the weld toe radii. For other joint types, the conventional equation

 t n
ref
f (t) = (2)
t

may be used. The thickness correction exponent n depends on the joint type and the post weld treatment. An extended
table within the IIW-recommendations summarizes recommended values.

2.5. Fatigue resistant determination by testing

In case that a numerical fatigue assessment is not possible, e.g., due to a new welding process or the need of
experimental proof, recommendations on the experimental procedure and the subsequent statistical evaluation are
given. The complete section was revised, compared to the version from 2016. The given recommendations on the
statistical evaluations are an excerpt from the Best practice guideline for the statistical analyses of fatigue results
[7] developed within the WG1 of commission XIII. Whereas the main principals for the evaluation stayed same, a
more clear and comprehensive description is provided.
As main improvements following items can be named:

• A check for normal distribution at start of the evaluation should be performed. If this check fails, reasons need
to be identified and special care should be taken if the resulting S-N curve is used for further evaluations.
• For the determination of S-N curves a full set of equations is given. As a first step, an evaluation with a free
slope m should be performed and the standard deviation sdtv of m should be derived. If the evaluated slope
range (m ± stdv) is close to a standard slope, an evaluation with a fixed fixed slope mfix can be performed.
• In case two datasets should be merged and evaluated, a statistics-based procedure is proposed.

In a separate section, recommendations for the evaluation of crack propagation data is given.

2.6. Fatigue assessment

The whole chapter 4 that deals with the fatigue assessment with stress-based approaches, fracture mechanics and
fatigue testing was restructured.
For the stress based approaches, now, no differentiation of the different approaches (nominal, structural or notch
stresses) is necessary. A clear separation was introduced separating four main load cases:

1. Constant amplitude, uniaxial stress

2. Constant amplitude, multiaxial stress
3. Variable amplitude loading, uniaxial stress
4. Variable amplitude loading, multiaxial stress

New graphs have been created to guide the user in the application of the different assessment approaches, e.g., for
constant amplitudes, Figure 2.
One small but relevant change is the assessment of multiaxial stress states. First, the Gough-Pollard equation
is recommended as standard approach for the assessment. Second, Gough-Pollard equation is extended and takes
622 J. Baumgartner et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 57 (2024) 618–624
J. Baumgartner et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2023) 000–000 5

Fig. 2. Assessment with stress-based approaches for constant amplitude loading

additionally the stresses parallel to the weld ∆σ∥ into account.

 2  2  2
∆σ⊥,S ,d ∆τS ,d ∆σ∥,S ,d
+ + ≤ CV (3)
∆σR,d ∆τR,d ∆σ∥,R,d

With this evaluation, more complex stress states can be evaluated and non-conservative assessments can be avoided
in case of more complex stress states. Only for the evaluation with notch stresses care must be taken, to use nominal
or structural stresses (acting ones and endurable ones) parallel to the weld.
The assessment with fracture mechanics was updated to fit the structure of the assessment with linear-elastic
stresses. Recommendations have been added, how the assessment of long load spectra (variable amplitudes) should
be conducted.

2.7. Statistical considerations on safety

In the section for the statistical considerations on safety, formulae for the statistical assessment have been added
and a new graph visualizing the assessment by comparing the probability of occurrence of stresses with the variation
of the endurable stresses was added.

2.8. Chapter examples

In order to help the engineer to apply the IIW-recommendations correctly, an extensive set of examples was added:

• Fatigue strength assessment of a welded transverse stiffener under constant and variable amplitudes as well as
under uni-axial and multi-axial stresses
• Fracture mechanics assessment by Mk solutions and with the weight function approach
• Statistical evaluation of S-N data and verification of log-normal distribution
• Estimation of K MAT from Charpy-V-notch data
 J. Baumgartner et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 57 (2024) 618–624 623
6 J. Baumgartner et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2023) 000–000

3. Conclusions and outlook

As it becomes aware in the list of improvements and additions, the new version of the IIW-recommendations
continues to be the one leading guideline for the fatigue assessment of welded joints and structures. Especially the
consideration of welded thin sheets and the possibility to better assess post-weld treated structures (weld profiling and
HFMI) broadens substantially the application range and exceeds other standards and guidelines.
Even though a huge step was made, future research work is still necessary. Following main topics are still under
investigation for which no generalized recommendations can be given:

• The worst-case assumption of high tensile residual stresses is still the basis for the assessment and S-N data for
the R-ratio of R = 0.5 is recommended for use. This assumption is still valid, since the numerical determination
of residual stress states in complex structures needs currently a high numerical effort or is even in the most
cases impossible. So, no information on the residual stress state can be given during the design state. However,
an approach could be set up that considers the (local) yielding of the material and subsequently a decrease in
residual stress.
• Some quality aspects of welds are currently indirectly considered by different FAT-classes, for example the
weld profile at butt joints. Even though a first good attempt was made to correlate quality and fatigue [10, 11],
the correlation is designated to one material thickness of t = 10 mm and the nominal stress approach. A more
generalized approach would be helpful, as well as recommendations for the assessment of quality with structural
and notch stresses.
• The majority of post-weld treated specimens was tested at normal stresses in literature. Information on the
applicability for shear stresses are lacking. This addresses the improvements factors as well as the resulting
slopes.
• Non-proportionality at multiaxial loading is considered by the CV-factor that is set to CV = 0.5 in case of chang-
ing principal stress direction. This pragmatic approach leads to conservative results. However, a more differen-
tiated approach should be used that is able better represent cases with a ”small amount” of non-proportionality.
• The assessment of thin sheets is right now only captured by the notch stress approach. Recommendations are
missing how thin welded joints can be evaluated by nominal or structural stresses.

These and additional topics will be addressed in future work within Commission XIII of the International Institute
of Welding.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to all members of IIW-commission XIII for the hard work and valuable discussions.

References

[1] Hobbacher, A. F., Recommendations for fatigue design of welded joints and components. Springer International Publishing, 2016.
[2] Baumgartner, J., Hobbacher, A. F. and Rennert, R., 2020. Fatigue assessment of welded thin sheets with the notch stress approach – proposal for
recommendations. International Journal of Fatigue, 140, 105844.
[3] Marquis, G. B., Barsoum, Z., 2016. IIW Recommendations for the HFMI treatment. Springer Singapore.
[4] Braun, M., Baumgartner, J., Hofmann, G., Drebenstedt, K., Bauer, N. M., Bakhschi, H., Kuhlmann, U. A statistical assessment of the fatigue
strength improvement of butt-welded joints by flush grinding. Welding in the World, 67, 2345–2359.
[5] Baumgartner, J., 2017. Review and considerations on the fatigue assessment of welded joints using reference radii. International Journal of Fatigue,
101, 459–468.
[6] Sonsino, C. M., Bruder, T., Baumgartner, J. (2010). S-N lines for welded thin joints - Suggested slopes and FAT values for applying the notch stress
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[7] Parmentier, G., Huther, M., Huther, I., Lefebvre, F. (2023). , Best practice guideline for statistical analyses of fatigue results. Springer Nature
Switzerland.
[8] Hobbacher, A. F. (2018). A re-analysis of a data collection of transverse welded on attachments. International Institute of Welding, IIW Doc. No.:
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[9] Braun, M., Hensel, J., Song, S. Ehlers, S. (2021). Fatigue strength of normal and high strength steel joints improved by weld profiling. Engineering
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[10] Hobbacher, A. F., Kassner, M. (2012). On relation between fatigue properties of welded joints, quality criteria and groups in ISO 5817. Welding in
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[11] ISO 5817 (2023). Fusion-welded joints in steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys (beam welding excluded) Quality levels for imperfections. ISO.
[12] Kihl, D. P., Sarkani, S. (1997). Thickness effects on the fatigue strength of welded steel cruciforms. International Journal of Fatigue, 19, 1997.