Observation of micro fatigue cracks at GMA welded joint of thin steel sheet

Fatigue tests were performed on GMA welded joints using a prototype steel sheets with varying amounts of C. In addition, the origin of the fatigue cracks in the thin steel GMA welded joints were investigated through observation the micro cracks in the specimens that were judged to be not fractured by fatigue limit stress in the fatigue test. As a result of plane bending fatigue test of bead-on-plate welding sheet, fatigue limit of the welded specimen did not differ much between the steel sheets. Observing the specimens which were not fractured at the fatigue limit, micro cracks often occurred at the bottom of the ripples on the weld metal surface and in the ferrite structure. It was founded that fatigue cracks in thin steel sheet GMA welding using mixed gas occurred parallel along the bottom of the ripples and parallel cracks merged with the crack growth, resulting in a zigzag propagation path on the weld joint surface. The effect of ripple on the fatigue limit was predicted by comparing estimating the fatigue limit without considering the ripple with the fatigue limit obtained from experiment. Finally, the effect of ripple on the fatigue limit was more than 10% and less than 20%. And it was implied that higher the strength of the material, the greater the effect of ripple on the fatigue limit.