The effect of post weld heat treating and stress relieving on the fatigue strength of AISI 8630 cast steel, weld repaired with different filler materials, is the primary objective of the study. To determine the material properties, experiments included monotonic tensile tests, load-controlled fatigue tests as well as hardness tests. Moreover, specimens were micro-etched to examine the morphology of the fracture surface.
The results of the fatigue tests are presented in the form of S-N charts. The test findings are then employed in a generalized numerical solution to predict the fatigue behavior of similar components.
Finite element models are used to calculate stresses in tested samples, stress concentrations, and in fatigue life comparisons. Stress-life predictions were performed using the modified Goodman criterion to account for the mean stress effects caused by the stress ratio R = 0.1 loading. Predictions based off of finite element analysis and analytical solution for fatigue life provided reasonable estimates which are confirmed by the experimental results.
