The peak stress method to calculate residual notch stress intensity factors in welded joints

According to the recent literature, the intensity of linear elastic residual stress fields near the toe region of a welded joint can be quantified by the residual notch stress intensity factors (R‐NSIFs). The computational effort required to compute the R‐NSIFs implies strong limitations of applicability in practice, owing to the very refined meshes needed and to the non‐linear transient nature of welding process simulations, especially in 3‐dimensional numerical models of large structures. The peak stress method (PSM) is a design approach that takes care of the industrial needs of rapidity and ease of use. According to the PSM, it is possible to evaluate the R‐NSIFs by using the peak stress calculated at the point of singularity with coarse finite element (FE) models. While the PSM was originally calibrated by using the Ansys FE code, in the present contribution, the PSM has been calibrated to rapidly estimate the R‐NSIFs in the Sysweld FE environment.