Engineering Failure Analysis 45 (2014) 326–338

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Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Calculations of notch stress factor of a thin-walled spreader

bracket fillet weld with the use of a local stress approach
Karol Niklas
Gdańsk University of Technology, The Faculty of Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology, Poland

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Presence of geometric notches in welded joints causes concentration of strains and stres-
Received 24 March 2014 ses, therefore reducing fatigue strength of such joints. This article presents an analysis of
Received in revised form 29 May 2014 stress concentrations in a fillet weld of a spreader mounting bracket on a small sailing
Accepted 25 June 2014
yacht. The aim of this article is to direct the attention of designers, manufacturers and reg-
Available online 15 July 2014
ulatory bodies to issues of fatigue cracks that form in brackets fastening spreaders to masts.
The issue concerns mainly yachts with overall length of a hull below 10 m. Despite fre-
Keywords:
quent defects the solution is still being chosen by designers, mainly for technological rea-
Local stress approach
Stress concentration factor
sons. Current design regulations of classification societies and other regulatory bodies for
Spreader bracket small recreational yachts do not specify a technical solution for spreader fastening. With
Fatigue the use of finite element analysis it was shown that for short term design loads structural
Crack strength of a bracket is sufficient. Then, with the use of the notch stress approach, it was
proven that the spreader bracket welded of thin plates is a structural solution that runs
a risk of fatigue cracks. The below presented calculations of the geometric concentration
factor of weld section in the locations of fatigue cracks were performed for different geo-
metric cases of joints. The analysis results indicate the need for greater attention that
should be paid to the problem of fatigue cracks that form in welds of brackets fastening
spreaders to masts. The determined values of effective stress concentration coefficients
show the need for conducting fatigue calculations of brackets welded of thin plates, or
choosing an alternative solution for fastening spreaders to masts. In both cases it seems
appropriate to conduct fatigue calculations for a structural element which is ‘‘a weak link’’
of the main drive on a sailing yacht.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Design regulations for small sailing yachts do not require fatigue calculations for structural elements of hull, fittings, mast
[1–9]. In practice structures of most yachts are designed on the basis of short-term strength calculations with adequate
safety factors, and usually the issues associated with material fatigue are not analysed directly. Therefore, it is assumed that
the structure is designed safely and problems connected with fatigue cracking of elements, e.g. welded joints, are negligible.
In reality fatigue cracks in structures of small yachts are quite common, but the results of their presence rarely contribute to
a rapid decrease in safety. Usually the appearing fatigue cracks are discovered during inspections and only then the faulty
element is repaired or replaced. That is, of course, if the cracks are detected early enough. It is necessary to emphasise that
only a small percentage of the utilised yachts is subject to supervision of classification societies. Classification societies most

E-mail address: karnikla@pg.gda.pl

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2014.06.017
1350-6307/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.