Connection between the Matching Phenomenon and Fatigue Crack Growth Behaviour of High Strength Structural Steel Welded Joints

Abstract:

The application of high strength structural steels in welded structures is growing steadily and intensively. Quenched and tempered (Q+T) as well as thermomechanically treated (TM) steel base materials are developing faster than the filler metals for fusion welding processes, and therefore the selection of filler metal deserves special attention. Welded structures made of high strength steel are often subjected to cyclic loading, which can cause initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks and can lead to fatigue fracture failure of the structural element or the structure. This characteristic must also be taken into account when selecting the filler metal. In order to study this issue, welded joints were made from base materials in the 700-1300 MPa strength category using gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process. The applied filler metals were of the undermatching, matching or overmatching type, depending on the strength of the base material. Fatigue crack propagation (FCP) tests were performed on specimens machined from the welded joints, in which notch locations and crack propagation directions were statistical in nature. Therefore, the fatigue crack propagation directions were parallel and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the welded joints and located in different zones of the heat affected zone (HAZ). From these investigations, the two parameters (C and n) of the Paris-Erdogan equation were determined for each specimen and statistical samples were formed from the base material-filler metal matching pairs. During the evaluation of the results, it was found that the matching phenomenon has significant effect on the fatigue crack propagation behavior of the welded joints and that this effect depends on the strength category of the base material. Based on these results, recommendations for the applicable base material-filler metal pairings were proposed.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 1030)
• Pages: 41-48
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-BdxAk3
• Online since: November 2025
• Authors: Judit Kovács*, János Lukács
• Keywords: Fatigue Crack Growth, High Strength Steel, Matching Phenomenon, Welded Joints

References

[1] A. Akyel, M.H. Kolstein, F.S.K. Bijlaard, Fatigue strength of repaired cracks in base material of high strength steels, Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 139 (2017) 74-384.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcsr.2017.10.005

[2] J. Berg, N. Stranghöner, Fatigue behaviour of high frequency hammer peened ultra high strength steels, International Journal of Fatigue, 82, 1 (2016) 35-48.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2015.08.012

[3] M. St. Weglowski, M. Zeman, M. Lomozik, Physical simulation of weldability of Weldox 1300 steel, Materials Science Forum, 762 (2013) 551-555.

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.762.551

[4] M. St. Weglowski, M. Zeman, Prevention of cold cracking in ultra-high strength steel Weldox 1300, Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, 14, 3 (2014) 417-424.

DOI: 10.1016/j.acme.2013.10.010

[5] M. Tümer, F. Pixner, N. Enzinger, Residual stresses, microstructure, and mechanical properties of electron beam welded thick S1100 steel, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance (2021)

DOI: 10.1007/s11665-021-06348-1

[6] M.T. Chen, A. Cai, M. Pandey, C. Shen, Y. Zhang, L. Hu, Mechanical properties of high strength steels and weld metals at arctic low temperatures, Thin-walled structures, 185, 110543 (2023)

DOI: 10.1016/j.tws.2023.110543

[7] M. Gáspár, Effect of welding heat input on simulated HAZ areas in S960QL high strength steel, Metals, 9, 1226 (2019)

DOI: 10.3390/met9111226

[8] M. Gáspár, R. Sisodia, Improving the HAZ toughness of Q+T high strength steels by post weld heat treatment, Materials Science and Engineering, 426, 012012 (2018)

DOI: 10.1088/1757-899x/426/1/012012

[9] M. Amraei, A. Ahola, S. Afkhami, T. Björk, A. Heidarpour, X.L. Zhao, Effects of heat input on the mechanical properties of butt-welded high and ultra-high strength steels, Engineering Structures, 198, 109460 (2019)

DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.109460

[10] D.A. Porter, Weldable high-strength steels: challenges and engineering applications, 68 IIW Annual Assembly & International, Conference of the International of Welding, 2-3 July 2015, Helsinki, Finland

[11] F. Farrokhi, J. Siltanen, A. Salminen, Fiber laser welding of direct-quenched ultrahigh strength steels: evaluation of hardness tensile strength, and toughness properties at subzero temperatures, ASME J Manuf. Sci. Eng., 137, 6, 061012 (2015)

DOI: 10.1115/1.4030177

[12] M. Amraei, T. Skriko, T. Björk, X.L. Zhai, Plastic strain characteristics of butt-welded ultra-high strength steel (UHSS), Thin-Walled Structures, 109 (2016) 227-241.

DOI: 10.1016/j.tws.2016.09.024

[13] H. Tervo, A. Kaijalainen, V. Javaheri, M. Ali, T. Alatarvas, M. Mehtonen, S. Anttila, J. Kömi, Comparison of impact toughness in simulated coarse-grained heat-affected zone of Al-deoxidized and Ti-deoxidized offshore steels, Metals, 11, 1783 (2021)

DOI: 10.3390/met11111783

[14] M. Tümer, F. Pixner, R. Vallant, J. Domitner, N. Enzinger, Mechanical and microstructural properties of S1100 UHSS welds obtained by EBW and MAG welding, Welding in the World, 66 (2022) 1199-1211.

DOI: 10.1007/s40194-022-01276-7

[15] M.M. Pedersen, Improving the fatigue and control performance of loader cranes, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalborg University, Special Report, No. 71.

[16] EN 10025-1:2004: E: Hot rolled products of structural steels – Part 1: General technical delivery conditions.

DOI: 10.3403/30397781

[17] MSZ EN ISO 16834:2012: Welding consumables. Wire electrodes, wires, rods and deposits for gas shielded arc welding of high strength steels. Classification.

DOI: 10.3403/30467112

[18] MSZ EN ISO 18276:2017: Welding consumables. Tubular cored electrodes for gas-shielded and non-gas-shielded metal arc welding of high-strength steels. Classification.

DOI: 10.3403/30472578