Effects on Fatigue Life of Prior Processing and Seam Positioning of Welded Steel Tubes

Steel welded tubular products are sold as being a given grade and processing sequence to achieve specific mechanical properties. In many cases, the processes used by a steel mill to achieves these products is widely varied and consequently the product that is produced will vary in mechanical properties, especially fatigue strength based upon manufacturing practice, even with similar other mechanical properties. The end user of these products may then arbitrarily orient the welded section with respect to the applied loads which can significantly effect the fatigue life of the component. This presentation will examine the differences in the fatigue properties based on prior processing and the developed microstructures.