Validation of the numerical procedure to calculate the fatigue life of welded joints using the Ansys computational package

Resumo

The phenomenon of fatigue is highly complex and is present in most mechanical component appli-
cations. In this sense, according to Ruchert (2007), fatigue shows itself as the predominant cause in structural

failures. Recognizing the importance of fatigue in engineering studies, the goal of this research is to gather infor-
mation and data that may become relevant for the computational modeling and analysis of welded joints, as well as

the calculation of fatigue life. Thus, was reproduced the modeling of a beam-column assembly, which is subjected
to a transverse loading to the free section of the beam, performed previously by Moreira et al (2017). The ANSYS
Finite Element software was used, specifically the Fatigue Tool module of the Ansys Workbench environment.
The weld element on which fatigue life is evaluated is of the fillet type. The results obtained are compared with
those presented by Moreira et al (2017) and showed agreement with each other. Thus, since the adopted procedure
proved to be effective in the study of fatigue life, it is details are presented here as a contribution to the development
of future works.