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5 EVALUATION OF FATIGUE DATA AVAILABLE TO FACILITATE PRESSURE EQUIPMENT FATIGUE DESIGN

Work Package 5 addressed the assembly of fatigue data available to facilitate pressure equipment fatigue design. The responsible for this WP was TWI. The particular aim was to compile a catalogue of available data relevant to the fatigue assessment of steel pressure equipment, to comment on the quality of the data with respect to modern pressure equipment design and manufacturing methods and to identify the main future research needs. 5.1 Data Compilation

An important step in the derivation of the fatigue design S-N curves contained in the new CEN PE Standard pr EN13445 was confirmation that they were consistent with available data obtained from fatigue tests on actual pressure vessels. Therefore, the main task undertaken in WP5 was a review of available data, considering both those results reviewed previously in preparation for revision of the fatigue rules in the UK pressure vessel Standard BS5500 and more recent results. The data sets considered were: - Pressure vessels failing in un-welded material; - Pressure vessels failing by radial crack growth from a nozzle weld root; - Pressure vessels failing from a nozzle weld toe; - Pressure vessels failing from longitudinal seams butt-welded from both sides; - Pressure vessels failing from butt-welds made from one side; - Plate specimens and pressure vessels failing from burr ground weld toes; - Cruciform joints failing in the weld throat from the root; - Bolts with rolled or cut threads failing from the thread root. Fig. 25 shows the fatigue cracking initiation sites covered by the database. This important data, fully detailed in the WP5 Report, amounts to approx. 340 vessel results. For each class identified above, re-assessment of the data reviewed previously was necessary in order to investigate the influence of factors not considered then (e.g. plate thickness, stress analysis), but also because of the need to justify current design data. Public reaction to the draft CEN fatigue design rules indicates widespread concerns that the design S-N curves for weld details are too conservative. Although it is accepted that they are based directly on fatigue tests on actual welded specimens and components, including pressure vessels, there is a view that the specimens would not meet the high standards of current pressure vessel design and manufacture. Consequently, it is believed that vessels made today will exhibit better fatigue performance than the specimens used to generate the design data. In view of the importance of this issue, in this evaluation special attention was paid to the quality of the pressure vessels tested and the significance, in relation to fatigue performance, of features that may be affected by manufacturing Standards. At the same time, extra care was taken to identify the appropriate stress from the test results for consistency with the stresses used in the new CEN Standard. The opportunity was also taken to review the CEN fatigue design rules for welds failing in the weld throat, welds improved by weld toe grinding, and the rules for bolting. In each case, data obtained from simple specimens rather than actual pressure vessels are the main basis for design.

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Weld Weld toetoe in in or shell or shell branch branch Crotch corner

Toe of longitudinal seam butt-welded from both sides

Knuckle of torispherical head

Root of longitudinal seam butt-welded from one side

Root of circumferential butt weld between shell and end, made from one side

Fig. 25 Fatigue crack initiation sites covered by pressure vessel database 5.2 Review of Pressure Vessel Data

In general, there was reasonable agreement between the pressure vessel test results and results obtained from corresponding details incorporated in plate specimens or components. The exception was longitudinal butt-welded seams fatigue cracking under the cyclic hoop stress. In order to correlate the results with those from butt-welded plates, it was necessary to assume that the welded joints in the vessels were misaligned, within the normal tolerances allowed by pressure vessel standards.

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5.2.1 Failures from Unwelded Locations Fatigue test results from pressure vessels that failed by fatigue cracking in unwelded steel were obtained from 15 references, giving over 150 test results. The major finding from the analysis of the data is that there was not always support for the corresponding CEN design curve. The striking case was fatigue failure in un-welded steel (Fig. 26). The CEN procedure over-estimated the fatigue lives of 28% of the 156 vessels included in the database, typically by a factor of up to 10 but in one case by a factor of over 20. These cases were all examined in detail to ensure that errors had not been made in the analysis, but the situation remained unchanged.
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l h j l m j m h lc aa a j jc l kb m c m dg b d m ce lj c e c mm m b b j l b b hh d m m b d j hh j m gl gbb f ja d b b a m l lm jb h ijka km m kk j m j f k b hh k k l l jj jn j f jlj f j jn k j k l h h h n nk i n k nkjk n n n n k ii nn k nn n Actual life greater than

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Fig.26 Comparison of fatigue lives of pressure vessels failing in un-welded material and lives calculated using CEN rules, indicated some lack of conservatism in the latter. On the basis of this comparison it would appear that the design data provided in the new CEN Standard for assessing unwelded steel are unconservative in some respects. Sensitivity analysis is required to determine which parameters have the most influence, but it is anticipated that choice of S-N curve, which depends on the ultimate tensile strength of the steel, will prove to be the most significant. There is no evidence from the pressure vessel tests that steel strength influence fatigue performance and therefore it is not appropriate to provide different S-N curves for different strengths of steel. However, the fact that even use of the lowest design curve has produced over-estimates of the actual fatigue life suggests that the curves themselves may be unconservative.

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As an alternative to the current CEN procedure, the pressure vessel test results suggest that a single S-N design curve may be sufficient for unwelded material, based directly on the pressure vessel test results. Regression analysis of those results to give the mean -3 SD S-N curve, as generally adopted for design in the CEN Standard, indicates that a design curve close to Class 88 (class 90 is the closest CEN design curve) would be suitable, as indicated in Fig. 27. The resulting design curve would be used in conjunction with the stress close to the site of stress initiation but regardless of steel strength or surface finish. In view of the fact that, as noted earlier, machining and polishing the surface is beneficial to fatigue, there is clearly scope for refining the design procedure to include allowance for surface finish. In this respect, the surface finish correction term in current CEN rules may be suitable.
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Fig. 27 Statistical analysis of fatigue test results for obtained from vessels failing in un-welded material; the Class 88 curve provides a suitable lower bound. 5.2.2 Pressure Vessels Failing at Welds The present design Class for fatigue failure from a nozzle weld root was found to be entirely consistent with experimental data, as was that covering potential cracking from the weld toe, based on the use of the hot spot stress (Fig. 28 and 29). However, further confirmation is required for the latter because of the difficulty of interpreting the stress analyses information presented in most references. There is scope for a re-evaluation of this case, preferably using stresses derived from finite element analysis of the test vessels, the stress analysis method used increasingly as a matter of routine. Scatter in the experimental data may have masked other influences, but the data suggest

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that there is no justification for downgrading fillet or partial penetration welded nozzles, as in the CEN Standard. Lastly, a case in which the CEN design curves seem to be too high compared with relevant fatigue data was that of butt-welds, either made from both sides or from one side only, stressed normal to the weld (Fig. 30).

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Fig. 28 Comparison of fatigue test results from vessels failing from the nozzle weld root and continuous longitudinal fillet welds.
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Fig. 29 Comparison of fatigue data from pressure vessels failing from a nozzle weld toe and for other cases of weld toe failure, in terms of the hot-spot stress.

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Sym bol Ref. (4) Decock (5) Stockman (8) Decock (11) Decock (16) Dubuc & Welter (17) Welter & Dubuc (as-w elded) (22) Kameoka et al (25) Harrison et al (28) Iida et al (as-w elded) T Shell 19-25mm thick, others 7-13mm thick

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Fig.30 Fatigue test results obtained from pressure vessels failing from the toe of the longitudinal butt-welded seam 5.3 Significance of Experimental Variables

5.3.1 Surface Finish Limited data obtained from pressure vessels fatigue cracking in unwelded steel demonstrated the importance of surface finish. This is to be expected since the number of cycles required to initiate a fatigue crack will depend on the surface finish. Making a generous radius on the crotch corner and polishing the surface were both beneficial. In practice, the same benefit would only be obtained if the smooth surface finish were maintained throughout the operating life of the vessel. Clearly, surface degradation due for example to corrosion pitting would reduce the benefit of the original surface finish. 5.3.2 Material Tensile Strength It had not been expected that the tensile strength of the steel would have influenced the fatigue lives of pressure vessels failing from weld details and the data confirmed this. However, it had been expected that there would have been an improvement in the fatigue performance of vessels failing in un-welded steel from the use of high strength steels. The CEN Standard makes this assumption and different design curves are presented for different tensile strengths of steel. However, the pressure vessel data and relevant fatigue data obtained from plate specimens

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showed no such influence. Indeed, there was strong support for the single Class 90 design curve for unwelded steel of any tensile strength, or class 80 for flush ground butt or repair welds. 5.3.3 Section Thickness Overall the database did not cover a sufficiently wide thickness range to investigate the effect of thickness on fatigue performance. At present, the CEN Standard includes a design penalty to be applied if the section thickness exceeds 25mm, reflecting the general reduction in fatigue life with increasing section thickness. Some of the pressure vessel data confirmed the trend of reduced fatigue performance with increasing section thickness. However, the present thickness correction factor is well founded on the basis of extensive data obtained from both plate and tubular specimens and the present review provides no evidence to contradict it. 5.3.4 Source of Loading The vast majority of the pressure vessel fatigue data were obtained from vessels subjected to cyclic internal pressure. However, some were also obtained from vessels subjected to mechanical loading, applied to a nozzle. However, for a given stress in the region of fatigue cracking, there was no evidence that the resulting fatigue life was different. Thus, the CEN design curves can be assumed to apply for either pressure or mechanical loading. A third important source of fatigue loading in pressure vessels is thermal cycling. No relevant fatigue data for pressure vessels were found in the literature search. However, it is important to ensure that the design procedure in pressure vessel Standards also applies for thermal cycling and this is an important area for future study. 5.3.5 Influence of Stress Relief One factor that has had a very significant effect on the form of fatigue design curves for welded structures is the assumption that structures will always contain high tensile residual stresses. A primary source of residual stresses is welding itself and there is extensive evidence to confirm that these are likely to be of yield magnitude in some parts of each welded joint in real structures. However, long range or reaction residual stresses of similar magnitude can also arise from the assembly of the structure from component parts, due to imperfect fit up. In the presence of such tensile residual stresses it is found that the fatigue lives of welded joints are independent of applied mean stress, even if the fluctuating stress is compressive. Consequently, fatigue design S-N curves are presented in terms of the full applied stress range and used to consider structures under any load conditions. This approach is directed mainly at structures subjected to high-cycle fatigue under relatively low applied stresses. In practice, the influence of residual stresses decreases as the applied stress approaches yield, disappearing altogether at stresses exceeding yield. Thus, under low-cycle fatigue conditions it is not expected that residual stresses have any effect on fatigue performance. This is particularly relevant to pressure vessels since low-cycle fatigue behaviour is invariably of primary concern.

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Clearly, one way to improve the fatigue performance of welded structures that are influenced by the presence of residual stresses is to stress relieve them. This is rarely practicable for most structures, but pressure vessels are an exception. Indeed, it is common practice to stress relieve pressure vessels by appropriate heat treatment. In the context of fatigue, the main benefit of stress relief is that applied compressive stresses are less damaging and, for some loading conditions, the fatigue endurance limit increases. Considering the available database from fatigue tests on pressure vessels, neither of these benefits was apparent. Virtually all the test vessels were stress relieved and therefore there was little scope for direct comparisons to examine the effect of stress relief. However, where this was possible, there was no evidence of any influence of stress relief. However, this is not surprising. Most of the fatigue data were obtained at stress levels approaching or even exceeding yield, with very few at stresses close to the fatigue endurance limit. Furthermore, the applied loading always produced cyclic tensile stresses in the region of fatigue crack initiation. In general, the test conditions applied to the pressure vessels were not ones where stress relief would be expected to be beneficial. Since the test conditions were entirely realistic, it seems unlikely that there will be practical circumstances where real operating pressure vessels would benefit from stress relief from the fatigue viewpoint. 5.4 Significance of Manufacturing quality

All the investigators whose fatigue data were presented claimed that the test vessels were manufactured to pressure vessel Standards in force at the time, indicating that the quality of manufacture was entirely realistic. However, the issue of manufacturing quality was rarely discussed specifically and therefore it is necessary to rely on the limited evidence presented to assess the quality of the test vessels. An aspect relevant to fatigue failure from un-welded parts of the vessel is surface finish and certainly this varied. Furthermore, there was evidence that this aspect of manufacturing quality did influence fatigue performance. As noted earlier, there is scope for even providing different design S-N curves for different surface finishes or, as in the present CEN Standard, introducing a correction factor to be applied to a single design curve dependent on surface finish. Another aspect of manufacturing quality that is generally expected to influence fatigue performance is weld quality. However, the only evidence of an influence of weld defects came from those vessels that failed by fatigue cracking from the roots of nominally full penetration nozzle to shell welds. Compared with the performance of similar details without defects, the fatigue life was reduced. However, since experimental data for such cases were excluded from the database used to assess the design of un-welded steel, there is no reason to suppose that those data were unrepresentative of the performance of pressure vessels made today. However, the results do highlight the need for careful inspection of welds between nozzles and pressure vessel shells, particularly in the high stress region near the crotch corner, to ensure that there is no evidence of surface breaking or near surface weld defects. Apart from weld defects, photographic evidence provided in some of the references reviewed suggested that the weld profiles were of a good standard, with the weld merging smoothly into the adjacent material, apart from the case of the acute angle side of tangential nozzles. However, even in that case there was no indication that the fatigue lives obtained were lower than those for normal nozzles.

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The aspect of the manufacturing quality that did seem to be particularly relevant was the alignment of butt-welded joints, particularly longitudinal seam welds. Unfortunately, little information was provided about the level of alignment but the most likely explanation for the relatively poor fatigue performance of the seam welds is that the joints were misaligned within the tolerances allowed by pressure vessel Standards. As far as manufacturing Standards are concerned, although the importance of misalignment as a source of secondary bending stresses is understood better today than in the period covered by most of the pressure vessel fatigue data, acceptance levels have not changed significantly over the years. Therefore, it is likely that pressure vessels made to today's Standards will be similar to the test vessels from the point of view of joint alignment. From the practical point of view, the most important development has been the realisation that misalignment can have a significant effect on fatigue performance and the provision of detailed guidance to enable designers to quantify the effect. Thus, it is now much more evident that the manufacturer has the ability to influence the fatigue performance of the vessel by paying particular attention to joint alignment during manufacture. However, from the point of view of the basic design S-N curve, basing them on the extensive database available for transverse butt-welded joints, expressed in terms of the stress that takes account of any misalignment, means that they will be applicable to any quality of pressure vessel, provided due account is taken of any misalignment at the design stage. In this respect, available fatigue data suggest that the current CEN design curves are, if anything, unconservative rather than overconservative. Thus, overall there are no positive indications that the pressure vessels used to establish the database presented in this report were unrepresentative of pressure vessels made to modern standards of fabrication. Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that the fatigue data obtained from them are applicable to current pressure vessels. 5.5 Stress Analysis

The review of pressure vessel fatigue data, particularly those referring to fatigue cracking from a nozzle weld toe, showed that there was certainly scope for improvement with regard to stress analysis of the vessels. It proved to be difficult to interpret stress analysis information, which was almost always obtained from strain measurements made using electrical resistance strain gauges bonded to the structures. In order to produce continuity between the design rules and actual pressure vessel design, ideally all the pressure vessels from which fatigue data were obtained need to be analysed using the finite element method and a consistent stress extracted for presenting the results. In the context of weld toe failure, the obvious choice would be the hotspot stress. 5.6 Fatigue Failure of Fillet Welds

The appropriate design curve for assessing potential fatigue cracking in fillet weld throats by crack growth from the root is under review by other standardising organisations (e.g. IIW, Eurocode) at present. The available fatigue data suggest a very low design curve, lower than that currently included in the CEN Standard, but it may be possible to neglect some of the lower test results as being unrepresentative of good quality fabrication. This issue needs to be reviewed in future.

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5.7

Weld Toe Grinding

The present recommendations in the CEN Standard for upgrading the detail Class if the weld toe is burr ground to improve its fatigue performance are based on experimental data obtained from plate welded specimens. Very few fatigue data are available for actual pressure vessels failing from the toes of ground welds. However, those results were in agreement with the plate specimen database. The main area of concern is the assumption that weld toe burr grinding is still beneficial in the very low-cycle fatigue regime, at stresses well above yield. Ideally, further low-cycle fatigue studies are required to confirm the benefit. In addition, TIG dressing should be investigated as a potentially more suitable method for application to pressure vessels. 5.8 Fatigue of Bolts In Tension

Fatigue design rules for bolts in tension have changed little for many years. The CEN rules are the same as those in BS7608, which themselves were based on judgement rather than direct analysis of fatigue data. Recent fatigue data obtained under carefully controlled conditions indicate that the BS7608 design curve, and therefore also the CEN design curve, is too conservative. However, more significantly the data contradict the assumption embodied in all fatigue design rules for bolts in tension that the fatigue performance increases with increased tensile strength. New data suggest that a single design S-N curve is adequate for any tensile strength of steel, corresponding to around Class 50. This compares with the current CEN design curve, which is equivalent to Class 41. The data reviewed also threw doubt on the value of rolling threads, as compared with machining, to improve their fatigue performance. Although an improvement is possible, it disappears in pre -tensioned bolts, the most likely state of tight bolts in practice. 5.9 Other Relevant Variables

An important omission in current pressure vessel design rules is reference to the influence of environment on fatigue performance. The influence of differing temperature is well covered, but the important consideration of corrosion fatigue is not. This could be highly relevant to many applications of pressure vessels. In general, a corrosive environment is likely to reduce the fatigue performance of un-welded parts by degrading the surface finish, and to reduce the fatigue lives of welded or severely notched parts by accelerating the rate of growth of fatigue cracks from those features. It seems likely that some design guidance could be developed on the basis of available fatigue data obtained from endurance testing of components or fatigue crack growth studies. Another issue concerns the treatment of material subjected to complex loading, particularly combined loading that produces changes in the principal stress directions during a loading event. There is evidence that current design procedures may not be safe for such conditions and indeed extensive research has been undertaken in recent years (45,46). However, at this stage a satisfactory design procedure is not available. The subject needs reviewing in detail in the context of pressure vessels and the current design procedure needs checking against available data.

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Finally, although fatigue tests are available for a variety of highly relevant details in pressure vessels, there are many omissions. Although there are relevant fatigue test results for similar details in other contexts, clearly confirmation from tests on actual pressure vessels would increase confidence in the design curves. 5.10 Concluding remarks and recommendations regarding This review has shown that there is a substantial database obtained from fatigue tests on pressure vessels, although it only covers a few pressure vessel details that are potential sites for fatigue cracking in practice. In some cases, sufficient data are available to establish a design curve, but in others deficiencies in the information needed to calculate the relevant stresses means that data from non-pressure vessel sources are a better basis for design. With regard to the significance of manufacturing quality, although some aspects were shown to be detrimental to fatigue, there was little evidence to support the claim that the test vessels, some of which were produced over thirty years ago, were unrepresentative of pressure vessels designed and fabricated to modern Standards. The three features of quality that stood out as being significant were surface finish in circumstances when fatigue cracking initiated in unwelded material, the presence of surfacebreaking weld defects near the nozzle crotch corner and the alignment of longitudinal buttwelded seams. However, these are all catered for in the CEN Standard. In contrast, unfavourable weld profile, as found in tangential nozzle to shell welds, was not detrimental to fatigue performance. Even if it had been significant, it is unlikely that current welding methods would produce better profiles than those tested in view of the restricted access to the acute angle side of tangential and indeed inclined nozzles. The stress analysis information provided was generally quite detailed, but not necessarily directed at the determination of the stresses needed for consistency with the CEN design procedure. This was particularly true in the case of nozzle weld toes where, ideally, a more systematic stress analysis of the vessels tested is needed, preferably using finite element stress analysis, to use the pressure vessel test data to establish design S-N curves. Compared with the CEN fatigue design rules, the fatigue data obtained from pressure vessels suggested the following: There was no evidence from tests on vessels failing on unwelded material that any distinction should be drawn between steels of different tensile strength. The CEN rules for unwelded steel are potentially unsafe, overestimating the lives of 28% of the vessels tested. The alternative use of a single design curve corresponding to Class 90 would be consistent with the pressure vessel data, independent of steel tensile strength; Class 80 would be suitable for material containing flush ground repair or butt welds. The current CEN rules for assessing potential fatigue cracking from the roots of nozzle welds are supported by the pressure vessel database, as well as and relevant data from continuous longitudinal fillet welds in plate components.

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Based on tentative estimates of the hot-spot stress range at the weld toe, the current CEN rules for assessing potential fatigue cracking from nozzle weld toes were supported by the pressure vessel database. However, the data showed no distinction between full penetration welds and fillet or partial penetration welds, but suggested that the higher of the two CEN design curves, Class 71 compared with the current Class 63 for fillet and partial penetration welds, was adequate for any type of nozzle joint. The tests results from pressure vessels failing from the toes of longitudinal butt- welded seams were not suitable as a basis for design. There were strong indications that the joints were misaligned, but this was only quantified in two out of the nine references. Fatigue data obtained from transverse butt welds in plate provide a better basis for design and they suggest that the current CEN Class 80 for aligned joints is too high; Class 71 would be more appropriate. Fatigue data obtained from pressure vessels failing from the roots of butt welds made from one side, mainly circumferential welds between the shell and vessel end, coupled with relevant fatigue data obtained from girth welded tubes in tension, suggested that the CEN Class 63 was too high; Class 50 was more consistent with the data.

On the basis of the other fatigue data presented: Fatigue assessment methods in general for considering potential fatigue cracking in the throats of fillet welds are under review and the current CEN design curve may need to be lowered in future. The benefit of weld toe burr grinding allowed by the CEN rules was consistent with experimental data, but the database is relatively small. Fatigue design rules for bolts in tension, including those in the CEN rules, need to be revised in line with recent test data. These show that no distinction should be drawn between bolts of different tensile strengths. As a result, the design curve should be based on the absolute value of nett section stress rather than stress range/UTS. On this basis, the current CEN design curve could be effectively raised to Class 50. The available fatigue design data for pressure vessels could be improved considerably on the basis of the following: The generation of fatigue data from pressure vessels incorporating other details at which fatigue cracking is possible. Re-analysis of the pressure vessel data for nozzle weld toe failure based on hot-spot stresses calculated by finite element analysis. Investigation of TIG dressing as an alternative to toe grinding, including low cycle fatigue tests and, ideally, tests on full-scale vessels. Review of corrosion fatigue data for environments relevant to pressure vessels and appropriate tests to fill in gaps: Review of fatigue data and analysis techniques for assessing fatigue behaviour under complex loading, notably the problem of changing principal stress direction. Finally, referring to the suggestion that the current CEN fatigue design rules are too conservative, this view is not upheld on the basis of the fatigue data considered in this review, including results obtained from actual pressure vessels. Indeed, in some cases the present rules appear to be unconservative. However, one feature that could be considered to be over-

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conservative is the adoption of design curves related to mean 3SD, corresponding to the very low probability of failure of 0.1%. In virtually every other industrial area, the design curves are related to mean 2SD, representing approximately 2.5% probability of failure. In view of the fact that pressure vessels that are subjected to fatigue loading are invariably regularly inspected for evidence of fatigue cracking in service, there is a case for adopting the higher curves for pressure vessel design.