Elevated Temperature Fatigue

of Pressure Vessel Steels

Total strain range to failure and crack growth rates
change only moderately with temperature and cycle rate
up to BOO F

BY A. W. PENSE AND R. D. STOUT

ABSTRACT . The Pressure Vessel

Research Committee of the Welding
Research Council has sponsored a
number of investigations of the elevated temperature fatigue behavior of
pressure vessel steels over a period
of about ten years. These programs
have spanned the period during
which both full life behavior and crack
growth rates have been of interest for
engineering evaluation of service performance, and have included both
aspects in the overall results.
Two pressure vessel steels, A212
Grade 8 (equivalent to A516 Grade
70) and A517 Type F, were involved in
both aspects of the study . These two
materials were given full life tests at
room temperature, 400, 600, 800 and
900 F, (204, 316, 427 and 482 C) , and
crack growth rate tests at room
temperature, 500, 650, 800 and 950 F
(260, 343, 427 and 510 C). The rate of
cycling in the full life tests was 3.3, 0.3,
0.03 and 0.003 Hz, while crack growth
rate tests were performed at 10, 0.1,
0.01 and 0.002 Hz.
The results of the investigation
showed that neither temperature nor
cycle rate has a very significant influence on fatigue life or crack growth
in the steels up to 600 F (316 C). At
temperatures of 900 to 950 F (482 to
510 C), the 5000 to 100,000 cycle life

A. W. PENSE is Professor, Dept. of Metallurgy and Materials Science, and R. D.

STOUT is Dean of the Graduate School,
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015.
Paper was presented at the 56th A WS
Annual Meeting held at Cleveland, Ohio,
during April 21-25, 1975.

in the 3.3 to 0.03 Hz range decreased

by about 25% from the ambient 10Hz
value, although considerable variation occurred depending on steel,
temperature and cycle rate . Crack
growth rates for approximately the
same range of conditions were increased by a factor of about 4 over
the ambient 10Hz values. Cycle rates
of 0.002-0.003 Hz at 950 F produced
increases in growth rates by factors of
10 or more over the ambient 10 Hz
values , while under similar conditions, strain range for 5000 cycle life
increased by 35%. The resolution to
this anomaly appears to lie in the difference between crack initiation and
crack propagation behavior in the
steels.

Introduction
In the past ten to fifteen years . a
gradual but significant change has
taken place in engineering design
philosophy with respect to fatigue . For
many years, fatigue testing programs
were restricted to full life types of
tests, and although a full range of cycle life vs. stress range was obtained ,
the emphasis was most often on the
endurance limit. For the construction
of pressure vessels , however, it was
recognized that endurance limit behavior was not appropriate, and a design philosophy was developed that
encompassed the concept of short
term cycle life as being appropriate to
pressure vessel service .
In assessing short term life, the
concepts used in high cycle life can
be applied, i.e., applied stress vs. cycle life curves can be developed and

stress levels can be established on

the basis of the allowable stresses for
5000 to 100,000 cycle life, depending on the service life anticipated. At
this level of stress, however, the yield
point of the steel is normally exceeded and , at least in the 5000 cycle
life range, plastic strains rather than
stresses calculated from the applied
loads appear to be the important
physical phenomena controlling
fatigue life. For this reason , strains are
used as t~e controlling parameter in
this type of fatigue testing. In these
tests the data usually follow a relationship which may be written:
( 1)

where N is the number of cycles to

failure . ..l e t is the total strain range
and C and m are constants. The exponent m has been related to the
strain hardening exponent of the steel
and has a value between 2 and 4 with
the average being about 3 (Ref. 1).
This equation appears to hold from

Fig. 1 - The fatigue strain reduction factor in full scale vessel tests

W E L D I N G R E S E A R C H S U P P L E M E N T I 24 7 -s

the 5000 to 100,000 cycle life range

for carbon and low alloy steels.
The Pressure Vessel Research
Committee of the Welding Research
Council sponsored a number of
studies of this type during these
years, both on laboratory specimens
and on model and full size vessels .
From these tests the fatigue behavior
of the vessels and the laboratory
specimens could be compared.
On making such a comparison, it
was clearly established that the cyclic
life of the actual pressure vessel was
substantially shorter than the laboratory specimens; i.e., for the same total
strain range in the laboratory
specimens and in the membrane of
t he vessel , the number of cycles to

c!!

~2.0,,_----,.-rT--r-TTTTr--r-rT--r-rTTT,r,--,

Q)

C>e A201A

cr

6AA3028
c. A517F

:ll1.0

2'0.8

ill

...,0.6
0

g0.4
0

cr
c

~02

060 Calculat ed
Full Scale Tests

ill
0

~ 01 ':::-::_jl_.l-J.....Ll.J..ll.J,-=-:~L-L.I.....LJ..lllL,--,-,--l
1000

10000

100000

Cycles to Failur e

Fig. 2 - Comparison of full sca l e and laboratory test data considering crack growth
only

Fig. 3 ime n

Lehigh cantilever bending spec-

failure in the actual vessel was very

much less than in the laboratory
specimens .
Figure 1 illustrates this difference.
As may be seen from this figure, the
fatigue strain reduction factor varied
between 8 and 4 for 1000 to 100,000
cycle life. Since the failures in the actual vessels occurred at nozzles and
other stress raisers, it m ight be
argued that these stress concentrations served to elevate the strain
range above the membrane strain
level and thus to decrease the fatigue
life. However, investigations of the influence of stress concentrations on
fatigue life have indicated (Refs . 5, 6)
that, even in the presence of rather
high nominal stress concentrations,
well above those found in pressure
vessels , the actual fatigue strain
reduction factor seldom exceeds 2.5,
which leaves a substantial reduction
in allowable fat igue strain unaccounted for.
The resolut ion of this discrepancy
apparently lies in the difference in the
way in which fatigue cracks develop
and grow in the laboratory specimens
and in the full scale vessels . In the
laboratory specimens , an appreciable portion of th e fatigue life is consumed in crack initiation , and this
portion contributes to specimen life.
In the full scale vessel tests , natural
flaws from fabrication are normally
present in sufficient numbers to
eliminate the need for crack initiation , and thus the vessel life is consumed in crack propagation only . An
empirical fit of full scale tests and
specimen tests on th is basis was
found , (Ref. 6) as is shown in Fig . 2.
With the growing realization of the
significance of crack propagation ,
rather than initiation , to the fatigue life
of vessels, the emphasis on fatigue
testing shifted to crack growth and
law s govern ing crack growt h behavio r. T he Pr ess u re Vesse l Research Comm ittee , therefore , also
sponsored work in th is area to determ ine the applicabil it y ot these laws to
the variou s stress and temperature

2.40'"
(61m

4 .?5""
(108rnm)

b
Fig. 4 - (a) Crack growth specim en used for A517F; (b) crack growth specimen use d
for A21 2B.

248-s

AUG UST 1975

cycles that characterize pressure vessel life. The investigations (Ref. 7)

showed that, as for many other materials, crack growth could be described by the relation:
da/dn

= C6 K"

(2)

where da/dn is crack growth rate, C

and n are constants, the 6K is the
fracture mechanics parameter, the
stress intensity range. The stress intensity is calculated from the gross
stress on the specimen , the size of the
crack in the specimen , and a factor
related to specimen geometry. The
value of n for the pressure vessel
steels varied between about 2.2 and
5.0, with the average being about 3.5.
The tests showed that the growth
rates were sensitive to temperature
and , of course, ~K. but not to the
material tested. This was also in keeping with results on other materials,
and served as an explanation for the
behavior depicted in Fig . 1. The fatigue strain reduction factor is not
material sensitive because crack
growth is not. Moreover, high ~K
values accelerate crack growth according to about a fourth power law,
thus crack growth for high strain
ranges is much faster than at the
lower strain ranges .
Since these tests have established
the relevance of the fracture
mechanics approach to fatigue , the
problem has become one of determining whether or not fatigue behavior can be described by this approach alone , especially in smaller
components. In a large pressure vessel , pre-existing flaws trigger crack
growth. In a smaller compo nent, however , growth may occur only after
some " initiation" stage , perhaps the
number of cycles necessary for a
macroscopic flaw to grow from a
microscopic (for example, an intrusion) or submicroscopic defect. In this
stage, which may be an app reciable
portion of the fatigue life, c urrent fracture mechanics data suggest that
crack growth should be either infin itesimally slow or not occur at all.
Thus we must f ind some alternate approach to explain or define this behavior. For such components , the
total strain range to failure approach
still seems valid and may be
employed.
One area of fatigue in which both
concepts may be usetul is elevated
temperature service. Many types of
pressure vessel and ot her component fatigue service occ ur in the
temperature range between ambient
and about 900 F (482 C). This range
generally falls below that for creep in
the carbon and low alloy steels, (depending , to some extent, on the strain
rate ) and is one in which low cycle
fatigue also frequently occurs. Examples of such applications might be

shells and components used in

nuclear or chemical reactor service,
gas and steam turbine components
and parts used in piping systems . The
Pressure Vessel Research Committee has undertaken two programs
in this area, one using the total strain
range approach (Ref. 8) and the other
using the fracture mechanics approach (Ref. 7) . Both test temperature and cycle rate were test variables in the studies . Some of these
data have been published previously, some have not. It is the purpose of
this paper to bring the elevated
temperature fatigue data from these
two types of programs together to
place them in perspective .

Materials and Procedures

Two materials were given a full
series of fatigue tests involving both
full life and crack growth. They were a
carbon steel, A212 Grade B (equivalent to A516 Grade 70) and a low
alloy steel, A517 Type F. The A212
Grade B was tested in the mill normalized and stress relieved condition

Table 1 -

while the A51 7 Type F was tested in

the mill quenched and tempered condition . The compositions and
mechan ical prop erties of the two
steels are listed in Table 1. It should
be noted that the yi eld and tensile
strengths of the two steels are substantiall y d ifferent .

T he crack growth measurements

were made using the modified compact tension specimens seen in Fig. 4.
The specimen seen in Fig. 4(a) was
used for the A5 17F steel tests. As may
be seen in this figure, crack tip displacements are measured by
transmitting the relative motion of the
crack faces to a cl ip gage above the
specimen . The plastic range compact
tension specimen seen in Fig. 4(b)
was used for the A212 Grade B tests
and was specifically designed to prevent plast i c deformation in the
specimen arms during elevated
temperature testing. The specimen
was specially calibrated in this work
(Ref. 7).
The specimens were heated in air to
test temperatures between room
temperature and 950 F (510 C) using
resistance furnaces . The temperature of the specimens was controlled within 10 F (5.5 C) of the air
temperature during the test. The loading cycle was sinusoidal except for
very slow cycle rates in the crack

The full life low cycle fatigue tests

were carried out using the Lehigh
cantilever bend specimen seen in Fig.
3. One . end of the specimen was
clamped in a fixed grip and the other
end given a predetermined constant
deflection. The strain was measured
in the center of the reduced section
using either an optical gage (room
temperature) or a clip gage with a
stra in gage bridge. The cl ip gage
measured strain over a 1 in. (25 mm)
gage length, while the optical gage
length was shorter , about 0.25 in. (6
mm). The geometry of the specimen
was such that the centerpoint of the
gage section had nearly complete
transverse restraint and thus simulated wide plate bending.

Chemical Composition and Mechanical Properties of the Steels

Chem ical Composition

Mn

0.26
0.2 5
0.18
0.17

0.70
0.67
0.85
0.87

0.010
0.008
0.008
0.008

0.024
0.019
0.017
0.018

0.23
0.23
0.25
0.22

0.85
0.84

0.48
0.57

0.50
0.48

0.04
0.04

0.27
0.26

0.25
0.16

0.73
0.84

0.015
0.013

0.032
0.015

0.22
0.20

0.92

0. 61

0.42

0.037

0.27

Steel
Full Life Tests:
1-A212 Grade B
2-A212 Grade B
1-A517 Type F
2-A517 Type F
Crack Growth Tests:
3-A212 Grade B
3-A517 Type F

Si

Ni

Cr

Mo

Cu

Other

Mechanical Properties
Steel

Yield str.,
ksi (MPa)

1- A212
3- A212
1- A517
2-A517
3-A517

1.4

44.3
50.6
119.
118.
113.

(305)
(349)
(820)
(813)
(779)

,.---------------------.,----------------~

5000 Cyc.
A212 Grade B
10000 Cyc .
.o. 100000 Cyc.
0. 30Hz

~1.2
<IJ

A51 7 TypeF

----
. :~.
.,
----=---.........."''

::J

~ 1.0
0

~ .8
C)
c

&.

Grade B
Grade B
Type F
Type F
Type F

.6

'

-...........
---~.'
~ '

---~
...

Tensile str.,
ksi (MPa)

200 400 6 00 800 1000 0

Temperat ure -F
Fig. 5 0.3 Hz

72.8
77.8
131.
127.
123.

(502 )
(536)
(903)
(875)
(847 )

Elong.
in 1 in.,%

Red. of
area,%

37.5
28.0
19.5
30.0
21 .0

60.8
60.4
63.2
50.5
64.2

7 1

10~~------------------~--------------~

A212 Grade B

6 K50Ksr..lii(55 MPo.ml

...-- ...

...
...~

200 4 00 600 8 00 1000

Temperature -F

Temperat ure-F

The influence of temperature on fatigue strain range at

Fig. 6 10Hz

Temperature -F

The influence of temperature on crack growth rate at

W EL D ING R ES EA RC H S U P P L EM E NT

249-s

growth test (0.002 Hz). These tests

were roughly square wave; loading
took 25 s, the maximum load was
maintained 400 s, unloading took 25 s
and the minimum load was maintained 30 s. The full life tests were
conducted using a load ratio of R =
- 1 (fully reversed bending) while the
crack growth tests were conducted
using a load ratio of R = 0.1 (tensionte ns ion).
Rate of cycling was a variable during the tests. The full life tests were
performed at cycle rates of 3.33, 0.30,
0.030 and 0.003 Hz. The cycle rates
used in the crack growth tests were
10, 0.1, 0.01 and 0.002 Hz.
Not all materials were tested in all
temperatures and cycle rates. Because of the time required for the
slowest cycle rate tests, these were
limited to 500, 800 and 950 F (260 , 427
and 510 C). The cycle rates and
temperatures tested for each steel are

A212 GradeB

~ 1 2 '1,,

9--- - - ......_____

10
10

.~

-- --'-

..........___01

80

~gg

o-

---__

eeoo

/e
<D 900

9 ----~~~ .8m------~------M-

tl'

i
0

A517TypeF

"' 1 9
c

Q
-------

~g lO~____:e~
:?.e~:1.0

0.1
C ycle Rate - l-I z

001

0001

Fig. 7 - The influence of temperature and

cycle rate on fatigue strain range

Table 2 -

seen in Tables 2 and 3.

Results and Discussion

The results of the fatigue tests are
shown in Tables 2 and 3 and Figs. 5-8.
The full life test results are shown in
Figs. 5 and 6, the crack growth test results in Figs. 7 and 8. Both the effect
of temperature and the effect of cycle
rate are illustrated in these figures.
As temperature is increased both
the strain range to failure and the
crack growth rate experience moderate change. Between room temperature and 900 F (482 C), the strain
range for 5000 cycle life decreases by
about 35% for A212 Grade Band 20%
for A517 Type F. The 100,000 cycle
life strain range decreases only an
average of about 5% for the two
steels. The pattern of the higher cycle
life total strains is complex. In some
cases (0.30 Hz) the strain range holds
about constant with temperature up to
800 F (427 C) and decreases again at
900 F (482 C). The overall trend is
downward. Crack growth rates for
both steels increase by a factor of
about 2.4 between room temperature
and 800 F (427 C). Such a change in
crack growth rate is not considered
particularly large as minor environmental changes can also produce
such a variation.
It is especially noteworthy that the
fatigue behavior of these steels is not
very sensitive to temperature in air
environments in the most commonly
experienced portion of this range,
room temperature to about 600 F
(316 C). The average decrease in
strain range over this change in
temperature is about 5%. Thus, much
of the current fatigue data on low alloy
steels can be applied at temper -

atures up to 600 F (316 C) with only

minor adjustment. The change in
crack growth rate in the room temperature to 500 F (260 C) range is also
only about 50%, which is within the
scatter band for the difference between several heats of the same steel.
The effect of cycle rate on fatigue
behavior is also only a moderate one
between cycle rates of 10 to about
0.01 Hz. For a given temperature, the
decrease in strain range for 5000 cycle life is normally about 15% or less.
In only one case (A212 Grade 8
tested at 600 F) was this exceeded .
The 100,000 cycle life strain range underwent somewhat more substantial
decreases, as much as 40% for A212
Grade B and 35% for A517 Type F.
The average decrease was about 20%
for all of the temperatures tested.
Over the same range of cycle rates,
three orders of magnitude down to
0.01 Hz, the crack growth rate increased by a factor of only about 1.5.
This is a surprisingly small change in
growth rate in the range of temperatures listed.
At the highest temperatures and
slowest cycle rates tested, the two investigations produced apparently
anomalous results. The 800 F (427 C) ,
0.003 Hz 5000 cycle life strain range
for A517 Type F, sharply increased by
about 50% over the 0.03 Hz value,
while the 950 F (51 0 C) 0.002 Hz crack
growth rate also increased by a factor of as much as 6 over the 0.01 Hz
value . The increased strain range
suggests better fatigue resistance in
the steel while the increased growth
rates suggest poore r fatigue
resistance . The resolution of this conflict may be in the nature of the two
tests.

Full Life Elevated Temperature Fatigue Data

Total strain ranges to la 1ure lor steel

A212 Grade Bat cycle rates (Hz) of

74 F (24 C)
5,000 cycles
10,000 cycles
100,000 cycles
400 F (204 C)
5,000 cycles
10,000 cycles
100,000 cycles
600 F (316 C)
5,000 cycles
10,000 cycles
100,000 cycles
800 F (427 C)
5,000 cycles
10,000 cycles
100,000 cycles
900 f (482 C)
5,000 cycles
10,000 cycles
100,000 cycles

250-s

A U G U S T 19 7 5

3.33

0.30

0.030

1.12
0.82
0.32

1.15
0.84
0.29

1.18

1.00
0.86
0.35

1.00

1.17
0.91
0.45

0.98
0.74
0.29

0.82

0.92
0.72
0.34

0.84
0.68
0.31

0.76

0.78
0.68
0.42

0.74
0.59
0.25

0.74

0.003

1.35
1.10

A517 Grade F at cycle rates (Hz) of

3.33

0.30

0.030

1.00
0.89
0.51

1.01
0.86
0.48

0.95

1.01
0.85
0.46

1.15

0.97
0.81
0.47

0.98
0.79
0.42

0.88

0.84
0.71
0.42

0.90
0.79
0.48

0.84

0.96
0.81
0.48

0.84
0.67
0.31

0.97

0.003

1.35
1.10

Initiation of a fatigue crack does not

play a part in the crack growth test,
but is significant in the full life tests.
Increasing the temperature of test to
950 F (51 0 C) and decreasing the cycle rate may produce more ductility in
the steel. Since increased ductility
generally produces better low cycle
fatigue resistance, the fatigue life may
be increased because crack initiation
is retarded. Once initiation has taken
place, however , large growth rates
may be experienced and subsequent
failure rapid.
Some support for this explanation
was found in the crack growth tests.
Although data are limited , the tests at
950 F (510 C) seemed to show a ~K
threshold for crack growth of about 20
ksi,Trl. (22 MPa,rn). Below this ~K
level, crack growth rates dropped
below 5 X 10- 7 in./cycle (1.3 x 10-
mm/cycle). At 500 F (210 C), no
threshold was observed down to ~K
values of 12 ksi,Tn. (13 MPa,m). There
is also some evidence that this
threshold has moved up to a ~K value
close to 50 ksi,Tn. (55 MPa,'m) at the
0.002 Hz rate. Thus , the two inve stigations may be complementary
in terms of predicting fatigue
behavior.

and crack growth rates for two pressure vessel steels, A212 Grade B
(A516 Grade 70) and A517 Type F,
were little influenced by temperature
in the room temperature to 600 F
(316 C) range. The strain range to
failure decreased by about 5% and
the crack growth rate increased by
about 50% over this temperature
range.
2. At 900 to 950 F (482 to 510 C)
the 5000 cycle life strain decreased by

about 25% of the ambient value, while

the 100,000 cycle life strain was not
strongly decreased, the average being about 5%. The crack growth rate
increased by a factor of about 4 over
the same temperature range (1 0 Hz
data).
3. The effect of cycle rate over
three orders of magnitude, between
3.3 and 0.01 Hz, had little effect on the
total strain range to failure at room
temperature, but did decrease the

~17Typ/
6K=80Ksiv'in(88MPavm)

----------------------

.---- --

o-------------- --- --

-- ----

500F

............ -6

------

6K=50Ksivln(55MPavfii)

----

~9~5=o~o~F~----------~~-..~-

--- -o------------------500F

_..-o-

Summary
This investigation may be summarized as follows:
1. Both the allowable strain ranges
for 5000 cycle to 100,000 cycle life

Table 3 -

10
Fig. 8 -

1.0

0.1
Cycle Rate-Hz

0.01

0.001

The influence of temperature and cycle rate on crack growth rate

Elevated Temperature Crack Growth Rate Data

The effect of temperature at 10Hz on steel

A212 Grade 8, da/dn,
in./cyc (mm/cyc)

.'>K,

ksi,in. (MPa,m)
75 F (24 C)
.'>K =50 (55)
.'>K = 80 (88)
500 F (260 C)
.'>K =50 (55)
.'>K = 80 (88)
650 F (343 C)
.'>K =50 (55)
..lK = 80 (88)
800 F (427 C)
.'>K =50 (55)
.'>K = 80 (88)
950 F (510 C)
.'>K =50 (55)
.'>K = 80 (88)

A517 Type F, da/dn

in./cyc (mm/cyc)

4.2 X 10- 5
2.3 x 10- 4

(1.0x10- 3 )
(5.8 X 10- 3 )

1.5 X 10- 5
8.0 X 10- 5

(3.8 X 10
(2.0 X 10

6.0 x 10- 5
3.0 X 10- 4

(1 .5 X 10- 3 )
(7.6 X 10- 3 )

2.8 X 10- 5
1.2 X 10- 4

(7.1 X 10
(3.0 X 10

4.5 X 10- 5
2.2 X 10-

(1 .1 X 10
(5.6 X 10

6.0 x 1o-
4.6 x 10- 5

(1.5 X 10- )
(1 .2 X 10- 2 )

7.5 X 10- 5
5.5 X 10- 4

(1 .9 X 10- 3 )
(1.4 X 10- 2 )

5.8 X 10-
3.2 X 10-

)
)

10- 3 )

(1.5 X
(8.1 X 10

The effect of cycle rate on steel A517 Type F

.'>K,

ksi,lri:
(MPa,m)
500 F (260
.'>K =50
.'>K = 80
950 F (510
.'>K =50
.'>K = 80

At 10Hz, da/dn ,
in./cyc (mm/cyc)

At 0.1 Hz, da/dn ,

in./cyc (mm/cyc)

At 0.01 Hz, da/dn,

in./cyc (mm/cyc)

At 0.002 Hz, da/dn,

in./cyc (mm/cyc)

C)

(55)
(88)

2.8 X 10- 5
1.2 X 10- 4

(7.1 X 10- 4 )
(3.0 X 10- 3 )

5.8 X 103.2 X 10- 4

( 1.5 X 10- )
(8.1 X 10- 3 )

3.5 X 10-
3.0 X 10- 4

(8.9 X 10
(7.6 X 10

1.0x1o-
3.5 X 10- 3

(2.5X10
(8.9 X 10

C)

(55)
(88)

5.8 X 104.0 X 10- 4

5

(1.5 X 10- )
(1.0 X 10- 2 )
3

7.2X105.5X10- 4

(1.8x10- )
(1.4X10- 2 )
3

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT I 251-s

5000 cycle life strain by 15% and the

100,000 cycle life strain by 20% at

higher temperatures. Over the same

range of cycle rates, the crack growth
rate, even at 950 F (510 C) was only
increased by a factor of 1.5.
4. At the higher temperatures, 800
and 950 F (427 and 510 C) and at the
slowest cycle rates employed, 0.003
and 0.002 Hz, 5000 cycle total strain
range to failure increased by about
35% over the ambient 10 Hz value,
while the crack growth rate also increased by a factor of 10 over the ambient 10 Hz value for high ...lK levels.
This apparent anomaly is explained
on the basis that, although crack
growth is accelerated under these
conditions, crack initiation is suppressed.
Acknowledgment
The authors gratefully acknowledge the
technical and financial support of the Pres-

sure Vessel Research Committee of the

Welding Research Council during this
work. They also acknowledge the assistance of Dr. R. A. DePaul and Dr. H. I.
McHenry in performing the research involved .

Bibliography
1. Stout, R. D. and Pense, A. W., "Effect of Composition and Microstructure on
the Low Cycle Fatigue Strength of Structural Steels," Transactions of the ASME ,
Journal of Basic Engineering , June 1965.
2. Gross, J. H. and Stout, R. D., " The
Plastic Fatigue Properties of High Strength
Pressure Vessel Steels," Welding Journal, Vol. 34 (4) , Apr il 1955, Res. Suppl. , pp
161-s to 166-s.
3. Dubuc , J . and Welter, G. , " Investigation of Static and Fatigue Resistance of
Model Pressure Vessels ,"" Welding Journal, Vol. 35 (7), July 1956, Res. Suppl., pp
329-s to 33 7-s.
4. Welter, G. and Du bu c, J.,- " Fatigue
Res ista nce of Simulated Nozzles in Model
Pressure Ves sels ,"" We lding Jou rnal, Vol.

WRC
Bulletin
188
October 1 973

36 (6), June 1957, Res. Suppl. , pp 271-s to

274-s .
5. Kooistra, L. F. and Lemcoe, M. M .,
" Low Cycle Fatigue Research on Full Size
Pressure Vessels," Welding Journal, Vol.
41 (7), July 1962, Res. Suppl., pp 297-s to
306-s.
6. Welter, G. and Dubuc, J., "Fatigue
Resistance of Simulated Nozzles in Model
Pressure Vessels of T -1 Steel," Welding
Journal, Vol. 41 (8), Aug . 1962, Res.
Suppl., pp 368-s to 374-s.
7. Hickerson , J. P., Pense, A. W. and
Stout, R. D. , " The Influence of Notches on
the Fatigue Resistance of Pressure Vessel
Steels ," Welding Journal, Vol. 47 (2), Feb.
1968, Res. Suppl., pp 63-s to 72-s.
8. McHenry, H. I. and Pense, A. W .,
" Fatigue Crack Propagation in Steel Alloys
of Elevated Temperatures ," ASTM STP
No. 520, Fatigue at Elevated Temperatures, 1973.
9. DePaul, R. A ., Pense, A. W. and
Stout, R. D. , " The Elevated Temperature
Fatigue Properties of Pressure Vessel
Steels ," Welding Journal, Vol. 44 (9), Sept.
1965, Res. Suppl., pp 409-s to 416-s.

"Behavior and Design of Steel Beam-to-Column

Moment Connections"
byJ. S. Huang, W. F. Chen and L. S. Beedle

This investigation is concemed with beam-to-column moment connections that

are proportioned to resist a combination of high shear force and plastic moment
of the beam section. A theory based upon mathematica l models and physical
models is developed to predict the over-all load-deflection behavior of connections.
Experiments were carried out on specimens made of ASTM A572 Gr. 55 steel,
with fully-welded or with bolted web attachments having round holes and slotted
holes. These specimens were designed incorporating all possible limiting cases in
practical connection design, and were subjected to monotonic loading. Web
attachments were fastened by A490 bolts utilizing a higher allowable shear stress
of 40 ksi for bolts in bearing-type connections.
A good correlation between the theoretical predictions and test results was obtained. It was concluded that flange-welded web-bolted connections may be used
under the assumption that full plastic moment of the beam section is developed
as well as the full shear strength.
"Test of a Fully-Welded Beam-to-Column Connection"
by J. E. Regec, J. S. Huang and W. F. Chen

A test program has been developed which has the objective of investigating
various symmetrically-loaded moment-resisting beam-to-column connections
which are of extreme importance in design and construction of steel multi-story
frames. This report covers the testing of the first in a series of twelve specimens
- a fully welded beam-to-column connection.
In this report the design procedure is presented which forms the basis for this
testing series. The test procedure is given along with a step-by-step description
and analysis of the stress pattems in the section.
It was found that this type of connection can be used in plastic design as adequate stiffness in the elastic range was developed along with sufficient strength
and rotation capacity. The AISC Specification provided a dequate rules in design
of such a welded connection.
Publication of these reports was sponsored by the Structural Steel Committee of
the Welding Research Council. The price of WRC Bulletin 188 is $4.50 per copy.
Orders should be sent to Welding Research Council, 345 East 47th Street, New
York, New York 10017.
252-s

A UG UST 1975