Influence of porosity on the fatigue behaviour of welded joints

In this paper, the influence of a single pore on the fatigue behaviour of welded joints has been examined by means of the implicit gradient approach. The pore has been considered a stress raiser that interacts with the weld toe or weld root. As an example, in the case of a cruciform joint with a load-carrying fillet weld, the influence of a single spherical pore is examined. Furthermore, the fatigue behaviour of an aluminium laser welded joint with ellipsoid equivalent pores is considered and a comparison is made with the fatigue strength of an aluminium arc welded joint.