Parametric evaluation of the stress concentration factors in T-butt welded connections

A methodology to evaluate the stress concentration factors (SCFs) in the grinded regions of T-butt welded connections under bending load is presented in this research work. Grinding was done to remove cracking material at the weld toe the connections. For the analysis, 2D plane stress conditions and three-dimensional finite element models were built to evaluate the SCFs for both types of welding connections. For the parametric study, different grinding profiles were proposed in order to study the SCFs at different critical points of the grinding profiles: edge of the grinding, bottom of the grinding and at the weld toe. It was found that the SCFs for the T welded connection are in function of the grinding angle and the amount of material removed in the regions of interest. And the 2D models over estimate the SCFs values for the critical points of the connections. The higher SCFs, where those located at the edge of the grinding.