Materials and Design 23 2002.

201208

Effect of welding and weld repair on crack propagation

behaviour in aluminium alloy 5083 plates

Krishnakumar Shankar U , Weidong Wu

School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Uni ersity College, Uni ersity of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force
Academy, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Received 24 March 2001; accepted 22 May 2001

Abstract

Aluminium alloy 5083 is used in the fabrication of lightweight, high-speed marine vessels. The high cyclic service stresses on
such structures render welded joints in them fatigue-critical. This paper presents experimental investigations on fatigue crack
behaviour of welded 5083-H321 aluminium alloy plates. Crack propagation in the heat-affected zone of welded specimens was
determined from tests conducted on single edge-notched tension specimens. Three-dimensional finite-element analysis was
employed to determine stress intensity factors for cracks in the weld line. The crack closure effects of weld residual stresses were
evaluated. The residual stresses significantly influence the crack growth rates. Fatigue behaviour of weld repairs in cracked plates
was also investigated. The weld-repair process significantly increases the grain size and the size of defects in the heat-affected
zone. The results indicate that weld repair of cracks in welded joints provides little improvement in residual life. 2002 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Non-ferrous metals and alloys; Welding; Fatigue

1. Introduction structural degradation and may finally lead to complete

Weldable marine-grade aluminium alloys, such as
5083 plate material, is increasingly used in the fabrica-
tion of high-speed ferry boats, freight and naval vessels,
in which speed and agility are of utmost importance.
For this reason, the design of such vessels, in which the
structural components are likely to be highly stressed,
is of lightweight construction to provide maximum ef-
ficiency. Due to the demanding nature of the service
conditions and environments in which these marine
vessels operate, welded components and structures are
subjected to a high level of fatigue loads, which cause
U
Corresponding author. Tel.: q61-2-6268-8584; fax: q61-2-6268-
8276.
E-mail address: k.shankar@adfa.edu.au K. Shankar..
failure. Reports of inspections on US Coast Guard
vessels suggest that fatigue cracks were responsible for
major structural damage in over 65% of cases w1x. The
fatigue damage in highly stressed components of these
vessels initiates at the intersection of structural ele-
ments, at discontinuities, such as openings, and at
welds w2x. Since the design of marine structures is
usually based on a safe life philosophy, the occurrence
of loads exceeding the statistical distribution of loads
employed in the design can lead to early crack initia-
tion and premature failure if the cracks are undetected.
The availability of data on crack propagation rates,
particularly of welded material, can be very useful in
determining inspection intervals for such structures.
Unfortunately, crack propagation data of weldments in
aluminium alloys, particularly for the 5000 series, are
very scarce.

0261-3069r02r$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 2 6 1 - 3 0 6 9 0 1 . 0 0 0 5 9 - 0
202 K. Shankar, W. Wu r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 201208
When cracks occur in the vicinity of weldments in
structures, weld repairs are frequently considered for
crack repair in most cases to extend service life w3x. For
instance, in the construction of pipelines in the oil and
natural gas industry, when sections of a newly welded
joint fail to pass inspection, it is common practice to
repair the weld by gouging out the initial weldments in
the sub-standard sections and re-welding them. How-
ever, the effectiveness of weld-repairing cracks in an
already welded joint is unclear, because of the increase
in residual stresses, distortion in geometry and the
deterioration of the microstructure caused by the addi-
tional weld process. There is a considerable body of
literature on the effects of a single weld on the fatigue
life of steel and aluminium alloys, yet data on weld
repair of weldments are scarce. However, just as crack
growth data in weldments is very limited, quantitative
information on the effects of a second weld in a welded
material, either on overall fatigue performance or on
crack growth behaviour, is not available. There have
been few previous investigations on the effects of weld
repair of cracks in welded structures.
The aim of the present work was to investigate crack
growth behaviour in welded and weld-repaired alu-
minium alloy materials, specifically that of 5083-H321
plate material. This was achieved in two phases. In the
first phase, crack growth rates in welded 5083
aluminium alloy plates and in the unwelded material
were experimentally determined and compared, taking
into account aspects such as weld geometry and resid-
ual stresses in the heat-affected zone. In the second
phase, the propagation behaviour of weld repairs of
cracks in existing weldments in the 5083 material were
examined, with a view to establishing whether weld
repair of cracks in weldments is a viable means of
extending service life.
Previous work by many researchers w49x has indi-
cated that the weld geometry and weld residual stresses
WRS. can significantly affect the fatigue crack-growth
results in welded joints. The influence of residual
stresses is usually considered by replacing the normal
stress-intensity factor range, K, by the effective
stress-intensity factor range, K eff , which accounts for
the influence of crack closure due to the weld residual
stresses w4,7x. The influence of weld residual stresses on
crack closure was experimentally evaluated by mea-
surement of crack opening displacements. Metallurgi-
cal examination of welded joints and fractography of
fracture surfaces were conducted using an optical mi-
croscope and SEM.
2. Finite element modelling
Stress intensity factors available in the literature are
usually derived from two-dimensional plane strain
models containing edge cracks. Since the geometry of
welded plates differs from that of unwelded plates,
traditional relations for stress-intensity factor calcula-
tions based on flat plate geometry may not be valid for
welded joints. On the other hand, removing the weld
reinforcement completely to make the geometry similar
to that of a flat plate may be impractical, uneconomi-
cal, or even impossible in practical engineering applica-
tions. Using flat-plate equations for predicting fatigue
life for as-welded components may lead to overesti-
mated results. Recent research employing three-dimen-
sional modelling has indicated that fatigue cracks on
the weld toe cannot be accurately represented by two-
dimensional models which ignore the weld profile
geometry w8,9x. Hence, in the present study, a three-di-
mensional finite-element model of the butt weld joint
was carried out to compute the stress-intensity factor
SIF. solutions for weld toe cracks. These were then
utilised to determine effective stress-intensity factors
by taking into account crack closure effects.
A section of the three-dimensional finite-element
model showing the weld reinforcement with the crack
at the weld toe is shown in Fig. 1a. The notch intro-
duced on one side of the specimen to initiate the crack
at the toe of the reinforcement may be noted. The tip
of the crack is evident in the figure as a darker square
of finer mesh further inwards along the toe. Fig. 1b
shows the arrangement of the three-dimensional singu-
lar elements around the crack tip. The stress intensity
factor K 1 is computed from the relative displacements
of the crack faces with respect to one another using a
linear elastic-fracture mechanics approach w10x. The
geometry factors for the stress intensity solutions stress
intensity values per unit stress . at the toe of the rein-
forcement on the outer surface and mid-plane of the
plate, obtained from the three-dimensional finite-ele-
ment analysis, are plotted against the normalised crack
length in Fig. 2, along with the two-dimensional solu-
tions. It is evident that the stress intensity values at the
top of surface where the reinforcement meets the
plates top surface are approximately 10% higher than
those given by the two-dimensional solution, while the
stress intensities at the mid-plane are somewhat lower.
3. Specimen material and geometry
3.1. Material
The material employed in the tests was aluminium
alloy 5083-H321 plate, which was in a strain-hardened
and stabilised condition, with dimensions of 2400 =
1200 = 8 mm3. The chemical composition is shown in
Table 1.
 K. Shankar, W. Wu r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 201208 203

Fig. 1. a. Three-dimensional finite-element model of the weld reinforcement; and b. singular elements around the tip of the crack.

3.2. Specimen geometry These were then subjected to constant-amplitude cyclic

Single edge-notched tension SENT. specimens were
used for all the fatigue crack growth experiments. The
specimens were initially manufactured by butt-welding
two component panels together using MIG welding. In
all specimens, double-sided welds were initially em-
ployed. To prepare weld-repaired specimens for fatigue
and static tension tests, a 0.5-mm-wide and 30-mm-long
through-thickness slot was machined at the root of
reinforcement of welded specimens, simulating practi-
cal cracks originating at this hot point Fig. 3.. The TIG
weld-repair process was carried out along the slot. For
the fatigue test specimens employed in crack growth
measurements, V-notches were machined at the toe of
the reinforcement and in the fusion zone for the
as-welded and weld-repaired specimens, respectively.
loading to initiate pre-cracks of predetermined lengths
from the notch root, prior to fatigue cycling for collect-
ing crack growth data. In the as-welded specimens,
crack growth rates were measured for cracks growing in
the direction of the weld in some specimens pro-weld.
and for cracks growing opposite to the weld direction in
others anti-weld., by initiating pre-cracks at the start-
ing and finishing points of the weld, respectively. The
crack growth rates in the two cases, however, were very
similar, indicating that the weld direction has little
influence on the crack propagation rate in the heat-
affected zone.
4. Static behaviour
The effect of the welding and weld-repair processes
on the static load-carrying behaviour was examined by
conducting static tension tests on the unwelded, as-
welded and weld-repaired specimens. The as-welded
specimens had welds on both sides; the weld repairs
were either single- or double-sided. Typical tensile

Table 1
Chemical composition of 5083-H321 plate

Element Wt.%

Mg 4.04.9
Mn 0.41.0
Cr 0.050.25
Si 0.4 max
Fe 0.4 max
Ti 0.15 max
Cu 0.1 max
Fig. 2. Geometry factors f arw . for stress intensity solutions from Zn 0.25 max
the three-dimensional FE model top surface and mid-plane. and Others 0.15 max
2-D solution. Al Balance
204 K. Shankar, W. Wu r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 201208
Fig. 3. Weld-repair specimen preparation.
stress strain curves for the four cases are plotted in Fig.
4. The average values of ultimate strength, yield
strength and effective elastic modulus axial stressraxial
strain. obtained from fourfive specimens are listed in
Table 2.
It is evident that the weld process does not signifi-
cantly reduce the elastic modulus; in fact, the effective
stiffness of the as-welded plates appears to be mar-
ginally higher due to the double weld reinforcement.
However, the tensile behaviour is highly non-linear for
all the welded samples, resulting in low yield-strength
values 37 and 56% reduction for the as-welded and
weld-repaired plates, respectively.. The reduction in
the ultimate strength is only of the order of 12% for
the as-welded plates, but is of the order of 6065% for
weld-repaired plates, with the double-sided repair far-
ing marginally better. The reduction in strength is most
pronounced for the weld-repaired plates. Since the
strength of 5083-H321 plate material is mainly achieved
by work-hardening, heat input due to the welding
process apparently causes recrystallisation in the heat-
Fig. 4. Stress strain behaviour of unwelded, welded and weld-repaired joints under static tensile load.
affected zone HAZ. and creates large-sized grains in
the fusion zone, resulting in a significant loss of the
initial strength induced in the parent material by cold
working. The greater heat input due to the weld-repair
process apparently weakens the material to a much
greater extent, as well as increasing the size and num-
ber of defects in the material Fig. 5..
In order to gauge the extent of the heat-affected
zones, HRB hardness tests were conducted on both the
as-welded and weld-repaired plates. The HAZ region
on either side typically extended to 20 mm in the
as-welded specimens, whereas they were of the order of
70 and 120 mm for the double- and single-sided re-
paired specimens. It is evident that the weld-repair
process produces extremely large HAZ regions, with
the single-sided repair being more detrimental than the
double-sided repair.
5. Crack closure effects
It is well known that crack closure can significantly
reduce the effective stress-intensity factor range w11x.
While some crack closure is induced by plasticity, the
weld residual stresses WRS. can induce significant
crack closure in welded joints, and thus seriously affect
crack growth rates, especially in the early phase of the
d ard N curve w12,13x. Because the crack-opening load
in the heat-affected zone is dependent on crack closure
effects, due to both plasticity and WRS, the crack-
opening stress approach can be applied to determine
the total effective stress-intensity factors for welded
joints. In this study, crack-opening loads were experi-
mentally determined by measuring the crack opening
 K. Shankar, W. Wu r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 201208 205

Table 2 6. Fatigue test results

Reduction in stiffness and strength due to weld and weld repair
processes
A 100-kN-capacity Instron-1342 fatigue-testing ma-
Unwelded Welded Repair
chine was used for the crack growth experiments. Fa-
Double- Single-
tigue crack measurements were carried out with the aid
sided sided
of a travelling microscope. Crack lengths were mea-
Ultimate strength MPa. 312 276 121 113 sured on both sides of the specimen with an accuracy
0.2% yield strength MPa. 241 151 108 102 of approximately 0.01 mm. An Instron COD gauge was
Elastic modulus GPa. 69 72 65 68
installed on the d ard N specimens to record the varia-
tions in crack opening displacement COD. and the
load values during part of the test. The COD and
displacements and plotting them against fatigue load fatigue load signals were amplified and recorded in a
changes. The slope deviation method w14x was then PC and processed as previously described to determine
employed to obtain the crack-closure load levels for the crack-closure load levels for calculation of the
calculation of the effective stress-intensity factors. The effective stress-intensity factors.
ratio of effective stress-intensity factor range K eff . to The fatigue-crack growth rates measured in the tests
the nominal stress-intensity range K nominal ., given by on the unwelded and the welded plates are plotted
the ratio of the difference between the maximum load against the nominal stress-intensity range in Fig. 7. It is
and the crack opening load to the difference between evident that fatigue-crack growth rates for the welded
the maximum load and the minimum applied load, is plate are much lower than those of the unwelded plates
plotted for the three cases in Fig. 6. It is evident that for stress intensity ranges below approximately 30 MPa
the ratios are much lower for the welded and the m1r2 . This would suggest that for the same initial crack
weld-repaired joints due to the crack closure induced length, the welded specimen has a much longer life
by the weld residual stresses. than that of the unwelded specimen. However, this is

Fig. 5. Microstructure in a. as-welded and b. weld-repaired heat-affected zones 66 = ..

Fig. 6. Effective stress intensity factors taking into account crack closure effects.
206 K. Shankar, W. Wu r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 201208

Fig. 7. Crack growth rates of unwelded and as-welded material plotted against nominal stress intensity factors.

largely due to neglecting the crack closure effects of
the residual stresses in the welded specimens. When
plotted against the effective stress-intensity factor range
K eff Fig. 8., the d ard N curve for the welded plate
shifts to the left and decreases in gradient, coming
close to and falling within the scatter band of the
unwelded base material. These results indicate that
fatigue-crack growth behaviour for the 5083-H321 base
plate and that of the welded plate in the HAZ is quite
similar.
The fatigue-crack growth behaviour of samples with
single- and double-sided repairs is plotted against the
effective stress-intensity factors in Fig. 9, along with
those of the as-welded plates for comparison. It is
evident that the crack propagation rates of joints with
single-sided repair are quite close to those of the
as-welded plates which are again similar to those of
the parent material.. In contrast, the samples with
double-sided repairs have a much higher crack-growth
rate, especially during the early part of crack growth.
7. Fractography
As shown in Fig. 5b, the weld-repaired material
exhibits a much higher level of grain growth and
porosity compared to the as-welded material. Apart
from having coarse grains, the microvoids and macrop-
orosity at the secondary welds in the weld-repaired
specimens are significantly larger, both in number and
size. These defects interconnect, becoming micro-
cracks, and subsequently form large cracks when sub-
jected to cyclic fatigue loads. Therefore, the weld-
repair process appears to increase crack growth rate,
and consequently to decrease fatigue life. Fig. 10 shows
the fatigue fracture-surface examination for unwelded,

Fig. 8. Crack growth rates of unwelded and as-welded material plotted against effective stress intensity factors.
 K. Shankar, W. Wu r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 201208 207

Fig. 9. Comparison of crack growth rates for single- and double-sided repairs with that of the as-welded plates against effective SIF range..

welded and weld-repaired plates by SEM. The fracture
surface of welded plate appears quite similar to that of
the unwelded plate, whereas that of the weld-repaired
plate Fig. 10c. exhibits indications of grain pull-out,
owing to extreme porosity.
8. Conclusion
Crack growth behaviour in welded aluminium-alloy
5083-H321 plates was experimentally investigated. It
was found that when effective stress-intensity factors
are computed, taking into account the crack closure
due to plasticity and weld residual stresses, the propa-
gation rates of cracks in the weld toe are comparable to
those in the parent material. The lower fatigue lives of
the welded joints are therefore mainly due to the
porosity and internal defects introduced by the weld
process. It was found that when cracks in the weld
reinforcement are repaired by welding only on one
side, the crack growth rates of the repaired specimens
are quite similar in magnitude to those of the as-welded
plates and the parent material, when plotted against
the effective stress-intensity factor ranges. On the other
hand, when the repairs are effected by welding on both
sides of the crack in the weldment, the propagation
rates for cracks in the fusion zone seem to be much
higher, especially in the early stages of crack growth. It
is possible that this may have resulted from the dif-
ficulty in establishing the effective stress-intensity fac-
tors for the double-sided repair specimens, due to the
difficulty of accurately measuring the crack-opening
displacements. In any case, it should be noted that the
residual life of the weld-repaired joints is even lower
than that of the as-welded plates. This is attributed to
the significantly larger size and greater number of
defects introduced by the secondary welding process.
This leads to the conclusion that repair of cracks in
weldments by subsequent welding is a poor means of

Fig. 10. Fracture surfaces of: a. unwelded; b. as-welded; and c. weld-repaired specimens.
208 K. Shankar, W. Wu r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 201208
enhancing fatigue life. While it may be possible to
reduce the size and number of defects introduced by
the weld-repair process by pre- and post-treatment of
the material, this aspect has not been studied in this
preliminary investigation. The effectiveness of pre- and
post-treatments in improving the quality of welds and
in ameliorating weld residual stresses needs to be in-
vestigated before secondary welding can be accepted as
a viable means of restoring residual fatigue life of
cracked welded joints.
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