ABSTRACT
The advantages of high-strength steels over common materials used in steel structures have been known for a long time. Owing to the high strength of the material, sections with smaller dimensions can be used which results in structures with lower dead weight, but with the same load capacity compared to usual steels. One of the disadvantges of high strength steels is their notch sensitivity. There are, however, no problems of fatigue in the low-cycle range of stresses.
This paper presents experimental results of investigations into the fatigue strength of welded X- and K-joints of high strength steels FeE 460 and FeE 600. The tests were carried out under constant amplitude (CA) as well as under variable amplitude (VA). In order to make reference to practice and to available test results for joints of Fe 360 and Fe 510, the load spectra were chosen in accordance with the german crane standard DIN 15018 [1].
