5. Local finishing treatments for welded assemblies

5.1 Role of finishing treatments – Regions concerned

The treatments described below are mainly intended to improve the fatigue life of welded assemblies ([BM 5 191], § 1.2). They are used in the following circumstances:

• new welded construction for which the performance required is justified by calculation;

• repair of a structure damaged by fatigue in service.

The "foot of the bead", which represents the connection of the weld bead with the underlying base metal ([BM 5 185], § 2.3), is one of the two preferred sites for fatigue damage initiation, as a result of the geometric elements :

• the more or less abrupt variation in...