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Crystals
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Fatigue and Fracture of Welded Structures
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Fatigue and Fracture of Welded Structures

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Crystalline Metals and Alloys".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2025) | Viewed by 2596

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zheng Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Interests: fracture mechanics; fatigue crack propagation; constraint effects; structural integrity assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Hang Liang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Interests: fatigue; failure assessment; welding manufacturing; fatigue crack propagation
Prof. Dr. Xin Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Interests: fracture mechanics; failure analysis; structural engineering; weight function; constraints
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Welding technology, as a highly durable, reliable, and cost-effective connection technique, is widely used in aerospace, rail transit, and other energy industries. The context for this Special Issue lies in the increasing demand for high-performance and durable welded structures. As structures are subjected to complex loading conditions and environmental factors, the occurrence of fatigue and fractures can lead to catastrophic failures. Therefore, research on the fatigue and fracture of welded structures is essential to develop effective prevention and mitigation strategies.

Over the past few decades, there have been extensive reports on the mechanical properties and deformation behaviours of welded structures. However, most of the current research primarily concentrates on common mechanical properties and deformation. There is a lack of research on the mechanical behaviour of welded structures in complex mechanical environments, especially in clarifying fractures, fatigue crack propagation, fatigue damage, and failure mechanisms via advanced characterization methods and numerical analysis models.

We are pleased to introduce this Special Issue dedicated to the exploration of the "Fatigue and Fracture of Welded Structures". This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for researchers to share their latest findings and advancements in the study of the fatigue and fracture of welded structures.

We hope to promote interdisciplinary research, encourage the development of new testing and analysis methods, and deepen our understanding of fatigue and fracture mechanisms in welded structures. Potential authors are invited to submit original research articles, review papers, and case studies that address topics such as welding processes and their effects on fatigue and fracture, fatigue life prediction models, the fracture mechanics of welded joints, and innovative materials and technologies for improving the fatigue and fracture resistance of welded structures. By bringing together the latest research in this field, this Special Issue will contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the development of more reliable welded structures.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Zheng Liu
Dr. Hang Liang
Prof. Dr. Xin Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • welding technology
  • welding evaluation
  • fracture mechanics
  • fatigue crack propagation
  • fatigue
  • fracture toughness test
  • size effect
  • failure analysis
  • fatigue damage mechanism
  • digital image correlation method
  • stress–strain response
  • structural engineering
  • finite element analysis
  • engineering metallic materials
  • deformation analysis
  • multiscale simulation
  • microscopic characterization
  • life prediction

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 9419 KB  
Article
Role of Internal Cyclic Heat Treatment on Regulating Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Laser Melting-Deposited Ti2AlNb Alloy
by Chunyan Zhang, Lulu Li, Yupin Lv, Yukun Pan, Zhenghua Hao and Qianying Guo
Crystals 2025, 15(11), 910; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst15110910 - 22 Oct 2025
Viewed by 592
Abstract
Laser melting deposition (LMD), one of the novel powder-to-powder welding technologies, has emerged as an ideal method for fabricating lightweight high-temperature Ti2AlNb alloy. However, the high thermal gradients and heat accumulation during the LMD process typically promote grain growth along the [...] Read more.
Laser melting deposition (LMD), one of the novel powder-to-powder welding technologies, has emerged as an ideal method for fabricating lightweight high-temperature Ti2AlNb alloy. However, the high thermal gradients and heat accumulation during the LMD process typically promote grain growth along the deposition direction, resulting in coarse columnar grains and high internal residual stress. This study investigates the influence of prolonged aging treatment and internal cyclic heat on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti2AlNb alloys. Both long-term aging and internal cyclic heat induce the columnar-to-equiaxed grain morphology transition. A 48 h aging heat treatment at 750 °C facilitates the formation of a B2 + O dual-phase lamellar structure, leading to a significant improvement in room-temperature strength. Internal cyclic heat effectively reduces the cooling rate, eliminates internal stress, and suppresses the precipitation of the brittle and detrimental α2 phase. This results in a more homogeneous distribution of O-phase laths, raising the room-temperature tensile strength from 938 MPa to 1215 MPa and achieving a high-temperature strength of 1116 MPa at 650 °C. These improvements demonstrate a synergistic enhancement in both room- and high-temperature strength and ductility, which provides an efficient strategy for in situ regulation of the microstructure and mechanical properties of laser-deposited Ti2AlNb alloys. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fatigue and Fracture of Welded Structures)
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28 pages, 6980 KB  
Article
Improving Weld Stability in Gas Metal Arc Welding: A Data-Driven and Machine Learning Approach
by Elina Mylen Montero Puñales, Guillermo Alvarez Bestard and Sadek Crisóstomo Absi Alfaro
Crystals 2025, 15(10), 895; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst15100895 - 16 Oct 2025
Viewed by 683
Abstract
The Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) process is widely utilized in industrial production, requiring careful selection of appropriate procedures to ensure the highest quality. A key area of study closely related to GMAW quality is the control of process stability. This research presents [...] Read more.
The Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) process is widely utilized in industrial production, requiring careful selection of appropriate procedures to ensure the highest quality. A key area of study closely related to GMAW quality is the control of process stability. This research presents a methodology for analyzing welding data to identify instability, thus enabling the development of a stability indicator. Our approach focuses on sensory fusion by integrating multiple sources of information, including sound signals, images, and current signals captured during the welding process. This work explores various configurations of variables to analyze the three primary transfer modes. Additionally, a comprehensive statistical analysis of the results obtained is conducted. Image processing techniques, sound analysis, and artificial intelligence methodologies are employed to enhance the analysis process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fatigue and Fracture of Welded Structures)
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15 pages, 8707 KB  
Article
Constraint Effect on Tensile and Fatigue Fracture of Coach Peel Specimens of Novel Aluminum–Steel Resistance Spot Welds
by Liting Shi and Xiangcheng Guo
Crystals 2025, 15(2), 163; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst15020163 - 8 Feb 2025
Viewed by 838
Abstract
In response to the growing demand for fuel economy and the imperative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the automotive industry has embraced structural lightweighting through multi-material solutions. This poses challenges in joining dissimilar lightweight metals, such as aluminum alloys to steels. The effects [...] Read more.
In response to the growing demand for fuel economy and the imperative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the automotive industry has embraced structural lightweighting through multi-material solutions. This poses challenges in joining dissimilar lightweight metals, such as aluminum alloys to steels. The effects of the diameter of a weld nugget have been well documented, particularly in relation to its effects on the tensile strength, tensile fracture modes and fatigue behavior. For tensile shear specimens, various methods have been developed over the years to predict fracture modes by deriving the critical nugget diameter. However, these methods have proved inadequate for coach peel specimens, where a noteworthy observation is the occurrence of pull-out fracture modes with smaller weld nugget diameters than the critical diameter. In the present study, aluminum alloy sheets and steel sheets were resistance spot welded, achieving a deliberately reduced weld nugget diameter to induce an interfacial fracture mode in the tensile testing of coach peel specimens. Intriguingly, it was noted that fatigue fracture modes in the same coach peel specimens transitioned from pull-out to interfacial with decreasing applied loads, challenging conventional expectations. Furthermore, finite element analysis was performed, and the findings indicated that the fracture modes of the coach peel specimens were influenced not only by the diameter of the weld nugget but also by local stress states, specifically the stress triaxiality at the tips of the spot weld notches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fatigue and Fracture of Welded Structures)
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