APPLICATION OF PROGRAM FATIGUE TEST TO MEMBER JOINTS OF HULLS

Fatigue tests were conducted on reduce-scale models for the purpose of estimating the fatigue strength of member joints of hulls and also finding out a more effective reinforcing method. The test was carried out on two kinds of joints at bilge corner, that is, right-angled joint and oblique-angle joint. A right-angled joint is composed of a tank top plate and a longitudinal bulkhead plate crossing each other at a right angle as usually seen in container ships. On the other hand, an oblique-angled joint consists of a tank top plate and a hopper tank slope plate crossing each other at an angle of Pi/4 or Pi/3 as seen in bulk carriers. In the test, loads obtained by transverse strength calculation were applied to the models. Load programs were prepared for two different mean stress conditions, that is, full-load condition and ballast condition. Each condition was divided into five stages. The results of the test and those of approximate calculation are described in this paper.(Author)