In this project, a section of a large turbine blower has been studied. The client wanted to focus on the fatigue calculation of the welds. The International Institute of Welding proposed two methods to address this problem: Nominal Stress Approach and Hot-Spot Approach. The latest is expected to be the most suitable for treating welded joints, in which weld toe cracking is the likely mode of failure.

Hot-Spot stress approach

Using the simulation, the client has been able to:

• Identify high stress areas
• Calculate the number of cycles to failure of the welds
• Following a modal analysis, address basic vibration problem related to natural modes of the structure

Detailed of the mesh, including the welds

Von Mises stress on a section of the turbine (cyclic boundary conditions are used)