Combined approach for integrity assessment of welded joints with multiple defects

Presence of defects in welded joints is inevitable, and more often than not, presence of a specific defect is accompanied by other types. This research represents the development of a combined method for analysing the structural integrity of welded joints with multiple defects - relying on experimental testing, deformation monitoring using digital image correlation, and numerical simulations via finite element method. It all started a long time ago, with simple 2D models, and continued over time, introducing new improvements to the existing models, taking into account various factors, such as welded joint material heterogeneity, the presence of cracks initiated from the most critical defects, and stresses which act in directions outside of the model specimen’s main axis.