Fricke, WolfgangWolfgangFricke2022-03-252022-03-252011Marine Technology and Engineering : 1st International Conference of Maritime Technology and Engineering, MARTECH 2011 ; 10 May 2011 through 12 May 2011. - Vol. 2 (): 851-864 (2011)http://hdl.handle.net/11420/12105The paper discusses the assessment of fatigue in welded ship structures subjected to cyclic stresses being typical in various types of structures. The damaging process of fatigue is very complex and today mainly understood on a phenomenological basis. Therefore, experiments still play an important part when certain effects are to be investigated or sufficient safety against fatigue has to be achieved. After giving an overview about typical experimental analyses, common approaches for fatigue strength assessment are described. Different types of approaches exist for welded joints being characterized by a geometry with severe notches, inhomogeneous material and fabrication-related imperfections and defects. Finally, some examples are described illustrating the possibilities of experimental and numerical analyses. These consider influence factors such as residual stresses and fabrication effects. The examples are related to structures with plate thicknesses being typical e.g., for shipbuilding and comparable steel structures. © 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, London.enTechnikIngenieurwissenschaftenConference PaperConference Paper