The effect of blast loading on structures is still an area of active research. The structural joints play a key role in the imparting structural integrity. Joints may be temporary type, or permanent, like welded joints. Due to its simplicity and effectiveness welded joints are now used for carrying heavy load as in bridges and structures etc. But the joints are also points of stress concentration, and hence frequent failure, especially under dynamic loads. The study again assumes importance under blast loading, which is highly dynamic. It is essential to predict the failure in order to avoid over design. In this paper Tee-type fillet joint is analysed, with ABAQUS. Both static failure and blast load failure are considered, to draw a comparison. The failure initiates when the stress level reaches the maximum set limit. Under static tensile loading it is found that the cracks always initiate at the weld tip or weld toe, depending on the plate thickness. The same methodology can be extended to dynamic cases. Comparisons can be drawn relating to the crack initiation loads and locations, effect of variation in plate thickness on crack initiation and extent of damage.

Keywords: Dynamic loading (blast), Tee-joint, Static analysis.