The effect of cold forming residual stresses in local fatigue approaches: A numerical perspective

Thin-walled structures generally rely on cold-formed mild steel profiles. Due to cold forming, a significant formation of residual stresses impacts their overall fatigue behaviour. In this work, a state-of-the-art framework for fatigue life prediction is proposed and applied to both roll-formed and press-braked full-scale profiles. In summary, the profile’s manufacturing process is numerically simulated to obtain a representative residual stress field. These results are then used as the initial state during a subsequent structural and fatigue analysis. A clear detrimental residual stress effect is verified. Importantly, however, is to note that prediction accuracy increases significantly when these effects are considered. • An advanced framework for fatigue life prediction in full-scale profiles is presented. • Residual stress fields due to cold-forming and pre-forming processes are investigated. • Manufacturing straining history and structural loading unified in a single model. • A clear residual stress effect on numerical fatigue life estimations is verified. • The inclusion of residual stresses increased the predicting accuracy of the model.