The latest edition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Codes will include a welding fatigue prediction tool developed by the Battelle Memorial Institute (www.battelle.org).

Battelle’s Mesh-Insensitive Structural Stress method will appear in Section VIII, Division 2 of the code, and will be an alternative means for predicting fatigue and fatigue life. The fatigue prediction tool was developed by Dr. Pingsha Dong at Battelle.

Battelle said the fatigue prediction method is a breakthrough in how industry addresses weld fatigue.

The mesh-insensitive structural stress method provides a level of predictability never before seen and can be easily applied, Battelle said, adding that the method originally was viewed as “too good to be true,” but that rigorous testing over many years have proved the method’s value.

The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code establish construction rules for new boilers and pressure vessels and nuclear power plant components. The code is required for use by most regulatory bodies in North America and also is broadly used internationally.

Additionally, Dong said in a prepared statement that the meshsensitive structural stress method is applicable for fatigue design and life prediction of steel bridge structures, and for assessing the remaining life of aging bridges.

“Recently published full scale fatigue data for steel bridges and signal masts, funded by the Department of Transportation and various States’ DOTs, has been predicted by our method as stipulated in the 2007 ASME Code,” Dong said.

Battelle is a global non-profit, independent research and development organization with 20,000 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide. It is based in Columbus, Ohio, and conducts $3.8 billion in research annually through contracts, laboratory management, and technology commercialization.