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Fatigue life estimation for welded structures requires knowledge of the stress field at the critical
locations. The proposed method allows for the determination of the stress distribution in the weld
toe region using a shell finite element model. The region of interst must be meshed such that the
gradient of the through-thickness stress is captured. The stress data obtained via the shell finite
element model is then modified via stress concentration factors to obtain peak stress values and
estimate the fatigue life of a component. The stress distribution obtained using this method may
also be used for fatigue crack growth analyses. One type of welded joint was used to validate the
proposed method: a Desmoines T-joint welded connection. The reference stresses for these
geometries were obtained using finely-meshed three-dimensional finite-element models. The
shell finite element model was found to be in good agreement with the results from the threedimensional
finite-element models.