The influence of R ratio in the range 0·05–0·4 on the ambient temperature fatigue crack growth behaviour of an austenitic stainless steel weld, SS 316(N), has been studied. Results indicate that the cyclic threshold stress intensity factor ΔKth increases with decreasing R ratio. The data are compared with those for SS 316, SS 316L and SS 316L(N) base materials from the literature, and various approaches dealing with the R ratio effects are examined. Zhang's model considering the contribution of the crack tip plasticity to the fundamental fatigue crack propagation process does provide a consistent interpretation for the data.
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