I have quickly read some sections of some Journal Papers about this method, which was developed by Mr. P Dong (who work at Battelle) and I can say it really works.
P. Dong has developed a method which the stresses on an finite element is calculated using directly the nodal loads (forces and moments). In other words, the stresses are not either calculated using the strain-displacement matrix nor the displacement vector. I think this is one of the reasons that makes this method mesh-insensitive. This method looks like a modification of the FEM and guess I saw the method explanation in the following article:
Dong, P., 2001, "A Structural Stress Definition and Numerical Implementation for Fatigue Evaluation of Welded Joints,’’ Int. J. Fatigue, 23/10, pp. 865–876.
I attatched a PowerPoint file that has more information about the Battelle Mesh-Insensitive Method: "Fatigue Assessment of Weld Joints Using ANSYS, Verity & FE-Safe"
There is just 1 book that deals with the subject: "Modern Metal Fatigue Analysis" ( here:
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There is another thread in this forum that is related with this subject, called "FE-Weld Fatigue mesh insensitive- Battelle" ( here:
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The following articles also have information of this Fatigue Assessment Mesh-Insensitive Method:
Dong, P., Hong, J.K., Cao, Z., “A Mesh-Insensitive Structural Stress Procedure for Fatigue Evaluation of Welded Structures", International Institute of Welding, IIW Doc. XIII-1902-01/XV-1089-01, July, 2001.
Hong Tae Kang, Pingsha Dong, J.K. Hong, "Fatigue analysis of spot welds using a mesh-insensitive structural stress approach", International Journal of Fatigue, October, 2006
Dong, P., 2005, "A Robust Structural Stress Method for Fatigue Analysis of Offshore/Marine Structures’’, Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering , Vol. 127, pp. 68-74.
Myung Hyun Kim, Seong Min Kim, Young Nam Kim, Sung Geun Kim, Kyoung Eon Lee, Gyeong Rae Kim, "A comparative study for the fatigue assessment of a ship structure by use of hot spot stress and structural stress approaches", Ocean Engineering, July, 2009.