Residual Stress Measurements Revealing Weld Bead Start and Stop Effects in Single and Multi-Pass Weld-Runs

This paper describes transverse residual stress and strain measurements aimed at quantifying end effects in single and multi-pass weld-runs. Two test specimens are examined: a 60 mm long weld bead deposited on the surface of a 180 mm × 120 mm × 17 mm thick stainless steel plate, and a 62° arc-length multi-pass repair weld in a 432 mm outer diameter, 19.6 mm thick stainless steel pipe girth weld. The residual stress measurements were made by employing the relatively new Contour method and by neutron diffraction using ENGIN-X, the engineering spectrometer at the ISIS facility of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK). The measured underlying transverse residual stress levels are observed to be essentially uniform directly beneath the weld bead in the plate specimen and in the heat affected zone beneath the capping passes moving from mid-length towards the stop-end of the pipe repair. However, results from both test components demonstrate the existence of short-range concentrations of transverse residual stress along the welding direction owing to individual weld capping bead start and stop effects. Such short length-scale stress variations must be allowed for when interpreting residual stress measurements from line-scans. The experimental work also demonstrates the importance of knowing the expected stress or strain distribution prior to choosing measurement lines for detailed study. The Contour measurement method and neutron strain scanning are powerful tools for mapping residual stress and strain fields.