Welding Residual Stress Analysis Using Axisymmetric Modeling for Shroud Support Structure

Author(s):  
Kazuo Ogawa ◽  
Yukihiko Okuda ◽  
Toshiyuki Saito ◽  
Takahiro Hayashi ◽  
Rie Sumiya

Recently, several cracks caused by stress corrosion cracking (SCC) have been found on welds of shroud supports in Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) plants. The major cause of SCC in a weld joint is considered due to welding residual stress generated in the fabrication processes of the components. For continuous safety operations, it is necessary to estimate the structural integrity of such shroud supports with cracks based on the distribution of residual stresses induced by welding. In order to know and to validate the numerical method of residual stresses induced by welding of large scale and complex shaped components, a BWR shroud support mock-up with a hemispherical base of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) was fabricated by Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) as a national project. The mock-up has a 32° section of actual BWR shroud supports with approximately the same configurations, materials and welding conditions of an actual component. During welding in the fabrication process of the mock-up, temperature was measured and after completion of the mock-up fabrication, surface residual stress distributions for each weld were also measured by the sectioning method. In addition, through-thickness residual stress distributions were investigated. Residual stress for each weld was calculated by using axisymmetric models considering temperature dependent elastic-plastic material properties. Though the actual structure of shroud supports is essentially complex, we simplified axisymmetric models in the center of the cross section. The analysis results show a similar profile and good agreement with the measured results on the surface of all the welds and through the welds at the upper and lower joints of the shroud support leg.

Author(s):  
S. J. Lewis ◽  
S. Hossain ◽  
C. E. Truman ◽  
D. J. Smith ◽  
M. Hofmann

A number of previously published works have shown that the presence of residual stresses can significantly affect measurements of fracture toughness, unless they are properly accounted for when calculating parameters such as the crack driving force. This in turn requires accurate, quantitative residual stress data for the fracture specimens prior to loading to failure. It is known that material mechanical properties may change while components are in service, for example due to thermo-mechanical load cycles or neutron embrittlement. Fracture specimens are often extracted from large scale components in order to more accurately determine the current fracture resistance of components. In testing these fracture specimens it is generally assumed that any residual stresses present are reduced to a negligible level by the creation of free surfaces during extraction. If this is not the case, the value of toughness obtained from testing the extracted specimen is likely to be affected by the residual stress present and will not represent the true material property. In terms of structural integrity assessments, this can lead to ‘double accounting’ — including the residual stresses in both the material toughness and the crack driving force, which in turn can lead to unnecessary conservatism. This work describes the numerical modelling and measurement of stresses in fracture specimens extracted from two different welded parent components: one component considerably larger than the extracted specimens, where considerable relaxation would be expected as well as a smaller component where appreciable stresses were expected to remain. The results of finite element modelling, along with residual stress measurements obtained using the neutron diffraction technique, are presented and the likely implications of the results in terms of measured fracture toughness are examined.


2013 ◽  
Vol 768-769 ◽  
pp. 174-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
David von Mirbach

Two commonly used mechanical methods for the determination of residual stresses are the hole-drilling method and the ring-core method, which can be regarded as semi-destructive. The most restricting limitation for the general applicability of both methods, according to the current state of science and technology, is the fact that the scope for relatively low residual stress under 60% of the yield stress is limited.This is a result of the notch effect of the hole or ring core, which leads to a plastification around and on the bottom of the hole and ring shaped groove already at stresses well below the yield stress of the material. The elastic evaluation of the resulting plastic strains leads consequently to an overestimation of the delineated residual stresses. In this paper the influence of elastic-plastic material properties no the specific calibration function for the hole-drilling method using the differential method is studied, and the method of adaptive calibration functions is presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 144 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Jae Kim ◽  
Eui-Kyun Park ◽  
Hong-Yeol Bae ◽  
Ju-Hee Kim ◽  
Nam-Su Huh ◽  
...  

Abstract This article investigates numerically welding residual stress distributions of a tube with J-groove weld in control rod drive mechanisms of a pressurized nuclear reactor vessel. Parametric study is performed for the effect of the tube location, tube dimensions, and material's yield strength. It is found that residual stresses increase with increasing the inclination angle of the tube, and the up-hill side is the most critical. For thicker tube, residual stresses decrease. For material's yield strength, both axial and hoop residual stresses tend to increase with increasing the yield strength of Alloy 600. Furthermore, axial stresses tend to increase with increasing yield strength of Alloys 82/182.


Author(s):  
Wei Jiang ◽  
Kadda Yahiaoui

Piping branch junctions and nozzle attachments to main pressure vessels are common engineering components used in the power, oil and gas, and shipbuilding industries amongst others. These components are usually fabricated by multipass welding. The latter process is known to induce residual stresses at the fabrication stage which can have severe adverse effects on the in-service behavior of such critical components. It is thus desirable if the distributions of residual stresses can be predicted well in advance of welding execution. This paper presents a comprehensive study of three dimensional residual stress distributions in a stainless steel tee branch junction during a multipass welding process. A full 3D thermo-mechanical finite element model has been developed for this purpose. A newly developed meshing technique has been used to model the complex intersection areas of the welded junction with all hexahedral elements. Element removal/reactivate technique has been employed to simulate the deposition of filler material. Material, geometry and boundary nonlinearities associated with welding were all taken into account. The analysis results are presented in the form of stress distributions circumferentially along the weldline on both run and branch pipes as well as at the run and branch cross sections. In general, this computational model is capable of predicting 3D through thickness welding residual stress, which can be valuable for structural integrity assessments of complex welded geometries.


Author(s):  
Xiaobo Ren ◽  
Odd M. Akselsen ◽  
Sigmund K. Ås ◽  
Bård Nyhus

Hyperbaric welding residual stress is one of the main concerns for deep water operation. This study presents the numerical investigation of residual stresses in hyperbaric welding by using WeldsimS code. The pressure range investigated in this study is from 3 to 35 bar, which corresponds to 30 to 350 msw (Meters of Sea Water). Experiments results indicate that the welding procedure might be significantly influenced within the pressure range studied. A 2D axisymmetric model has been considered in this study to simulate circumferential welding of a pipe. Phase transformations and transformation plasticity during the welding procedure have been taken into account. The main aim of the study is to predict the hyperbaric welding residual stresses. The temperature evolution and the micro-structure were also studied. Results show that residual stresses induced by hyperbaric welding are significant within the pressure range investigated, which should be assessed for the sake of structural integrity.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Jiang ◽  
Kadda Yahiaoui

Piping branch junctions and nozzle attachments to main pressure vessels are common engineering components used in the power, oil and gas, and shipbuilding industries amongst others. These components are usually fabricated by multipass welding. The latter process is known to induce residual stresses at the fabrication stage, which can have severe adverse effects on the in-service behavior of such critical components. It is thus desirable if the distributions of residual stresses can be predicted well in advance of welding execution. This paper presents a comprehensive study of three dimensional residual stress distributions in a stainless steel tee branch junction during a multipass welding process. A full three dimensional thermomechanical finite element model has been developed for this purpose. A newly developed meshing technique has been used to model the complex intersection areas of the welded junction with all hexahedral elements. Element removal/reactivate technique has been employed to simulate the deposition of filler material. Material, geometry, and boundary nonlinearities associated with welding were all taken into account. The analysis results are presented in the form of stress distributions circumferentially along the weld line on both run and branch pipes as well as at the run and branch cross sections. In general, this computational model is capable of predicting three dimensional through-thickness welding residual stress, which can be valuable for structural integrity assessments of complex welded geometries.


2013 ◽  
Vol 768-769 ◽  
pp. 605-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Farajian ◽  
Thomas Nitschke-Pagel ◽  
Klaus Dilger

In spite of an increased awareness of welding residual stress threat to structural integrity, the extent of its influence on fatigue especially under multiaxial loading is still unclear and is a matter of debate. One important reason for this lack of clarities is that the determination of the initial welding residual stress field in welded structures even at the fatigue crack initiation sites is difficult and requires complementary instruments. Since the fatigue crack initiation in sound welds almost always occurs on the surface, the determination of surface residual stresses could increase the awareness of the extent of their threat to the structural safety. In this paper the development of residual stresses in different TIG-welded tubular specimens out of S355J2H and S690QL steel is studied and compared. The mechanisms of the development of residual stresses based on heat input and cooling rate are discussed. The welding parameters and thus heat inputs are varied and the mechanisms leading to different residual stress states are investigated. X-ray method was used for residual stress state characterization.


Author(s):  
Adrian T. DeWald ◽  
Michael R. Hill

Welding residual stresses can significantly impact the performance of structural components. Tensile residual stresses are of particular concern due to their ability to cause significant degradation to the PWSCC resistance of structural materials. The contour method is a residual stress measurement technique capable of generating two dimensional maps of residual stress, which is particularly useful when applied to welds due to the complex residual stress distributions that generally result. The two-dimensional capability of the contour method enables detailed visualization of complex weld residual stress fields. This data can be used to identify locations and magnitude of tensile residual stress hot-spots. This paper provides a summary of the contour method and presents detailed results of contour method measurements made on the dissimilar metal weld region of pressurizer relief nozzles removed from the cancelled WNP-3 plant in the United States as part of the NRC/EPRI weld residual stress (WRS) program [1].


Author(s):  
Ali Mirzaee-Sisan ◽  
Junkan Wang

It is commonly understood that residual stresses can have significant effects on structural integrity. The extent of such influence varies and is affected by material properties, manufacturing methods and thermal history. Welded components such as pipelines are subject to complex transient temperature fields and associated thermal stresses near the welded regions. These thermal stresses are often high in magnitude and could cause localized yielding around the deposited weld metal. Because of differential thermal expansion/contraction episodes, misfits are introduced into the welded regions which in turn generate residual stresses when the structure has cooled to ambient temperature. This paper is based on a recently completed Joint Industry Project (JIP) led by DNV GL. It briefly reviews published experimental and numerical studies on residual stresses and strength-mismatched girth welds in pipelines. Several Finite Element Analysis (FEA) models of a reeling simulation have been developed including mapping an initial axial residual stress (transverse to the weld) profile onto a seamless girth-welded pipe. The initial welding residual stress distribution used for mapping was measured along the circumference of the girth welds. The predicted residual stresses after reeling simulation was subsequently compared with experimental measurements.


Author(s):  
Adrian T. DeWald ◽  
Michael R. Hill ◽  
Eric Willis

Welding residual stresses can significantly impact the performance of structural components. Tensile residual stresses are of particular concern due to their ability to cause significant degradation to the PWSCC resistance of structural materials. The contour method is a residual stress measurement technique capable of generating two dimensional maps of residual stress, which is particularly useful when applied to welds due to the complex residual stress distributions that generally result. The two-dimensional capability of the contour method enables detailed visualization of complex weld residual stress fields. This data can be used to identify locations and magnitude of tensile residual stress hot-spots. This paper provides a summary of the contour method and presents detailed results of contour method measurements made on the dissimilar metal weld region of pressurizer relief nozzles removed from the cancelled WNP-3 plant in the United States as part of the NRC/EPRI weld residual stress (WRS) program [1].


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