A Study of the Effect of Hardening Model in the Prediction of Welding Residual Stress

Author(s):  
Martina M. Joosten ◽  
Martin S. Gallegillo

The presence of residual stresses can significantly affect the performance of manufactured products. The welding process is one of the most common causes of large tensile residual stresses, which may contribute to failure by brittle fracture or cause other forms of failure such as damage by corrosion and creep. Welding is a widely used method of fabrication and it can generate high levels of residual stress over significant proportions of the thickness of a component. In order to study the effect of material characterisation on computer based predictions of welding residual stresses, the presented work was carried out as part of the European Network on Neutron Techniques Standardisation for Structural Integrity (NeT). Within the NeT, a task group is investigating a three-pass Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) weld benchmark. The three-pass specimen offers the possibility of examining the cyclic hardening and annealing behaviour of the weld metal and heat affected zone. A 3D model of the benchmark NeT problem was set up using ABAQUS v6.9.1 and validated against measurements. This paper presents the finite element work. Future papers from the NeT shall present experimental measurements. Different hardening models were considered in order to study their effect on the residual stresses. The different hardening models were isotropic hardening, linear and nonlinear kinematic hardening and combinations of these. Also the effect of annealing on the hardening behaviour is studied. Finally, the results of the simulations are compared to residual stress distributions as given in several standards.

Author(s):  
Tao Zhang ◽  
F. W. Brust ◽  
Gery Wilkowski

Weld residual stresses in nuclear power plant can lead to cracking concerns caused by stress corrosion. These are large diameter thick wall pipe and nozzles. Many factors can lead to the development of the weld residual stresses and the distributions of the stress through the wall thickness can vary markedly. Hence, understanding the residual stress distribution is important to evaluate the reliability of pipe and nozzle joints with welds. This paper represents an examination of the weld residual stress distributions which occur in various different size nozzles. The detailed weld residual stress predictions for these nozzles are summarized. Many such weld residual stress solutions have been developed by the authors in the last five years. These distributions will be categorized and organized in this paper and general trends for the causes of the distributions will be established. The residual stress field can therefore feed into a crack growth analysis. The solutions are made using several different constitutive models such as kinematic hardening, isotropic hardening, and mixed hardening model. Necessary fabrication procedures such as repair, overlay and post weld heat treatment are also considered. Some general discussions and comments will conclude the paper.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dezheng Liu ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Haisheng Liu ◽  
Zhongren Wang ◽  
Yu Wang

Weld solidification crack prevention in the laser penetration welding process is essential for the strength of the welded component. The formation of solidification cracks can ultimately be attributed to welding residual stresses, and preventive measures should be taken during welding. In this study, the effects of residual stresses on the laser penetration welding quality of ultrafine-grained steels were investigated. A heat source model was established through the analysis of the metallography of the cross section of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of ultrafine-grained AN420s-grade steel, and the chemical composition of the weld bead was obtained using an FLS980-stm Edinburgh fluorescence spectrometer. Furthermore, the constitutive coupling relation between the temperature and material flow stress was established based on the Gibbs function, and the welding residual stress was obtained by setting trace points in a finite element analysis (FEA) model based on experimental data of the weld bead cross section under different welding conditions. The results show that weld solidification cracks will form when the residual stresses exceed the material flow stresses in the weld bead, and the residual stresses can be decreased through a reasonable increase of the welding speed. The results indicate that the proposed criterion has high accuracy and can be used to predict the formation of weld solidification cracks in the laser penetration welding process.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Bhardwaj ◽  
R. M. Chandima Ratnayake

Abstract Residual stress estimation in structural integrity procedures plays an important role during the fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment of girth welds. Various FFS codes and standards, such as API 579 and BS 7910, recommend predetermined residual stress profiles based on finite element modeling (FEM) coupled with experimental results. Nonlinearity associated with non-uniform temperature gradients’ distribution during welding can develop residual stress up to the yield strength of the material, in weld shrinkage and plastic zones. Plastic zone size, shape, and locations are critically important in reducing or controlling final distortions, decreasing the residual stress according to length scale, and defining the optimum sequence of the welding process. However, in practice, estimation of finally developed residual stresses is used in structural integrity procedures for determining the FFS of welded joints. Various FEM models employed in its assessment require large computational time in solving the complex thermo-mechanical phenomenon involved in the welding process. Shrinkage strain models have been found to be fast and effective in determining final residual stresses, once the size, location and shape of the plastic zone can be predetermined. This manuscript demonstrates a comparison between the shrinkage strain method and the moving heat source method, based on transient temperature development as a function of time. The results (or findings) reveal a high compromise between FEM thermo mechanical model and shrinkage strain method in determining final residual stresses with later consuming less computational time. The findings provide significantly important feedback to welded joints’ structural integrity assurance practitioners.


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):  
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.


2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zhang ◽  
Frederick W. Brust ◽  
Gery Wilkowski

Weld residual stresses in nuclear power plants can lead to cracking concerns caused by stress corrosion. Many factors can lead to the development of the weld residual stresses, and the distributions of the stress through the wall thickness can vary markedly depending on the weld processing parameters, nozzle and pipe geometries, among other factors. Hence, understanding the residual stress distribution is important in order to evaluate the reliability of pipe and nozzle welded joints. This paper represents an examination of the weld residual stress distributions which occur in different nozzles. The geometries considered here are large diameter thick wall pipe and nozzles. The detailed weld residual stress predictions for these nozzles are summarized. These results are categorized and organized in this paper and general trends for the causes of the distributions are established. The solutions are obtained using several different constitutive models including kinematic hardening, isotropic hardening, and mixed hardening model. Necessary fabrication procedures such as weld repair, overlay, and postweld heat treatment are also considered. The residual stress field can therefore be used to perform a crack growth and instability analysis. Some general discussions and comments are given in the paper.


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):  
Dimosthenis Floros ◽  
Andreas Jobst ◽  
Andreas Kergaßner ◽  
Marion Merklein ◽  
Paul Steinmann

AbstractAn holistic view is attempted towards prediction of the effect of residual stresses induced by full-forward extrusion on fatigue life of workpieces during operation. To study the effect of constitutive model on the accuracy of forming simulations, a combined nonlinear isotropic/kinematic hardening model as well as the isotropic hardening part of the same model are calibrated based on five compression-tension-compression uniaxial stress experiments. A full-forward extrusion finite element model is developed adapting both the aforementioned hardening plasticity models and the predicted residual stress states at the surface of the workpiece are compared against that of a corresponding forming experiment. Results show residual stress predictions of remarkable accuracy by the FE-models with the isotropic hardening model. The effect of residual stresses on fatigue life of the workpiece is qualitatively studied by uncoupled multiscale simulations featuring gradient crystal plasticity at the microscale. While the effective (homogenized) macroscale response indicates elastic response during a macroscopically cyclic loading, plasticity accompanying reduction of residual stresses is still present at the microscale within, e.g. grain boundaries.


Author(s):  
Mitsuru Ejiri ◽  
Teppei Kubota ◽  
Yukihiro Soga ◽  
Nozomi Nishihara ◽  
Nobuyoshi Yanagida ◽  
...  

Abstract There are three types of hardening laws for evaluating welding residual stress with the finite element method (FEM): kinematic hardening law, isotropic hardening law, and combined hardening law that combine these. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which hardening law is more appropriate for the evaluation of welding residual stress of alloy 82. We first performed two types of welding tests: welding both ends of a plate, and welding the periphery of a disc. We then compared the results of mock-up welding tests with the analysis results of welding residual stress with the kinematic hardening law and combined hardening law. Both the kinematic hardening law and the combined hardening law showed a welding residual stress distribution close to the results of the mock-up welding tests, but the combined hardening law tended to be closer to the mock-up results. Therefore when it is necessary to confirm the welding residual stress of alloy 82, it is considered appropriate to apply the combined hardening law.


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