Effect of Welding Sequences on Residual Stresses

8/2/2019 Effect of Welding Sequences on Residual Stresses

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Effect of welding sequences on residual stresses

Tso-Liang Teng a, Peng-Hsiang Chang b,*, Wen-Cheng Tseng c

a University of National Defense, Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, Ta-shi, Tao-Yuan 335, Taiwan, ROCb Department of Mechanical Engineering, Da-Yeh University, 112 Shan-Jiau Road, Da-Tsuen, Changhua 515, Taiwan, ROC

c 455 Wing Air Force, Taiwan, ROC

Received 26 March 2002; accepted 2 November 2002

Abstract

Accurately predicting welding residual stresses and developing an available welding sequence for a weld system are

pertinent tasks since welding residual stress is inevitably produced in a welded structure. This study analyzes the

thermomechanical behavior and evaluates the residual stresses with various types of welding sequence in single-pass,

multi-pass butt-welded plates and circular patch welds. This is achieved by performing thermal elasto-plastic analysis

using finite element techniques. Furthermore, this investigation provides an available welding sequence to enhance the

fabrication process of welded structures.

2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Welding sequences; Residual stresses; Butt-welded; Circular patch welds

1. Introduction

Metallurgical welding joints are extensively used in

the fabrication industry, including ships, offshore struc-

tures, steel bridges and pressure vessels. Among the

merits of such welded structures include a high joint

efficiency, water and air tightness, and low fabrication

cost. However, residual stresses and distortions can oc-

cur near the weld bead due to localized heating by the

welding process and subsequent rapid cooling. High

residual stresses in regions near the weld may promote

brittle fractures, fatigue, or stress corrosion cracking.Meanwhile, residual stresses in the base plate may re-

duce the buckling strength of the structure members.

Therefore, welding residual stresses must be minimized

to control them according to the respective require-

ments. Previous investigators have developed several

methods, including heat treatment, hammering, pre-

heating, vibration stress relieving, and weld sequencing

to reduce the residual stresses attributed to welding. In

these methods, to choose an available welding sequence

is more simple and efficient for reduction welding re-

sidual stresses. Because many welded structures which

cannot be post-weld manufacturing measures after

welding contain residual stresses of varying degree.

Therefore, developing an available welding sequence

and accurately predicting welding residual stresses for

welds system are necessary for achieving the safest de-

sign.

For a investigation of reducing weld residual stress,Jonassen et al. [1] described the effect of welding pro-

cedures on reducing the residual stresses for butt-welded

steel plates. Rybicki et al. [2,3] developed a method for

reducing tensile stresses on the inner surfaces of the girth

welded pipes. The process entails inductively heating the

outside of a welded pipe while cooling the inner surface

with flowing water. Josefson [4,5] calculated the welding

residual stresses that were numerically analyzed for a

girth-butt welded thin-walled pipe during different post-

weld treatments. Brust and Rybick [6] developed a

method called backlay welding that can be effective in

producing compressive residual stresses on the pipes

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +886-4-8511221; fax: +886-4-

8511224.

E-mail addresses: [email protected], g910404@ccit.

edu.tw (T.-L. Teng).

0045-7949/03/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/S0045-7949(02)00447-9

Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 273286

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruc
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inner surface. Ueda et al. [7] investigated the effective-

ness of the heat-sink welding to improve the residual

stresses of a pipes circumferential joint. Chou and Lin

[8] reduced residual stresses by parallel heat welding type

304 stainless steel specimens. For the effect of welding

sequence, Weck [9] and Watanabe et al. [10] have stud-

ied how welding sequence affect residual stress build-up.

Kihara et al. [11,12] investigated how welding sequence

affects residual stress and shrinkage in slit-type welds

and circular-path welds. Jonassen et al. [1] describes the

effects of certain block and other special welding pro-

cedures on the magnitude of residual stresses in butt-

welded steel plates of 1-in. thickness.

When welding a long butt-welded joint, multi-pass

butt-welded joint or a path joint, various types of

welding sequences are used in order to reduce residual

stress and distortion. The selection of a proper welding

sequence is an important practical problem. However,

accurately predicting the residual stresses of weldingsequences is extremely difficult because the thermal and

mechanical behaviors in welding include a local high

temperature, temperature dependence of material prop-

erties, and a moving heat source. Therefore, this investi-

gation performs a thermal elasto-plastic analysis using

finite element techniques to analyze the thermomechan-

ical behaviour and evaluate the residual stresses with

various types of welding sequence in single-pass, multi-

pass butt-welded plates and circular patch welded plates.

Furthermore, this study provides an available welding

sequence to improve the fabrication process of welded

structures.

2. Analysis model

2.1. Thermomechanical model

Welding residual stress distributions are calculated

by a finite element method. Fig. 1 presents the analysis

procedures.

2.1.1. Thermal model

In the thermal analysis, a total of 160 load steps in-

crease from 0.001 to 10 s were required to complete the

heating cycle. Only 30 load steps increment were typi-

cally required for the weldment to return its initial

(room) temperature. The time increments were auto-

matically optimized for each time step by the computer

program. The modified NewtonRaphson method was

used in each time step for the heat balance iteration.

This study simulates weld thermal cycles for SAE 1020

steel are shown in Fig. 2. The convective heat coefficientson the surfaces were estimated (using engineering for-

mulae for natural convection) to be 15 W/m2 K.

2.1.2. Mechanical model

In the mechanical analysis, the temperature history

obtained from the thermal analysis was input as a

thermal loading into the structural model. The thermal

strains and stresses can be calculated at each time in-

crement. Also, the final state of residual stresses will be

accumulated by the thermal strains and stresses. During

each weld pass, thermal stresses are calculated from the

temperature distributions determined by the thermal

Nomenclature

q density

C specific heat

T temperature

t timefqg heat fluxQ the rate of internal heat generation

g unit outward normal vector

hf film coefficient

TB bulk temperature of the adjacent fluid

TA temperature at the surface of the model

N element shape functionsfTeg nodal temperature vectorC q

RVCNTN dV

KRV

BTDB dVRAhfNN

TdA

fFegRVQN dV

RAhfTBN dA

fPg surface force vectorffg body force vectorfug displacement vectorfeg strain vector

frg stress vectorB straindisplacement matrixL differential operator matrix

fRgRANTfPg dA

RVNTffg dV

fDreg nodal stress increment matrixfDepg fDeg fDpgfDeg elastic stiffness matrixfDpg plastic stiffness matrixfUeg nodal displacement vectorfDTg temperature increment matrixfCthg thermal stiffness matrixfDTeg nodal temperature increment matrixM temperature shape functionm1fK1g

RV

BTfDepgB dVm1fK2g

RV

BTfCthgM dV

rY longitudinal residual stressrX transverse residual stress

r/ circumferential stress

rr radial stresses

274 T.-L. Teng et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 273286


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model. The residual stresses from each temperature in-

crement are added to the nodal point location to de-

termine the updated behavior of the model before the

next temperature increment. The material was assumed

to follow the von Mises yield criterion and the associ-

ated flow rules. Phase transformation effects were not

considered in the current analysis due to lack of material

information, especially at high temperatures, such as the

near-melting state.

2.1.3. Element birth and death

The model in this study adopts the technique of ele-

ment birth and death to simulate the weld filler variation

with time in single-pass, multi-pass butt-welded joints

and circular patch welds. All elements must be created,

including those weld fillers to be born in later stages of

18

200

650

16 00

700

350

200

7018

0.00 0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00 1000.00time (sec)

0.00

400.00

800.00

1200.00

1600.00

Temperature(C)

Fig. 2. Simulated weld thermal cycles for SAE 1020 steel.

Governing Equation Boundary Condition

Governing Equation of the Finite

Element Model

Temperature Field

Compatibility EquationEquilibrium

Equation

Thermal Elasto-Plastic

Equation

Basic Equation of the

Finite Element Model

Displacement Field,

Stress Field

Thermal Model

Analysis

Mechanical Model

Analysis

{ } { }

C

T

tL q Q

T+ = { } { } ( )q h T T

T

f B A =

[ ] [ ]{ } { }C T K T Fe e e

+ =

ki,ljij,klkl,ij +

0lj,ki

=

{ }Te

{ }eU { }e

m

e

m

eK U K T R+ + =1

1

1

2{ }{ } { }{ } { }

}U]{B}[D{}{ eep

e =

}T]{M}[C{ eth

0fij,ij =+

Fig. 1. Flow diagram of the analysis procedure.

T.-L. Teng et al. / Computers and Structures 81 (2003) 273286 275


4/14

the analysis. The method proposed herein does not re-

move elements to achieve the element death effect.

Instead, the method deactivates them by multiplying

their stiffness by a severe reduction factor. Although

zeroed out of the load vector, element loads associated

with deactivated elements still appear in element-load

lists. Similarly, mass, damping, specific heat, and othersuch effects are set to zero for deactivated elements. The

mass and energy of deactivated elements are excluded

from the summations of the model. An elements strain

is also set to zero as soon as that element is killed.

Similarly, when elements are born, they are not ac-

tually added to the model, but are simply reactivated.

When an element is reactivated, its stiffness, mass, ele-

ment loads, etc. return to their full original values.

Thermal strains are computed for newly activated ele-

ments according to the current load step temperature.

2.2. Verification

To confirm the accuracy of the present method, a

specimen was constructed using multi-pass butt-welding,

with a length, width and thickness of L 1000 mm,W 400 mm, t 25:4 mm, respectively, as shown inFig. 3. The welding was done using the submerged arc

technique. Pass sequences and welding parameters are

shown in Table 1 [13]. The material was assumed to

follow the von Mises yield criterion and the associated

flow rules. Linear kinematic hardening was assumed.

Furthermore, Refs. [13,14] specifies the mechanical

properties and stressstrain curves of base metal, weld-

metal, and the heat-affected zone (HAZ) for weldments

of ASTM A36 carbon steel. Therefore, these data are

used here for the residual stress analysis of the butt-

welded joints. The symmetric finite element model has

572 elements and 640 nodes after meshing.

The size of the finite element mesh has a great effecton the accuracy of the results and computational cost.

To examine the adequacy of element size, effect of mesh

refinement in the weld area was studied. The new model

with refined meshes consists of 696 elements and 771

nodes. Very little difference in the results between these

two different mesh models was found. Therefore, the

original FEM model without mesh refinement in the

butt-welded joints can be worked for this verification

study.

Figs. 4 and 5 portray the distribution of the trans-

verse and longitudinal residual stress on the thick plate.

Shim et al. [13] presented experimental results for the

same problem. Additionally, the ABAQUS finite ele-

ment package is applied as a comparison. As the Fig. 4

indicate, the ABAQUS package result showed slightly

lower tensile transverse stress near the weld centerline.

X

YZ

25.4 mm

400 mm

weld bead

A

200 mm

A

weld bead

25.4 mm

1000 mm

12 34 5

678 9

10 11

Fig. 3. Geometry of multi-pass butt-weld.

Table 1

Schematic of pass sequences along with welding parameters for

each pass

Pass no. (111) Voltage (V) Current (A) Speed (mm/s)

1 25 190 3.34

25 26 215 4.70

6 25 190 3.34

79 26 220 4.70

1011 27 250 4.70

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20

X (m)

-1.00E+8

0.00E+0

1.00E+8

2.00E+8

3.00E+8

ResidualStress

(Pa)

Present Method

Experiment [14]

ABAQUS [14]

Fig. 4. Transverse residual stress at the top surface of the plate.



5/14

Present method results showed good tendency to the

experimental results. As Fig. 5 indicate, both analysis

results show tensile stress near the weld centerline.

Therefore, the procedure presented here is suitable for

analysis of residual stresses and distortions due to welds.

3. Analysis model

3.1. Analysis of the single-pass butt-weld

3.1.1. Specimen and material properties

Fig. 6 illustrates two thin-wall plate sections that are

jointed by a single-pass butt-weld. The length, the width

and thickness of the plate are assumed to be 300, 100

and 5 mm, respectively. The plate material is SAE

1020, and the mechanical properties are dependent on

the temperature history as illustrated in Fig. 7. As Fig. 7

indicates, mechanical properties of metals change under

various conditions when temperature increases, the

modulus of elasticity, yield stress and thermal conduc-tivity decrease while the thermal expansion, specific heat

and Poisson ratio increase. Furthermore, the width of

weld zone was assumed as that of the heat source.

Autogeneous weldment was assumed. These means that

weld metal, HAZ, and base metal share the same me-

chanical properties.

3.1.2. Welding conditions

The welding parameters chosen for this analysis were

as follows: welding method, gas tungsten-arc welding;

welding current, I 110 A; welding voltage, V 20 V;and welding speed, v 5 mm/s, respectively. The heatsources are applied along the weld path for practical

welds.

3.1.3. A finite element model for the single-pass butt-welds

This work develops a two-dimensional symmetrical

plane stress model to estimate the residual stresses of the

single-pass butt-weld using the finite element method.

The model employs two-dimensional four-node plane

elements, including the finite element meshes for the

butt-welded joint. Fig. 8 demonstrates the finite elementmeshes for the butt-weld, along with the refined meshes

used in the weld area. The symmetric model has 500

elements and 561 nodes after meshing.

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20

X (m)

-2.00E+8

0.00E+0

2.00E+8

4.00E+8

ResidualStress(

Pa)

Present Method

Experiment [14]

ABAQUS [14]

Fig. 5. Longitudinal residual stress at the top surface of theplate.

Fig. 6. Geometry of single-pass butt-welds.



6/14

3.1.4. Mesh sensitivity study

To examine the adequacy of element sizes, the effect

of mesh refinement in the weld area was studied. The

new model with refine meshes consists of 600 elementsand 671 nodes. Results from two mesh densities with the

same material model and geometry. Figs. 9 and 10 both

display the distributions of the longitudinal residual

stress rY along the X-direction (at Y 150 mm) andY-direction with 500 and 600 finite elements mesh

model. Very litter difference in the results between

these two different mesh models was found. It ap-

pears that the main characteristics of the residual

stress results from the different meshes are almost the

same. Therefore, the original FEM model without mesh

refinement in the weld joint can be worked for this

study.

3.2. Analysis of the multi-pass butt-weld


Fig. 11 presents two thick-wall plate sections that arejoined by a multi-pass butt-weld. The length, width and

thickness of the plate are assumed to be 1000, 200 and

12.7 mm, respectively. The mechanical properties are the

same as illustrated in Fig. 7.


Four passes were involved in the model. Table 2 lists

the welding parameters chosen for this analysis.

3.2.3. A Finite element model for the multi-pass butt-weld

This investigation develops a two-dimensional sym-

metrical plane strain model to calculate the residual

0 400 800 1200 1600 2000

Temp (oC )

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

MaterialProperties

Material Properties

Yield Stress

Young's Modulus

Poisson's Ratio

Expansion

Conductivity

Specific He

Symbol Material Properties Unit

--y Yield Stress 108

Pa

---E Youngs Modulus 1011 Pa--- Poissons Ratio 10 1

--- Expansion 10 5 m m K

---k Conductivity 10 2W K m,---c Specific Heat 102 J K Kg,

Fig. 7. The mechanical properties of weldments.



7/14

stresses of the thick-wall butt-weld using the finite ele-

ment method. The model employs two-dimensional

four-node plane elements, including the finite element

meshes for the multi-pass butt-weld. Fig. 11 displays the

finite element meshes for the butt-weld, along with the

refined meshes used in the weld area. The symmetric

model has 192 elements and 231 nodes after meshing.

3.3. Circular patch welds analysis


Fig. 12 depicts two thin-wall circular plate sections

that are joined by circular patch welds. The radius of the

inner plate (R1), outer plate (R2), and thickness (t) of the

plate are assumed to be 600, 1500 and 5 mm, respec-

tively. The mechanical properties are the same as dis-

played in Fig. 7.


The welding parameters chosen for this analysis were

as follows: welding method, gas tungsten-arc welding;

welding current, I 110 A; welding voltage, V 20 V;and welding speed, v 5 mm/s, respectively.

3.3.3. A finite element model for the circular patch welds

This study develops a two-dimensional plane stress

model to calculate the residual stresses of the circular

patch weld using the finite element method. Fig. 13 de-

picts the finite element meshes for the circular patch

welds, along with the refined meshes used in the weld

area. The model has 733 elements and 743 nodes after

meshing.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Single-pass butt-weld

4.1.1. Longitudinal residual stresses

A stress acting parallel to the direction of the weld

bead is termed a longitudinal residual stress, as denoted

by the letter rY. Fig. 14 illustrates the distributions of the

residual stress rY along the X-direction (at Y 150

mm). High tensile stresses arise in regions near the welddue to a resistance contraction of the material as cooling

commences. Compressive stresses occur in regions re-

moved from the weld for self-equilibriating purposes.

The maximum stress value is as high as the materials

yield stress.

4.1.2. Transverse residual stresses

A stress acting vertical to the direction of the weld

bead is known as an transverse residual stress, denoted

by the letter rX. Fig. 15 represents the distributions of the

residual stress rX along the Y-direction. As this figure

reveal, the stress distributions are symmetrical at the

Fig. 8. The finite element mesh for the single-pass butt-weld.

0.02 0. 06 0.100.00 0.04 0.08

-5.00E+7

5.00E+7

-1.00E+8

0.00E+0

1.00E+8500 elements

600 elements

Fig. 9. Longitudinal residual stress distribution along the X-

direction for different finite element mesh.



8/14

middle of the plate, while the tensile stresses occur at the

middle of the plate, and the compressive stresses occur

at the end of the weld.

4.1.3. Effect of welding sequences for the single-pass butt-

weld

Reducing the residual stresses in weld structures

during an early stage of design and fabrication is of

priority concern. For this reason, the effects of weldingsequence on the residual stresses are characterized in the

following. This research investigates the effect of pro-

gressive welding, backstep welding and symmetric

welding on residual stresses for a thin-wall butt-weld as

revealed in Fig. 16. Figs. 17 and 18 both display the

distributions of the longitudinal residual stress rY along

the X-direction (at Y 150 mm) and Y-direction withprogressive welding, backstep welding and symmetric

welding. These figures reveal that the longitudinal re-

sidual stresses of symmetric welding are smaller than

those of the other welding sequences. Since the sym-

metric welding reduced restrained force of the weldment

for why the magnitude of the residual stresses are

smaller than those of the other welding sequences.

4.2. The multi-pass butt-weld

4.2.1. Longitudinal residual stresses

A stress acting parallel to the direction of the weld

bead is termed a longitudinal residual stress as denotedby the letter rY. Fig. 19 depicts the distributions of the

residual stress rY along the X-direction. The longitudi-

nal residual stress develops from longitudinal expansion

and contraction during the welding sequence. A high

tensile residual stress arises near the weld bead along the

weld line, and then decreases to zero, ultimately be-

coming compressive as distance from the weld line. The

residual stress value (110 MPa) approaches the yield

stress of the material. The tensile and compressive re-

sidual stress exist at the weld bead and away from the

welding line on the plate due to the self-equilibrium of

the weldment.

0.05 0.15 0.250.00 0.10 0.20 0.30

Y-direction (m)

-2.00E+7

2.00E+7

6.00E+7

1.00E+8

-4.00E+7

0.00E+0

4.00E+7

8.00E+7

1.20E+8

LongitudinalResidualStressy

(Pa)

500 elements

600 elements

Fig. 10. Longitudinal residual stress distribution along the Y-direction for different finite element mesh.



9/14

4.2.2. Transverse residual stresses

A stress acting vertical to the direction of the weld

bead is known as a transverse residual stress as denoted

by the letter rX. Fig. 20 presents the transverse residual

stress variations at the center of the weld bead (X 0,

Y 500 mm) through the plates thickness. The tensilestress occurred at the upper surface of the plate and was

gradually transferred to compressive stress because of

the local bending upwards. Furthermore, the stress dis-

tributions at both surface areas showed a similar mag-

nitude.

Table 2

Welding pass number and parameters for each pass

Pass

no.

Welding parameters

Current(A) Voltage(V) Speed(mm/s) Weldingmethod

1 190 25 3.34 Gas tung-

sten-arc

welding

2 190 25 3.34

3 215 26 5.04

4 215 26 5.04

X

YZ

12.7 mm

400 mm

1000 mm

Weld Bead

AA

Weld Bead

1

2

3

4

Weld passes

Fig. 11. The geometry and finite element mesh for the multi-

pass butt-welds.

R1

R2

Inner Plate

Outer plate

Weld Bead

r

Fig. 12. Geometry of circular patch welds.

Fig. 13. Finite element mesh for the circular path welds.



10/14

4.2.3. Effect of welding sequences for the multi-pass butt-weld

A butt-welded plate joint of thick plate is considered

as a model for analysis under the various welding se-

quences in Fig. 21. Fig. 22 presents the distributions of

the longitudinal residual stress rY with various types of

welding sequences. Longitudinal residual stresses be-

tween various weld sequences do not appear to signifi-

cantly differ. Fig. 23 illustrates the distributions of the

transverse residual stress rX with various types of

welding sequences. The transverse residual stress rX of

case (A) welding procedure is smaller than the other

weld sequences. This difference might be attributed to

0.02 0.06 0.100.00 0.04 0.08

X-direction (m)

-5.00E+7

5.00E+7

-1.00E+8

0.00E+0

1.00E+8

LongitudinalResidualSt

ressy

(Pa)


direction.

0.05 0.15 0.250.00 0.10 0.20 0.30

Y-direction (m)

-1.50E+8

-5.00E+7

5.00E+7

-1.00E+8

0.00E+0

1.00E+8

Transver

seResidualStressx

(Pa)

Fig. 15. Transverse residual stress distribution along the Y-

direction.

Progressive Welding

Backstep Welding

Symmetric Welding

300 mm

200 mm

300 mm

300 mm

1 2 3 4

X

Y

200 mm

1 23

X

Y

200 mm

Y

X

4

1

Fig. 16. The different welding sequence for thin-wall butt-

welds.

0.02 0.06 0.100.00 0.04 0.08

-5.00E+7

5.00E+7

-1.00E+8

0.00E+0

1.00E+8Progressive Welding

Symmetric Welding

Backstep Welding

X-direc tion (m)

ResidualSt

ress

(Pa)

Longitudinal

Y


direction for different weld sequences.



11/14

two reasons: (a) the symmetric welding sequences can

reduce the residual shrinkage of the plate or (b) the

symmetric welding sequences have pre-heating and post-

heating effects.

4.3. Circular patch welds

4.3.1. Circumferential residual stress

Stresses along the welding tangent direction are

called circumferential stress, as denoted by the letter r/.

Fig. 24 depicts the distribution of circumferential re-

sidual stress and reveals that the patch centers residual

stress value is 67 MPa, while the inner minimum value is

52 MPa. The vicinity of weld beads HAZ stress value

rapidly changes from tensile quickly to compressive

stress. This is attributed to equilibrium. Because the

outside plates temperature effect is less than the inner

one, the material is less compressed and elongated than

they. The stress value slowly approaches zero.

4.3.2. Radial residual stressStresses along the welding normal direction are called

radial stresses as denoted by the letter rr. Fig. 25 depicts

the distribution of radial residual stress. The residual

stresses do not markedly differ from each other because

the weld line and patchs radial shrinkage values are

almost equivalent. The weldment has a uniform stress

field in the patchs central region and the residual

stresses are nearly the same according to Fig. 25. The

weldment has a uniform stress field in the patchs central

region and the residual stresses are nearly the same ac-

cording to Figs. 24 and 25.

4.3.3. Effect of welding sequences for the circular patch

welds

This work investigates how progressive welding,

backstep welding and jump welding affect residual

stresses for circular patch welds as illustrated in Fig. 26.

Fig. 27 illustrates the distributions of the residual cir-

cumferential stress r/, with various types of welding

sequences. The circumferential residual stresses between

various weld sequences do not appear to significantly

differ. Fig. 28 depicts the distributions of the radial re-

sidual stress rr, with various types of circular patch

welding sequences. The radial residual stress rr, of the

0.05 0.15 0.250.00 0.10 0.20 0.30

Y-direction (m)

-2.00E+7

2.00E +7

6.00E+7

1.00E+8

-4.00E+7

0.00E+0

4.00E+7

8.00E+7

1.20E+8

LongitudinalResidualStressy

(Pa)

Progressive Welding

Backstep Welding

Symmetric Welding

Fig. 18. Longitudinal residual stress distribution along the Y-

direction for different weld sequences.

0.03 0.08 0.13 0.180.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20

X-direction (m)

-8.00E+7

-2.00E+7

4.00E+7

1.00E+8

-1.10E+8

-5.00E+7

1.00E+7

7.00E+7

LongitudinalResidualStres

s

(Pa)

y

Fig. 19. Longitudinal residual stress distribution along the X-direction for thick plates.

0.002 0.0 06 0.010 .0140.000 0.004 0.0080 .012 0.016

Thickness t (m)

-7.50E+6

-2.50E+6

2.50E+6

7.50E+6

-1.00E+7

-5.00E+6

0.00E+0

5.00E+6

1.00E+7

TransverseResidualStressx

(Pa)

0

Fig. 20. Transverse residual stress variations at the weld line

through the thickness for thick plates.



12/14

backstep welding is smaller than the other welding se-

quences because the post-weld heat treatment and pre-

heating effect in backstep welding are better than theother welding sequences.

5. Conclusion

The finite element method is employed herein to

evaluate residual stresses in single-pass, multi-pass butt-

welds and circular patch welds as well as to discuss how

welding sequences affect residual stresses. Based on the

results in this study, we conclude the following:

An extremely large tensile stress occurs near the weld

bead and a compressive stress appears away from the

weld bead in longitudinal residual stresses along the X-

direction for single-pass and multi-pass butt-welds.

The residual stresses are almost uniformly distributed

along the welding direction in longitudinal residual

stresses along the Y-direction for single-pass butt-welds,

except those near the two ends of the weld.

A tensile residual stress is produced at the center

region of the plates, and then suddenly becomes com-

pressive near the two ends of the weld in transverse re-

0.03 0.08 0.13 0.180.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20

X-direction (m)

-8.50E+7

-3.50E+7

1.50E+7

6.50E+7

1.15E+8

-1.10E+8

-6.00E+7

-1.00E+7

4.00E+7

9.00E+7

LongitudinalResidualS

tress

z

(Pa)

UP-SURFACE RESIDUAL STRESS

Case : A

Case : C

Case : B

z


direction in various weld sequences for thick-wall butt-welds.

0.03 0.08 0. 13 0.18

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20

X-direction (m)

2.64E+6

7.64E+6

1.26E+7

1.76E+7

1.40E+5

5.14E+6

1.01E+7

1.51E+7

2.01E+7

TransverseResidualStressx

(P

a)

TRANSVERSE RESIDUAL STRESSx

Case: A

Case: C

Case: B

Fig. 23. Transverse residual stress distribution along the X-

direction in various weld sequences for thick-wall butt-welds.

X

YZ

12.7 mm

400 mm

1000 mm

Weld Bead

A

1

2

3

4

200 mm

2

1

3

4

200 mm

3

1

2

4

200 mm

12.7 mm

12.7 mm

12.7 mm

Case(A)

Case(B)

Case(C)

A

Weld Bead

Fig. 21. The different welding sequence for thick-wall butt-

welds.



13/14

sidual stresses along the Y-direction for single-pass butt-welds.

Tensile stress occurs at the upper surface and is

gradually transferred to compressive stress at the bot-

tom surface in transverse residual stresses through the

plates thickness for multi-pass butt-welds.

In circumferential residual stress for circular patch

welds, the weldment has a uniform tensile stress field in

the patchs central region, and then decreases to com-

pressive, finally becoming zero as distance from the weld

bead.

In radial residual stress for circular patch welds, the

weldment has a uniform tensile stress field in the patchs

central region, and the residual stresses do not markedly

differ away from the weld bead.

Different welded geometrical configurations or wel-

ded joints have various available welding sequences that

0.15 0.45 0.75 1.05 1.350.00 0.30 0.60 0.90 1.20 1.50

Radius r (m)

-2.00E+7

2.00E+7

6.00E+7

1.00E+8

-4.00E+7

0.00E+0

4.00E+7

8.00E+7

1.20E+8

CircumferentialResidualS

tress

(Pa)

Fig. 24. Circumferential residual stress distribution for circular

patch welds.

0.15 0.45 0.75 1.05 1.350.00 0.30 0.60 0.90 1.20 1.50

Radius r (m)

3.20E+7

4.20E+7

5.20E+7

6.20E+7

7.20E+7

2.70E+7

3.70E+7

4.70E+7

5.70E+7

6.70E+7

7.70E+7

RadialResidualStress

r

(Pa)

Fig. 25. Radial residual stress distribution for circular patch

welds.

1

12

34

1

2

3

4

progressive welding

backstep welding

jump welding

Fig. 26. The various welding sequences for circular patch

welds.



14/14

depend on the restraints that happen during the welding

procedure. Symmetric welding is an available welding

sequence for single-pass welds. In multi-pass welds, case

(A) weld procedure is an available welding sequence.

Backstep welding is an available welding sequence for

circular patch welds.

More free space should be available for expansion

and shrinkage in the welding structure during the

welding procedure to prevent the rigid restraint in theweld bead, and, consequently, to decrease the residual

stress.

References

[1] Jonassen F, Meriam JL, Degarmo EP. Effect of certain

block and other special welding procedures on residual

welding stresses. Weld J 1946;25(9):492s6s.

[2] Rybicki EF, Mcguire PA. The effects of induction heating

conditions on controlling residual stresses in welded pipes.

Trans ASME J Eng Mater Technol 1982;104:26773.

[3] Koch RL, Rybicki EF, Strttan RD. A computational

temperature analysis for induction heating of welded pipes.

J Eng Mater Technol 1985;107:14853.

[4] Josefson BL. Residual stresses and their redistribution

during annealing of a girth-butt welded thin-walled pipe.

Trans ASME J Press Vessel Technol 1982;104:24550.

[5] Josefson BL. Stresses redistribution during annealing of a

multi-pass welded pipe. J Press Vessel Technol 1983;105:

16570.

[6] Brust FW, Rybick EF. A computational model of backlay

welding for controlling residual stresses in welded pipe.

J Press Vessel Technol 1981;103:22632.

[7] Ueda Y, Nakacho K, Shimizu. Improvement of residual

stresses of circumferential joint of pipe by heat-sinkwelding. J Press Vessel Technol 1986;108:1423.

[8] Chou CP, Lin YC. Reduction of residual stresses by

parallel heat welding in small specimen of Type 304

stainless steel. Mater Sci Technol 1992;8:17983.

[9] Weck R. Transverse contractions and residual stresses in

butt welded mild steel plates. Report No. R4, Admiralty

Ship Welding Committee, January 1947.

[10] Watanabe MS, Satoh K, Kimura K. Effect of welding

methods and sequences on the residual stress distribution

of welded joints. Japan Weld Society 1955;24(4):14653.

[11] Kihara H, Masubuchi K. Studies on the shrinkage and

residual welding stress of constrained fundamental joint.

Transportation Technical Research Institute, Report No.

20, 1956.[12] Kihara H, Masubuchi K, Mastuyama Y. Effect of welding

sequence on transverse shrinkage and residual stresses.

Transportation Technical Research Institute, Report No.

24, 1957.

[13] Shim Y, Feng Z, Lee S, Kim D, Jaeger J, Papritan JC, et al.

Determination of residual stresses in thick-section weld-

ments. Weld J 1992;(September):30512.

[14] Higashida Y, Burk JD, Lawrence FV. Strain-controlled

fatigue behavior of ASTM A36 and A514 grade F steels

and 5083-0 aluminum weld materials. Wel Res Suppl

1978;(November):334s44s.

0.15 0.45 0.75 1.05 1.350.00 0.30 0.60 0.90 1.20 1.50

Radius r (m)

-2.00E+7

2.00E+7

6.00E+7

1.00E+8

-4.00E+7

0.00E+0

4.00E+7

8.00E+7

1.20E+8

CircumferentialResidualStress

(Pa)

Circumferential Residual Stress

Progressive Welding

Backstep Welding

Jump Welding

Fig. 27. Circumferential residual stress distribution in various

weld sequences for circular patch welds.

0.20 0.60 1.00 1.400.00 0.40 0.80 1.20

Radius r(m)

3.20E+7

4.20E+7

5.20E+7

6.20E+7

7.20E+7

2.70E+7

3.70E+7

4.70E+7

5.70E+7

6.70E+7

7.70E+7

RadialResidualStressr

(Pa)

Radial Residual Stress r

Progressive Welding

Backstep Welding

JumpWelding

Fig. 28. Radial residual stress distribution in various weld se-

quences for circular patch welds.


Documents

Effect of Welding Sequences on Residual Stresses