The main target of a research programme “experimental and numerical analyses on the residual stress field in the area of circumferential welds in austenitic pipe welds”, sponsored by Technische Vereinigung der Großkraftwerksbetreiber e. V. (VGB) and carried out at MPA Stuttgart, was the validation of the numerical calculation for the quantitative determination of residual stress fields in austenitic circumferential pipe welds. In addition, the influence of operational stresses as well as the impact of the pressure test on the residual stress state had to be examined. By using the TIG orbital welding technique, circumferential welds (Material X 10 CrNiNb 18 9 (1.4550, corresponding to TP 347) were produced (geometric dimensions 255.4 mm I.D. × 8.8 mm wall) with welding boundary conditions and weld parameters (number of weld layers and weld built-up, seam volume, heat input) which are representative for pipings in power plants. Deformation and temperature measurements accompanying the welding, as well as the experimentally determined (X-ray diffraction) welding residual stress distribution, served as the basis for the verification of numeric temperature and residual stress field calculations. The material model on which the calculations were founded was developed by experimental weld simulations in the thermo-mechanical test rig GLEEBLE 2000 for the determination of the material behaviour at different temperatures and elasto-plastic deformation. The numeric calculations were carried out with the Finite Element program ABAQUS. The comparison of the calculation results with the experimental findings confirms the proven validation of the developed numerical calculation models for the quantitative determination of residual stresses in austenitic circumferential pipings. The investigation gives a well-founded insight into the complex thermo-mechanical processes during welding, not known to this extent from literature previously.
Determination of Strain and Stress Fields in Welded Joints of S960-QC Steel