Residual Stress Fields Under Different Clamping Conditions in Circumferentially Welded Thin-Walled Cylinders

Author(s):  
Afzaal M. Malik ◽  
Ejaz M. Qureshi ◽  
Naeem Ullah Dar ◽  
Iqbal Khan

Arc welding is a reliable joining method widely utilized in nuclear, pressure vessels, aerospace and aeronautical structures to ensure the intended in service behaviour during the thermal and/or pressure loadings. Weld induced deformations and high residual stresses often occur during the course of welding. These cause significant threats for the structural integrity of the nuclear power plant components, particularly in stress corrosion inhibited environments owing to the risk of stress corrosion cracking (SCC). In this research, the consequences of five different structural boundary conditions on the evolution of residual stress fields after the welding are investigated. Both experimental and numerical simulations based on finite element modeling are employed during the course of investigation. Full three-dimensional FE models for the circumferentially, arc welded thin-walled cylinders are developed in ANSYS®. The complex coupled, thermo-mechanical phenomenon during the welding is simulated by sequentially coupled approach enhanced by user written APDL subroutines. The role of welding restraints in minimizing / optimizing the residual stresses is presented and discussed in detail. The result reveals that residual stresses show weak dependence on the degree of the restraints. Although the stress levels slightly varies in magnitude, but similar trend is observed for all the structural clamping conditions under study. Simulation results validated through full-scale experiments with high-tech reliably instrumented welding and measuring equipments shows promising features of the developed modelling and simulation strategy for use in shop floor applications.

2008 ◽  
Vol 41-42 ◽  
pp. 391-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndon Edwards ◽  
Mike C. Smith ◽  
Mark Turski ◽  
Michael E. Fitzpatrick ◽  
P. John Bouchard

The safe operation of both thermal and nuclear power plant is increasingly dependent upon structural integrity assessment of pressure vessels and piping. Furthermore, structural failures most commonly occur at welds so the accurate design and remnant life assessment of welded plant is critical. The residual stress distribution assumed in defect assessments often has a deciding influence on the analysis outcome, and in the absence of accurate and reliable knowledge of the weld residual stresses, the design codes and procedures use assumptions that yield very conservative assessments that can severely limit the economic life of some plant. However, recent advances in both the modeling and measurement of residual stresses in welded structures and components open up the possibility of characterising weld residual stresses in operating plant using state-of–the–art fully validated Finite Element simulations. This paper describes research undertaken to predict residual stresses in stainless steel welds in order to provide validated reliable, accurate Structural Integrity assessment of nuclear power plant components


Author(s):  
N U Dar ◽  
E M Qureshi ◽  
A M Malik ◽  
M M I Hammouda ◽  
R A Azeem

In recent years, the demand for resilient welded structures with excellent in-service load-bearing capacity has been growing rapidly. The operating conditions (thermal and/or structural loads) are becoming more stringent, putting immense pressure on welding engineers to secure excellent quality welded structures. The local, non-uniform heating and subsequent cooling during the welding processes cause complex thermal stress—strain fields to develop, which finally leads to residual stresses, distortions, and their adverse consequences. Residual stresses are of prime concern to industries producing weld-integrated structures around the globe because of their obvious potential to cause dimensional instability in welded structures, and contribute to premature fracture/failure along with significant reduction in fatigue strength and in-service performance of welded structures. Arc welding with single or multiple weld runs is an appropriate and cost-effective joining method to produce high-strength structures in these industries. Multi-field interaction in arc welding makes it a complex manufacturing process. A number of geometric and process parameters contribute significant stress levels in arc-welded structures. In the present analysis, parametric studies have been conducted for the effects of a critical geometric parameter (i.e. tack weld) on the corresponding residual stress fields in circumferentially welded thin-walled cylinders. Tack weld offers considerable resistance to the shrinkage, and the orientation and size of tacks can altogether alter stress patterns within the weldments. Hence, a critical analysis for the effects of tack weld orientation is desirable.


Author(s):  
Pradeeptta Kumar Taraphdar ◽  
Manas Mohan Mahapatra ◽  
Arun Kumar Pradhan ◽  
Pavan Kumar Singh ◽  
Kamal Sharma ◽  
...  

The critical working condition of nuclear power plant equipment necessitates meticulous determination of the welding process and parameters. In this work, some major influential factors of welding were investigated to observe their effects on the through-thickness residual stress distribution in multipass pressure vessel steel welds. In this regard, experiments were conducted to find the characteristics of residual stresses dispersed in SA516 Grade 70 steel welds of different groove geometries with distinct welding conditions. Three-dimensional finite element models of the weldments were developed considering a moving heat source with temperature-dependent material properties to simulate the welding thermal cycles and corresponding residual stress fields. Effects of weld groove geometry, number of weld passes, external constraints, and preheating on the through-thickness residual stress fields were studied. Additional attention was given to the evaluation of the heterogeneous microstructure and microhardness across the weld cross-section associated with their weld thermal history. Finally, the evolution of the through-thickness residual stresses attributed to subsequent weld passes was elaborated.


Author(s):  
Paulo Orrock ◽  
David J. Smith ◽  
Christopher E. Truman

For nuclear welded components the complex nature of the residual stresses involved means it is often advantageous to produce mock-ups in order that the structural integrity and performance may be assessed. The weight and size of these components can make the production of mock-ups prohibitively expensive, and so the use of scaled models is considered here. Numerical analysis and finite element simulations have been carried out to investigate the scaling laws encountered affecting the applied loads, stress fields and crack driving forces that are of interest in the full sized component. To illustrate the effects of scaling we consider the introduction of a residual stress through prior plastic deformation in rectangular beams of different sizes. A simple scaling law provides the loads required to introduce the same magnitude and distribution of residual stresses in different sized specimens. This is pertinent to uncracked beams. In contrast, if a crack is introduced this scaling law is no longer applicable and the stress intensity factor associated with residual and applied stresses differ for different sized specimens. Alternatively, to create the same crack driving force in different sized specimens different initial residual stress fields are required. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of future work.


2011 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Foroogh Hosseinzadeh ◽  
Muhammed Burak Toparli ◽  
Peter John Bouchard

Welding is known to introduce complex three-dimensional residual stresses of substantial magnitude into pressure vessels and pipe-work. For safety-critical components, where welded joints are not stress-relieved, it can be of vital importance to quantify the residual stress field with high certainty in order to perform a reliable structural integrity assessment. Finite element modeling approaches are being increasingly employed by engineers to predict welding residual stresses. However, such predictions are challenging owing to the innate complexity of the welding process (Hurrell et al., Development of Weld Modelling Guidelines in the UK, Proceedings of the ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, July 26–30, 2009, pp. 481–489). The idea of creating weld residual stress benchmarks against which the performance of weld modeling procedures and practitioners can be evaluated is gaining increasing acceptance. A stainless steel beam 50 mm deep by 10 mm wide, autogenously welded along the 10 mm edge, is a candidate residual stress simulation benchmark specimen that has been studied analytically and for which neutron and synchrotron diffraction residual stress measurements are available. The current research was initiated to provide additional experimental residual stress data for the edge-welded beam by applying, in tandem, the slitting and contour residual stress measurement methods. The contour and slitting results were found to be in excellent agreement with each other and correlated closely with published neutron and synchrotron residual stress measurements when differences in gauge volume and shape were accounted for.


Author(s):  
Foroogh Hosseinzadeh ◽  
P. John Bouchard ◽  
M. Burak Toparli

Welding is known to introduce complex three-dimensional residual stresses of substantial magnitude into pressure vessels and pipe-work. For safety-critical components, where welded joints are not stress-relieved, it can be of vital importance to quantify the residual stress field with high certainty in order to perform a reliable structural integrity assessment. Finite element modeling approaches are being increasingly employed by engineers to predict welding residual stresses. However, such predictions are challenging owing to the innate complexity of the welding process [1]. The idea of creating weld residual stress benchmarks against which the performance of weld modeling procedures and practitioners can be evaluated is gaining increasing acceptance. A stainless steel beam 50 mm deep by 10 mm wide, autogenously welded along the 10 mm edge, is a candidate residual stress simulation benchmark specimen that has been studied analytically and for which neutron and synchrotron diffraction residual stress measurements are available. The current research was initiated to provide additional experimental residual stress data for the edge-welded beam by applying, in tandem, the slitting and contour residual stress measurement methods. The contour and slitting results were found to be in excellent agreement with each other and correlated closely with published neutron and synchrotron residual stress measurements when differences in gauge volume and shape were accounted for.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Parker ◽  
J. H. Underwood ◽  
D. P. Kendall

Autofrettage is used to introduce advantageous residual stresses into pressure vessels and to enhance their fatigue lifetimes. The Bauschinger effect serves to reduce the yield strength in compression as a result of prior tensile plastic overload and can produce lower compressive residual hoop stresses near the bore than are predicted by “ideal” autofrettage solutions (elastic/perfectly plastic without Bauschinger effect). A complete analysis procedure is presented which encompasses representation of elastic-plastic uniaxial loading material behavior and of reverse-loading material behavior as a function of plastic strain during loading. Such data are then combined with some yield criterion to accurately predict elastic-plastic residual stress fields within an autofrettaged thick cylinder. Pressure for subsequent reyielding of the tube is calculated. The numerical procedure is further used to determine residual stress fields after removal of material from inside diameter (i.d.) and/or outside diameter (o.d.), including the effects of any further plasticity. A specific material removal sequence is recommended. It is shown that Sachs’ experimental method, which involves removing material from the i.d., may very significantly overestimate autofrettage residual stresses near the bore. Stress ranges and stress intensity factors for cracks within such stress fields are calculated together with the associated fatigue lifetimes as such cracks propagate under cyclic pressurization. The loss of fatigue lifetime resulting from the Bauschinger effect is shown to be extremely significant.


Author(s):  
Ying Hong ◽  
Xuesheng Wang ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Zhao Zhang ◽  
Yong Han

Stainless steel 304 L tubes are commonly used in the fabrication of heat exchangers for nuclear power stations. The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of 304 L tubes in hydraulically expanded tube-to-tubesheet joints is the main reason for the failure of heat exchangers. In this study, 304 L hydraulically expanded joint specimens were prepared and the residual stresses of a tube were evaluated with both an experimental method and the finite element method (FEM). The residual stresses in the outer and inner surfaces of the tube were measured by strain gauges. The expanding and unloading processes of the tube-to-tubesheet joints were simulated by the FEM. Furthermore, an SCC test was carried out to verify the results of the experimental measurement and the FEM. There was good agreement between the FEM and the experimental results. The distribution of the residual stress of the tube in the expanded joint was revealed by the FEM. The effects of the expansion pressure, initial tube-to-hole clearance, and yield strength of the tube on the residual stress in the transition zone that lay between the expanded and unexpanded region of the tube were investigated. The results showed that the residual stress of the expanded joint reached the maximum value when the initial clearance was eliminated. The residual stress level decreased with the decrease of the initial tube-to-hole clearance and yield strength. Finally, an effective method that would reduce the residual stress without losing tightness was proposed.


Author(s):  
Dean Deng ◽  
Kazuo Ogawa ◽  
Nobuyoshi Yanagida ◽  
Koichi Saito

Recent discoveries of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) at nickel-based metals in pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and boiling water reactors (BWRs) have raised concerns about safety and integrity of plant components. It has been recognized that welding residual stress is an important factor causing the issue of SCC in a weldment. In this study, both numerical simulation technology and experimental method were employed to investigate the characteristics of welding residual stress distribution in several typical welded joints, which are used in nuclear power plants. These joints include a thick plate butt-welded Alloy 600 joint, a dissimilar metal J-groove set-in joint and a dissimilar metal girth-butt joint. First of all, numerical simulation technology was used to predict welding residual stresses in these three joints, and the influence of heat source model on welding residual stress was examined. Meanwhile, the influence of other thermal processes such as cladding, buttering and heat treatment on the final residual stresses in the dissimilar metal girth-butt joint was also clarified. Secondly, we also measured the residual stresses in three corresponding mock-ups. Finally, the comparisons of the simulation results and the measured data have shed light on how to effectively simulate welding residual stress in these typical joints.


2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-154
Author(s):  
John H. Underwood ◽  
Michael J. Glennon

Laboratory fatigue life results are summarized from several test series of high-strength steel cannon breech closure assemblies pressurized by rapid application of hydraulic oil. The tests were performed to determine safe fatigue lives of high-pressure components at the breech end of the cannon and breech assembly. Careful reanalysis of the fatigue life tests provides data for stress and fatigue life models for breech components, over the following ranges of key parameters: 380–745 MPa cyclic internal pressure; 100–160 mm bore diameter cannon pressure vessels; 1040–1170 MPa yield strength A723 steel; no residual stress, shot peen residual stress, overload residual stress. Modeling of applied and residual stresses at the location of the fatigue failure site is performed by elastic-plastic finite element analysis using ABAQUS and by solid mechanics analysis. Shot peen and overload residual stresses are modeled by superposing typical or calculated residual stress distributions on the applied stresses. Overload residual stresses are obtained directly from the finite element model of the breech, with the breech overload applied to the model in the same way as with actual components. Modeling of the fatigue life of the components is based on the fatigue intensity factor concept of Underwood and Parker, a fracture mechanics description of life that accounts for residual stresses, material yield strength and initial defect size. The fatigue life model describes six test conditions in a stress versus life plot with an R2 correlation of 0.94, and shows significantly lower correlation when known variations in yield strength, stress concentration factor, or residual stress are not included in the model input, thus demonstrating the model sensitivity to these variables.


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