Study of the Heat Exchange and Relaxation Conditions of Residual Stresses Due to Welding of Austenitic Stainless Steel

Abstract

The present study presents a numerical prediction of residual stresses (RS) using the single-pass tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process for stainless steel plates and the two-pass TIG welding process for stainless steel pipes. The effect of heat exchange between welding material and the environment was studied. The work consists of two parts: The first one is based on the determination of the existence of residual stresses numerically using Cast3M software, which has been validated by literature results. The second part addresses the means envisaged to attenuate the amplitudes of these residual stresses by practical methods. Two parameters with significant influence on the residual stresses have been chosen: the welding bead thickness and the torch displacement speed. The finite element model used has been validated experimentally, and the results obtained for the residual stresses have been compared with those given by the numerical study. The results obtained were found to be in agreement with references results. In addition, the microstructural analysis of different areas after welding of the solder joint (base metal, heat-affected zone and solder zone) was carried out using optical microscopy analysis.