Control of Welding Residual Stress in Large Storage Tank by Finite Element Method

Abstract

T-joint welding is a key manufacturing process of large storage tanks. However, complex residual stresses are generated and have a great effect on the structural integrity of storage tanks. The high residual stress caused by welding and the discontinuous structure may result in tank cracking and failure. In this work, the residual stress distributions on the inner surface, outer surface, and thickness direction of the T-joint were investigated by using the finite element method and indentation test method. The effect of local PWHT with different heating temperatures, heating rates, and heating widths on the residual stress distribution was also discussed. Results show that the residual stress of the T-shaped joint is high due to the serious structure discontinuity, multi-layer welding, and high strength. Among all the stresses, the circumferential residual stress is the highest and most concentrated in the outer weld connected with the annular plate. The residual stress gradually decreases with the increase in the heat treatment temperature. When the heating rate is less than 106 °C/h, the residual stress gradually decreases with the decrease in the heating rate. The large thermal deformation caused by heat treatment can be simultaneously avoided by heating the inside and outside of the T-joint. The residual stress decreases with the decrease in the width of the heating zone. The residual stress can be regulated by using a smaller width in the heating zone. An optimized heat treatment scheme with a heating temperature of 700 °C, heating rate of 56 °C/h, and heating width of 200 mm was proposed, which has a good ability to control residual stresses and improve the quality of the T-joint. It also has a good application in engineering.