Residual stresses analysis in plasma dressed welded joints

• Author(s): Ramalho, A. L. ; Ferreira, J. A. M. ; Branco, C. M.
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/1711
• Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco
• Subject(s): Residual stresses; Welding simulation; FEM
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

The presence of residual stresses in a structure influences his behaviour. Fatigue strength of welded joints is significantly influenced by the presence of residual stresses, of flaws and notch sharpness at the weld toe. Plasma dressing at the weld toe is frequently used to remove flaws and to lessen the notch sharpness at the weld toe. With this re-melt, the stress field in the weld toe is also profoundly modified. The Finite Element Method (FEM) proves to be effective to simulate the stress fields generated by welding. The simplified two-dimensional models (2D) are efficient in this estimation. This paper presents a 2D finite element model to predict the residual stresses generated by Plasma dressing at the weld toe of a T-joint. The welded T-joints are made in St 52-3 steel, are obtained by covered electrode process and improved with plasma dressing. The analysis was developed with the MSC.Marc finite element code. The estimated stress field is validated with experimental stress results obtained using X-ray diffraction