Frequency Domain Fatigue Evaluation on SCR Girth-Weld Based on Structural Stress

The Steel Catenary Riser(SCR)is a vital component for transporting oil and gas from the seabed to the floating platform.The harsh environmental conditions and complex platform motion make the SCR’s girth-weld prone to fatigue failure.The structural stress fatigue theory and Master S-N curve method provide accurate predictions for the fatigue damage on the welded joints,which demonstrate significant potential and compatibility in multi-axial and random fatigue evaluation.Here,we propose a new frequency fatigue model subjected to welded joints of SCR under multiaxial stress,which fully integrates the mesh-insensitive structural stress and frequency domain random process and transforms the conventional welding fatigue technique of SCR into a spectrum analysis technique utilizing structural stress.Besides,a full-scale FE model of SCR with welds is established to obtain the modal structural stress of the girth weld and the frequency response function(FRF)of modal coordinate,and a biaxial fatigue evaluation about the girth weld of the SCR can be achieved by taking the effects of multi-load correlation and pipe-soil interaction into account.The research results indicate that the frequency-domain fatigue results are aligned with the time-domain results,meeting the fatigue evaluation requirements of the SCR.

Bulging Distortion of Austenitic Stainless Steel Sheet on the Partially Penetrated Side of Non-Penetration Lap Laser Welding Joint

Non-penetration laser welding of lap joints in austenitic stainless steel sheets is commonly preferred in fields where the surface quality is of utmost importance.However,the application of non-penetration welded austenitic stainless steel parts is limited owing to the micro bulging distortion that occurs on the back surface of the partial penetration side.In this paper,non-penetration lap laser welding experiments,were conducted on galvanized and SUS304 austenitic stainless steel plates using a fiber laser,to investigate the mechanism of bulging distortion.A comparative experiment of DC01 galvanized steel-Q235 carbon steel lap laser welding was carried out,and the deflection and distortion profile of partially penetrated side of the sheets were measured using a noncontact laser interferometer.In addition,the cold-rolled SUS304 was subjected to heat holding at different temperatures and water quenching after bending to characterize its microstructure under tensile and compressive stress.The results show that,during the heating stage of the thermal cycle of laser lap welding,the partial penetration side of the SUS304 steel sheet generates compressive stress,which extrudes the material in the heat-affected zone to the outside of the back of the SUS304 steel sheet,thereby forming a bulge.The findings of these experiments can be of great value for controlling the distortion of the partial penetrated side of austenitic stainless steel sheet during laser non-penetration lap welding.

Nondestructive test of weld residual stresses by acoustoelastic technique

The fundamentals of acoustoelastic theory and the principle of acoustoelastic nondestructive stress analysis related ultrasonic test Instrument for weld residual stresses are described. The weld residual stress distribution in butt-welded joints was measured by the acoustoelastic stress analysis, which uses the pulse echo overlap method to measure the speed difference in ultrasonic shear waves polarized in principal directions, and a new method of evaluating the material anisotropy is proposed. The results indicate that the anisotropic coefficient of the welded metal is much greater than that of the parent metal. the longitudinal residual stress distributions measured by the acoustoelastic technique are coincident with those obtained by the theoretical analysis, and the measuring accuracy is much greater than that obtained by the resistance strain gauge.

Effect of welding sequence on residual stress in thin-walled octagonal pipe-plate structure

A three-dimensional finite element approach based on ABAQUS code was developed to investigate the effect of welding sequence on welding residual stress distribution in a thin-walled 6061 aluminum alloy structure. To obtain sound numerical results, the therrno-mechanical behaviour was simulated using a direct-coupled formulation. Nine different simulation sequences were carried out by single-pass TIG welding of an octagonal pipe-plate joint, and the distributions of longitudinal and transverse residual stresses both on the outer and inner surfaces of the pipe were analyzed. The results suggest that the final residual stresses in the weld and its vicinity are not affected by the initial residual stresses of the structure. Selecting a suitable welding sequence can reduce the final residual stress in an octagonal pipe-plate joint.

Temperature and stress fields in electron beam welded Ti-15-3 alloy to 304 stainless steel joint with copper interlayer sheet

Electron beam welding of Ti-15-3 alloy to 304 stainless steel （STS） using a copper filler metal was carried out. The temperature fields and stress distributions in the Ti/Fe and Ti/Cu/Fe joint during the welding process were numerically simulated and experimentally measured. The results show that the rotated parabola body heat source is fit for the simulation of the electron beam welding. The temperature distribution is asymmetric along the weld center and the temperature in the titanium alloy plate is higher than that in the 304 STS plate. The thermal stress also appears to be in asymmetric distribution. The residual tensile stress mainly exists in the weld at the 304 STS side. The copper filler metal decreases the peak temperature and temperature grade in the joint as well as the residual stress. The longitudinal and lateral residual tensile strengths reduce by 66 MPa and 31 MPa, respectively. From the temperature and residual stress, it is concluded that copper is a good filler metal candidate for the electron beam welding of Ti-15-3 titanium alloy to 304 stainless steel.

Internal residual stress measurement on linear friction welding of titanium alloy plates with contour method

The internal residual stress within a TC 17 titanium alloy joint welded by linear friction welding （LFW） was measured by the contour method, which is a relatively new and destructive technique to obtain a full map of internal residual stress. The specimen was first cut into two parts; the out-of-plane displacement contour formed by the release of the residual stress was then measured; finally, taking the measured contour of the cut plane as the boundary conditions, a linear elastic finite element analysis was carried out to calculate the corresponding distribution of residual stress normal to the cut plane. The internal stress distribution of the TC 17 titanium alloy LFWjoint was also analyzed. The results show that the tensile residual stress in the TC17 LFW weld is mainly present within a region about 12 mm from the weld centerline; the peak tensile residual stress occurs at the weld centerline and reaches 360 MPa （about one third of the yield strength of TC17 alloy）; within the weld zone of the TC17 LFW weld, the through-thickness stress is not uniform, and the internal stress is larger than that near the top or bottom surface.

Prediction of vulnerable zones based on residual stress and microstructure in CMT welded aluminum alloy joint

Numerical simulation and experimental results were employed for the identification of the most vulnerable zones in three-pass cold-metal-transferring （CMT） welded joint. The residual stress distribution in the joint was predicted by finite element （FE） method, while the structural morphology of distinctive zones was obtained through metallographic experiments. The highest principal stress made the symmetric face of the joint most sensitive to tensile cracks under service conditions. Whereas, the boundaries between the weld seam and the base plates were sensitive to cracks because the equivalent von Mises stress was the highest when the first interpass cooling was finished. The third weld pass and the inter-pass remelted zones exhibited the modest mechanical performances as a result of the coarse grain and coarse grain boundary, respectively. The most vulnerable zones were regarded to be the crossed parts between the zones identified by numerical and experimental methods.

Effect of welding sequence on residual stress and deformation of 6061-T6 aluminium alloy automobile component

Four different welding sequences of double-pulse MIG welding were conducted for 6061-T6 aluminum alloy automobile bumpers by using nonlinear elastoplasticity finite element method based on ABAQUS software.The post-welding residual stress and deformation were definitely different among the four welding sequences.The results showed that the highest temperature in Solution A was approximately 200℃higher than the melting point of base metal.High residual stress was resulted from this large temperature gradient and mainly concentrated on the welding vicinity between beam and crash box.The welding deformation primarily occurred in both of the contraction of two-ends of the beam and the self-contraction of crash box.Compared with other welding sequences,the residual stress in Solution A was the smallest,whereas the welding deformation was the largest.However,the optimal sequence was Solution B because of the effective reduction of residual stress and good assembly requirements.

Effects of welding parameters and welding sequence on residual stress and distortion in Al6061-T6 aluminum alloy for T-shaped welded joint

The distribution of temperature and then the distribution of residual stress and distortion in the stiffened aluminum alloy Al6061-T6 plates under the metal inert gas(MIG)welding process were investigated by three dimensional thermo-mechanical coupled finite element model using Ansys software.The properties of materials were considered temperature-dependent and the filler metal was added to the workpiece by the element birth and death technique.In three modes of current,two different speeds and two various sequences,the distribution of residual stress and distortion were calculated and analyzed.The results showed that increase in welding speed decreased the vertical deflection in the plate,transverse shrinkage and angular distortion of plate and the lateral deflection of stiffener,but increased the maximum longitudinal tensile stress in the plate and stiffener.Furthermore,increase in current increased the residual stress and deformation in the plate and stiffener,and the change in the welding sequence changed the distribution of the distortion in the plate and the stiffener without significant change in the distribution of the longitudinal residual stress.

Methodology to Evaluate Fatigue Damage of High-Speed Train Welded Bogie Frames Based on On-Track Dynamic Stress Test Data

The current method of estimating the fatigue life of railway structures is to calculating the equivalent stress amplitude based on the measured stress data. However, the random of the measured data is not considered. In this paper, a new method was established to compute the equivalent stress amplitude to evaluate the fatigue damage based on the measurable randomness, since the equivalent stress is the key parameter for assessment of structure fatigue life and load derivation. The equivalent stress amplitude of a high-speed train welded bogie frame was found to obey normal distribution under uniform operation route that verified by on-track dynamic stress data, and the proposed model is, in effect, an improved version of the mathematical model used to calculate the equivalent stress amplitude. The data of a long-term, on-track dynamic stress test program was analyzed to find that the normal distribution parameters of equivalent stress amplitude values differ across different operation route. Thus, the fatigue damage of the high-speed train welded bogie frame can be evaluated by the proposed method if the running schedule of the train is known a priori. The results also showed that the equivalent stress amplitude of the region connected to the power system is more random than in other regions of the bogie frame.

EFFECT OF MEAN STRESS ON FATIGUE PERFORMANCE OF WELDED JOINTS TREATED BY UPT

The fatigue contrast tests of unload longitudinal direction comer joints asoriginal welded and treated by ultrasonic peening of Q235B in various stress ratio are directed. Theimprovements of fatigue performance of unload longitudinal direction corner joints resulted byultrasonic peening are studied. The effect pattern of stress ratio on fatigue performance of weldedjoints that are treated by ultrasonic peening is studied. As tests results indicate that: ① In thecondition of stress ratio .R=-l, the fatigue strength 'of specimen treated by ultrasonic peening isincreased by 165 percent of that of the original welded specimen. And the fatigue life of specimentreated by ultrasonic peening is as much as 75 approx 210 times of that of the latter. When R=0.1,the fatigue strength is increased by 87 percent and the fatigue life is extended by 21 approx 29times. When R=-0.5, the fatigue strength is increased by 123 percent and the fatigue life isextended by 42 approx 59 times. When R=0.45, the fatigue strength is increased by 51 percent and thefatigue life is extended by 3 approx 14 times. ② If the welded joints are treated by ultrasonicpeening, the fatigue strength is no longer independent on the applied mean stress. The more thestress ratio R, the less the fatigue stress range which can be sustained by the joints is. ③Whether the high value residual stress is in the joints or not, the dead load portion of the appliedload must be considered in the design of the joints which should be treated by ultrasonic peening.

Evolution of residual stress field in 6N01 aluminum alloy friction stir welding joint

Based on the characteristics of friction stir welding( FSW) and Coulomb friction work theory,the residual stresses field of FSW joints of 6 N01 aluminum alloy( T5),which was used in high speed train,were calculated by using the ANSYS finite element software. During the FEM calculation,the dual heat source models namely the body heat source and surface heat source were used to explore the evolution law of the welding process to the residual stress field. The method of ultrasonic residual stress detecting was used to investigate the residual stresses field of the 6 N01 aluminum alloy FSW joints. The results show that the steady-state temperature of 6 N01 aluminum alloy during FSW is about 550 ℃,and the temperature mutates at the beginning and at end of welding. The longitudinal residual stress σ_x is the main stress,which fluctuates in the range of-25 to 242 MPa. Moreover,the stress in the range of shaft shoulder is tensile stress that the maximum tensile stress is 242 MPa,and the stress in the outside of shaft shoulder is compressive stress that the maximum compressive stress is 25 MPa. The distribution of the tensile stress in the welding nugget zone( WNZ) is obviously bimodal,and the residual stress on the advancing side is higher than that on the retreating side. With the increasing of the welding speed,the maximum temperature decreased and the maximum residual stress decreased when the pin-wheel speed kept constant. With the increasing of the pin-wheel speed,the maximum temperature of the joint increased and the maximum residual stress increased when the welding speed was constant. The experimental results were in good agreement with the finite element results.

Effects of laser heat treatment on the fracture morphologies of X80 pipeline steel welded joints by stress corrosion

The surfaces of X80 pipeline steel welded joints were processed with a CO2 laser, and the effects of laser heat treatment （LHT） on H2S stress corrosion in the National Association of Corrosion Engineers （NACE） solution were analyzed by a slow strain rate test. The fracture morphologies and chemical components of corrosive products before and after LHT were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy, respectively, and the mechanism of LHT on stress corrosion cracking was discussed. Results showed that the fracture for welded joints was brittle in its original state, while it was transformed to a ductile fracture after LHT. The tendencies of hydrogen-induced corrosion were reduced, and the stress corrosion sensitivity index decreased from 35.2% to 25.3%, indicating that the stress corrosion resistance of X80 pipeline steel welded joints has been improved by LHT.

3-D FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF WELDING RESIDUAL STRESS ON HYDROGEN DIFFUSION IN HYDROGEN CONTAINED ENVIRONMENT

The hydrogen distribution of 16MnR steel weldment in hydrogen contained environment was calculated using the finite element method （ FEM）. The effect of welding residual stress on hydrogen diffusion has been discussed using a 3-D sequential coupling finite element analysis procedure complied by Abaqus code. The hydrogen diffusion coefficient in weld metal, the heat affected zone （HAZ）, and the base metal of the 16MnR steel weldment were measured using the electrochemical permeation technique. The hydrogen diffusion without the effect of stress was also calculated and compared. Owing to the existence of welding residual stress, the hydrogen concentration was obviously increased and the hydrogen wouM diffuse and accumulate in the higher stress region.

An investigation on the performance of stress corrosion cracking in aluminum-copper alloy welded joint

With the resistance to stress corrosion of the base metal as a reference, the contrast result of stress corrosion cracking （ SCC） susceptibility of aluminum-copper alloy 2219 and 2014 welded joints under different welding processes （ VP-TIG welding, HF-TIG hybrid welding, laser-TIG hybrid welding and laser HF-TIG hybrid welding） is obtained via the slow strain rate testing （ SSRT） , scanning electron microscope （ SEM） and microstructure observation auxiliary technologies. Test results show that the joints of aluminum alloy 2219, welded by hybrid welding processes, have superior resistance to stress corrosion compared to those welded by the VP-TIG welding process in varying degrees, especially, the joint welded by the laser HF-TIG hybrid welding process, where the resistance to stress corrosion is almost the same as that of the base material. However, the HF or laser hybrid welding effect is not significant under the same welding conditions for welded joints of aluminum alloy 2014.

Three dimension simulation analysis of the interpass stress and deformation during multipass welding

It has been widely studied about the final residual stress and deformation in muhipass welding of thick weldments. But there is a lack of a clear understanding of the interrelationship of interpass stress and deformation during multipass welding. In this study, a three dimension numerical model of a sixteen-pass double V-groove welded joint with 50 mm plate is developed to compute the stress field and deformation by using multiple CPU parallel processing technology. The following factors such as the non-linear of temperature, heat radiation, filling of material step by step and so on are considered. Distribution and evolution law of welding stress in the transverse and longitudinal section is analyzed in this paper, and the interpnss stresses are studied also. At the same time the evolution course of angular deformation amount is analyzed, and the experimental results show that the calculated resuhs accord with the measured results of angular deformation.

3D Finite Element Numerical Simulation of Residual Stresses on Electron Beam Welded BT20 Plates

A three-dimensional finite-element model (FEM) used for calculating electron beam (EB) welding temperature and stresses fields of thin plates of BT20 titanium has been developed in which the nonlinear thermophysical and thermo-mechanical properties of the material has been considered. The welding temperature field, the distributions of residual stresses in as-welded (AW) and electron beam local post-weld heat treatment (EBLPWHT) conditions have been successfully simulated. The results show that: (1) In the weld center, the maximum magnitude of residual tensile stresses of BT20 thin plates of Ti alloy is equal to 60%- 70% of its yield strength σs. (2) The residual tensile stresses in weld center can be even decreased after EBLPWHT and the longitudinal tensile stresses are decreased about 50% compared to joints in AW conditions. (3) The numerical calculating results of residual stresses by using FEM are basically in agreement with the experimental results. Combined with numerical calculating results, the effects of electron beam welding and EBLPWHT on the distribution of welding residual stresses in thin plates of BT20 have been analyzed in detail.

Distribution of Welding Residual Stress of Mixed Steel U-Rib-Stiffened Plates

To analyze the effects of width and thickness of each composition element of mixed steel U-rib-stiffened plates on the welding residual stress distribution, the distribution of the U-rib and the plate residual stress was calculated using a simplified calculation method. The method involved welding the mixed steel U-rib-stiffened plates for a structure with different sizes and different strength ratios of U-rib to plate. Based on a welding residual stress numerical simulation method validated by the blind hole method test, the distribution law of the mixed steel U-rib stiffened plate was studied. The results showed that the change of plate width has little impact on the welding residual stress and that the ratio of the thicknesses of the plate to U-rib stiffeners, the thickness of the plate, and the thickness of the U-rib has a great influence on the distribution of the welding residual stress. The thickness of plate and steel strength also greatly influenced the distribution width of the residual tensile stress. While analyzing the compression capacity of U-rib-stiffened plates, the simplified distribution of welding residual stress was used.

Potential Oxidative Stress in the Bodies of Electric Arc Welding Operators: Effect of Photochemical Smog

Objective To investigate whether photochemical smog emitted during the process of electric arc welding might cause oxidative stress and potential oxidative damage in the bodies of welding operators. Methods Seventy electric arc welding operators (WOs) and 70 healthy volunteers (HVs) were enrolled in a randomized controlled study design, in which the levels of vitamin C (VC) and vitamin E (VE) in plasma as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and the level of lipoperoxide (LPO) in erythrocytes were determined by spectrophotometry. Results Compared with the average values of the above experimental parameters in the HVs group, the average values of VC and VE in plasma as well as those of SOD, CAT and GPX in erythrocytes in the WOs group were significantly decreased (P<0.005-0.0001), while the average value of LPO in erythrocytes in the WOs group was significantly increased (P<0.0001). The findings from the partial correlation analysis on the controlling of age suggested that with a prolonged duration of exposure to photochemical smog the values of VC, VE, SOD, and GPX, except for CAT, in the WOs were decreased gradually (P<0.05-0.005), the value of LPO in the WOs was increased gradually (P<0.001), and that with the ozone dose increased in the air in each worksite VC, VE, SOD, CAT and GPX decreased (P<0.005-0.001), but LPO increased (P<0.001). The findings from the reliability analysis for the VC, VE, SOD, CAT, GPX, and LPO values which were used to reflect oxidative stress and potential oxidative damage in the WOs showed that the reliability coefficients?alpha (6 items) was 0.8021, P<0.0001, and that the standardized item alpha was 0.9577, P<0.0001. Conclusion Findings in the present study suggest that there exists an oxidative stress induced by long-term exposure to photochemical smog in the bodies of WOs, thereby causing potential oxidative and lipoperoxidative damages in their bodies.

Effects of welding parameters on weld shape and residual stresses in electron beam welded Ti_2AlNb alloy joints

In order to estimate the residual stresses in Ti2AlNb alloy jointed by electron beam welding (EBW), a computational approach based on finite element method was developed. Meanwhile, experiments were carried out to verify the numerical results. The comparison between the simulation results and measurements suggests that the developed computational approach has sufficient accuracy to predict the welding residual stress distributions. The results show that the central area of the fusion zone suffers tensile stresses in three directions. When the other parameters remain unchanged, the focus current has great impact on the weld shape and size, and then affects the residual stress level significantly. Moreover, the thick plate full-penetrated EBW weld suffers near 1000 MPa tensile stress of Z-direction in the center of the fusion zone. The wider weld has lower tensile stress in Z-direction, resulting in lower risk for cracking.