An inelastic analysis of a welded aluminum joint

Butt weld joints are most commonly designed into pressure vessels by using weld material properties that are determined from a tensile test. These properties are provided to the stress analyst in the form of a stress vs strain diagram. Variations in properties through the thickness of the weld and along the width of the weld have been suspect but not explored because of inaccessibility and cost. The purpose of this study is to investigate analytical and computational methods used for analysis of multiple pass aluminum 2219-T87 butt welds. The weld specimens are analyzed using classical plasticity theory to provide a basis for modeling the inelastic properties in a finite element solution. The results of the analysis are compared to experimental data to determine the weld behavior and the accuracy of currently available numerical prediction methods.