Welding Residual Stresses in Tubular Joints

In spite of an increased awareness of welding residual stress threat to structural integrity, the extent of its influence on fatigue especially under multiaxial loading is still unclear and is a matter of debate. One important reason for this lack of clarities is that the determination of the initial welding residual stress field in welded structures even at the fatigue crack initiation sites is difficult and requires complementary instruments. Since the fatigue crack initiation in sound welds almost always occurs on the surface, the determination of surface residual stresses could increase the awareness of the extent of their threat to the structural safety. In this paper the development of residual stresses in different TIG-welded tubular specimens out of S355J2H and S690QL steel is studied and compared. The mechanisms of the development of residual stresses based on heat input and cooling rate are discussed. The welding parameters and thus heat inputs are varied and the mechanisms leading to different residual stress states are investigated. X-ray method was used for residual stress state characterization.