Prediction of welding deformations of stiffened panels

Welding deformation reduces the accuracy of ship hull blocks and decreases productivity due to the need for correction work. Preparing an error-minimizing guide at the design stage will lead to higher quality as well as higher productivity. Therefore, developing a precise method to predict the weld deformation is an essential part of it. This paper proposes an efficient method for predicting the weld deformation of complicated structures based on the inherent strain theory combined with the finite element method. The inherent strain is defined as the residual plastic strain after the welding heat cycle and is determined using the highest temperature and degree of restraint. In order to calculate precisely the inherent strain in real structures, it should be noted that the degree of restraint changes according to the different fabrication stages. The simulation of a stiffened panel confirmed the applicability of this method to simple ship hull blocks.