Effect of welding parameters on residual stresses in dissimilar joint of stainless steel to carbon steel

Abstract

In this study, a thermo-mechanical model was utilized to investigate the effects of welding parameters on the distribution of residual stresses in dissimilar TIG welds of low carbon and ferritic stainless steels. To solve the governing thermal and mechanical problems, a finite element program, ANSYS, was employed while the different aspects such as welding sequence and dilution were considered in the numerical solution. To validate the predictions, the model results were compared with the residual stresses measured by X-ray diffraction technique and a reasonable agreement was found. The results show that the magnitude of tensile residual stresses decrease as the welding current increases while lower residual stresses are produced in the longer samples. In addition, the magnitudes of residual stresses significantly decrease when a symmetric welding sequence is employed especially for the carbon steel part with the higher yield strength.