Non-destructive identification of residual stresses in steel under thermal loadings

Abstract

We discuss computational aspects of the inverse and ill-posed problem of identifying residual stresses in steel structures under thermal loading. This corresponds to an inverse source problem in linear thermo-elasticity. The studies aim in investigating whether thermal loadings for the excitation of structures are sufficient in order to detect reliably inherent residual stresses. These stresses may result from the construction process or later thermal or mechanical treatment of the structure-like welding. By answering the raised question positively, our method provides an important basis for successful thermal straightenings. The quality of the solution of the inverse problem depends on a series of parameters, like material parameters, noise in the measurements, and the experimental setup. We numerically study the effects of these parameters and quantify the uncertainties in the results of the inverse problems by means of Sobol indices.