On the Performance of a Commercial Finite Element Code in Multi-Pass Welding Simulation

Abstract

Despite the development of a number of in-house finite element codes for welding simulation and residual stress prediction, industry focuses on commercial software due to their robustness, ease of use, better convergence characteristics and the fact that residual stress analysis procedures based on them can be readily transferred to industrial applications. In the present paper the ANSYS finite element code in conjunction with the “birth & death of elements” technique, is used for the analysis of dissimilar metal pipe welds, common in primary coolant piping of nuclear power plants. Multi-pass, double V, butt welds of welded panels are also investigated, in an attempt to evaluate the method and establish the degree of model detail and complexity necessary to obtain satisfactory results, which in turn will lead to a golden rule between computational cost and practically accurate predictions. In all the individual cases under investigation, predicted residual stress and/or strain fields are compared with measurement data obtained from the literature. It is deduced that the proposed method, applied through a commercial finite element code, is simple in implementation and cost effective regarding model complexity and analysis time. The accuracy of predicted residual stresses/strains, when compared to measurements, depends largely on the availability and accuracy of welding heat input data.