Residual Stress Distribution in Hard-Facing of Pressure Relief Valve Seat

Abstract

In this study, for the hard-facing of spring-loaded pressure relief valve seats, the residual stress distributions after the tungsten inert gas welding, (TIG) postwelded heat treatment and subsequent surface turning were investigated. The heat input parameters of welding were calibrated using an infrared imaging and thermocouples. The residual stress distributions were computed using three-dimensional finite element model. The neutron diffraction approach was employed to verify the finite element calculation. It is found that, the surface temperature during hard-facing welding shows a double ellipsoidal shape with the highest value of around 1570 °C. The high residual stress zones are located exactly under the welded joint except a slight deviation in the hoop direction. The magnitudes of tensile residual stresses in the three directions increase with their corresponding locations from the root of the joint into the base metal. The residual stresses in all of the three directions decrease significantly after the heat treatment. After surface turning, the residual stresses are tensile except for those close to the inner surface that are compressive in axial and radial directions.