Welded Butt Joints Research Articles

Effect of Misalignment of Axes in Double-Sided Weld on Stresses Distribution in Butt Welded Joints

Abstract An analytical method for calculation of local stresses in double-sided butt welded joints at misalignment of welds’ axes is developed. The method is applicable for welded thin-gauge plates with different geometry of welds on the face and root sides under tensile load. In the given calculation example, it was shown that the stresses reach their maximum value in the zone of transition from the root weld to the base metal which is farther from the axis of the face weld. The results of analytical calculations are in good agreement with the results obtained using the finite element method.

Research on the post-weld explosive hardening of AA7075-T651 friction stir welded butt joints

Research on the post-weld explosive hardening of AA7075-T651 friction stir welded butt joints

Fatigue Strength Assessment of Laser Beam Welded Joints Made of AA7075 and Magnetic Pulse Welded Joints Made of AA7075 and 3D‐Printed AlSi10Mg

The use of 7000 aluminum alloys has an important role in future lightweight structures in the field of mobility due to the low density and high strength. However, these alloys can only be fusion welded to a limited extent because welding defects can rarely be prevented. For this reason, investigations are carried out to identify the most suitable welding parameters for two processes: laser beam and magnetic pulse welding. Herein, laser beam welding is successfully used to manufacture a roll‐formed and longitudinally welded pipe made of AA7075 and joined by magnetic pulse welding with a 3D‐printed lug‐tube made of AlSi10Mg. The fatigue strength of these pipe joints and of laser beam welded butt joint specimens is determined using load‐controlled fatigue tests. For the characterization of the specimens, cross sections are prepared and examined metallographically, which reflect the local weld seam geometry in the joining area. A fatigue assessment is made using linear‐elastic approaches. The reference radius concept is applied to map the influence of geometric notches on the fatigue strength, assuming linear‐elastic stress–strain behavior. It is shown that the recommended notch stress fatigue class FAT 178 (von Mises stress) can be applied for a safe and reliable fatigue assessment.

Numerical and experimental investigations of mechanical properties of AW 6005-T6 Aluminium alloy butt weld joint using GMAW process

This study aimed to investigate the effect of the welding heat input on the heat affected zone (HAZ) of AW 6005-T6 aluminium alloy for a butt-welded joint using gas metal arc welding. The determination of the thermal cycles, metallography, and the resulting mechanical properties in the zone makes its possible. The study involved using a welding experiment, numerical simulation, physical simulation, and mechanical tests. The welding was carried out using the pulsed gas metal arc welding (GMAW) transfer and type J thermocouples were used to develop the thermal cycles in the HAZ. Simufact® Welding was utilized for the numerical simulation. Optical microscope was used to evaluate the microstructures and Vickers microhardness test was done along the weld cross-section. The HAZ was located on the weld cross-section with a mean hardness of 63.7 HV0.1, which is considerably lower when compared with the base metal (BM) which has a hardness of 100 HV0.1. This indicates thermal softening occurred due to the heat input to the material. There is a match in the hardness values of the Gleeble samples and the locations on the weld cross section suggested by the model showing validity of the simulation. It is important to note the fact that there is an influence of heat input into aluminum AW 6005-T6 weld joints and its mechanical properties in the design of welding process parameters for automotive parts. The welding parameters can be optimized to decrease the heat input into the weld, as this can directly affects the mechanical properties in the HAZ.

Tensile Behavior of Titanium-Clad Bimetallic Steel Butt-Welded Joints

Because of the promising corrosion resistance and load-bearing capacity, titanium-clad (TC) bimetallic steel has gained increasing attention in ocean/coastal civil and structural engineering. Due to the double-layer nature of TC bimetallic steel, the characteristics of the structural member’s geometry and weld details are considerably different from that of conventional steel members. Even though previous studies have conducted systematical clarifications on parent material of TC bimetallic steels, the mechanical behaviors of weld joints are still vague. This paper firstly describes the manufacture features of TC bimetallic steel welded joints and welded members. Subsequently, the type II and type III butt-welded joints provided by GB/T 13149-2009 are selected to study the corresponding tensile mechanical behavior. Two butt-welded TC bimetallic steel plates were fabricated from hot-rolled bonding TA2 + Q355B TC bimetallic steel and welding wire of ER55-Ni1 and ERTA2ELI. Eight tensile coupons were then extracted from the two welded plates and loaded to failure monotonically. The failure mechanism, stress–strain curves and key mechanical properties are studied and compared with that of parent material. It is found that both types of welded joints possess two fracture points. The first one refers to the fracture of weld joint between the clad layer and titanium cover plate, whilst the second one is the eventual fracture of substrate metal. When the first fracture point is reached, the stress–strain relation exhibits a sharp drop in stress value. Thereafter, a strain-hardening behavior can still be observed prior to the ultimate strength point. The first fracture-induced stress drop of type II joint is less than that of type III joint, whilst the strain-hardening amount of type II joint is more outstanding than that of type III joint. The fracture elongations of type II joint and type III joint are respectively 37% and 57% that of the parent material, whilst the proportions between the ultimate strengths of welded joints and parent material are, respectively, 90% and 93%. In general, the two types of TC bimetallic steel weld joints investigated herein exhibit favorable load-bearing capacity but unfavorable ductility and deformability. Based upon the experimental results, the structural design methodology of welded TC bimetallic steel structure is discussed. The investigations conducted in this paper can provide reference for development of structural design theory of welded TC bimetallic steel structure.

Investigation of the quality category approach for BS7910-based rapid fatigue assessment of welded structures containing cracks

PurposeThis study aims to extend the application of the quality category approach in rapid fatigue assessment of complex welded structures containing defects under arbitrary loadings, following the investigation of their core data and fatigue assessment procedures based on fracture mechanics.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis methods and procedures for calculating equivalent sizes of semi-elliptic cracks and initial sizes of through-width cracks at the weld toe were developed based on the life equivalence principle. Different stress concentration solutions, i.e. 2D-Mk and 3D-Mk solutions, and different bending ratios were considered. Then, approximate equations were proposed to calculate the crack size under combined stress. In addition, a procedure for calculating the fatigue life by interpolation was proposed and applied to engineering examples.FindingsThe fatigue lives of fillet and butt weld joints obtained with the 3D-Mk solution for large L/B are longer than those obtained with the 2D-Mk solution. The results of the fatigue life of the brake unit bracket show that the average error between the proposed approximation equations and the quality category approach is 1.6%.Originality/valueThe quality category and equivalent size curves of different stress concentration solutions under combined membrane and bending stresses are newly added, which further expands the application of the quality category approach. When the proposed fatigue life calculation methods are employed, the remaining life can be quickly derived in addition to the qualitative conclusion on the safety of the structure. These provide the necessary conditions to perform a rapid fatigue assessment adapted to engineering purposes.

Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures Virtual Special Issue: Data science and machine learning for fatigue and fracture assessment

<scp>Fatigue &amp; Fracture of Engineering Materials &amp; Structures Virtual Special Issue</scp>: Data science and machine learning for fatigue and fracture assessment

Effect of laser shock processing on residual stress evolution in martensitic stainless steel multi-pass butt-welded joints

Laser shock processing (LSP) is an innovative approach, which effectively improves the mechanical behavior of metallic structures by introducing compressive residual stress. To evaluate the residual stress evolution in low-carbon 13Cr4Ni martensitic stainless steel multi-pass butt-welded joints induced by LSP, a two-step numerical simulation including welding analysis, at first, followed by LSP calculation with the simulated welding stress results being taken into account, was performed based on ABAQUS software. Effects of LSP parameters such as power density, spot size, overlapping rate and numbers of laser shock on the residual stress variations, were systematically investigated. To validate the reliability and accuracy of the numerical simulation, experiments of welding and LSP were conducted in sequence. The residual stress after welding and LSP were investigated by x-ray diffraction method. Results demonstrate that the simulated results show a good agreement with the experimental datas. The welding residual stress distribution is uneven. Larger tensile stresses appear on the weld surface and its adjacent heat-affected zone, which could be converted into high-level compressive stress after LSP. Furthermore, an ideal residual stress field can be obtained after two successive laser shocks with an overlap rate of 75% when the power density, spot diameter, and pulse width are 7.6 GW cm−2, 4 mm, and 25 ns, respectively.

Modeling of welding residual stress in a dissimilar metal butt-welded joint between P92 ferritic steel and SUS304 austenitic stainless steel

In this study, a butt-welded joint between P92 ferritic steel and SUS304 austenitic stainless steel was fabricated with a nickel-based filler material. Based on Sysweld software, three-dimensional thermal-metallurgical-mechanical coupled finite element analyses were performed to investigate the hardness and welding residual stress in the welded joint. In the material behavior model, various factors influencing the formation and distribution of hardness and welding residual stress were carefully considered, including the austenitic transformation, martensitic transformation, and the tempering of martensite in P92 steel; the isotropic strain hardening, annealing effect, and melting effect of all materials; and the differential thermal expansion between dissimilar metals. The neutron diffraction method and hole-drilling strain gauge method were applied to measure the profiles of residual stress of the welded joint, respectively. Hardness mapping was performed on a weld cross-section specimen. The predicted results of welding residual stress and hardness are in good agreement with the measurements, respectively. The peak residual stresses in longitudinal and transverse directions are above 600 MPa in P92 steel. There are high tensile residual stress and significant cold work near the weld root in SUS304 stainless steel. The solid-state phase transformation induces compressive longitudinal residual stress in the heat-affected zone, high tensile transverse residual stress near the weld toe in P92 steel, and a significant stress gradient. The tempering effect can reduce the hardness and tensile residual stress in the heat-affected zone of P92 steel. The formation mechanism of welding-induced residual stress was illustrated based on the Satoh test. The effects of peak temperature, internal restraint, and differential thermal expansion are found to be decisive for the formation of residual stress. Large tensile residual stress can be generated with internal restraints, which promote the stress increase and lead to material yielding. A restraint factor was proposed for the quantitative assessment of stress evolution.

The effect of electron beam oscillation on the porosity of third-generation AW2099 aluminium lithium alloy welded joints

The influence of beam oscillation on the porosity of third-generation aluminium lithium (Al-Li) alloy was evaluated. 4 mm thick AW2099 was used for electron beam welding. Heat inputs of 55 J/mm and 66 J/mm with and without beam oscillation were used for the production of butt-welded joints. Circular oscillation pattern was used for welding. The higher the heat input, the larger the porosity. Furthermore, porosity of welded joints produced with a heat input of 55 J/mm dropped from 0.23 to 0.19 % when beam oscillation was utilized. Similarly, the application of electron beam oscillation for the production of welded joints with a higher heat input of 66 J/mm led to the drop of porosity from 0.33 to 0.2 %.

Influence of Filler Material on the Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of 430 Ferritic Stainless Steel Weld Joints

Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding is a commonly used welding technique for ferritic stainless steel, due to its ability to produce high-quality, clean, and precise welds. This welding method provides excellent control over the heat input, making it suitable for thin-walled, high-alloy materials such as ferritic stainless steel. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using two different filler materials, 310 (austenitic) and 410 (ferritic), on the microstructural and mechanical properties of Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) weld butt joints of 430 ferritic stainless steel (FSS). The results showed that the choice of filler material significantly impacted the dilution percentage, the chromium-nickel equivalent ratio, microstructure, microhardness, and tensile characteristics of the welded joint. The use of 310 filler resulted in a columnar microstructure, whereas the use of 410 filler resulted in a ferritic (acicular ferrite) microstructure with the presence of martensite and austenite. The sample welded with 410 filler demonstrated superior mechanical properties compared to the sample welded with 310 filler. These findings emphasize the importance of selecting the appropriate filler material in order to achieve the desired microstructural and mechanical properties in 430 FSS welded joints.

Fatigue strength of shot-peened as-welded joints and post-weld-treated and subsequently clean-blasted fillet weld joints

Surface treatment methods, such as shot peening and clean blasting, can improve the fatigue strength of welded joints. The aim of the current work is to experimentally evaluate the effects of clean blasting on the fatigue performance of post-weld-treated joints made of normal, high-strength, and ultra-high-strength steels, as well as obtain the fatigue strength improvement gained by the shot peening processes in welded connections made of different steel grades using literature data. A literature review was carried out to extract fatigue test data of welded joints, considering both clean blasting and shot peening processes. This data was statistically re-evaluated and used for a comparison to the results obtained in the current experimental work which focuses on evaluating the improvement gained by the clean blasting after post-weld treatments. Experimental fatigue tests were carried out on non-load-carrying transverse attachment joints prepared with gas metal arc welding, and made of S355, S700, and S1100 structural steels. TIG dressing and HFMI treatment post-weld treatments were implemented and, subsequently, the specimens were blast-cleaned using two different abrasives: corundum and sand. The re-analysis of existing fatigue test data indicated higher improvement by shot peening, i.e., average improvements of 1.71 and 1.52 in the fatigue strength for butt weld and fillet weld joints, respectively, than by clean blasting process for which an average improvement of 1.19 in fatigue strength was obtained. The enhancement factors, however, highly varied among different data sets indicating a clear impact of processing parameters on the improvement level. The statistical re-analyses considering all data sets of shot-peened specimens (butt weld and fillet weld joints) showed that one fatigue (FAT) class higher fatigue strength could be recommended for shot-peened joints compared to the as-welded condition with weld toe failures. The experimental work on the post-weld-treated joints indicated that the fatigue strength of clean-blasted joints was similar to that of non-blasted joints, and thus showing no major advantages or disadvantages by the clean blasting post-weld-treated joints with corundum and sand.

Grey-based taguchi method for multi-weld quality optimization of gas metal arc dissimilar joining of mild steel and 316 stainless steel

Welding processes play a significant role in many fabrication and manufacturing industries. Among various welding processes that have been developed over the years, Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) or Metal Inert Gas Welding (MIG) has received a lot of interest due to its ability to weld a variety of metallic materials, easy adaptation for automation, high deposition rate, high efficiency, and low capital requirement. This study focus on the optimization of the multi-performance characteristics of MIG welded butt joint of AISI 1008 mild steel and AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel by hybrid Grey based Taguchi method. L9 Taguchi orthogonal array was adopted for the optimization of the MIG welding current, voltage and gas flow rate. The weld joint integrity has been assessed in terms of the tensile strength, yield strength, percentage elongation and Vickers microhardness of the fusion zone. Welding current of 180 A, voltage of 14 V, and gas flow rate of 19 l/min were obtained as the optimal parameter setting for the MIG welding process. The tensile strength, yield strength, percentage elongation and hardness of 559.25 MPa, 382.22 MPa, 33.34%, and 250.63 HV respectively were obtained at the optimal setting. Voltage was the most significant process parameter with 63.76% contribution for the multi-performance of the weldments. The confirmatory test was performed to validate the optimization process which proved Grey based Taguchi method to be an easy but yet effective method for multi-performance characteristics optimization of welded joints.

Performance of ANN in predicting the depth to width ratio and tensile strength of UNS S32750 laser weld joints

The effectiveness of the pulsed mode laser weld joint is characterized by the supply of optical energy to the interface. The laser welding process parameters, such as laser power, pulse duration, travel speed and focus, determine the efficacy of the weld, which is defined by full penetration and free of pores and defects. However, expressing the relationship between various process parameters and mechanical strength is intricate due to the prevalence of non-linear relationship. The development of computational approaches aids in optimizing the laser welding parameters and reducing trial and error. Hence, the artificial neural network (ANN) model is developed, in a python environment, to predict the optimum process parameter values for a desirable depth to width ratio and maximum tensile strength of UNS S32750 laser butt weld joints. The developed model was assessed by experiments, not utilized for training. The ANN model predicts the depth to width ratio and tensile strength of the weld joints with an accuracy of 90% and less than 10% divergence from the experimental result. Furthermore, for the process, parametric conditions are: (power: 550 W, focus: –1 mm, pulse duration: 13 Hz and travel speed: 136 mm/min) to attain maximum tensile strength.

Microstructure and Properties of High Frequency Pulse MAG Butt Welded Joints of S355 Steel with Different Diameters

In this paper, the diameter of 1.2mm and 1.6mm welding wires were used to carry out high-frequency pulse MAG butt welding process test on S355J2W+N weathering steel. The analysis of the microstructure characteristics of the welded joints under the two working conditions shows that there is little difference and both are ideal. There were more acculate ferrite (AF), less pearlite (P) and bainite (BG), and no larger Weisserite structure and less ferrite side-plate (FSP) structure. The weld is well formed, weld defects such as gas pores and cracks are not found. The impact test showed that the impact energy Akv (-40 °C) of the welded joint at -40 °C was higher than the specified minimum impact energy of 27 J. Compared with the 1.2mm welding wire, the impact energy of the 1.6mm welding wire is lower. Tensile test results show that the fracture occurs at the base metal position. and the fracture height is uneven, forming an angle of 45° with the tensile stress direction, which is a ductile fracture. When the bending angle of the butt joint samples reaches 180°, no cracks are both found on the tensile surface, and the plastic index of the welded joint samples is qualified and has good bending performance.

The effect of TIG welding on the structure and hardness of butt joints made of Inconel 718

The tests discussed in the article aimed to analyse the structure and hardness of the heat affected zone and that of the weld in thin butt joints (1.0 mm) made of Inconel 718 using the TIG method and variable welding linear energy restricted within the range of 45 J/mm to 80 J/mm. The test joints were subjected to visual tests, macro and microscopic metallographic tests, scanning electron microscopy-based structural observations and hardness measurements. The tests concerned with the effect of the TIG welding of butt joints made of 1.0 mm thick sheets (Inconel 718) in laboratory conditions revealed that the most favourable quality of the sheets was obtained when welding arc linear energy was restricted within the range of approximately 45 J/mm to 80 J/mm. An increase in linear energy within the above-presented range led to an increase in the width of the weld and that of the HAZ (observed in the joints subjected to macroscopic metallographic tests). In addition, an increase in linear energy restricted within the aforesaid range increased the grain size in matrix γ (in the HAZ) from approximately 10 μm–20 μm. The structure of the weld contained the zone of columnar grains oriented towards the fusion line as well as large groups of primary grains having the dendritic structure with clearly visible axes of primary dendrites of varied orientation. In addition, the weld structure also contained precipitates in the form of low-melting eutectics located in interdendritic spaces.

Experimental Research of Welding Residual Stress of Butt Welded Joint of Thick Steel Plate

The thickness of steel plates used in the structure has gradually increased to meet the load-bearing capacity requirements of long-span steel bridges. Thick steel plate welded by arc welding process will result in considerable welding residual stress with complex distribution. Large welding residual stress will significantly impact the performance of steel bridges. At present; residual welding stress of thick steel plates is not considered enough in bridge engineering; which could lead to potential dangers in safety. In this paper; a butt welded joint with a thickness of 80 mm was designed; the residual welding stress was measured by X-ray diffraction method; and the distribution of residual stress in the direction perpendicular to the weld seam and along the direction of the weld seam is analyzed; and the distribution pattern of welding residual stress in thick steel plate is systematically studied. It is found that in the area near the weld; the stress in the direction along the weld seam is more significant than that in the perpendicular direction; the peak stress in the direction perpendicular to the weld seam usually appears in the weld seam and the heat-affected zone; and the maximum value tends to appear close to the last weld bead on the surface; on the path perpendicular to the weld seam; the stress in the direction perpendicular to the weld seam is distributed in a “Π” shape; the stress in the direction along the weld seam is distributed in an “M” shape; and the stresses in the direction along and perpendicular to the weld seam are symmetrically distributed; however the axis of symmetry may appear anywhere in and around the weld seam. The results could serve as a reference for welding residual stress analysis and guide optimization design of steel bridges made of thick steel plates.

Residual stress and deformation in UHS quenched steel butt-welded joint

For the low-alloy ultra-high strength (UHS) quenched steels with a yield strength of 1500 MPa, the welded joints have two obvious characteristics, namely solid-state phase transformation (SSPT) in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and softening effect in the subcritical heat-affected zone (SCHAZ). In the current study, a UHS single-pass butt-welded joint with filler wire of ER307Si was fabricated, and thermal cycles at specific points were measured by thermocouples. After welding, relevant measurements of residual stress, deformation, microstructure and hardness were carried out. In this paper, based on the experimental hardness on the cross-section of the joint, a novel softening model was proposed. Meanwhile, based on coding subroutines of ABAQUS software, an advanced computational approach considering the thermal-metallurgical-mechanical coupling behaviour including the strain hardening as well as the annealing effect in fusion zone, SSPT in HAZ, and softening in SCHAZ was developed to implement thermal, metallurgical and mechanical analyses of the UHS quenched steel butt-welded joint. Comparing numerical and experimental results of temperature field, residual stress distribution and welding deformation of the joint, the calculated results of welding residual stress, angular distortion and transverse shrinkage are in good agreement with the measured data when both SSPT and softening effect were considered in the finite element model. The computed results indicate that SSPT has a significant influence on both the magnitude and the distribution of longitudinal residual stress, but it has a small effect on transverse residual stress. Moreover, the softening effect dramatically decreases the peak value of longitudinal residual stress in the SCHAZ, while it has an insignificant influence on transverse residual stress. The simulation results suggest that SSPT has a small effect on both transverse shrinkage and angular distortion, while the softening effect has very limited influence on welding deformation.

FEM simulation of the welding process of a butt-welded joint and comparison with experimental data

FEM simulation of the welding process of a butt-welded joint and comparison with experimental data

Effect of Laser Peening on Fatigue Properties of Butt-Welded Joints with Angular Distortion

Effect of Laser Peening on Fatigue Properties of Butt-Welded Joints with Angular Distortion