Determination of Residual Stresses in Welded Pipes Using a Simplified Heat Source

Dragi Stamenković
Mato Perić

In this paper, a numerical simulation based on the finite element method was used to determine residual stresses in welded pipes. The simulation consists of sequentially coupled thermal and structural analyses. In the thermal analysis, the heat source is introduced, using simplified heat flux. The temperature field, calculated in the thermal
analysis, is used as the loading for the mechanical analysis. The welding simulation was conducted using the software packages Abaqus and Ansys, and the obtained results agree very well. This paper presents a methodology of determining residual stresses in butt welded pipes.

Key words: welding, residual stresses, welded joint, butt welding, pipe, thermal analysis, finite element method.