Measurement of internal welding residual stress distributions in a thick welded plate

The internal welding residual stress distributions in a butt-welded joint with a thickness of 55 mm were measured with the two-cut contour method, and the internal stress distribution characteristics in the multi-pass welding joint with a single V-type groove were analyzed. Results show that measured internal residual stress distribution by contour method agrees well with those obtained by the thermal-elastic-plastic finite element method; the longitudinal stress within the weld region is tensile stress and the peak value appears at the weld centerline with a 10 mm distance below the top surface; the magnitude of longitudinal stress in the upper part of the weld region is larger than 300 MPa, while the stress distribution width of stress over 300 MPa is smaller than the weld width; the distribution width of the longitudinal stress over 200 MPa within the lower part of the weld is much smaller than the weld width, especially at the location of weld root. The measured transverse stress at the weld centerline exhibits a trend of tensile stress-compressive stress-tensile stress from the top surface to bottom surface, the transverse stress within the region of 0-5 mm distance from the bottom surface is large tensile stress (over 300 MPa), and the peak tensile transverse stress appears in the region near the bottom surface. © 2020, Editorial Board of Journal of Ship Mechanics. All right reserved.