Prediction of residual stresses: Comparison between experimental and numerical results

Numerical simulations of a representative test of welding process are presented in this paper. A French vessel steel, which involves metallurgical phase transformations, is considered in this work. The aim is to validate the thermal-metallurgical-mechanical models taking into account the metallurgical transformations in the finite element codes Sysweld (Framatome) and Code(-)Aster (Electricite de France). The test is performed on a thin disc submitted to a thermal loading by means of a CO2 laser beam, which leads to metallurgical transformations. The thermal, metallurgical and mechanical numerical results have been compared to the experimental results (temperatures, sizes of transformed zones, displacements and residual stresses). The simulation results of the two codes are in good agreement with the experimental results.