Measurement of the residual stresses in a stainless steel pipe girth weld containing long and short repairs

A series of residual measurements were made to obtain the through-thickness residual stress profiles in an as-welded and repair welded stainless steel pipe. Long and short length repairs were manufactured after initial measurements in the original girth weld. Measurements were made using neutron diffraction, deep hole and surface hole techniques. The various measurement methods were found to complement each other well. All the measurements revealed a characteristic profile for the through-thickness distribution of the residual stresses in the heat-affected zone. The residual stresses at mid-length of the heat affected zone of the short repair were found to be higher than in the long repair.