Residual stresses in welded flame-cut high strength steel H-sections

The presence of residual stress in members can significantly compromise the stiffness and fatigue life of steel structural components. Researches in this area are well documented for structural members of mild carbon steels. Nevertheless, due to the difference of stress–strain relations and material properties under ambient and high temperatures, the residual stress distribution in a high strength steel member is physically different from those fabricated from mild carbon steel. It is imperative to study the residual stress distribution for structural members fabricated from high strength steel. In this paper, the residual stresses of three welded flame-cut H-section columns with a nominal yield strength of 460 MPa but different cross-section dimensions were investigated. Both sectioning and hole-drilling methods were used in the measurement and the obtained residual stresses were compared between the two methods. The magnitudes and distributions of the measured residual stresses are identical with those of carbon steel, however in relatively smaller residual stress ratios. Finally, based on the measurements, a simplified residual stress distribution for 460 MPa high strength steel members with welded flame-cut H-section is proposed.

► Residual stresses in welded flame-cut high strength steel H-sections were measured.
► Results obtained with sectioning method and hole-drilling method were compared.
► The measured residual stresses and those in conventional steel were compared.
► Simplified distribution of residual stresses was proposed.