Transient out-of-plane distortion of multi-pass fillet welded tube to pipe T-joints

The out-of-plane distortion induced in a multi-pass circumferential fillet welding of tube to pipe under different weld sequences and directions was studied using Finite Element Method (FEM) based Sysweld software and verified experimentally. The FEM analyses consisted of thermal and mechanical analyses. Thermal analysis was validated with experimental transient temperature measurements. In the mechanical analysis, three different weld sequences and directions were considered to understand the mechanism of out-of-plane distortion in the tube to pipe T-joints. It was learnt that the welding direction plays a major role in minimizing the out-of-plane distortion. Further, during circumferential fillet welding of the tube to pipe component, the out-of-plane distortion generated in the x direction was primarily influenced by heat input due to the start and stop points, whereas the distortion in the z direction was influenced by time lag and welding direction. The FEM predicted distortion was compared with experimental measurements and the mechanism of out-of-plane distortion was confirmed.