Effects of plate configurations on the weld induced deformations and strength of fillet-welded plates

The objective of this work is to access the importance of an accurate prediction of the weld induced residual stresses and distortion based on numerical simulations and experiments, and to investigate the compressive longitudinal ultimate strength of fillet-welded steel-plated ship structures. The distortions and residual stresses are calculated by a nonlinear thermo-elasto-plastic (TEP) approach considering a range of plate dimensions. The calculations are validated with an experimental program on the effect of welding. The calculated pattern of residual stresses is used to calibrate the size of the idealized model of the residual stress distribution. The obtained ultimate strength is compared with the results of some simplified methods as well as the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Common Structural Rules (CSR). The effects of plate and column slenderness on the ultimate strength of the stiffened plates are also included.