Comparison of two hot tearing criteria in numerical modelling of arc welding of stainless steel AISI 321

Two hot cracking criteria have been tested: the RDG criterion, based on the prediction of liquid cavitation as a precursor of crack formation, and a strain-based solid mechanics criterion. Both criteria have been implemented in a finite element thermo-mechanical simulation of gas tungsten arc welding. After comparison with experimental results obtained in a test campaign on stainless steel AISI 321, both criteria have shown good ability to predict crack occurrence. Yet, the best response in terms of cracking prediction was obtained with the strain-based solid mechanics criterion.