Residual stresses determination in an 8 mm Incoloy 800H weld via neutron diffraction

•Stress through thickness at 5 mm from weld centerline indicates a “U” distribution.•Declining of tensile stress through thickness occurred at weld centerline.•Residual stress between layers is the lowest.

To investigate the distribution of residual stresses, the 8 mm 800H alloy was joined by multi-layer butt TIG process. Residual stresses in the longitudinal, transverse and normal directions were measured via neutron diffraction. These residual stress measurements were taken at a series of points 2 mm below the top surface, covering the fusion zone, heat affected zone (HAZ) and base metal. In addition, two lines of longitudinal residual stress values at the weld centerline and 5 mm from weld centerline through thickness were measured. Results show that both the longitudinal and transverse stresses from the weld centerline to base metal are mainly tensile stresses. The longitudinal residual stress is the largest, with a maximum value of 330 MPa. As for the normal residual stress, the weld zone shows tensile stress, while the HAZ shows compressive stress. The middle of the thickness shows compressive residual stress along the thickness direction. The longitudinal stress at weld centerline through thickness reveals the interlayer heat treat effects leads to a declining of tensile stress. While the stress at 5 mm from weld centerline indicates a “U” distribution due to the mixed microstructure close to fusion line. With the increasing distance from weld seam, the residual stress decreases gradually.

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