Residual Stresses in Girth Welded Joint of Layered-to-Solid Cylindrical Vessels: A Finite Element Model

Layered cylindrical vessels are used widely in process industries. During the girth welding of layered-to-layered sections, residual stresses are generated and influence the structure integrity. In this paper, the Finite Element Method (FEM) was used to predict the residual stresses in a layered-to-layered joint. The results of numerical calculation show that large residual stresses are generated in the weld and Heat Affect Zone (HAZ). Due to the material mismatching between inner stainless steel layer and outer low alloy steel layer, discontinuous stress distributions occurred. The gap between discrete layers has a great effect on the residual stress in HAZ. Through the whole vessel thickness of multi-layers, the stress distributions in layers are not continuous.