The Study of the Relationships between Material Properties and Welding Residual Stresses

The objective of this study is to explore the influence of the steel’s material properties on the distribution of welding residual stresses of the butt-welded steel plate. First, S15C carbon steel’s material properties are varied in this study to calculate the corresponding welding residual stress by carrying out 3D finite element analyses. Results show the maximum longitudinal tensile residual stresses increase linearly with increasing thermal expansion coefficient and increasing yield stress. The length of the tensile residual stress zone decreases linearly with increasing thermal conductivity. Finally, based on the relationship between material properties and welding residual stresses, a useful prediction equation is developed and verified in this study.