Advanced residual stress assessment of plate girders by welding simulation: An overview

Welded plate girders are used in heavy steel construction, industrial buildings and bride construction. Residual stresses are present in all plate structures. They are mainly caused by welding. In addition, they influence the load bearing capacity of these welded components. However, Eurocode (EC) does not provide any specific residual stress patterns for consideration of residual stress impact on load capacity. Hence, the decision for a particular problem has to be made by the designer. Many codes, including EC 3, permit the use of non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) for the design of structures. This contribution gives an overview on recent research topics: modeling, experimental measuring and evaluation of residual stresses as well as welding simulation tools and simplified methodologies for assessment of weld residual stresses.