Pipeline Girth Weld Residual Stresses and the Effects of Hydrotesting

Welding residual stresses are an important consideration in the fracture mechanics based fitness-for-purpose (FFP) assessment of steel structures. Reliable predictions of structural integrity can only be made provided that welding residual stresses are adequately accounted for. In the majority of cases, their magnitude is not known and can vary widely. In the absence of detailed information, it is common practice to assume that the welding residual stress is tensile, uniform through the thickness and of yield strength magnitude. However, this assumption will often lead to conservative fracture assessments which may lead to the conclusion that a weld repair is necessary when in practice the structure is safe to continue operation. In this paper, an integrated thermal-metallurgical-mechanical finite element (FE) model is described which simulates the formation of residual stresses at pipeline girth welds. The simulation takes into account detailed variations of the microstructure in the weld and heat affected zone (HAZ) in order to predict residual stress levels. Results of the FE analysis were validated with measurements of the microhardness and surface residual stresses using the air abrasive center hole drilling method. Sensitivity of residual stress levels to steel strength level, pipe wall thickness and pipe misalignment is discussed. The effects of hydrotesting and the alleviation of welding residual stresses are also described.