Optimising Residual Stress Measurements and Predictions in a Welded Benchmark Specimen: A Review of Phase 2 of the NeT Task Group 1 Single Bead on Plate Round Robin

A single weld bead deposited on a flat plate is a deceptively simple problem that is in practice a challenge for both measurement and prediction of weld residual stresses. Task Group 1 of the NeT collaborative network has examined this problem in a two-phase programme extending from 2002 to 2008. Ten independent sets of residual stress measurements have been reported using diverse techniques, and over forty finite element simulations have been performed. This paper reviews Phase 2 of the Task Group 1 round robin. Here, the finite element simulations all made use of optimised thermal solutions, in which the global welding parameters, including efficiency, were fixed, and only the detailed heat source geometry was varied. These resulted in accurate far field welding temperature distributions, with significant variability only close to the weld bead itself. The subsequent mechanical analyses made use of kinematic, isotropic, and mixed isotropic-kinematic material constitutive models, and made a variety of assumptions about the introduction of weld filler material to the structure and the handling of high temperature inelastic strains. The large database of measurements allowed the derivation of statistical best estimates using a Bayesian “duff data” approach, and these best estimates were compared with the predictions to establish the most accurate material constitutive models. The most accurate predictions of residual stress were made using non-linear kinematic or mixed isotropic-kinematic constitutive models. The methods used to handle high-temperature inelastic strains influenced the predicted stresses only in regions where very high temperatures were predicted during welding. The results emphasise the importance and value of both well-characterised benchmark problems and international collaboration in the development of technologies to both measure and predict weld residual stresses.