Weld residual stresses often have serious implications for the integrity of engineering structures (distortion, stress-corrosion cracking, hydrogen-induced cracking). Previously, it has been demonstrated by the authors that the use of a stainless steel welding consumable with a low martensite start temperature in single-pass welding can lead to lower (potentially harmful) tensile residual stresses or even compressive stress within the fusion zone and heat affected zones compared to non-transforming austenitic fillers. However, such effects may not carry over to multi-pass welding if the filler transforms fully on cooling from the first pass. In this paper finite element modelling is used to examine the use of interpass hold temperatures on the residual stresses introduced using such weld fillers in multi-pass welding of 304L stainless steel plate. Four levels of interpass temperature have been studied. The model has also been verified against experimental data obtained using the contour method for two welded plates having two different inter-pass temperatures. It is demonstrated that interpass hold temperatures above, or around, the transformation temperature can have very significant effects, allowing residual stress management of the resulting welded joint.

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