Prediction and Measurement of Weld Residual Stresses in Thermally Aged Girth-Welded Austenitic Steel Pipes

The current paper describes finite element simulation of the complete manufacturing and service exposure history of girth-welded austenitic steel pipes fabricated from ESSHETE 1250 material for the STYLE Framework 7 project. The simulation campaign examines the impacts of prior quenching of pipe material, fabrication of closely adjacent welds, variation in mixed isotropic-kinematic hardening material constitutive models, and high temperature (650°C) service exposure (thermal ageing). The predicted residual stresses are validated using measurements made with the deep hole drilling (DHD) and incremental deep hole drilling (iDHD) techniques.