Experimental and Computational Residual Stress Evaluation of a Weld Clad Plate and Machined Test Specimens

Residual stresses in a heat treated weld clad plate and test specimens obtained from the plate are determined using a combination of experimental residual stress analysis and a finite element computational model. The plate is 102 mm thick and made of A 533-B Class 2 steel with 308 stainless steel cladding. The plate is heated to 538 C and allowed to cool uniformly. Upon cooling, residual stresses are set up in the clad plate because of the difference between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the plate and the cladding. Residual stress in the clad plate is determined using both a previously verified experimental residual stress analysis technique and a computational model. Removing test specimens from the clad plate can relax the stresses in the cladding. Thus, residual stress distributions were also determined for two types of clad test specimens that were removed from the plate. These test specimens were designed to examine the effect of cladding thickness on residual stresses. Good agreement was found between the experimentally obtained residual stress values and the residual stresses calculated from the computational model. Because of the interest in tests conducted at elevated temperatures and the inherent difficulty in doing experimental residual stress analysis at elevated temperatures, the computational model was applied to examine the effect of elevated temperature on the residual stresses in the test specimens. Peak stresses in the heat treated clad plate were found to approach the yield stress of the cladding material. It was also found that removing a 32 mm clad specimen with cladding on one side reduced the residual stresses in the cladding. However, the residual stresses in the cladding were found to increase when one-half of the cladding thickness was machined away to form the second test specimen geometry. Residual stresses parallel and perpendicular to the weld direction were very similar in magnitude for all cases considered. The effect that heating the test specimens to 204 C has on residual stress distributions was to reduce the residual stress in the cladding and the plate.