|
Girth-Butt welds are widely employed in pipes ranging through piping systems of Boiling Water Reactors, oil pipe transport systems to steam piping systems. Residual stresses attributed to welding pose significant problems in accurate fabrication of structures because those stresses heavily induce brittle fracturing and degrade the buckling strength of welded structures. Residual stresses during welding are unavoidable and their effects on welded structures can not be disregarded. This study employs ANSYS finite element techniques of thermal-structure couple-field analysis to analyze the thermomechanical behaviour and evaluate residual stresses in girth-butt, welded pipes. The effects of pipe's thickness and pass numbers of welding on residual stresses are also discussed.
|