Influence of alloy type, peak temperature and constraint on residual stress evolution in Satoh test

Abstract

The evolution of residual stress in welds is affected by a variety of factors such as joint design, welding parameters, material properties and the possible presence of phase transformations. The Satoh test can be useful as a method to understand differences in welding residual stresses among various materials. This study compares the evolution of residual stress measured in the Satoh test for ferritic and stainless steels. For weld thermal cycles with a peak temperature above Ac₃, the ferritic alloys exhibit lower residual stresses than the austenitic alloys due to the well known reduction in stress from the martensitic or bainitic transformation. However, the residual stress levels among these alloys are similar for peak temperatures below Ac₃. The application of constraint during both the heating and cooling portions of the thermal cycle affects the final magnitude of residual stress in a way that is not often considered.

Keywords:

• Welding residual stress
• Satoh test
• Phase transformation

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Electric Power Research Institute and the NSF Industry/University Collaborative Research Center for Integrative Materials Joining Science for Energy Applications (CIMJSEA) under contract no. IIP-1034703.