Investigation of Clamping Effect on the Welding Residual Stress and Deformation of Monel Plates by Using the Ultrasonic Stress Measurement and Finite Element Method

Abstract

Welding of nickel-based alloys is increasingly used in the industry to manufacture many important components of the marine industries, chemical processing, etc. In this study, a 3D thermomechanical finite element (FE) analysis is employed to evaluate residual stresses and deformations caused by the tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding of Monel 400 (Nickel-Copper alloy) plates. The FE results related to the residual stresses and deformations have been verified by using the hole-drilling stress measurement and common dimensional measurement tools, respectively. Residual stresses analyzed by the FE simulation are then compared with those obtained from ultrasonic stress measurement. The ultrasonic stress measurement is based on acoustoelasticity law, which presents the relation between the acoustic waves and the stress of material. The ultrasonic stress measurement is carried out by using longitudinal critically refracted (L CR ) waves which are longitudinal ultrasonic waves propagated parallel to the surface inside the tested material. Two welded plates are experimentally prepared (with and without using clamp) to investigate the clamping effect on the welding residual stress and deformations. By utilizing the FE analysis along with the L CR method, the distribution of longitudinal residual stress could be achieved. It has been concluded that the applied methodologies are enough accurate to distinguish the clamping effect on the welding residual stresses and deformations of Monel plates.

Evaluation of Sub-Surface Residual Stress by Ultrasonic Method and Finite-Element Analysis of Welding Process in a Monel Pressure Vessel

“…It is worth nothing that the LCR wave is struggling to be propagated inside the Monel because of the texture. The practical difficulties are similar to those already reported in LCR stress measurement of austenitic stainless steels (i.e., beam skewing, splitting, and attenuation) [12,[17][18][19][20]. Hence, the same methodology of LCR stress measurement in austenitic stainless steel pressure vessels [12] has been employed in this study, which is based on acoustoelastic constant measurement, will be discussed in the following sections throughout the scanning path.…”

“…Furthermore, sub-surface stress measurement of Monel pressure vessel has not been considered in any other publication. Although the LCR method has been employed by Javadi [19] in Monel, the main focus of that study was on the straight welding in plates that suggest completely different trends of residual stress in comparison with the circumferential welding considered here. The main goal of this study is sub-surface stress evaluation of the Monel pressure vessel by simultaneous implementation of the CWM and LCR methods.…”

“…The mesh size is optimized to reach high accuracy of the FE model along with low computation time. The mesh optimization, according to the method prescribed by Javadi [19], is implemented by modeling of some specimens with different meshing size. The investigated models are run, and results of the residual stress analysis are compared with those obtained from the hole-drilling measurement.…”

Crack growth evaluation by XFEM for nuclear pipes considering thermal aging embrittlement effect

“…Stresses evaluation procedure relating to friction stir welds was investigated through the systematic experiment and analysis of specimens. Javadi et al analysed WRS distributions of simple plate and pressure vessel, of which results were compared with those obtained from hole‐drilling method and nondestructive ultrasonic stress evaluation method. Further study was carried out to examine clamping effect in succession to previous study .…”

“…Javadi et al analysed WRS distributions of simple plate and pressure vessel, of which results were compared with those obtained from hole‐drilling method and nondestructive ultrasonic stress evaluation method. Further study was carried out to examine clamping effect in succession to previous study . Round robin analysis was also performed, for which X‐ray diffraction (XRD), neutron diffraction (ND), incremental deep/centre hole drilling (iDHD/iCHD), and contour method (CM) were used to measure WRS in DMW of electron beam joint between 316LN and steel P91 …”