Local Constitutive Behavior of Undermatched Welded Joints in Pipeline Steel Using Digital Image Correlation Technology

Abstract Although the identification of local constitutive behaviors is possible based on digital image correlation (DIC), few studies have been reported that characterize the properties of the girth-welded joints of pipeline steel. The DIC technique was used to measure the strain fields of undermatched girth-welded joints of X80 pipeline steel under uniaxial tension in this paper. First, microstructure optical observations and micrometer hardness measurements were used to test the size and hardness of the subregions in the specimens. Second, the local strain data in different regions of the girth-welded joint were obtained via DIC technology, and the stress data were obtained via uniaxial tensile tests. Then, the stress–strain relationships of the weld metal (WM), base metal (BM), and subregions of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the girth-welded joints of pipeline steel were obtained. Finally, the constitutive parameters of the Ramberg–Osgood model in the different regions were determined by curve fitting of the strain and stress data. The local yield strength, elastic modulus, and hardening exponent of the welded joints were obtained. The yield stresses of the different subregions of the welded steel joint followed the sequence BM > WM > HAZ, which was consistent with the results of the hardness measurements. The hardening exponents of the different subregions of the welded steel joint followed the sequence HAZ > WM> BM.