Numerical Simulation and Experimental Measurement of Residual Stresses in a Thick-Walled Buried-Arc Welded Pipe Structure

In this study, a numerical simulation of a single pass welding of two thick-walled pipes with the buried-arc method was performed in order to determine the residual stresses caused by welding. The numerical simulation procedure in the thermal analysis was performed by the element birth and death method while the structural analysis was performed simultaneously, without the application of the element birth and death technique in order to reduce the duration of the numerical simulation. The simulation results were validated by experimental residual stress measurements on the outside surfaces of the welded model using the X-ray diffraction technique. A good agreement between the results of the numerical simulation and experimental measurements was confirmed.