Theoretical Approach to Welding Out-of Plane Oeformations in Thin Plate Structures

The out-of-plane deformation in thin plate structure has been a serious qualify problem. It has been known that the out-of-plane deformation is caused by the angular deformation of welded joint. However, experimental results show that the conventional theory based on angular deformation is not appropriate for prediction of the out-of-plane deformation in thin plate structure. In this study, large deformation plate theory is introduced to clarify the effect of residual stress on the out-of-plane deformation. A simple equation is proposed to predict the out-of-plane deformation. The results by the proposed method show good agreement with the experimental results.