EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THERMALLY INDUCED RESIDUAL STRESSES FOR STAINLESS STEEL GRADE USING GMAW PROCESS

Welding is a reliable and effective metal fabrication process which is widely used in industries. High heating at a one location during welding and further rapid cooling generates residual stress and distortion in the weld and base metal. In last few decades various research efforts have been directed towards the control of welding process parameter aiming at reducing residual stress and distortion. Residual stress distribution and distortion in welded plate are strongly affected by many parameters like structural, material and welding parameters. Such welding failure can be minimized by controlling the weld heat input. The distribution of the temperature in weld joint of AISI202 grade high strength steel was investigated by Finite Element Method (FEM) using ANSYS software and experiment has been performed to verify the developed thermo-mechanical finite element model using Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) process. Also residual stress distribution will investigate only by FEM because experimental process is costly. Our basic aim is to analyse distribution of temperature and residual stresses in welding plate to avoid future failure in material. The residual stress gradient near the fusion zone is higher than in any other location in surrounding area. Because of this stress gradient, cold crack at the fusion zone in high strength steel occur. The main objective of this simulation is the determination of temperatures and stresses during and after the process. Temperature distributions define the heat affected zone where material properties are affected. Simulation process shows that higher residual stress is distributed in weld bead and in Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) Stress calculation is necessary because high residual stresses may be causes fatigue, fractures and stress corrosion such undesirable failures in the regions near weld bead.