Abstract
This paper is dedicated to the thorough experimental analysis of the residual stresses in the vicinity of tubular welds and the mechanisms involved in their formation. Pipes made of a ferritic-pearlitic structural steel and an austenitic stainless steel are investigated in this study. The pipes feature a similar geometry and are MAG welded with two passes and comparable parameters. Residual strain mappings are carried out using X-ray and neutron diffraction. The combined use of both techniques permits both near-surface and through-wall analyses of the residual stresses.
The findings allow for a consistent interpretation of the mechanisms accounting for the formation of the residual stress fields due to the welding process. Since the results are similar for both materials, it can be concluded that residual stresses induced by phase transformations, which can occur in the structural steel, play a minor role in this regard.
