Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 22812289

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Simplied FE welding simulation of llet welds 3D effects

on the formation residual stresses
Z. Barsoum a,*, A. Lundbck b
a
b

Royal Institute of Technology, Dep. of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering, Div. of Lightweight Structures, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Lule University of Technology, Div. of Material Mechanics, 971 87 Lule, Sweden

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 17 February 2009
Accepted 5 March 2009
Available online 20 March 2009
Keywords:
Welding simulation
FEM
Residual stresses
Fillet welds

a b s t r a c t
In this study two- and three-dimensional nite element welding simulations have been
carried out. The welded component studied is a T-type llet weld which is frequently used
in the heavy vehicle machine industry with plate thicknesses of eight and 20 mm, respectively. The softwares used for the welding simulations is MSC.Marc and ANSYS. The objective is to study the formation of the residual stresses due to 3D effect of the welding
process. Moreover, welding simulations using solid models and contact models in the
un-fused weld roots were carried out in order to investigate the possible effect with respect
to the residual stresses. Residual stress measurements were carried out using X-ray diffraction technique on the manufactured T-welded structure. The 2D residual stress predictions
shows good agreement with measurements, hence the 2D welding simulation procedure is
suitable for residual stress predictions for incorporation in further fatigue crack growth
analysis from weld defects emanating from the weld toe and the un-fused root.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Residual stresses are present in many fabricated structures due to local plastic deformation from thermal and mechanical
operations during the manufacturing. The presence of residual stresses in engineering components and structures can signicantly affect the fatigue behavior during external cyclic loading. The effect of residual stresses may either be benecial or
detrimental, depending on magnitude, sign and distribution of the stresses with respect to the load-induced stresses. Tensile
residual stresses are detrimental, are often in the magnitude of the materials yield strength and will reduce the fatigue life of
the structure by increasing the growth of the fatigue crack, while compressive residual stresses will decrease fatigue crack
growth rate. Areas that are sensitive to fatigue cracking in welded structures are the weld toes and the un-fused weld roots
due to un-complete weld penetration where weld defects most likely can be found [14]. In order to be able to increase the
accuracy of fatigue life prediction of welded structures by employing local approaches, e.g. Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics
(LEFM) reliable residual stress prediction tools have to be developed and validated. It is also essential to incorporate the
effects of these residual stresses into the structural integrity and fatigue assessment.
A two-dimensional nite element welding simulation procedure was developed by Barsoum and Barsoum [4] in order to
predict the residual stresses. These where incorporated in to the fatigue life assessment of welded structures containing root
defects using the own-developed semi-automatic LEFM crack growth predictor. The predicted fatigue life showed good
agreement with the testing results when the as-welded residual stresses where accounted for.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: zuheir@kth.se (Z. Barsoum), andreas.lundback@ltu.se (A. Lundbck).
1350-6307/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2009.03.018

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Three-dimensional nite element welding simulations are nowadays frequently used to predict residual stresses and distortion in welded structures [5]. However, the modeling and simulation is complex, time consuming and thus it is not possible to have equally dense mesh in three-dimensional as in a two-dimensional model. In order to accurately predict the
residual stresses for a further fatigue life analysis using LEFM it is important to have a dense mesh to be able to resolve
the stress gradients at the critical fatigue areas, e.g. at the weld toe and the un-fused weld root.
In this investigation a T-llet welded structure is analyzed regarding the residual stresses. These types of T-llet welded
joints are frequently used in the manufacturing of heavy vehicle frames, i.e. in a Volvo Articulated Hauler welded frame box
in Fig. 1.
In this study three-dimensional welding simulations are carried out in the FE software MSC.Marc [6] and two-dimensional welding simulations in MSC.Marc and ANSYS [7]. Residual stress measurement was carried out by X-ray diffraction
technique on the manufactured T-welded structure in order to validate the predicted residual stresses.
2. T-llet welded structure
The T-llet welded structure was constructed from a general structural steel, Swedish type SS 2132 [8] with yield
strength of 350 MPa (Rp0.2) and ultimate tensile strength of 470 MPa (Rm). The plates, 20 and 8 mm thick, were laser cut
to the dimensions specied in Fig. 2. In order to minimize the distortion and further constraining of the welded structure
5 mm thick stiffener plates were tack welded to the plates at the start and stop position before welding.
The seam welding was carried out in a MAG robot starting with Weld A and then continuing with Weld B. The weld throat
thickness is 5 mm and the weld penetration is 2 mm leaving a 16 mm un-fused root gap. The T-llet welded structure was
manufactured in semi-simultaneous welding with a cooling time of 120 s between Weld A and Weld B, respectively. See
Table 1 for welding data.
3. Material properties
The material of the weld metal, HAZ and the base metal are assumed to be the same. The material considered is a general
structural steel and corresponds to the steel grade DH36 [9]. The thermal and mechanical material properties are illustrated

Fig. 1. A Volvo Articulated Hauler vehicle with a welded frame box where T-welds are frequently used.

20
[mm]

Weld A

Stiffner plate

Stiffner plate

Width = 500
200

Weld B

8
200

12

Fig. 2. Geometry and dimension of T-llet welded structures analyzed. The sketch up shows the stiffener plates tack welded to the main plate before
welding.

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Table 1
Welding procedure specication.
Semi-simultaneous welding

Weld A

Weld B

Current (A)
Voltage (V)
Welding speed (cm/min)
Cooling timea (s)

310
27
35
120

310
27
35

Cooling time between Weld A and Weld B.

as function of temperature in Fig. 3. The stir effect caused by the uid ow in the molten weld pool has been modelled by
applying a thermal conductivity of 300 W/m C above the melt temperature [10] and the latent heats are included in the specic heat curve. The material model is bilinear elasticplastic with kinematic hardening. The material data were linearly
extrapolated to higher temperature ranges.
4. Two-dimensional welding simulation models
The welding simulations in ANSYS are carried out in a sequentially decoupled analysis; solving the temperature eld in
the transient thermal analysis and then the non-linear elastic plastic deformation analysis. The simplied heat source consists of a constant volume ux and an initial temperature of 1500 C for the activation of the weld ller material elements.
The heat source modeling is described by Barsoum in [3,4]. The welding simulations in MSC.Marc are carried out in a staggered approach. This means that both the thermal and the mechanical analysis are solved in the same time step, but the
updating of the geometry is lagging one step behind in the thermal analysis.
The element behavior used is generalized plane strain formulation. This element behavior is most suitable for welding
simulation where the strain in the in-plane direction (ez) is assumed to be constant [11]. Fig. 4 shows the FE mesh and
the boundary conditions for the 2D FE model. The welding simulation is carried out in two variations; (a) assuming solid
modeling of the whole welded structure, (b) assuming a root gap at the un-fused weld root between the 20 mm and
8 mm thick plates and employing contact element in order to prevent penetration. Table 2 summarizes the number of element and type used in the different FE codes.
5. Three-dimensional welding simulation models
The 3D welding simulations in this paper have been performed in MSC.Marc. A number of different models have been
simulated. The simplest one, and most alike the 2D simulation, is modelled with innite welding speed and translation constraints corresponding to those in the 2D case, see Fig. 4. The ller material is given an initial temperature of 1500 C and a
constant volume ux equal to the one in the 2D case is applied. The next step was to add the heat input and ller material
transiently using a moving heat source, but keep the same translation constraints as in the 2D case. Finally the translation
constraints where applied so that they reected the conditions in the experiment better. The tack welded stiffener plates
where modelled using two truss elements with high stiffness, see Fig. 5a. The translation constraints where reduced to just
prevent rigid body movement. A cut-out of the welding region can be seen in Fig. 5b. Compared to the 2D model, Fig. 4, the

1500

350

17
Yield Stress
Tangent modulus
Elastic modulus
CTEX

Conductivity
300

200
600

100
300

Elastic modulus 103 (MPa)

900

Yield stress (MPa)

Tangent modulus 102 (MPa)

1200
300
Specific heat (JKg/C)

Thermal conductivity (W/mC)

Specific heat

Poisson ratio = 0.3

250

15
200

150
13
100

50

0
0

500

1000
Temperature (C)

1500

0
2000

500

1000

Thermal expansion coefficient 10-6(1/C) (-)

400

11
1500

Temperature (C)

Fig. 3. Material model used in the welding simulations: (a) conductivity and specic heat and (b) yield stress, tangent modulus and elastic modulus and
thermal expansion coefcient.

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UY = 0
Solid model (no contact)

a)

Contact element (root gap)

Contact model

b)
y
x

UX = 0

Fig. 4. FE model and boundary conditions used in the 2D welding simulations: (a) assuming solid model of the whole structure without any root gap and (b)
assuming root gap with contact elements.

Table 2
Element type and number used in the different models.

ANSYS 2D
MARC 2D
MARC 3D

Thermal

Mechanical

Contact

6555(PLANE55)
4639 (four nodes linear elements)
49,630 (eight nodes linear elements)

6555 (PLANE182)

30 (PLANE69)

Fig. 5. Finite element mesh used in the 3D welding simulations: (a) with boundary conditions and (b) cross section of the 3D mesh.

mesh density is much coarser in the 3D model. To model the transient heat input and addition of ller material, the built-in
welding functionality of MSC.Marc was used. The user denes a weld path, weld speed and the applied effect. The shape of
the heat source is the double ellipsoid proposed by Goldak et al. [12]. The user should supply the width, height, forward and
rear length of the heat source. These three types of models where modelled both using contact formulation for the un-fused
weld root gap and a simplied approach were the whole welded structure is modelled as a solid body.
6. Results
There are two principally different thermal models. One with innite welding speed and another with a moving heat
source. The 2D model has an innite welding speed by nature. The fused zones from the 2D simulation in Fig. 6a and from
the 3D simulations in Fig. 6cf are in good agreement with the micro sample of the weld penetration prole in Fig. 6b.

Z. Barsoum, A. Lundbck / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 22812289

2285

Fig. 6. Results from thermal analysis, fusion zone and weld penetration: (a) 2D welding simulation; (b) micro sample of weld penetration prole; (c) and (d)
3D welding simulation with innite welding speed and constant heat source distribution; (e) and (f) 3D welding simulation with Goldak moving heat
source.

The transverse residual stresses (rxx) were measured in the welded structure in order to verify the FE welding simulations. The measurement method used was the X-ray diffraction technique. The measurements were carried out on the bottom of the 8 mm thick plate; see Fig. 7 for measurement positions. Figs. 8 and 9 shows the residual stress prediction results
from the 2D and 3D welding simulations using solid models and contact elements at the un-fused root gap, respectively. The
2D residual stress predictions shows good agreement with the residual stress measurements. The 3D residual stress predictions show qualitative good agreement with the residual stress measurements and shows principally similar trends.
Although not at the welding start and stop position. The 3D contact models (with 2D and 3D boundary conditions) tends

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z-direction
Measurement direction
40

60

50

50

Welding direction
50

50

50

50

60

40
10 mm

24 mm

x
z

24 mm
Measurement
position
Fig. 7. Residual stress measurement positions using X-ray diffraction technique.

250

Residual Stress (MPa)

150

50

-50
X-ray diff. measurement
ANSYS 2D solid

-150

MARC 2D solid
MARC 3D solid
MARC 3D solid (20mm)

-250
0

100

200

300

400

500

Distance (mm)
Fig. 8. Residual stress measurement and prediction with solid models.

250

Residual Stress (MPa)

150

50

-50

X-ray diff. measurements

ANSYS 2D contact
MARC 2D contact

-150

MARC 3D contact
MARC 3D contact (20 mm - with 2D Boundary conditions)
MARC3D contact (20 mm - infinite welding speed with 2D boundary conditions)

-250
0

100

200

300

400

Distance (mm)
Fig. 9. Residual stress measurement and prediction with contact models.

500

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to systematically underestimate the predicted residual stresses compared with the measurements. The 3D contact model
with innite welding speed and boundary conditions according to the 2D model shows a trend similar to the residual stress
measurements. This indicates that the residual stresses at the midsection (100400 mm, excluding start/stop positions) are
fairly constant distributed except at the start/stop position and that the 2D contact model is adequate to predict the residual
stresses at this position with a good accuracy.
However, some uncertainties and measurement errors are involved in the measurement results, i.e. the residual stress
state of the steel plates before the welding which is not considered.
From a fatigue point of view, the residual stress in the direction normal to the crack face (Syy) are those stresses that effect
the fatigue resistance of a welded structure. This due to that cracks most likely propagates perpendicular to maximum principal stress. Particularly crack growth from weld defects at the weld toe and the un-fused weld root. These weld defects are
created due to lack of fusion at the weld toes (cold laps) [1,2] and incomplete penetration at the weld root [3,4]. The predicted residual stress distribution at the weld toes and weld root are shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The axial residual stresses
(Syy) at the weld toes, Fig. 10b, are tensile and lower than the of the yield strength (350 MPa) of the base material. In weld
A, the stresses (Syy) at the weld toe are tensile 160270 MPa and in Weld B tensile 80100 MPa depending on the model type.

Residual Stress -Sxx (MPa)

300

200
y
x

100

path

-100
MARC 2D - contact model
MARC 2D - solid model
ANSYS 2D - contac model
ANSYS 2D - solid model

-200

-300
0

10

15

20

distance (mm)

Residual Stress -Syy (MPa)

300

200
y
x

100

path

-100
MARC 2D - contact model
MARC 2D - solid model
ANSYS 2D - contact model
ANSYS 2D - solid model

-200

-300
0

10

15

20

distance (mm)

Fig. 10. Residual stress distribution from upper toe-to-toe: (a) transverse residual stress and (b) axial residual stress (normal).

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Residual Stress -Sxx (MPa)

300
MARC 2D - contact model
MARC 2D - solid model
ANSYS 2D - contact model
ANSYS 2D - solid model

200

100

-100
y
x

-200

path

-300
0

12

16

20

24

28

32

distance (mm)

Residual Stress -Syy (MPa)

300
MARC 2D - contact model
MARC 2D - solid model
ANSYS 2D - contact model
ANSYS 2D - solid model

200

100

-100
y
x

-200

-300

12

16

20

24

path

28

32

distance (mm)

Fig. 11. Residual stress distribution from lower toe-to-toe: (a) transverse residual stress and (b) axial residual stress (normal).

However, the 2D contact model tends to predict approximately 10% lower residual stresses (Syy) compared with the 2D solid
model.
Fig. 11b shows the axial residual stress along the un-fused weld root gap. The stresses are compressive in the root gap,
100 MPa for the contact model and 200 MPa for the solid model. Thus, the 2D contact model tends to predict 50% lower
residual stresses (Syy) compared with the 2D solid model. However, it is recommended to use a contact model for an
un-fused weld root gap whenever the residual stress distribution is required for fatigue analysis.
7. Discussion
A main objective for employing 2D welding simulation is the large reduction of the computational time, CPU. Table 3 below summarizes the CPU time and number of increments needed for the welding simulations. The residual stress predictions
in the 2D welding simulation model shows good agreement with the measurements. For fatigue analysis it is important to

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Table 3
CPU and wall time for the different models in seconds and number of time steps (INC).
MSC.Marc

2D contact

2D solid

3D contact

3D solid

CPU (s)

INC

CPU (s)

INC

CPU (s)

INC

CPU (s)

INC

647

163

573

175

136,924

356

46,138

413

have a dense mesh to be able to resolve the stress gradients at the critical areas. Therefore, simplied 2D welding simulations
for prediction of welding residual stresses are required for minimizing computational and modeling time. However, local
effects are not captured in the 2D model, i.e. the 3D nature of the boundary conditions and the start and stop effects at
the edges. Whenever these effects are not of any importance for a structural integrity assessment a 2D model with contact
formulation in the un-fused weld root gap is suitable for residual stress predictions.
8. Conclusions

 2D and 3D welding simulations shows good prediction of the weld penetration of the fusion zone. However, denser mesh
in the 2D models resolve the heat affected zone (HAZ) and the fusion zone better.
 The 2D residual stress predictions shows good agreement with residual stress measurements in the midsection of the
T-llet welded structure. Although the residual stress and deformation at the start and stop are difcult to predict with
the 2D model the results are satisfactory for fracture mechanical fatigue crack growth analysis.
 The residual stresses at the midsection (100400 mm, excluding start/stop positions) are fairly constant distributed
except at the start/stop position hence the 2D contact model is adequate to predict the residual stresses at this position
with a good accuracy.
 The 2D contact model tends to predict approximately 10% lower residual stresses (Syy) at the weld toe and approximately
50% lower at the un-fused weld root gap compared with the 2D solid model.
 The axial residual stresses (Syy) are tensile at the weld toe and compressive at the weld root gap.
 The computational time is 30100 times longer for a 3D welding analysis compared to a 2D welding analysis.

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Welding. Doc. no. XIII-2175-07; 2007.
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