Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
(2008) 8:207–212
DOI 10.1007/s11668-008-9129-6
TECHNICAL ARTICLE—PEER-REVIEWED
Abstract Simplified models of several configurations of unintentionally changed. An outside investigation of the
structural steel arc weldments were made as an aid to effect of the improper settings centered on the weld
understanding the importance of penetration and weld size dimensions, including penetration, leg and throat size, and
with respect to fatigue crack initiation tendencies. Sur- heat affected zone hardness. Significant reductions of
prising findings were that the presence of a gap (simulating effective throat size had been caused by the fixture prob-
less than ideal fit up) may increase or reduce the value of lem, despite the fact that the leg lengths were within the
the highest stress depending on the configuration. The specified range, and had not changed significantly. The
effect of residual stresses was not included in the model, number of cycles that it took to create a fatigue crack was
however causes and effects of residual stresses in welds reduced by about half. Personnel at the plant did not
will be briefly described in a qualitative manner. understand why there was such a dramatic effect of
something so invisible on the part.
Keywords Contact stresses Effective throat Heat affected zone hardness values were not altered, as
FEA Model Fillet weld Fit up Leg length Penetration the preheating cycle had not changed. The analyst was
Residual stress asked ‘‘Why does the weld penetration matter?’’ At the
time, not only did the somewhat youthful writer not have
an answer, but several knowledgeable engineers who were
Background questioned at the time did not have answers either. The
problem remained a mystery.
Sometime in the 1990s, a manufacturing company was Some time later, as the writer gained a greater under-
having a problem with a weld that they had made standing of stress states and weld procedure, some possible
successfully for some time. The results of an internal explanations started to form. Welding is a powerful and
investigation found that the settings on the fixture had been useful joining method, yet weld failures are frequent and
often problematic. Many metallurgical and welding experts
agree that a properly executed weld will crack in the parent
Reprinted with permission from Integration of Machinery Failure
Prevention Technologies into Systems Health Management,
metal if the assembly cracks at all. This implies that any
Proceedings of the 61st Meeting of the Society for Machinery Failure joint that cracks in the fusion metal was improperly exe-
Prevention Technology, Society for Machinery Failure Prevention cuted. This work shows that the situation surrounding
Technology, 2007, pp. 165–173. stress analysis, the main tool available to predict and
understand crack location and orientation preferences in a
D. Aliya (&)
Aliya Analytical, Inc., PO Box 2407, Grand Rapids, structure, is very complicated. In fact, after we completed
MI 49501, USA this analysis, we found that very sophisticated models of
e-mail: DaAliya@aol.com weldments are being utilized, including service load
induced stresses and residual stresses. By entering the
J. Raphael
JR Technical Services, LLC, Abingdon, VA, USA words ‘‘residual stress finite element weldment’’ in an
e-mail: drjulianraphael@hotmail.com Internet search engine, several articles were found, as well
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208 J Fail. Anal. and Preven. (2008) 8:207–212
Fig. 3 This real world weld cracked along the stress concentrations
created by the scallops
Fig. 2 Shows ripple effect present on most real welds. The model did
not account for this
Fig. 4 This double fillet weld cross section has been fine ground and
as abstracts of articles available for purchase. The most etched with acid to reveal the fact that the weld filler and base metals
readily available all cover butt welds, rather than fillet have different characteristics
welds, which are more widely used in applications outside
of power and energy generation equipment, pressure ves- compared to the base metal in the metallographically pre-
sels, and other critical applications. pared and etched steel weld cross section shown in Fig. 4.
The rest of this paper deals with a very simplified model
of several different versions of a fillet weld joining two
pieces of one inch thick ASTM A36 steel plate. We did not The Model
attempt to use different properties for the fusion boundary
or heat affected zones. The joint produces an ‘‘L’’ shape, We ended up modeling four different variations of the
whose two-inch long vertical leg is fixed. The standard load basic weld. To start with, we used the weld size recom-
that we selected to hang from the end of the two-inch long mended by the widely known Lincoln Electric Procedure
horizontal leg was 1,000 pounds. The third dimension of Handbook of Arc Welding [1], which for a one-inch thick
the joint was set at 0.5 inches. To have some simulation of plate, is 0.75 inches. Since both plates were the same
real life welding conditions, we left a gap of 0.010 inches thickness, we did not need to concern ourselves with
between the small end of the horizontal leg and the vertical selecting the thinner plate (Fig. 5).
face of the vertical member, as shown in Fig. 1. What really changed from one model to the next was the
As shown in Fig. 1, the model did not really simulate a length of the notch created by the gap between the hori-
weld at all. This simplified model allowed us to gain some zontal and vertical members. Deeper penetration made the
understanding of the geometric issues associated with real notch shorter. The Von Mises stress plot can be correlated
world weld quality. But even here, we did not try to address with a form of damage parameter which shows the loca-
the effect of the scalloping at the weld toe that is a result of tions where it is easiest for a fatigue crack to initiate;
the progressive solidification of a weld bead. Obviously, fatigue cracks initiate in shear, and local yielding must
the scalloping effect complicates the model and creates occur. The principal stress plot shows the locations of
locally higher stresses than would be expected based on the positive principal stresses, where it is easiest for the crack
simple model (Figs. 2 and 3). Real welds also have dif- to extend (Figs. 6 and 7). Note that the Von Mises stresses
ferent material properties in the fusion zones, as might be are high at both the root and the face of the weld, while the
expected from the different appearance of the fusion metal principle stresses are high only along the face of the weld.
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J Fail. Anal. and Preven. (2008) 8:207–212 209
Fig. 7 Principal stresses for basic model with nominal weld size
Fig. 6 Von mises stresses for basic model with nominal weld size
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J Fail. Anal. and Preven. (2008) 8:207–212 211
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212 J Fail. Anal. and Preven. (2008) 8:207–212
Conclusion
Reference
heat into the base metal to melt some of it and actually
make a joint. 1. Lincoln Electric Company: The Procedure Handbook of Arc
It has already been mentioned that realistic modeling of Welding, 13th edn. Dec 1994, Figs. 2–104 and Tables 2–7,
residual stresses in fillet welds is not far enough advanced pp. 2.2–4 and 2.2–5.
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