International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

In this paper, the inherent strain method is employed for the purpose of predicting welding residual stresses in large shell structures. Such structures include roof structures in the construction industry and deck sections in the shipbuilding industry. The study focuses on the numerical aspect of the inherent strain method, with the objective of investigating the most appropriate technique for transferring analytically calculated inherent strains into the elastic finite element model of the structure. The approach under consideration takes into account the thermally induced stresses, to the extent that they are considered to be significant for the structures and their behaviour in question, with the objective of determining the field of welding residual stresses over the entire structure (macro-scaled). The work proposes theoretical parameters for the alignment of finite element meshes within the weld seam domain. The discussion in the conclusion encompasses the general application capabilities, limitations, and challenges for further development

An coupled analytic-numerical model for calculation of distortions arising by welding fabrication is introduced. Target of the analytical model is the calculation of the inherent strains after the local thermal-mechanical influence of the welding or thermal straightening process. Following the fabrication processing chart the strains are loaded on an elastic FE-model of the structure and the residual stresses and distortions of the whole structure are calculated. The consideration of welding and thermal straightening scenarios, inclusively the assembling stages, is done by taking into consideration the intermediate variation of the strain state in the FE-model of the structure at every processing step. The important physical relations are demonstrated. The model is intended to be used for solving industrial tasks, i.e. intending acceptable precision and calculation time as well as low simulation costs.

An coupled analytic-numerical model for calculation of distortions arising by welding fabrication is introduced. Target of the analytical model is the calculation of the inherent strains after the local thermal-mechanical influence of the welding or thermal straightening process. Following the fabrication processing chart the strains are loaded on an elastic FE-model of the structure and the residual stresses and distortions of the whole structure are calculated. The consideration of welding and thermal straightening scenarios, inclusively the assembling stages, is done by taking into consideration the intermediate variation of the strain state in the FE-model of the structure at every processing step. The important physical relations are demonstrated. The model is intended to be used for solving industrial tasks, i.e. intending acceptable precision and calculation time as well as low simulation costs.