CJBAS Vol.

(01) - September - Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Residual Stress Evaluation in Butt-welded IN718 Plates

M. Jeyakumar1, T. Christopher2, R. Narayanan3 and B. Nageswara Rao4,
1

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Sardar Raja College of Engineering, Alangulam, Tirunelveli

627808, India

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Tirunelveli 627007,

India

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology,

Karaikudi 630002, India

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, School of Civil and Mechanical Sciences, KL University,

Vaddeswaram 522502, India

Keywords:

Abstract

Butt-weld;
Convection and radiation
heat losses;
Finite element;
IN718;
Radial heat flux;
Thermal efficiency;
Thermal history;
Welding residual stresses

Thermo-mechanical finite element analysis has been performed to assess the residual
stress in the butt-weld joints of IN718 plates utilizing the commercial software package
ANSYS, employing 2D plane stress models. Temperature dependant properties of the
material are specified. The radial heat flux distribution is considered on the top surface
of the weldment. Convective and radiative heat losses are taken into account through
boundary conditions for the outward flux. The present 2D plane stress analysis results
are found to be in good agreement with existing 3D finite element analysis results. 2D
welding simulations are minimizing the complexity of the problem and providing the
nature of residual stress in welds.

1. Introduction
Structural integrity assessment of components needs prediction/ measurement of residual stress
especially in weld joints. Finite element method (FEM) has been used for analyzing various types of
welded joints [1-3]. Lindgren [4] discussed in detail the various issues involved in the development
of material models used for residual stress analysis. Duranton et al. [5] have computed distortions
and residual stresses through the 3D finite element simulations of multi-pass welding of a 316L
stainless steel. Murugan and Narayanan [6] have performed the finite element simulation of threedimensional transient residual stresses in a Tee-joint and a contour method was used to
experimentally validate the numerical results. The finite element simulation of temperature field

Corresponding author (E-mail: bnrao52@rediffmail.com, Tel:(+91)-8645-246948; Fax: (+91)-8645-247249).

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M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

and residual stresses of butt-welded plates
have been performed over the last two
decades [7-10].
Dong [11] has developed a model utilizing the
element birth and death technique to simulate
the metal deposition that is valid in the case
with no thermal effects of the sudden larger
temperature variation. Fanous et al. [12] have
introduced a new technique of element
movement for full 3D simulation of the
welding process. Jeyakumar et al. [13] have
performed a 2D finite element analysis and
predicted weld-induced residual stresses in
butt welded two similar 2.25 Cr1Mo lowalloy ferritic steel plates and also ASTM A36
steel plates. Designers prefer to adopt
simplified 2D welding simulations to
minimize the complexity of the residual stress
predictions in weld joints. This paper deals
with the finite element analysis of residual
stresses in butt welding of IN718 plates
utilizing ANSYS with plane stress model.
The present finite element analysis results are
found to be in good agreement with the

complex 3D finite element analysis results

[14].
2. Welding Simulation
In general, heat transfer analysis provides the
thermal history of welded joints, which will
be the basic input to carryout thermal stress
analysis for the residual stress fields in the
weld joint regions. Heat can be transmitted by
conduction, convection and radiation during
welding processes. Heat conduction through
the metal body is the major mode of heat
transfer where an electric arc is used as the
welding source. The problem formulation
involves the heat conduction equation
together with initial conditions and the
specified temperature or heat flux boundary
conditions [13]. The surface heat flux (qn) is
as positive in the outward normal direction
and zero in the isolated, adiabatic boundary.
Convective and radiation heat losses are the
complex boundary conditions for the outward
flux. The surface heat flux is expressed in the
form [12]

T
qn T .n
hc T Tref e f sb T 4 Tref4
n

(1)

linear term, e f sb T 4 Tref4 is the heat loss

where hc is the heat transfer coefficient, s b is

Stefan-Bolzmanns constant and e f is the

due to radiation.
In the finite element formulation, equation (1)
is simplified to

emissivity factor. The first term on the right

hand side of equation (1), hc T Tref is
convective heat loss, whereas the second non-

qn hc e f sb T 2 Tref2 T Tref T Tref heff T Tref

(2)

where the effective heat transfer coefficient

(heff ) is

heff hc e f sb T 3 T 2 Tref T Tref2 Tref3

The efficiency of the heat source is [15]

89

(3)

M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

QS t weld QS

V I t weld V I

(4)

where is the thermal efficiency, QS is the

Figure 1 shows the Gaussian-distributed heat

source used to provide the temperature field
accurately near the source center. The heat
source density, q(x, y) is represented by [15]

heat generating rate and tweld is the welding

time, V and I are constant voltage and
amperage respectively.

3QS
r2

q( x, y )
exp 3 2
rb2
rb

Whose distribution represents 95% of the

total heat QS when applied within a circle
with
radius rb .
The
distance, r

x xh 2 y 2

(5)

usually evaluated based on the temperature

distribution. The thermal stress increment,
( E T ) is evaluated from the

incremental thermal strain T , in which E

, xh v (t t 0 ) ;

is the Youngs modulus and is the thermal

expansion.
The evaluation starts with time t=0. The
thermal stress is obtained for the initial
temperature distribution of the weld
components. In the next time step, the thermal
stress increment is added to the previous
stress. The magnitude of the cumulative
thermal stress is limited to the yield strength
of the material at actual temperatures. The
forces caused by the induced thermal stresses
at each time step must be in equilibrium. The
procedure is repeated until the last step at
which the thermal stress is at ambient
temperature ( i.e. the residual stress). The
numerical procedure for evaluation of residual
stress involves adding together the
incremental thermal stresses, previous thermal
stresses and the equilibrium stresses.

and v is the welding speed.

Figure 1. Gaussian distributed heat

flux, q [13]
In order to maintain constant temperature and
thermal stresses for each interval, the time
between the onset of welding and the end of
the cooling to ambient temperature is divided
into small intervals. Sufficiently small time
step increment is specified to capture the
rapid temperature change at the beginning of
welding. The welding residual stresses are

3. Finite Element Analysis

Residual stress analysis has been carried out
in a butt-welded plate of IN718 super alloy
(100 x 100 x 2mm) as shown in Figure 2.
Table-1 gives the chemical composition
(%wt) of the material.

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M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Figure 2. Butt-welded IN718 plates

Thermal and structural analyses have been

performed utilizing the commercial finite
element code ANSYS. Thermal analysis has
been carried out using the 2D element Plane
77, an eight node quadrilateral element with a
single degree of freedom having temperature
at each node. The temperature around the arc
is in general higher than the melting
temperature. It drops down sharply in regions
away from weld pool. More refined mesh

r
q(r ) Q0 exp 3
r

Here Q0

close to weld line is adopted for obtaining

accurate temperature field in high temperature
gradient regions of FZ and HAZ. Structural
analysis has been carried out using the 2D
element Plane 82, an eight node quadrilateral
element having two degrees of freedom at
each node ( translation in the nodal x and y
directions). The heat source density, q is
represented by

(6)

arc efficiency, V the arc voltage, I the

current, Welding speed = 1.59 mm/sec,
rb 4 mm .

3Q
= 6.963 W/mm2, Q VI =
2
rb

350 Watts, where Q is arc power W , the

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M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Figure 3. Finite element meshing of weld and plate

The radial heat flux distribution in equation
(6) is considered on the top surface of the
weldment. The heat density drops to 5% of its
maximum value at r rb . In the present

To obtain thermal history, transient, non

linear thermal problem is solved using
temperature dependent thermal properties and
considering heat conduction, convective and
radiative boundary conditions. Thermal stress
analysis is performed specifying the
temperature
distribution,
temperature
dependent mechanical properties and
symmetry boundary conditions to obtain the
transient and residual stress fields. In thermal
analysis the heat flux is specified in 3172 time
steps. It takes 7007 seconds to cool down
from the maximum temperature to ambient
(room) temperature. Since load steps are too
many, Ansys Parametric Design Language
(APDL) has been adapted to perform both
thermal and structural analyses.
Figure 4 shows the temperature distribution
contour plot at the time of heat source
reaching center of the plate. Figure 5 shows
temperature variation from the weld center
line to the edge of the plate along transverse
direction (along the length of the plate). The
results indicate that the plate is undergoing
significant temperature variation. At the
beginning, the temperature reduction in the
area close to the weld axis shows the
quenching effect.

analysis, rb is set to 4 mm [14]. When the

value of r is less than or equal to rb , the heat
flux is calculated according to the equation
(6). Otherwise, the heat load is set to zero.
Due to symmetry, only half of the weld and
plate were modeled. Figure 3 shows the FE
mesh of the weld and plate. X and Y axes are
along the width and the length directions of
the plate.
Table 1 contains temperature dependent
thermal and mechanical properties of IN718.
Filler weld material is assumed to have the
same chemical composition of the parent
material. The melting temperature of the filler
material is 1473K. A cut-off temperature
(Tcut-off) is set to 1073K. The material
properties at Tcut-off are specified in the
regions where the temperature is higher than
Tcut-off. For convective and radiative heat
losses, the constants in the complex boundary
conditions for the outward flux in equation (1)
are:
Stefan-Boltzmann
constant,
Sb
8
2
4
= 5.67 X 10 W / m K ;
convection
coefficient,

hc = 25 W / m 2 K ;

and

the

emissivity factor, e f = 0.8. Density = 7980

(Kg/m3) and the Poissons ratio = 0.33.

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M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Table 1. Temperature dependent material properties of Inconel 718 [14]
Chemical Composition (%wt)
Ni
52.5

Co Cr
Mo Fe Si
Mn
C
Al Ti Cu
P
B
S
1.0 19.0 3.05 17 0.35 0.35 0.08 0.6 0.9 0.3 0.015 0.006 0.015

Temp
(0C)

Thermal
conductivity
W/(m-0C)

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500

10
13
15
17
18
19
21
23
24
25
26
28
30
30.5
30.7
31

Nb+Tb
5.125

Specific heat
(J/(Kg-0C))

Heat transfer
coefficient
W/(m2-0C)

Elastic
modulus
(GPa)

Thermal
expansion
Coefficient
(0C -1)X10-6

Yield Stress
(MPa)

400
420
440
460
480
490
510
550
600
610
620
625
625
625
625
625

25.0
25.1
25.4
26.3
28.1
30.9
35.2
41.1
48.9
58.9
71.4
86.7
104.9
126.5
151.5
180.5

200
200
200
200
200
200
195
190
175
125
110
100
90
90
90
90

12.5
13.0
13.5
14.0
14.5
15.0
15.5
16.0
16.5
17.0
17.5
18.0
18.2
17.5
16.0
14.5

300
300
300
300
300
295
290
275
250
175
95
50
35
30
30
30

Figure 4. Contour plot of temperature distribution at time t = 31. 44 sec

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M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Figure 6 shows the comparison of thermal

history at the node at weld center line of mid
plate for 2D and 3D analysis. Figure 7 shows
the contour plot of residual stress component
( x ). Figure 8 shows the comparison of 2D

MPa (compressive) in 2D while 400 MPa

(tensile) to -195 MPa (compressive) in 3D
analysis. Figure 9 shows the comparison of
2D and 3D analysis of the transverse residual
stress ( y ) from the weld center line to the

and 3D analysis of the longitudinal residual

stress ( x ) from the weld center line to the

edge of the plate along transverse direction,

which varies from 200 MPa (tensile) to -50
MPa (compressive) in 2D while 170 MPa
(tensile) to -50 MPa (compressive) in 3D
analysis.

edge of the plate along transverse direction,

which varies from 346 MPa (tensile) to -195

Figure 5. Graphical plot of temperature distribution at time t = 31.44 sec

(Heat source is at mid section of plate)

Figure 6. Comparison of temperature distribution of 2D and 3D [14] from the weld center line
to the edge of the plate along its length direction

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M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Figure 7. Residual stress, x (N/m2) contour plot

Figure 8. Comparison of Residual stress, x (MPa) from the weld center line to the edge of the
plate along its transverse direction

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M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Figure 9. Comparison of Residual stress, y (MPa) from the weld center line to the edge of
the plate along its transverse direction

Figure 10. Comparison of Residual stress, x (MPa) along weld in longitudinal direction

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M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Figure 11. Comparison of Residual stress, y (MPa) along weld in longitudinal direction

Figure 10 shows the comparison of 2D and

3D analysis of the longitudinal residual stress
( x ) along the weld line along longitudinal

11 shows that the tensile stresses were

developed in the weld zone. These tensile
stresses gradually decrease in the transverse
direction away from the weld center line and
become compressive towards the edge of the
plate. The peak tensile residual stress
estimates from the present 2D FEA is in good
agreement with those obtained from 3D FEA
results [14]. Tables 2 and 3 give the stresses
and the strains at mid section perpendicular to
the weld of the IN718 plate.

direction, which varies from 350 MPa

(tensile) to 0 MPa in 2D and 350 MPa
(tensile) to 0 MPa in 3D analysis. Figure 11
shows the comparison of 2D and 3D analysis
of the transverse residual stress ( y ) along
the weld line along longitudinal direction,
which varies from 225 MPa (tensile) to -300
MPa (compressive) in 2D and 160 MPa
(tensile) to -370 MPa in 3D analysis. Figure

Table 2: Stresses (MPa) at mid section perpendicular to weld of the plate

Distance from weld line (mm)

x (MPa)

y (MPa)

0.0
5.6
11.0
15.1
17.6
27.7
32.2
30.0
43.2
50.0

344.7
344.4
344.3
202.5
-15.5
-195.0
-178.9
-165.4
-159.7
-193.9

199.0
200.8
201.6
197.9
181.1
126.4
91.5
60.9
9.4
-1.7

97

eff

(MPa)

299.7
299.7
299.7
200.4
190.7
282.8
240.8
205.1
165.3
191.5

M. Jeyakumar et al. CJBAS Vol. (01)-September Issue 02 (2013) 88-99

Table 3. Strains at mid section perpendicular to weld of the plate
Distance from weld line (mm)

eff

0.0
5.6
11.0
15.1
17.6
27.7
32.2
30.0
43.2
50.0

-0.00005
-0.00031
-0.00076
-0.00121
-0.00132
-0.00118
-0.00105
-0.00093
-0.00081
-0.00096

-0.01770
-0.00913
-0.00098
0.00026
0.00092
0.00095
0.00075
0.00058
0.00031
0.00031

0.02335
0.01433
0.00566
0.00395
0.00233
0.00141
0.00120
0.00103
0.00083
0.00096

[4] Lindgren L.-E.: Finite element modelling

and simulation of welding, Part 2:
Improved material modeling. Journal of
Thermal Stresses, 24, 195-231 (2001).
DOI: 10.1080/014957301300006380

4. Concluding Remarks
Finite element analysis has been carried out
utilizing the commercial software package
ANSYS with plane stress model to estimate
the residual stresses in the butt-welded IN718
super alloy plates. The present analysis results
are found to be in good agreement with the
existing complex 3D finite element analysis
results. 2D welding simulations are
minimizing the complexity of the problem
and providing the information regarding the
criticality of residual stress in weld joints.

[5] Duranton P., Devaux J., Robin V., Gilles

P., Bergheau J. M.: 3D modelling of
multipass welding of a 316L stainless
steel pipe. Journal of Materials
Processing Technology, 153154, 457463 (2004).
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.04.128

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