Analysis of welding-induced residual stresses with the ADINA system

摘要

Welding-induced residual stresses analysis procedure (WIRSAP), based on ADINA system of nonlinear finite element software, is described and results of several WIRSAP analyses are discussed. Several 2D axisymmetric WIRSAP analyses were performed for pipe girth welds and for several multi-pass girth-like welds attaching small nozzles to large, thick-walled pressure vessels. The analytical methodology follows closely Rybicki et al, enhanced by several specialized modeling techniques available in ADINA. The element birth option is used to simulate the addition of weld metal, and the mixed pressure/ displacement element formulation is used, in conjunction with temperature-dependent bi-linear plasticity material model. Some of the welds analyzed involve backing rings, which were subsequently 'machined off' via use of the element death option. The auto-time-stepping algorithm and matrix update iteration scheme are used in structural solutions. WIRSAP involves, a pass-by-pass analysis of uncoupled thermal and structural problems, but some analyses have been performed with an ''enveloping'' technique for grouping several weld passes together. The analyses are all 2D, but most are large problems and pose challenge to software and hardware. Operations are performed on a network of Silicon Graphics workstations, and ADINA and ADINA-T are executed on a 64 MW, eight-processor CRAY YIMP. Nominally 50 solution steps are utilized for each weld pass and weld joints involving as many as 31 individual weld passes analyzed on a pass-by-pass basis. Results from several WIRSAP analyses are discussed, and potential use of WIRSAP in a hypothetic attachment weld design optimization study is illustrated.