International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 323–338

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpvp

Analysis of residual stresses and distortions in T-

joint fillet welds
Tso-Liang Tenga,◆, Chin-Ping Fungb, Peng-Hsiang Changb, Wei-Chun Yangc
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Da-Yeh Univerrity, ll2, Shan-Jiau Rd., Da-Truen, Changhua 5l5, Taiwan, ROC
b
Inrtitute of Syrtem Engineering, Chung Cheng Inrtitute of Technology, Ta-Shi, Tao-Yuan 335, Taiwan, ROC
c
Ordnance Readinerr Development Center, Nantou, Taiwan, ROC
Received 3 December 2000; revised 1 August 2001; accepted 7 August 2001

Abstract
T-joint fillet welds are extensively used in ship engineering and bridge structures. Localized heating from the welding process and subsequent
rapid cooling induce tensile residual stress near the toe of the T-joint in fillet welds. Welding produces thermal stresses that cause structural
distortions, which influence the buckling strength of the welded structures. This study describes the thermal elasto-plastic analysis using finite
element techniques to analyse the thermomechanical behaviour and evaluate the residual stresses and angular distortions of the T-joint in fillet welds.
Furthermore, this work employs the technique of element birth and
death to simulate the weld filler variation with time in T-joint fillet welds. Also discussed are the effects of flange thickness, welding
penetration depth, and restraint condition of welding on the residual stresses and distortions. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywordr: T-joint fillet weld; Residual stresses; Angular distortions

1. Introduction distortion in relation to considerations of design and safety is a

Metallurgical joints made by welding are extensively used in
the fabrication industry, including ships, off- shore
structures, steel bridges and pressure vessels. Among the
merits of such welded structures are high joint efficiency,
water and air tightness, and low fabri- cation cost. The types
of welded joint can be classified into five basic categories:
butt, fillet, corner, lap and edge. T-joint fillet welds are
widely employed in ships, bridge structures and supporting
frames for pres- sure vessels and piping. Due to localized
heating by the welding process and subsequent rapid cooling,
residual stresses and distortions can occur near the T-joint.
High residual stresses in regions near the weld may promote brit- tle
fracture, fatigue, or stress corrosion cracking. Mean- while,
distortion in the base plate may reduce the buckling strength of
structural members. To accurately evaluate T- joint fillet welds,
predicting welding residual stresses and
◆ Corresponding author. Tel.: +886-3-389-2131; fax: +886-3-389-2131.
E-mail addrerr: g910404@ccit.edu.tw (T.-L. Teng).
0308-0161/01/$ - see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S
0308-0161(01)00074-6
relevant task.
For the prediction of the residual stresses and distor- tions
attributed to welding, previous investigations have developed
several experimental methods, including stress–relaxation
[1], X-ray diffraction [2,3], ultrasonic
[4] and cracking [3]. In these methods the stresses are
determined by experimental methods. With the develop- ment of
computer techniques, the finite element method for analysing
thermomechanical behaviour in welded structures has been
further enhanced. For an analysis of T-joint fillet welds,
Sasayama et al. [6] used the experimental method to
determine the relation between longitudinal shrinkage
deformation and welding para- meters on long T-joint fillet
welds. This work also presented a formula describing the
deformation process. Meanwhile, Guyot [7] discussed the effect
of transverse shrinkage on different types of fillet welds and
deduced the shrinkage formula. Furthermore, Kumose et al.
[8] developed an experimental method to measure angular
distortions in single pass T-joint fillet welds with differ- ent
welding parameters. Their investigation also consid- ered ways
to improve angular distortion. Nagaraja [9] examined how the
T-joint fillet welds can be treated as
324 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538

predicting thermomechanical behaviour. This investiga- tion

Nomenclature performs thermal elasto-plastic analysis using finite element
p density techniques to analyse the thermomechanical behaviour and
C specific heat evaluate the residual stresses and angular distortions of the T-
T temperature joint in fillet welds. Additionally, it also considers the effects
t time of flange thickness, welding penetration depth, and restraint
{q} heat flux condition on residual stresses and distortions. Information on
Q the rate of internal heat generation unit how to improve the fabrication process of welded structures
μ outward normal vector is also presented.
hf film coefficient
TB bulk temperature of the adjacent fluid 2. Analysis model
TA temperature at the surface of the model nodal
{Te} temperature vector 2.l. Thermo-mechanical model
{Aoe} nodal stress increment matrix
{Dep} {De} + {Dp} Welding residual stress distributions are calculated by a finite
{De} elasticstiffness matrix element method. Fig. 1 presents the analysis procedures.
{Dp} plasticstiffness matrix nodal
{Ue} displacement vector strain- 2.l.l. Thermal model
[B] displacement matrix In the thermal analysis, a total of 160 load steps
{AT} temperature increment matrix increasing from 0.001 to 10 s were required to complete the
{Cth} thermal stiffness matrix heating cycle. Only 30 load increments were typi- cally
{ATe} nodal temperature increment matrix required for the weldment to return to its initial (room)
[M] temperature shape function longitudinal temperature. The time increments were auto- matically
oz residual stress transverse residual optimised for each time step by the computer program. The
oX stress modified Newton–Raphson method was used in each time
step for the heat balance iteration. This study simulates the
a pattern that was combined by a welding pass at the middle weld thermal cycles for SAE 1020 steel shown in Fig. 2. The
and edge of a butt-welded plate. Michaleris and DeBiccari [10] convective heat transfer coefficients on the surfaces were
designed a computational model to esti- mate buckling and estimated (using engi- neering formulae for natural
deformation on large and complex T- joint fillet welds. convection) to be 13 W m2K—1.
Meanwhile, Arnold [11] estimated residual stresses in
multipass fillet welds using the finite element code PAFEC.
2.l.2. Mechanical model
Furthermore, Finch and Burdekin
In the mechanical analysis, the temperature history
[12] discussed the effects of residual stresses on differ- ent
obtained from the thermal analysis was input as a ther- mal
kinds of T-joint fillet weld defects using the finite element
loading into the structural model. The thermal strains and
code ABAQUS. Finally, Ueda and Ma et al.
stresses can be calculated at each time increment. Also, the
[13] developed elastoplastic finite-element computer
final state of residual stresses will be accumulated by the
programs to improve the accuracy of two-dimensional
thermal strains and stresses. During each weld pass, thermal
symmetric finite-element models and help them approach
stresses are calculated from the temperature distributions
three-dimensional models on T-joint fillet welds. Their
determined by the thermal model. The residual stresses from
investigation also discussed the effect of T-joint weld size,
each tempera- ture increment are added to the nodal point
and welding parameters on the weld residual stresses.
location to determine the updated behaviour of the model
Residual stresses and distortions are unavoidable in
before the next temperature increment. The material was
welding, and the effects of these stresses and distortions on
assumed to follow the von Mises yield criterion and the
welded structures cannot be disregarded. Deter- mining
associated flow rules. Phase transformation effects were not
residual stresses and distortions is thus an important
considered in the current analysis due to lack of material
problem. However, accurate prediction of residual stresses
information, especially at high tempera- tures, such as the
and distortions induced by the welding process is extremely
near-melting state.
difficult because the thermal and mechanical behaviour in
welding include local high temperature, temperature 2.2. Element birth and death
dependence of material proper- ties, and a moving heat source.
Finite element simula- tion of the welding process is highly The model in this study adopts the technique of
effective in
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Fig. 1. Flow diagram of the analysis procedure.

element ‘birth and death’ to simulate the weld filler variation
with time in T-joint fillet welds. All elements must be created,
including those weld fillers to be ‘born’ in later stages of the
analysis. The method proposed does not remove elements
to achieve the ‘element death’ effect. Instead, the method
deactivates them by multiplying their stiffness by a severe
reduction factor. Although zeroed out of the load vector,
element loads associated with deactivated elements still
appear in element-load lists. Similarly, mass, damping, specific
heat, and other such effects are set to zero for deacti- vated
elements. The mass and energy of deactivated elements
are excluded from the summations of the
model. An element’s strain is also set to zero as soon as that
element is ‘killed’. Similarly, when elements are born, they are
not actually added to the model, but are simply reactivated.
When an element is reactivated, its stiffness, mass, element
loads, etc. return to their full original values. Thermal strains
are computed for newly activated elements according to the
current load step temperature.
2.3. Verification
The proposed method was compared with finite
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Fig. 2. Simulated weld thermal cycles for SAE 1020 steel.

element and experimental results taken from Ma et al.
[13] and Shim et al. [14] to confirm its accuracy. Ma et al.’s
investigation computed the residual stress in T- joint fillet
welds using thermal elastic plastic three- dimensional FEM
and generalized plane strain FEM. Fig. 3 portrays the
residual stress distributions across
the width of the flange. The solid lines and broken lines in
Fig. 3 represent the residual stress computed by Ma et al.
and this work, respectively. According to Fig. 3, the residual
stress distributions computed by the method proposed here
show very good agreement with those determined by three-
dimensional FEM.

Fig. 3. Residual stress computed by Ma et al.’s three-dimensional FEM and present method.
 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538 327

Fig. 4. Geometry of multipass butt weld.

For Shim et al.’s investigation, a specimen was
constructed using multi-pass butt welding, with a length, width
and thickness of L = 1000 mm, W = 400 mm, t =
23.4 mm, respectively, as shown in Fig. 4. The welding used
the submerged arc technique. Pass sequences and welding
parameters are shown in Table 1. Figs. 3 and 6 portray the
distribution of the transverse and longitudi- nal >residual
stress on the thick plate computed by Shim et al. and the
present method. Shim et al. [14]
presented experimental results for the problem. Addi-
tionally, the ABAQUS finite element package is applied as a
comparison. As Fig. 3 indicate, the ABAQUS package result
showed slightly lower tensile transverse stress near the weld
centreline. The present method tends to the experimental
results near the surface. As Fig. 6 indicate, both analysis
results show tensile stress near the weld centreline.
The residual stress calculated using the present method

Table 1
Schematics of pass sequences along with welding parameters for each pass

Pass no. (1–11) Voltage (V) Current (A) Speed (mm sec—1)

1 23 190 3.34
2–3 26 213 4.70
6 23 190 3.37
7–9 26 220 4.70
10–11 27 230 4.70
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Fig. 3. Transverse residual stress at the top surface of plate.

Fig. 6. Longitudinal residual stress at the top surface of plate.

 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538
Fig. 7. Geometry of T-joint fillet welds.
correlates well with that determined using Ma et al.’s three-
dimensional FEM and that found in Shim et al.’s experiments.
Therefore, the procedure proposed here is considered
appropriate for analysing residual stresses and distortions due to
welding.
3. Analysis of T-joint fillet weld
3.l. Specimen and material propertier
Fig. 7 depicts two plate fillet weld. The length of the fillet
weld, the width of the flange and height of the web are
assumed to be 300, 200 and 100 mm, respec- tively. The
plate thickness is 16 mm for the flange and 12 mm for the
web. The plate material is SAE 1020, and the mechanical
properties are dependent on the temperature history, as
Fig. 8 illustrates.
3.2. Welding conditionr
The welding parameters chosen for this analysis were as
follows: welding method, single pass gas tungsten-arc
welding; welding current, I 260 A; welding voltage,= V 20
V; and welding speed, = v 3 mm sec—1. For practical
=
welds, the heat sources are applied along the weld path.
However, this investi- gation simulates the increment of heat
loading on the welding process via the lead temperature
curve as shown in Fig. 2.
3.3. Finite element model for T-joint fillet weldr
In the T-joint fillet weld, the welds on both sides
329
of the webs are assumed to be simultaneously welded under
the same welding conditions. Therefore, the T-joint fillet
weld can be considered to be symmetrical with the Y–Z
plane. his work develops a two- dimensional symmetrical
generalized plane strain model to calculate the residual
stresses of the T-joint fillet weld using the finite element
method. With the aid of this generalized plane strain
condition, the three- dimensional residual stress components
distributed in the transverse section can be computed by
thermal elasto-plastic analysis using finite element tech-
niques with unit thickness. The model employs two-
dimensional four node plane elements, including the finite
element meshes for the fillet weld, along with refined
meshes used in the weld area. The symmetric model has
439 elements and 314 nodes as shown in Fig. 9.
3.4. Merh renritivity rtudy
To examine the adequacy of element sizes, the effect of
mesh refinement in the weld area was studied. A new model
with refined meshes consists of 307 elements and 383
nodes. Results from two mesh densities with the same
material model and geometry showed little difference.
Therefore, the original FEM model with- out mesh
refinement in the weld joint is used for this study.
3.5. Analyrir procedure
During each weld pass, thermal stresses are cal- culated
from the temperature distributions deter- mined by the
thermal model. The residual stresses
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Fig. 8. The mechanical properties of T-joint fillet weld.

from each temperature increment are added to the nodal
point location to determine the updated beha- viour of the
model before the next temperature increment.
4. Results and discussion
4.l. Tranrverre reridual rtrerrer
A stress acting normal to the direction of the weld bead is
known as a transverse residual stress, denoted
o x. Fig. 10 represents the distributions of the residual stress
o x along the X direction. A very large tensile residual stress
is produced at the surface of the base
plates near the fillet weld toes. The value of the residual stress
near the weld toes is 23 MPa and decreases to zero as the
distance from the weld toes increases. Owing to the locally
concentrated heat source, the temperature near the weld
bead and heat-affected zone rapidly changes with distance from
the heat source, i.e. the highest temperature is limited to the
domain of the heat source, from which lower temperature
zones fan out. According to Fig. 10 the temperature non-
uniformity varies the shrinkage through the weldment thickness
during cool-down and, consequently a high tensile residual
stress occurs on the surface of the weld toes.
4.2. Longitudinal reridual rtrerrer
A stress acting parallel to the direction of the
 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538 331

weld bead is termed a longitudinal residual stress, denoted

o z. Fig. 11 depicts the distributions of the residual stress o z
along the X-direction. The longi- tudinal residual stress
develops from longitudinal expansion and contraction during
the welding sequence. Along the weld line, a high tensile
residual stress arises near the weld toes, and then decreases
to zero, finally becoming compressive as distance from the
weld line on the flange increases. The residual stress value
is 110 MPa, approaching the yield stress of the material.
Due to the self-equilibrium of the weldment, tensile and
compressive residual stress exists at the weld toes and
away from the welding line on the flange.

4.3. Angular dirtortion

For the angular distortion of a T-joint fillet weld, the

angular change A0 of the flange for T-type joints is
expressed by A0 a/b=(for small angular change), where b is
the half length of the flange and a is the displacement of
the Y direction along the flange edge. This equation
describes the angular change of the flange for the T-joint
fillet weld illustrated in Fig. 12. In T-type fillet welding,
Fig. 13 represents
Fig. 9. Finite element meshes for the T-joint fillet welds of 439
elements.

Fig. 10. Transverse residual stress distribution along the X direction.

332 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538
Fig. 11. Longitudinal residual stress distribution along the X direction.
the changes of angular distortion (A0 ) with cooling time.
This figure reveals that the angular distortion downward is
about 0.006 rad when the weldment has cooled for 2 s. This
is because the thermal expansion
Fig. 12. Angular distortion (A0 ) in T-joint fillet welds.
in the upper portion exceeds that in the lower one. Fig. 13
reveals that, after 20 s of weldment cooling, the angular
distortion upward is approximately
0.003 rad, and almost does not change. This is because the
upwards bend of the flange due to plastic deforma- tion in the
upper portion exceeds that in the lower portion.
4.4. Effect of flange thicknerr
Fig. 14 presents the transverse residual stress o x along
the X direction for 10, 16 and 22 mm, related to flange thickness. All
of the stress distributions indicate tensile stresses near the
weld toes, which then decrease to zero as distance from the
weld toes increases. Fig. 13 depicts the longitudinal residual
stress distributions along the X direction, for 10, 16 and 22
mm, related to flange thickness. All of the stress
distributions show tensile stresses near the weld line, that
then decrease to become compressive with increasing
distance from the weld line. Figs. 14 and 13 reveal that with
increasing flange thickness, the residual stress increases. Thus,
flange thickness affects the maximum residual stress near the
weld toe of the flange in the following two ways: (1) With
increasing flange thick- ness, the temperature nonuniformity
varies the thermal expansion and shrinkage during cool-down,
and, conse- quently, the residual stress increases. (2) A
thicker
T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538 333

Fig. 13. Angular distortion of T-joint fillet weld.

Fig. 14. Transverse residual stress distributions for different flange thickness.
334 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538

Fig. 13. Longitudinal residual stress distributions for different flange thickness.

flange strengthens the internal restraint and increases residual

stress.

4.5. Effect of welding penetration depth

In the welding process, different weldment thick- nesses

require different weld penetration depths to avoid a non-
penetration defect. This research selects elements and
controls the heat input to investigate the effect of different weld
penetration depths on residual stresses and distortions. All
simulation models have the same dimensions and the same
weld toe length. As Fig. 16 shows, the weld penetration depth is
assumed to be 0 or 6 mm.
Figs. 17 and 18 present the distributions for the different
welding penetration depth of the residual stresses o x and o z
along the X direction. The resi- dualstress for a 6 mm
penetration depth fillet weld is smaller than that in a 0 mm
penetration depth weld. This difference is because the
larger penetration depth corresponds to an increase in heat
input or a reduction of the welding speed, enlarging the heat
affected zone and reducing the temperature variation of the
upper and lower surfaces of the flange. Furthermore, the
distortion and welding residual stress decrease.

4.6. Effect of rertraint conditionr

In order to reduce T-joint fillet weld angular distortion, an

external clamp is frequently applied to the flange, as Fig.
19 illustrates. This research

Fig. 16. Different types of penetration depth.

 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538 333

Fig. 17. Transverse residual stress distribution for different penetration depths.

investigates the effect of restraint conditions and restraint
position on angular distortions and residual stresses.
Fig. 20 presents the angular distortion of the flange with
various restraint positions. The figure
reveals that the angular distortion with restraint is smaller
than when the flange is unrestrained. When the applied
restraint position is fixed at 39.8 mm, this computation
provides a minimum angular distortion
0.002 rad.

Fig. 18. Longitudinal residual stress distribution for different penetration depths.
334 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538
Fig. 19. Restraint condition in T-joint fillet welding.
Figs. 21 and 22 show the distribution of the restrained
and unrestrained residual stresses o x , o z along the X
direction. The value of the residual stress in the restrained
model is smaller than that in the unrestrained model. This
difference occurs because when the restraint is removed after
welding, the flange is slightly bent by the released restraint
force, and this induces compressive stress on the top surface of
the flange and tensile stress on the bottom surface of the flange.
This new pattern of stress allows the tensile residual stress near
the toe to be reduced. This phenomenon means that the
restraint used to prevent angular distortion is also effective in
reducing the tensile residual stress near the weld toe.
Fig. 20. The angular distortion of the flange with various restraint positions.
5. Conclusions
This research employs the finite element method to
evaluate residual stresses and angular distortions in T-joint
fillet welds. The technique of element birth and death is used
to simulate the weld filler variation with time in T-joint fillet
welds. Additionally, it discusses the effects of flange
thickness, welding penetration depth and restraint condition of
welding on residual stresses. Based on the results in this
study, we conclude the following:
1. For transverse residual stresses, a high tensile stress is
produced near the fillet weld toe. As distance from the weld
toe increases the stress approaches zero.
2. For longitudinal residual stresses, a very large tensile
stress occurs near the weld toe, and a compressive
stress appears away from the weld bead.
3. The temperature distribution along the flange thick- ness
causes fillet weld angular distortions, which bend the
flange up.
4. With increasing flange thickness, the internal restraints
are increased and the tensile residual stress near the fillet
weld toe increases.
3. With increasing penetration depth or heat input in fillet
welding, the tensile residual stress near the fillet weld toe
decreases, and can also improve non- penetration defects.
6. In a restrained fillet weld, the tensile residual stress
 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538 337

Fig. 21. Transverse residual stress distribution with restraint and in the unrestrained condition.

Fig. 22. Longitudinal residual stress distribution with restraint and in the unrestrained condition.
338 T.-L. Teng et al. / International Journal of Prerrure Verrelr and Piping 78 (200l) 523–538
and angular distortion near the toe can be reduced after
the restraint force is released. When the applied restraint
position is changed at the boundary, a mini- mum angular
distortion can be obtained.
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