CSWIP 3.

1 Welding Inspection

Residual Stress & Distortion

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Course Reference WIS 5
Course notes section reference 19
 Residual stress

Heating and cooling

causes expansion
and contraction

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 Residual stress

In case of a heated bar,

the resistance of the
surrounding material
to the expansion and
contraction leads to

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formation of residual
stress
 Residual stress

Origins of residual stress in welded joints

Cold weld unfused

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Hot weld

Cold weld fused

 Types of residual stress
Transverse residual stress after welding
Maximum stress = YS at
room temperature

Tension

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Compression

The longer the weld, the higher the tensile stress!

 Types of residual stress

Longitudinal residual stress after welding

Compression Tension

YS at room

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temperature

The higher the heat input the wider the tensile zone!
 Types of residual stress
Compression Tension

Residual stress
after PWHT

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YS at PWHT YS at room
temperature temperature

After PWHT, peak residual stress is less than a quarter of its initial
level!
 Residual stress

Residual stresses are undesirable because:

• they lead to distortion

• they affect dimensional stability of the welded
assembly
• they enhance the risk of brittle fracture

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 Distortion

Factors affecting distortion:

• parent material properties

• amount of restrain
• joint design
• fit-up

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• welding sequence
 Factors affecting distortion

Parent material properties:

• thermal expansion coefficient - the greater the value, the

greater the residual stress
• yield strength - the greater the value, the greater the
residual stress

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• thermal conductivity - the higher the value, the lower the
residual stress
 Factors affecting distortion

Joint design:
• weld metal volume
• type of joint - butt vs. fillet, single vs. double side
Amount of restrain:
• thickness - as thickness increases, so do the stresses
• high level of restrain lead to high stresses
• preheat may increase the level of stresses.

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Fit-up:
• root gap - increase in root gap increases shrinkage
 Factors affecting distortion

Welding sequence:

• number of passes - every pass adds to the total

contraction
• travel speed - the faster the welding speed, the less the
stress

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• build-up sequence
 Distortion

Origins of distortion in welded joints:

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Types of distortion

Longitudinal shrinkage

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Types of distortion

Bowing and dishing

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Types of distortion

Transverse shrinkage

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 Types of distortion

Angular distortion

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 Distortion prevention
Distortion prevention by design
Consider eliminating the welding!!

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a) by forming the plate
b) by use of rolled or extruded sections
 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by design

• consider weld
placement

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• reduce weld metal
volume and/or number
of runs
 Distortion prevention
Distortion prevention by design
• use of balanced welding

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 Distortion prevention
Distortions prevention by design
Allowances to cover shrinkage

- Transverse Shrinkage
• Fillet Welds 0.8mm per weld where the leg length
does not exceed 3/4 plate thickness
• Butt weld 1.5 to 3mm per weld for 60° V joint,

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depending on number of runs
- Longitudinal Shrinkage
• Fillet Welds 0.8mm per 3m of weld
• Butt Welds 3mm per 3m of weld
 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by pre-setting

a) pre-setting of fillet joint

to prevent angular
distortion
b) pre-setting of butt joint

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to prevent angular
distortion
c) tapered gap to prevent
closure
 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by pre-bending using

strongbacks and wedges

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 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by restraint techniques

a) use of welding jigs

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b) use of flexible clamps
 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by restraint techniques

c) use of strongbacks
with wedges

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d) use of fully welded
strongbacks
 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by fabrication

techniques
• tack welding
a) tack weld straight through
to end of joint
b) tack weld one end, then use
back-step technique for

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tacking the rest of the joint
c) tack weld the centre, then
complete the tack welding
by the back-step technique
 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by fabrication techniques

• back to back assembly

a) assemblies tacked
together before welding
b) use of wedges for

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components that distort
on separation after
welding
 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by fabrication techniques

• use of stiffeners

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• control welding process by:
- deposit the weld metal as quickly as possible
- use the least number of runs to fill the joint
 Distortion prevention
Distortion prevention by fabrication techniques

• reduce the number of runs

required to make a weld
(e.g. angular distortion as a
function of number of runs

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for a 10 mm leg length
weld)
 Distortion prevention

Distortion prevention by fabrication techniques

• control welding techniques by use balanced

welding about the neutral axis
• control welding techniques by keeping the

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time between runs to a minimum
 Distortion prevention
Distortion prevention by fabrication techniques

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• control welding techniques by
a) Back-step welding
b) Skip welding
 Distortion prevention

Distortion - Best practice for fabrication corrective

techniques
• using tack welds to set up and maintain the joint gap
• identical components welded back to back so welding can be
balanced about the neutral axis
• attachment of longitudinal stiffeners to prevent longitudinal bowing in
butt welds of thin plate structures
• where there is choice of welding procedure, process and technique

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should aim to deposit the weld metal as quickly as possible; MIG in
preference to MMA or gas welding and mechanised rather than
manual welding
• in long runs, the whole weld should not be completed in one
direction; back-step or skip welding techniques should be used
 Distortion corrective techniques
Distortion - mechanical corrective techniques

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Use of press to correct bowing in T butt joint
 Distortion corrective techniques

Distortion - Best practice for mechanical corrective

techniques
• Use packing pieces which will over correct the distortion so that
spring-back will return the component to the correct shape
• Check that the component is adequately supported during pressing
to prevent buckling
• Use a former (or rolling) to achieve a straight component or produce
a curvature

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• As unsecured packing pieces may fly out from the press, the
following safe practice must be adopted:
- bolt the packing pieces to the platen
- place a metal plate of adequate thickness to intercept the 'missile'
- clear personnel from the hazard area
 Distortion corrective techniques
Distortion - thermal corrective techniques

Localised heating to
correct distortion

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Spot heating for correcting
buckling
 Distortion corrective techniques
Distortion - thermal corrective techniques

Line heating to correct angular

distortion in a fillet weld

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Use of wedge shaped heating to
straighten plate
 Distortion corrective techniques
Distortion - thermal corrective techniques
Wedge shaped heating to correct distortion

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a) standard rolled b) buckled edge of c) box fabrication
steel section plate
General guidelines:
•Length of wedge = two-thirds of the plate width
•Width of wedge (base) = one sixth of its length (base to apex)
 Distortions corrective techniques
Distortion - thermal corrective techniques

• use spot heating to remove buckling in thin sheet

structures
• other than in spot heating of thin panels, use a wedge-
shaped heating technique
• use line heating to correct angular distortion in plate
• restrict the area of heating to avoid over-shrinking the
component

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• limit the temperature to 60° to 650°C (dull red heat) in
steels to prevent metallurgical damage
• in wedge heating, heat from the base to the apex of the
wedge, penetrate evenly through the plate thickness and
maintain an even temperature